The two didn't speak, and the room was filled only with the rustling sound of documents being flipped.
The safe contained numerous experiment reports with a lot of text, but Ji Xun read them quickly.
The mechanical-arm girl clearly understood the significance of the document levels better than Ji Xun did. Seeing the key points, she silently exclaimed, "The 407 Anomaly Containment Facility was researching... a 'T-level Catastrophe Source'!"
Ji Xun listened to the whispering of that western-sounding voice while reading quickly.
This was what he had been looking for.
Some key clues to clearing the game.
In the documents, he saw not only the [Fallen Witch] of Room 2012 but also the [Corrupt Giant] of Room 1099 and the [Curse Gambler]... and some others.
The most troublesome catastrophes they had encountered so far were all recorded.
However, Ji Xun realized he had made one wrong assumption.
The bunker wasn't researching the monsters that were imprisoned.
Those monsters were just experimental products.
The real research subject was that "Catastrophe Source."
Though he didn't fully understand what the Catastrophe Source was, the description suggested it was a highly dangerous and polluting item.
And by constantly observing the mechanical-arm girl's expression while she read the documents, Ji Xun inferred that this must be something extremely important.
...
The two didn't communicate. Ji Xun continued to rapidly browse through the documents.
At that moment, he opened another file and discovered an accident report.
"Sealed Document: S719 Accident Report"
"Accident Rating: D-level"
"Details: On July 19, abnormal data was detected in the central experiment monitoring. Each chamber's mutants had short-term abnormal disturbances; after thorough inspection, no suspicious circumstances were found... judged to be a low-level risk. Solution: Increase patrols."
"Investigator: Dr. P. Luo"
"Document Correction: On August 2, a mutant riot occurred in the experimental bunker. Only then did I realize that a major mistake had been made. This was an S-level catastrophe accident! In fact, the Catastrophe Source had leaked pollution long ago. We had already been unknowingly polluted; I, and everyone in the laboratory, had our perceptions eroded by some mysterious force, causing us to misjudge the risk level... It was too late to stop it; the horror had already descended..."
Upon reading this, Ji Xun's mind pieced together the puzzle-like clues.
Although some pieces were still missing, he had roughly reconstructed the events at the [407 Anomaly Containment Facility]: Someone had once researched a dangerous "Catastrophe Source" in this bunker, creating these monsters. But during the research, a pollution leak occurred, infecting the entire lab. The monsters rioted and killed everyone in the lab.
Not too complicated a plot.
Ji Xun saw that there were only a few documents left and continued flipping through them. He then casually reminded the mechanical-arm girl beside him, "Be careful, the monsters should be appearing soon."
The mechanical-arm girl, thinking he had discovered something, immediately tensed up.
But after sensing for a moment, she didn't detect any monsters.
Although confident in her senses, she still double-checked, "Did you find something?"
Ji Xun hadn't discovered anything, and he chuckled, "It's just that, based on the normal plot progression, since we've obtained the key clues, the difficulty should increase now."
The mechanical-arm girl was puzzled by this cryptic statement: "???"
"I was just guessing."
Ji Xun shrugged with a smile, realizing his companion hadn't followed his line of thinking.
He pointed at the documents, "From what we see, these documents are necessary 'clues' to clearing the game. So if there are any monsters, they will definitely appear after we get the documents. Otherwise, if the monsters killed us as soon as we entered, the intricate game setup would be meaningless."
The mechanical-arm girl still found it hard to believe.
Guessing?
What kind of logic was that?
Just like how they inexplicably found these key documents, she couldn't understand why this guy was so certain that monsters would appear soon.
Ji Xun looked at the empty laboratory and said meaningfully, "We'll know soon enough."
In this dimension, he sensed something unusual.
It just confirmed some of his suspicions.
...
However, before any monsters arrived, they first encountered some outsiders.
While they were still browsing through the archives, they heard dense gunfire.
It seemed that some people from the first floor had rushed up, trying to force their way to the third floor.
The firepower was intense, but clearly, the monsters were stronger.
The gunfire was continually suppressed near the second-floor elevator.
"Damn it! The monsters on the second floor have mental pollution; it's hard to get to the third floor like this. Captain, should we retreat?"
"Retreating is a dead end too, find a way out quickly!"
"Hey... there's a hole in the wall of Room 2013!"
"Quick, get inside the room!"
"..."
Whether by coincidence or by methodically opening doors, the people outside entered Room 2013 and found the pit.
Judging by the noise, there were quite a few of them, and they entered the research room.
Through the glass, Ji Xun saw a fully armed elite team of about a dozen people rush in.
The mechanical-arm girl recognized the badges on these people and warned, "Be careful, they are mercenaries from the 'Blackwater Group.' Cutthroat guys."
Concise and clear, Ji Xun immediately understood that these people were not to be trifled with.
He glanced at her and asked, "Can you take them on?"
The mechanical girl didn't respond, just gave him a look.
That look said clearly: I can take care of myself; it's you who's the burden.
Ji Xun understood immediately, smiling without taking offense.
Compared to the upcoming challenges, he felt these mercenaries were less of a threat.
More people meant more chances to test the waters.
...
Being professional mercenaries, they easily found traces of the two on the ground.
"Captain, there are people here!"
Upon being discovered, both sides became very cautious.
A fight wasn't an option.
With a dozen mercenaries, the probability of a friendly fire incident was very high.
Ji Xun signaled his companion not to act rashly, raised his hands, and spoke up, "Gentlemen, we mean no harm."
Seeing him walk out with his hands up, the bald leader glanced at him, lowered his guard slightly, and asked, "Did you kill the monsters outside?"
