Chapter 030 Chu Mufan

　　Youyou had been curious at the time, so she asked several old friends from the First Team and pieced together most of the story...

　　Now she told the skinny, pitiful man before her everything she knew...

　　It had happened a few days earlier.

　　Team Star, still searching for the truth of his identity, had followed the flickering images in his mind. He led more than twenty elite members of the First Search Team across nearly half of Hubei Province, until they reached a small city called Huangshi. Deep inside an emptied mine called Tieshan (Iron Mountain), they discovered a heavily concealed underground laboratory. One of the team members, who had been a scientist before the apocalypse, said there was a strange symbol on the lab’s main door.

　　It looked like four stars: two side by side on the top row, two side by side on the bottom.

　　From each star stretched beams of light upward, downward, left, and right, forming cross-shaped rays. The right beam of the upper star connected to the left beam of the lower star, weaving the lights together like a net —a net woven from starlight...

　　The equipment inside the lab was extremely advanced, comparable to a toplevel national laboratory in Country M. Many of the strange devices were so cuttingedge that even the scientist on the team could not identify them. The lab was also incredibly wellhidden, buried beneath a former mining attraction. No ordinary person would ever guess such an advanced facility existed here. No one knew how Team Star’s memories had led him to this place...

　　Like any survivors, the First Search Team’s first instinct upon finding such a site was to scavenge — to take every resource and piece of equipment they could carry.

　　At that point, Team Star went deeper into the lab alone. The other members gathered to discuss, all agreeing that a lab with such advanced technology must hold something extraordinary! They risked turning on the backup power, hoping to find advanced weapons or equipment…

　　The moment the power came on, the entire laboratory blazed to life.

　　Everyone’s eyes lit up, then immediately strained.

　　The bright white light flooded the pure white walls and equipment, blinding the search team, who had long grown used to darkness...

　　After a while, their eyes slowly adjusted.

　　The men looked around and realized the lab was far larger than it had seemed in the dark.

　　Signs of fighting were everywhere: shattered glass across the floor, dented walls, broken instruments.

　　They could only wonder what kind of monster had battled here. Deep inside the lab stood several tightly sealed doors, their destinations unknown...

　　A row of computer monitors in the center was still intact, displaying strange data and diagrams of the human body…

　　Inside the mysterious Tieshan Lab, Qin Yong, vicecaptain of the First Search Team — a shrewd, mediumbuilt, sturdy man — led his team in searching for a way to open the sealed doors. He glanced at the data and images on the screen, then turned to a short, bespectacled man beside him. “Zhang Ruicai — you got any idea what this stuff means?”

　　“Looks like… human body data,” Zhang Ruicai said, tapping the touch keyboard built into the white console.

　　“Damn. The database’s been wiped. Nothing left to read. But the system still kind of works.”

　　“Just get those doors open!” Qin Yong said, pointing at the several sealed white doors deeper inside.

　　“I’ll try.” Zhang Ruicai stared intently at the screen, his fingers flying over the virtual keyboard.

　　Watching Zhang Ruicai focus on the system, Qin Yong gathered the rest of the team, who had just been standing around uselessly, near the doors.

　　“Anyone seen the captain?” Qin Yong asked. The men all shook their heads in perfect unison.

　　“Qin, you know him by now. Whenever we hit some weird, secret place like this, he always goes off alone.”

　　“Yeah. He’s dead set on figuring out who he is. But honestly… it’s the apocalyptic era. Even if he remembers his past, what good does it do? His families have probably long gone. Better off not knowing.” One of the team members spoke up.

　　“Shut your mouth! What the hell do you know? Team Star could’ve been from some big powerful family due to his strength. Maybe his folks found a safe haven somewhere. If he can contact them, he might take us all there to live in peace!” Another man shot back.

　　“Enough nonsense! The captain’s gone off alone again. But you know him—if anything happens, he’ll be here in an instant. Keep searching carefully, you hear me?” Qin Yong snapped, cutting off their gossip about their superior. Team Star was incredibly powerful, but he was quiet and distant, not strict with his men, which lets them chatter about him freely.

　　Were such a thing in Gou Li’s team, nobody would dare gossip about him—unless they felt like losing their tongues!

　　Once again, everyone nodded in perfect unison.

　　“Alright, same as always. I’ll take temporary command. Let me fill you in: this lab is probably bigger than we thought. I’ve got Ruicai working on opening those doors ahead.” Qin Yong pointed toward the sealed doors.

　　“If they open, we split into groups of five. One group per door. Use your radios if you run into trouble. Fire your weapons if you have to. Sound good?”

　　“Yep, works for me. We hit a jackpot like this — not leaving empty-handed!” someone said.

　　“Good. Let’s see if we can get these doors open!”

　　As soon as he finished, He heard sounds like hiss… hiss… hiss…! The sealed doors began sliding open slowly to both sides...

　　“Alright! It worked, haha!” Zhang Ruicai clapped his hands in excitement.

　　Qin Yong rushed over at once. “How is it? All the inner doors open?”

　　“Yeah, all of them. But the backup power’s almost dead. We need to go in soon.”

　　“Got it. You stay here and hold the fort. You can back us up if something goes wrong. Take this radio. Call us immediately if you see or hear anything!” Qin Yong said.

　　“Sure thing. Be careful out there! This place feels weird. The system doesn’t look like it’s from our country… or any other I know. I’ve been a hacker for years, never seen anything like it. If the defense systems weren’t already broken, I never would’ve gotten in this fast!” Zhang Ruicai warned them seriously.