Chapter 3: Dark Conspiracy

As he sized up the scarred man across from him, Chen Chong narrowed his eyes.

“You want to escape through the ventilation ducts? That won’t work.”

The entire Experimental Base was built underground, so it naturally had a complete ventilation and exhaust system; otherwise, it could not operate at all.

And the kitchen in this cafeteria definitely had an exhaust duct branch line, a fact Chen Chong had realized long ago.

However, the problem was that from the prison cells to the cafeteria, they had to pass through four electronic security gates, over twenty patrolling guards, and cameras in every corner.

It was simply impossible for them to enter the cafeteria without causing any commotion; otherwise, even if they did get into the cafeteria, their purpose would very likely be discovered, and they would just be blocked inside the ventilation duct like turtles in a jar.

“It seems you’ve already thought about this.”

Lin Kun gave Chen Chong a deep look, a flash of resolve appearing in his eyes.

“The odds are low, but better than waiting to die. You should understand Katherine will soon use the two of us for the next phase of gene modulation experiments. We don’t have much time left. An individual’s strength is absolutely no way to escape from here. We need to cooperate.”

He cautiously observed the surroundings with his peripheral vision, then said in a deep voice:

“Taking a gamble might not let us live, but not gambling guarantees we won’t survive! I’ll tell you one more piece of information. The various material supplies in the base don’t fall from the sky. Every month, these White-skinned Ghosts draw some guards to go somewhere to receive supplies and bring them back. The outside Wilderness is extremely dangerous, so Director Diris, the head supervisor, will personally go out, and his twenty-man armed squad will leave the base for most of the day. This is our chance!”

“Diris, that Awakener, is indeed terrifying, and we can’t fight him, but we don’t need to fight him! As long as he and his elite squad aren’t here, and we contact a few reliable fellow prisoners, escaping to survival is not impossible!”

Diris was the supervisor of the entire Experimental Base. All matters within the base except the laboratories were under his jurisdiction, making him the highest-ranking person besides Doctor Katherine, and he was also a powerful Awakener.

And the armed squad under him were all elites, superior to the base’s guards in both equipment and training.

Lin Kun had been planning for a long time. Ever since he accidentally overheard this news from a guard last month, he had been secretly plotting.

However, even if Diris was away, the chance of success for him alone was still too small, which was why he wanted to contact a few reliable prisoners to act when the opportunity came.

Chen Chong did not show a surprised expression. In fact, it was no secret that the base replenished supplies every month.

He had learned about it two months ago from the casual chatter of two researchers during an experiment. According to the time record he had carved in his cell, roughly three days from now would be the day Diris went out.

“I already know this information.”

Chen Chong pondered for a moment.

“How powerful exactly is this Awakener, Diris?”

His time in this world was too short; he had neither inherited any memories nor ever come into contact with the outside world.

From the snippets of his fellow prisoners’ words, Chen Chong roughly knew that so-called Awakeners were a special group that had gradually mutated after the Great Cataclysm, beings who stood above ordinary people, and a very small minority among the human survivors.

But what exactly was magical about Awakeners, and just how powerful was the supervisor Diris, whom everyone in the prison feared? Chen Chong did not understand.

Chen Chong’s reply surprised Lin Kun for a moment. After a silence, his eyes turned gloomy.

“My knowledge is also very limited. The few Awakeners I once saw did have some strange abilities, but ordinary people wielding firearms could still threaten them. But Diris is probably not an ordinary Awakener! Back then, our Scavenger team of thirteen encountered his team head-on in an open area. At a distance of dozens of meters, with all of us armed and shooting, in less than ten seconds, he alone, bare-handed, knocked every single one of us down! We couldn’t even crawl up! His strength rivaled tigers and leopards, but his speed was as fast as lightning, simply impossible to see clearly! The number of people, whether one held a weapon or not—none of it made any difference in front of Diris!”

Dozens of meters away, in ten seconds, dodging bullets head-on in an open area, and striking down thirteen armed adults!

The information Lin Kun revealed made Chen Chong’s eye twitch. Could a human really reach such a level?

Recalling the scene from back then, Lin Kun’s expression was also very grim.

“You don’t need to worry. Awakeners are very rare, let alone a monster-level existence like Diris. We can definitely act while he’s away. Now, of the thirteen of us who were captured together, only two remain. If we delay any longer, we will both die on the experiment tables. Chen Chong, I’ll ask you one more time: are you in or not?”

“One last question.”

Chen Chong’s gaze flickered. He exhaled a breath and said slowly:

“According to your plan, if we are lucky enough to escape the base, do you have a relatively safe escape route? Can you shake off Diris’s pursuit?”

Lin Kun shook his head.

“If we are lucky enough to escape the base, then everyone’s fate is up to heaven. We people were all blindfolded when brought to the base and don’t know its specific location or the environment of the surrounding Wilderness. We can only gamble on luck. However, what is certain is that the people in the prison come from several different gathering points, which means this place isn’t too far from a survivor gathering zone, at most two or three hundred kilometers away. But these white bastards actually dared to cross the border and invade this area, capture our people for experiments, and have caused the deaths of who knows how many compatriots. If there’s a chance…”

A look of hatred appeared in Lin Kun’s eyes as he inadvertently scanned the surrounding guards once.

“How about it, Chen Chong? Success needs no explanation, and even if we fail, we can take a few more of these foreign white devils down with us, instead of dying miserably on the experiment tables!”

Digesting the information Lin Kun revealed, Chen Chong’s heart stirred with ripples.

Scavengers, survivor settlements, racial hatred—it all indicated that this strange parallel world, which had experienced the Great Cataclysm, was even more cruel and dark than he had imagined.

“Alright!”

