Jiang Baimian didn't immediately end her rest. Instead, she patiently waited until the predetermined half hour was up before turning to Du Heng and saying:
“Teacher Du Heng, I think the time is almost up. We can continue onward.”
Du Heng closed the *Sanxuan Jianzhu* he held in his hands and said with a smile:
“Very punctual.
“Actually, there’s no need to rush. I’m a lazy person and not the type to get anxious.”
A smile appeared on Jiang Baimian’s face, which was hidden behind her mask. She said sincerely:
“Shang Jianyao has already gained some insights in the dreamland, which gives me some confidence for the explorations ahead.”
As for what those gains were, it was naturally inconvenient to say.
And precisely because it was inconvenient to say, it was perfectly reasonable for her and Shang Jianyao to use the exoskeleton’s communication system to communicate privately without having to hide it.
“Yes, yes.” Shang Jianyao chimed in with great pride.
Du Heng dropped the book, stood up, and said with a smile:
“Let’s go then.”
He then turned his gaze to the tightly closed silver-white double doors.
Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, wearing military exoskeletons, walked over and reached out, each pressing on one side of the door.
With heavy creaks and interspersed harsh noises, the silver-white doors swung open.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao “exclaimed”:
“So, it’s a password door!”
A door that required a password to open automatically.
“You think I didn’t know that?” Jiang Baimian retorted irritably.
With Old Ge not here, and relying solely on the auxiliary chip inside her “electric eel” prosthetic limb and Shang Jianyao, the undergraduate-level “electronic expert,” it would be difficult to crack the Eighth Research Institute’s system in a short amount of time.
Since that was the case, it was better to try to force it open first.
Jiang Baimian thought that if they couldn’t push it, they would directly use “laser emitters” and “electromagnetic weapons” to destroy the door after confirming that there were no traps. Who knew that the strength of the military exoskeleton combined with the biological prosthetic limb was indeed extraordinary.
Jiang Baimian didn’t discuss this matter with Shang Jianyao because she could guess with her toes that this guy would say, “Why don’t we just use a nuclear bomb? It opens doors neatly and leaves no future troubles.”
Shang Jianyao had already forgotten about the door and turned his gaze forward.
It was a tunnel wide enough for two large trucks to pass side by side. The ground was made of concrete, and two metal rails were laid on it. They shimmered with a cold luster under the light of the cave ceiling.
Other than these, the tunnel was empty, so quiet that it seemed like no humans had entered it for decades.
The heavy, oppressive feeling in Jiang Baimian’s heart grew stronger, as if the source of the storm was right ahead.
“It’s a bit dim,” Shang Jianyao said with emotion.
Du Heng laughed:
“It’s the problem with the electromagnetic environment.”
He strode forward, passing Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao, and entered the tunnel.
The sound of his footsteps echoed far away, further highlighting the deathly silence here.
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao followed closely behind, heading towards the end of the tunnel.
“Not bad, there’s a bit of wind,” Shang Jianyao seriously evaluated the working environment.
Jiang Baimian nodded lightly:
“It seems there’s a place leading to the outside.”
Later, along the way, they saw abandoned railcars, several robots standing quietly at the edge, and a small amount of metal parts scattered on the ground.
“It seems that this place relies on robots to maintain automated operations,” Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully. “But as the Eighth Research Institute moved, most of the robots in good condition were taken away, and the work here stagnated. Hmm, I wonder what they were transporting deeper inside…”
It was obvious that the remaining robots were in the repair stage.
“Hey, there’s not a single person,” Shang Jianyao said disappointedly. “To walk all the way here and find it like this is so unreal, so fake, just like something out of a fantasy!”
“It’s not an illusion,” Du Heng replied with certainty.
“What do you want it to be like?” Jiang Baimian asked casually.
Shang Jianyao said in a longing tone:
“Starting from near the entrance, fight the people of the Eighth Research Institute one battle after another, from weak to strong, and finally arrive here.”
“That’s the fantasy,” Jiang Baimian scoffed. “Facing an intruder like you, the strongest ones would definitely join forces to besiege and kill you.”
Du Heng also laughed:
“It would be best if there were no conflicts.
“We seek to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
As they spoke, their voices echoed far away.
In this way, they traveled for more than half an hour in this tunnel with only rails, special freight cars, robots, parts, and oil stains.
