Hui Feichi's expression was grim. He waved his hand and said,
"Get lost. She's vanished without a trace. Don't just you, even I can't find her."
He paused, then glared fiercely at Lian Du.
"Lian Du, do you realize the seriousness of this? You let her go, and she destroyed three months of our experimental materials. Our task just became even more arduous."
Lian Du's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Don't the other bases have reserves? How could this happen? Besides, if the experimental materials are gone, we'll just find more."
Hui Feichi took a deep breath. He couldn't explain.
This cooperation with Country D was known only to him and Song Xiaoping. They had researched diligently for ten years, yet their results weren't as good as one of their medicines.
"Lian Du, go to the solitary confinement room for two days to clear your head. Is the X Group more important, or is that woman more important?"
Lian Du's eyes darkened. In his heart, the X Group would always come first. Xu Qian was an accident.
They had barely interacted, yet he...
He truly needed to think this through.
"Alright, I'll go."
Hui Feichi watched their receding figures, his temples throbbing.
Song Xiaoping, when will you return?
Q Province.
They had traveled for nearly half a month, stopping and starting, before finally reaching the Q Province experimental base.
The base wasn't in the city, so there weren't many zombies.
The temperature in Q Province was very low. Except for Xu Lü, everyone else was wearing thick cotton-padded jackets.
Xu Qian opened the live map in her mind. The map showed the experimental base was located at the bottom of the lake before them.
The lake's surface was covered in a thick layer of white ice, emitting a chilling aura. A strong, cold wind blew against their faces.
"Xiao Qian, it's frozen over."
Xie Yayun bent down to touch it, but Xu Qian quickly pulled her back.
"Don't touch it."
The map indicated the location was indeed in the lake. This lake was vast, and driving around it would take ten minutes. Now, with the entire lake frozen, the entrance was nowhere to be seen.
"Let's walk around the lake first."
"Okay."
Xu Qian chose not to drive. If the laboratory was in the lake, driving would be too conspicuous...
The weather was cold and gloomy. If they hadn't been wearing masks, the biting wind would have scraped their faces raw.
The shore was lined with withered grass that had turned to mud. The three people and one zombie circled the lake but found no clues.
It was just an ordinary lake.
Xu Qian's brows furrowed slightly. This wasn't going to work.
"I'll go down to explore, you guys wait here."
The three disagreed, wanting to go together so they could help each other if anything happened.
Xu Qian's frown eased as she comforted them, "We don't know how much weight this ice can bear. I'll go first. If it's safe, you can follow."
Everyone could only nod.
Xu Qian cautiously stepped onto the ice. The ice was very solid and didn't move at all, capable of bearing her full weight.
She waved back at them, signaling that it was fine.
Xu Qian continued to walk further. Besides being a bit slippery, it felt like walking on flat ground.
The two people and the zombie also followed her footsteps, slowly approaching her.
As they reached the center of the lake, Xu Qian suddenly squinted. What was that?
There were five or six very regularly shaped large holes in the ice. They were regular because their shape and size were almost identical, clearly man-made.
Could this be the entrance to the base?
Xu Qian became even more cautious, her steps growing smaller.
The closer she got to the holes, the more the surrounding ice began to shake, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Xu Qian approached the nearest hole. Below the ice, she could see the frigid lake water.
It was a clear, bottomless blue, with no strange objects within.
Xu Qian's brows knitted together. She had a headache.
With the current cold weather, going down there would cost her half her life.
Just as Xu Qian was hesitating, cracks began to appear in the ice at her feet.