After stocking up at the maximum level, all the handsome men in the apocalypse are looking for suppo

Chapter 161 The Secret of the Underground Shopping Mall

After the door was completely locked, Su Wanqing stood there for a while, letting everyone take a short break.

The bronze light streamed down from the spare lights, casting a yellowish glow on everyone's faces.

Everyone still carried their backpacks, but they all relaxed their movements a bit.

Lu Zhao first removed the portable host and walked towards the secondary control room on the east side.

He kept the hard drive wrapped tightly around his body at all times, fearing that something might happen to it.

He found the spare server in the corner, checked the ports one by one, unplugged the original data cable, and plugged his own data cable back in.

He said softly, "Restore communication first. If the server can be turned on, we can restore some of the original data."

The only sound in the room was the low whirring of the computer fan. Lin Che took the medical kit, made some simple arrangements, and placed the basic medicines on the temporary medical table in the main hall.

On the folding table, there was still a note written by the person who had stayed there last time; the edges of the paper were curled up, and the contents were blurred.

Xiao Ran handed the remaining signal flares to Lin Che for him to keep, then picked up his gun and walked to the front gate.

He muttered to himself, "It has electronic controls, airlocks, and physical locks, and the innermost iron door is even double-layered. They've really put in a lot of effort." He opened his backpack, checked the ammunition, and then his shoulders slumped. "I'm going out for a walk around and check all the guard posts."

Su Wanqing didn't turn around, but whispered, "Find out the fast route and backup route thoroughly, we need to be ready to evacuate at any time."

Xiao Ran took two steps out of the main hall, his gun butt hanging low, his breathing becoming steady.

The underground shopping mall had wide passageways, and there were actually faint marks drawn on the floor. He observed the area close to the wall, memorizing the location of each exit.

As he strolled to the east and west ventilation shafts, he noticed a new track embedded in the wall, leading to a small emergency passage not far away.

He approached the stone wall, took out a knife, and tapped the rail with the back of the knife, feeling the solid vibration.

The lock on the next door was newly replaced. He squatted down and touched it; the iron door had no old rust, indicating that it had been maintained recently.

Xiao Ran's lips curled up slightly involuntarily. "There are three emergency exits leading to the outside world here. It's really reassuring."

He marked all the exits with red paint for inspection and then returned to the main hall.

On the other side, Lu Zhao entered the final command, and the backup server emitted a soft clicking sound.

Cool air slowly wafted out, and the screen ran line after line of code for self-testing.

Lu Zhao gripped the USB drive and skillfully recovered the data. He held his breath for a few seconds, then inserted the external hard drive into the main unit and typed out a series of recovery commands.

With the external power supply relatively stable, he took out the blood sample processing kit, extracted the girl's blood sample, and put on gloves.

On the table sits a miniature centrifuge and a bottle of preservation solution.

Lin Che walked over to him, leaned in, and said, "Do you want to speed up the analysis? You must have kept a lot of that plan, right?"

Lu Zhao's expression was indifferent: "It's all here, with backup instructions. I'll first test the activity reaction between the pendant and the sample. If the power doesn't stop, we can get the first set of individual data tonight."

Lin Che nodded without saying anything more and turned to pack up the medical equipment.

At this moment, the girl with the childlike voice remained silent. After looking around a few times, she walked straight towards a side room deep in the passage.

The door wasn't completely closed; she pushed it open, and it slowly swung open. Inside was a single bed, the mattress still clean, and an old cloth trunk at the foot of the bed, with several brightly colored children's books on it.

In the innermost part of the room, against the wall, there is a small bookshelf, with some picture books and illustrations tucked into the bottom shelf.

The bed was placed right next to the ground, the right size, and the little girl was just the right height.

She reached out and touched the headboard, took off her backpack almost without hesitation, tested the firmness of the bed, blinked and looked around before sitting down.

A hint of doubt crept into Su Wanqing's expression. She followed the girl over, reached out to steady herself on the doorframe, and asked in a low voice, "Do you know this place?"

The girl with the childlike voice didn't look up, but whispered, "I had a dream when I was little. I dreamt that there was a bed and books inside. But I can't remember it all."

Su Wanqing remained silent after hearing this, leaning against the door as she randomly checked the room. She bent down and walked to the small bookshelf, pulling out several old books and examining them carefully.

Two of the books had covers with common children's stories on them, while the other three were hardcover notebooks.

She randomly picked up a book and opened it, only to find it was entirely blank. On the title page, a line of words was written in light blue ink: "For my little musical notes."

There were no signs of erasure or tearing in the book, as if it had been specially made for the child.

Su Wanqing ran her fingertips over the cover, instinctively frowning. She handed the book to the girl with the childlike voice and asked, "Have you seen this before?"