Finally, the end of the tunnel appeared in their eyes.
There was a pair of equally heavy iron-black double doors.
In Jiang Baimian’s feeling, behind the door was the source of the storm, the direct cause of the heavy, oppressive, and dim atmosphere in this area.
Just then, Du Heng said in a slightly pained tone:
“I remember now, that thing is behind the door…”
“Open it now?” Shang Jianyao asked eagerly.
“You decide,” Du Heng replied, returning to normal. He said with a smile, “If you don’t dare, you can go back to the place where you rested before, and I’ll open it myself.”
Jiang Baimian didn’t reply immediately but switched to the exoskeleton’s communication system to say to Shang Jianyao:
“In your perception, what’s behind the door?”
“I don’t know,” Shang Jianyao answered bluntly.
“Describe the feeling,” Jiang Baimian pressed.
Shang Jianyao began to organize his words:
“How should I put it? It’s about the same feeling as when you raise your left hand at me every time, and the electric light flashes.
“Hmm, it’s also like there’s a vast sea outside, and we’ve come directly to the bottom of the sea. As soon as we go out, we can see the Crystal Palace.”
Jiang Baimian almost laughed at the first description, but the later words gave her a direct understanding:
The water pressure at the bottom of the sea is very strong.
“No other anomalies?” she asked again.
“No,” Shang Jianyao said very certainly.
Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said:
“Seize the time to go to Room ‘205’ and confirm whether the door to the ‘New World’ in the dream can be opened. Hmm, definitely don’t go in. The main thing is to confirm, otherwise, if we encounter an accident later and desperately need to enter the ‘New World’ to fight the danger, and find that the door can’t be opened by ordinary means, then the joke will be too big.”
“Okay,” Shang Jianyao agreed without hesitation.
He turned to Du Heng and said:
“Teacher Du Heng, I’ll make some preparations before opening the door.”
“Mm,” Du Heng nodded.
Shang Jianyao, relying on the military exoskeleton, just stood there and entered a slumber.
…………
“Pangu Biology,” at the entrance to the underground building.
The jeep driven by Bai Chen and Long Yuehong arrived at the inspection area.
Because the season was right, the road conditions were good, and they weren’t too afraid of common dangers, they entered the “express lane” not long after heading south from Gesterborg, and it only took them half a month to return to the company.
Looking at the metal door in front, Long Yuehong sighed somewhat heavily:
“We’re back again.”
“Mm,” Bai Chen pursed her lips.
…………
“Mind Corridor,” inside Room “205.”
As soon as Shang Jianyao entered, he stood in front of the deep black door that existed in both reality and illusion.
Without hesitation, he reached out his hands and pushed forward with all his strength.
Streams of light shone into the dim corridor, and a tower that pierced into the clouds was reflected in Shang Jianyao’s eyes.
Surrounding the tower were various buildings with lit lamps, forming a small city.
Shang Jianyao felt the call of that tower, felt a kind of fatal attraction.
He forcibly took a few steps back, turned, and left Room “205,” without entering that “New World.”
…………
After returning to reality, Shang Jianyao opened his eyes and nodded to Jiang Baimian, meaning to confirm that there were no errors and that the door to the “New World” could be opened.
Jiang Baimian breathed a sigh of relief and calmed her mind before saying:
“Open the door.”
At the same time as she spoke, she also stretched out her hands, which were covered with metal skeletons.
Shang Jianyao struck the same pose.
The two began to exert force, and the heavy iron-black double doors made a slight sound.
As the gap in the door grew larger, soft natural light shone into the dead tunnel.
Then, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian saw a tower.
It was located in the center of the valley, surrounded by all kinds of buildings and the roads connecting them.
These formed a small city.
After a brief silence, Shang Jianyao made a sound:
“‘New World’…”
Hearing this, Jiang Baimian’s heart stirred, and she suddenly turned her head.
In the next second, she saw Du Heng, wearing a long black robe, shatter and disappear little by little like a dreamlike bubble.
Just as Jiang Baimian’s pupils dilated, as if trapped in an illusion, within that city in the valley outside, figures walked out from different places. Their clothes were quite old, their gazes were dull, their eyes were lifeless, and they moved unsteadily, each of them like the living dead.
Woo!
The wind blew into the valley, playing a piercing instrument.
(End of Volume Seven)