The sudden wave of frustration quickly dissipated, and Jiang Baimian and the others swiftly returned to normal.

Although Long Yuehong was still terrified and reluctant to delve deeper into the "City Intelligent Network Control Center," he felt that for the sake of the angelic Qiao Chu, he could take a risk.

Qiao Chu had already removed his mechanical watch and put it in his pocket because he needed to wear the military exoskeleton, but this didn't prevent him from knowing what time it was, because the goggles that doubled as a display screen showed the corresponding time.

He glanced at the lower right corner of his goggles, mentally calculated the time when "Charm" was about to mutate, and hurriedly urged:

"Let's go to the underground machine room."

This time, Shang Jianyao and the others had no objections and followed the Eighth Research Institute's special envoy, bypassing the pool and arriving in front of the building housing the "City Intelligent Network Control Center."

The door here was made of glass and had either been opened at some point or had never been closed since the destruction of the Old World. In any case, the wide, dark hall inside was directly exposed.

Qiao Chu wasn't in a hurry to go in. He used the "Comprehensive Early Warning System" to observe outside for a dozen or twenty seconds.

Then, he bent over slightly and charged towards the elevator lobby.

Jiang Baimian and the others followed closely behind, always maintaining their tactical formation.

During this process, the only sounds echoing in the hall were the clanging of the metal exoskeleton against the ground and their not-so-heavy footsteps. There was no other movement, only dead silence.

Soon, they reached the elevator lobby.

There were three gray-black elevators on each side.

Of course, none of them worked because there was no electricity.

Qiao Chu's target wasn't the elevators, but the door to the emergency exit next to them.

The vermilion wooden door was a bit rotten and was currently closed quietly, no one knew whether it was locked.

Bai Chen was about to rush forward to help Qiao Chu open the door when she suddenly had a strange realization.

Behind that door, there was an extremely precious item that had to be obtained!

This gave her an uncontrollable desire and impulse to immediately open the door, rush to the designated position, and pick up that item.

Not only her, but Qiao Chu, Long Yuehong, and others also had similar feelings and couldn't wait to get closer to the door.

Jiang Baimian frowned slightly and shouted:

"Do you still remember what teammate Wu Shoushi described?"

She was referring to the "Higher Mindless" creating temptations and setting traps.

It was because she remembered this that she wasn't completely blinded and was able to resist that inexplicable awareness to some extent.

Her feet were itching to move forward, her body was already in a charging posture, but she was still firmly rooted to the spot, not taking a single step.

Her words awakened a little reason in Qiao Chu and the others, causing them to struggle briefly and not open the door immediately.

At this time, Shang Jianyao, who was at the rear, had already run over, but he didn't continue forward. Instead, he stopped beside Jiang Baimian.

"I think there's a secret that can save all of humanity in there," he said seriously. "But this kind of secret must be located under layers of protection, surrounded by many dangers."

For a moment, Jiang Baimian didn't know whether to roll her eyes at him or praise him.

"We have to be careful, we can't be reckless," Shang Jianyao thought for two seconds, following this line of reasoning.

Then, he jumped in front of an elevator and used the mirror effect of the metal and the moonlight and starlight shining through the window to see his unclear reflection.

Looking at himself, Shang Jianyao said:

"Jiang Baimian has long legs, and I have long legs.

"Jiang Baimian is very powerful, and I am very powerful.

"So?"

His eyes had become deep and dark at some point, and his mouth opened, muttering to himself:

"So, we are the same."

During this process, Qiao Chu originally wanted to stop him, but on the one hand, he had to fight against the inexplicable, strong desire, which distracted him. On the other hand, he felt that Shang Jianyao could create some different changes and break the current situation, so he was somewhat expectant. Therefore, he ultimately chose to be prepared and watch coldly.

After "deceiving" himself, Shang Jianyao turned his head and looked at Jiang Baimian.

His eyes became even darker.

A strong thought suddenly arose in Jiang Baimian's mind:

"Although I really want that item behind the door and want to get it, I absolutely can't show it so eagerly, and I can't say it directly, because that would make me very embarrassed!"

In a flash, Jiang Baimian turned her body halfway and stomped her foot lightly:

"You guys go, you guys go, I'm not going."

Shang Jianyao turned to the same place and also stomped his foot lightly:

"You guys go, you guys go, I'm not going."

Seeing this scene, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong felt strange, astonished, and amused all at once.

For a moment, the strong desire in their hearts was diluted a lot.