Everyone knew the greatest threat was the monsters, and initiating a conflict wasn't a rational choice.
"Yes."
Ji Xun responded, "We were lucky. During the fight with the monsters, we broke through the wall and found this place."
From his words, he guessed that these mercenaries didn't recognize what the blood and flesh outside were.
Not everyone knew about the A-level catastrophe [Fallen Witch].
At least in this instance, those who had seen its monster form were all dead.
If they had recognized it, the mercenaries' attitude would have been much more respectful.
Ji Xun continued, probing for information, "Gentlemen, what happened? Why did this place suddenly become more difficult?"
The bald leader clearly knew something but didn't answer.
He scrutinized the two of them and then asked, "Did you find anything?"
It seemed that he thought Ji Xun and his companion were just two solo adventurers, and his demeanor was arrogant and domineering, displaying their numerical superiority.
With a dozen guns pointed at him, Ji Xun wisely responded, "Oh. We just found a safe, but we can't open it."
Being a professional actor, he portrayed the image of a lucky yet clumsy adventurer perfectly.
"A safe?"
The bald leader was skeptical but saw no flaw in his story.
However, the word "safe" immediately caught everyone's attention.
Their instincts told them: this was a key clue!
With black muzzles pointed at them, Ji Xun and his companion obediently stepped aside.
Two mercenaries went inside to confirm and shouted, "Captain, there is indeed a safe."
The bald leader immediately ordered, "Old Six, try to open it."
Among them, a thin-faced mercenary walked in, "Yes."
A mature mercenary team always has various specialists, like those in the master thief sequence, skilled in opening safes and disarming traps.
Seeing the man take out his lockpicking tools, Ji Xun knew he was a professional.
But he wasn't worried about the safe being empty.
Because time was running out.
Previously, the two of them had small targets and made little noise.
Now, with all this commotion, if there were any monsters, they should have arrived by now.
He pulled the mechanical-arm girl to a position against the wall so that at least no monsters could attack them from behind.
...
Sure enough.
Suddenly, everyone felt a strange chill.
The mechanical-arm girl was the first to notice something. She warned in a serious tone, "Be careful, something's coming in."
Her eyes swept sharply around.
Ji Xun seemed quite relaxed.
Only battles that could be fought involved risk. If it was completely unwinnable, there was no need to worry about risks.
His strength made worrying unnecessary.
He left the fighting to his teammates.
His mind was busy sorting through and analyzing the complex information from the documents they had just found, categorizing it, selecting what might be useful, and then linking it to the current situation to develop contingency plans.
His thoughts were racing.
Not far away, the Blackwater mercenaries clearly had some extraordinary individuals with perception abilities. After a moment, one of them shouted, "Captain, there's a calamity aura approaching!"
As soon as he spoke, the dozen or so mercenaries immediately went into combat mode, forming a very professional-looking defensive formation.
Each gun was aimed down the corridor at the far end of the laboratory.
For a moment, the large space was silent, and breathing became heavy.
...
Now that the difficulty of this other-dimensional space had risen to "unknown," no one knew what kind of monsters might appear.
The atmosphere was extremely tense.
Suddenly!
A shadow flickered at the far end of the laboratory corridor, and several human-shaped spiders scurried out from the ceiling.
Like water dripping into a hot oil pan, the large lab suddenly boiled over.
"Rat-a-tat-tat..."
"Boom, boom, boom..."
All sorts of gunfire and explosions rained down, the noise so loud it felt like being pummeled inside a drum.
The muzzle flashes lit up the darkness like fire sprites, flickering and dancing, illuminating the terrified and tense faces.
One had to admit, the combat prowess of these Blackwater mercenaries was directly reflected in their equipment.
Various heavy firearms and steam-tech gadgets unleashed tremendous destructive power—steam hammers, high-pressure flamethrowers, mechanical spears...
The single-soldier boilers on these burly men were bigger and more powerful.
With a dozen people working together, alternating their fire, they gave the monsters no chance.
The few human-shaped spiders were turned into sieves almost instantly.
Compared to the monsters, Ji Xun was more curious about the magic cards.
In the battle, he saw a new kind of magic card.
He watched the bald guy throw out a few red cards that exploded near the monsters like grenades with a "boom, boom."
The cards could be thrown in large quantities, and with good technique, they could cause precise explosions.
These were much more useful than hand grenades.
In no time, the monsters at the edge of his vision were reduced to a pile of flesh.
However, the danger was far from over.
The mechanical-arm girl sensed something, her expression growing more severe.
Ji Xun also felt that this level of monster was far below the expected threat.
Sure enough!
Just as everyone had finished off a wave of small monsters and hadn't yet caught their breath...
A monster over two meters tall slowly emerged from another corridor.
It was a human-dog hybrid monster, with a ferocious face and one hand missing.
Ji Xun squinted his eyes slightly as he looked over.
Its distinctive appearance made it clear it was the B-level calamity from room 3045 on the third floor.
But now it wasn't the B-level described in the information.
[Cursed Gambler]
Details: First-tier A-level calamity; it was once a gambler who lost a hand for cheating. Even after mutating into a monster, it retained the vices of a gambler. A mysterious contaminant adept at curses; it will gamble with you, with lives as the stakes—loser dies. It's a skilled gambler, don't expect it to play fair, and don't think about running away—if you don't gamble, you die.
This was a curse-type BOSS!
Seeing this, everyone's faces, including the mechanical-arm girl's, changed dramatically.
This monster had a nickname among hunters: "Touch it and you die."