The girl glanced at the book, hugged it, and didn't answer. She slowly placed the book under her pillow, then curled up at the head of the bed. She didn't say anything more, just looked towards the door, her gaze calm.

In the lobby, Lin Che stuffed his gloves into the first-aid kit and said in a low voice, "This place is prepared to such a high standard, with such detailed functional divisions, complete with both defense and medical facilities. There's even an independent generator."

Su Wanqing nodded and unfolded the map again on the dining table. "The backup power supply is in the westernmost service well compartment, while the main oil and power supply is still laid out according to the original air defense project."

"I brought the circuit diagrams." She turned to Lu Zhao and said, "Don't connect all the main equipment to a single line; prioritize the medical team and the database."

With the power bank plugged in, Lu Zhao ignored the other instructions and proceeded to perform calculations on the control panel.

Once the terminal stabilized, Lu Zhao moved the luggage while adjusting the blood samples. "Blood sample processing and pendant testing are my responsibility. Don't touch them."

He drew a small tube of blood from the girl with the childlike voice and stored it in a centrifuge, moving swiftly.

He then pulled out a pendant from his pocket and connected it to a miniature scanner. He integrated the analysis results with previous data and noted the key points in the lower left corner of the screen.

Lin Che returned to the medical station to check the medications. While verifying the anti-inflammatory drugs and basic bandages, he casually asked, "How many sets of samples do you plan to use for comparison?"

Lu Zhao didn't turn around. "Three groups, but the most crucial one is the connection between that abnormal frequency and the pendant signal. I have separate code to track the propagation point."

Lin Che muttered, "Don't stay up too late. Everyone's energy is limited. Let's save some energy for later."

Xiao Ran pushed the door open and came in, shook the dust off his hands, and kicked the door shut with a wooden wedge.

"There are three exits outside, and there's an emergency escape shaft by the airlock—it's easy to run away. There are no danger signs around, and no one has come to disturb us for at least the last few hours."

Su Wanqing handed him a map and pointed to two red dots: "These two places are the deepest, with half of the ammunition stored in each. We can prioritize evacuating people and leave some for signal jamming."

Xiao Ran nodded and split the ammunition in two. "I've also set up alarms on that defense line. They can send a signal as soon as there's any movement."

He turned and walked to a corner of the hall, picked up a heavily worn steel plate, and quietly glanced at it.

On the west wall of the main hall, below the words "Goodnight," there is a newly carved line of small characters.

The ink-black color clung to the seams of the metal sheet, slowly seeping in: "The last refuge prepared for you, my angel."

Xiao Ran wiped his face with his sleeve, not daring to touch it any further. He turned around and whispered, "Have you guys seen that line of small print? It's written with great care."

Lu Zhao peeked out from the data station, glanced at the words, said nothing, and then lowered his head to record the buffer data.

Lin Che stood by the table, silently staring at the wall, without making any obvious movement.

He pulled a piece of medicated cloth from the medicine box, folded it mechanically, and put it back in the drawer.

Su Wanqing walked over, stared at the line of small print for a while, but didn't react.

She placed her hand on the cabinet door. "No need to clean anymore. Everyone, please get back to your tasks. Organize the medical and technical areas in the main area, and patrol the corridors in shifts according to the plan."

Lu Zhao picked up a pot of cold water, poured himself a glass, and rested his chin on his hand while looking at the equipment's monitoring interface.

The saved data was filled in one by one, the blood sample data was refreshed, and the pendant's reaction was also scrolling in sync.

He ignored the quiet in the room, moved the sample to the next test tube, and kept writing supplementary results.

The girl with the childlike voice hugged a blank notebook and lay by the pile of books on her bedside table. She ran her fingertips over each blank page, occasionally tapping the edge of the title page with her pencil.

She asked the person outside, "Who lived here before?"

Su Wanqing didn't answer directly, but said only, "Someone should have made special preparations for the child."

Lu Zhao's testing progress is more than halfway complete, and the energy level curve in the data analysis has begun to decline.

He looked up and said, "The equipment is running stably, and the pendants and blood samples are all within controllable limits. Most of the data should be available by tomorrow morning."

Lin Che hung the last bag of energy supplements on the hook on the side door of the small counter, and casually reached under the table leg to find a spare signal antenna, which he then plugged into the back of the device.

"Two more patrol teams will be the safety line."

Xiao Ran put down his backpack behind the iron gate, took out his gloves, and sat down on the folding chair near the door.

"Nothing unusual. I should be able to sleep for a few hours tonight."

No one spoke again. The only sounds in the hall were the faint hum of the equipment and the occasional footsteps.

Su Wanqing leaned against the edge of the table, closed the blank notebook in her hand, and put it into her backpack.