Having obtained the information he wanted, Chen Chong chewed and swallowed the last bite of his steak, then downed a large bowl of bone broth in one go.

“I can participate, but your plan to escape using the ventilation ducts… the chance of success is too low!”

Too low?

Lin Kun was instantly stunned. He frowned. “Do you have a better plan?”

In this dragon’s pool and tiger’s den, escaping through the cafeteria’s ventilation ducts was the only plan they could think of that had even a sliver of feasibility. He didn’t think there was a better way.

“Then let me give you a hint.”

Chen Chong’s face was expressionless as he whispered:

“One, how huge is the electricity consumption of such a large base? Especially that bitch’s laboratory, which consumes a shocking amount of power. Using fuel for power generation down here is clearly unsuitable, and it absolutely could not supply the entire base’s electricity needs. So, where does the power come from?”

“Two, the laboratory is built underground, yet its water usage is practically lavish. I know some researchers even take showers every day, but I’ve never heard of the base having a water shortage. Where does the water come from?”

“Electricity… Water…”

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration cut through his mind. Lin Kun was no fool, and with Chen Chong’s prompting, he immediately began to connect the dots.

After the Great Cataclysm, the world was reduced to wasteland. Unpolluted, clean water was an extremely scarce resource, enough to trigger fights and killings between survivors. Electrical power was also not an easily obtainable energy source.

Yet this underground base, it was almost unheard of for it to suffer from a lack of water or electricity—it was very unusual.

An incredibly intense light burst from Lin Kun’s eyes. His lips trembled, and the excitement in his voice was almost uncontrollable.

“Could it be… there’s an underground river down here? And the base uses water power to generate electricity? No wonder these White-skinned Ghosts came here, so that’s why! Can you confirm this? How did you discover it? What’s your plan?”

Lin Kun was perfectly aware that if there really was an underground river down here, then it would be the most perfect escape route!

It was countless times better than his plan to crawl out through the exhaust ducts! It was a genuine, significant chance to escape to survival, not just a pure gamble on luck!

Without answering Lin Kun’s question, Chen Chong only responded with a cold sneer.

He had suspected the source of the base’s electricity and water for a long time. Once, when he was subjected to an electric shock experiment, the current and voltage output from the lab equipment kept failing to meet the requirements. Katherine flew into a rage because of it and ordered a guard to immediately go to the Hydropower Station to fix the malfunction. It was then that Chen Chong learned there was an underground river with a decent flow right behind the base’s Experiment Area, and the laboratory’s entire power supply came from a small hydropower station built on that river. It was only because the soundproofing in the lab was too good that he couldn’t hear the water flow.

From that day forward, Chen Chong already had a plan in mind.

Originally, Chen Chong intended to act alone, but after this conversation with Lin Kun now, he changed his mind.

Chen Chong looked directly at the intensely excited Lin Kun.

“Since you have the heart to gamble, I can join, but all the plans must follow my direction!”

…

Just as Chen Chong and Lin Kun were secretly plotting, on the cafeteria’s loft floor, by the window,

a man and a woman sat facing each other, looking down from their elevated position.

“Hmm? Miss Katherine, is that No. 416?”

A handsome, heroic-looking young white man in military uniform, with deep-set eyes and a robust, upright posture, scanned the scene in the main hall through a gap in the curtains and noticed Chen Chong. He smiled.

“I didn’t expect him to recover so quickly. He’s truly a born warrior. If he had the chance to take a high-grade gene optimizer, with his willpower, gene awakening or even entering a higher level wouldn’t be impossible.”

Opposite him, a tall and alluring white woman was stirring the coffee in her cup.

These two people were the highest-ranking individuals in the entire base, and the ones all prisoners hated to the bone: Doctor Katherine and Supervisor Diris.

Katherine wore a research suit. Her skin was snow-white, and her face was beautiful and seductive. Every motion she made exuded an indescribable sensual aura from her bones, carrying a deadly allure like a poppy flower.

Yet every prisoner knew clearly what kind of venom and cruelty lurked beneath this woman’s beautiful exterior.

She glanced through the window towards Chen Chong’s location, her red lips moving slightly.

“Diris, he’s just a lowly toy, and not even white. How could he be qualified to use something so precious?”

“Of course. I was just making an offhand comment. The law of the jungle, white supremacy. Other races are all trash that should be thoroughly swept away.”

Diris smiled nonchalantly.

“With the Heavenly Father’s blessing, we will eventually purify this dark and filthy world, establishing a new order. The king of the world will only be us.”

Katherine’s gaze drifted. She sighed.

“A rare moment of leisure, and you’ve ruined it again. Seriously, Diris, you’ve already broken the Gene Lock and stepped into the Transcendent sequence. The organization has places that need you more. You don’t need to waste your precious time here.”

Diris smiled, leaned forward with a burning gaze, and stared at the beauty before him with an aggressive posture.

“Miss Katherine, I have never hidden my feelings for you. Besides, you are the most gifted researcher in the organization. How could I bear to leave you alone in such a dark and barbaric place? No matter what, I will stay here with you until your research is finished.”

“Spare me that routine you use to fool women.”

Katherine smiled elegantly, unconcerned by Diris’s burning gaze, and said nonchalantly:

“My mind is entirely focused on the research of life potential. Having finally found such a place, I won’t consider personal matters until I solve my current research topic.”

“These are all words from my heart.”

Diris spread his hands and laughed helplessly.

“I respect your pursuit and will spare no effort to help you achieve it. In a couple of days, when I transport supplies, I’ll keep an eye out for you. Perhaps I can encounter an Awakener from a wanderer tribe in the Wilderness. That way, I can also speed up your research progress and help us leave this godforsaken place sooner.”

Diris did not press his advantage. He knew that this enchanting beauty would one day be his, and could only be his!