Jiang Baimian, still in a pretentious state, glared at Shang Jianyao:

"Why are you copying me?"

"Why are you copying me?" Shang Jianyao imitated everything from her eyes and language to her micro-expressions perfectly.

At this time, the pretentious state on Jiang Baimian's body receded.

Recalling the scenes just now, she couldn't help but laugh out loud:

"Are you trying to use a way to make us laugh to death to resist that inexplicable cognition and desire?"

"Are you trying to use a way to make us laugh to death to resist that inexplicable cognition and desire?" Shang Jianyao laughed along.

Qiao Chu's lips twitched slightly, and he subconsciously wanted to warn them in a deep voice to be serious.

This was the intelligence network center in the city ruins, a place full of danger, so silent that it was creepy. How could they be joking around and constantly filled with laughter?

Jiang Baimian thought for two seconds and said, suppressing her laughter:

"My hair is long, your hair is short."

"My hair is long..." Shang Jianyao repeated to this point, then suddenly couldn't continue.

His eyes returned to normal.

"Seize this opportunity," he said immediately.

Jiang Baimian suddenly woke up. Taking advantage of the fact that the inexplicable desire hadn't had time to erode her again, she quickly came to the vermilion double wooden door.

"Get to both sides," she instructed Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and the others as she reached out and grabbed the rusty metal handle.

After waiting for a few seconds, Jiang Baimian suddenly twisted the handle and pushed open the door.

Without any hesitation, she did a somersault and rolled to hide next to the elevator.

Bang bang bang! Da da da!

Continuous gunshots came from the bottom and top of the stairs, and a storm of bullets enveloped the space at the entrance of the emergency exit.

If Long Yuehong and the others had rashly opened the door, they would have been riddled with holes by now.

--Qiao Chu was controlled by that strong, strange desire and completely forgot to use the "Comprehensive Early Warning System" that came with the exoskeleton device.

Amidst the gunshots, Jiang Baimian took down a tactical grenade hanging on her equipment belt and prepared to pull the pin and throw it towards the emergency exit door.

She had calculated the trajectory and wanted to use the reflection of the wall to make the grenade fall towards the bottom of the stairs.

Just at this time, the shooting stopped.

Jiang Baimian silently hung the tactical grenade back, holding the grenade launcher in one hand and the "United 202" in the other, focusing on sensing the various electrical signals in the emergency exit.

"The 'Mindless' above have retreated, and there's interference below, so the signal isn't very clear, but there are only two left at most..." Soon, Jiang Baimian gave the information.

At this time, the inexplicable cognition and desire that there was a precious thing hidden in the emergency exit and that it had to be obtained as soon as possible had disappeared, and Qiao Chu had completely returned to normal.

Relying on the exoskeleton device and the "Comprehensive Early Warning System," he rolled and entered the emergency exit.

Deep in the stairs leading to the underground machine room, a figure was looking up.

This was a woman. She looked relatively young, with fairly regular features, but the whites of her eyes were more prominent than the pupils, making them quite cloudy and bloodshot.

She was around 1.65 meters tall and wore a deflated white down jacket. She was cleaner than other "Mindless" from top to bottom.

She stood quietly in the depths of the darkness, like a ghost wandering in the night, silently watching the target she wanted to kill.

If it weren't for the "Comprehensive Early Warning System," Qiao Chu wouldn't have been able to see her clearly.

Before Qiao Chu could launch the grenade, the "Mindless" pressed down with one hand and jumped straight down, disappearing into the depths of the stairs.

"Is that the 'Higher Mindless' that Wu Shoushi and the others encountered?" Jiang Baimian approached the entrance and asked.

Qiao Chu nodded slightly.

"Phew, as expected," Jiang Baimian breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Long Yuehong sighed in relief as if he had survived a disaster:

"Fortunately, the 'Mindless' don't have much intelligence. If they had shot directly just now, instead of waiting for us to open the door, at least half of us would have died."

The vermilion double wooden door couldn't stop bullets.

But in the eyes of the "Mindless" who followed their instincts, obstacles seemed to be just obstacles that had to be opened.

"Don't say such things now, it's unlucky," Bai Chen turned her head and glanced at Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong was always particularly sensitive to words like "lucky," "unlucky," "ominous," and "fate," so he closed his mouth tightly after hearing this.

Qiao Chu glanced at the dark stairs ahead and said in a deep voice:

"Let's go down."

He paused and then ordered:

"You guys go first."

It was time to play the role of bait.

ps: Both updates for today have been delivered. Asking for recommendation tickets on Monday~