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

Chapter 202: Breakout from Desperate Situation
Lu Zhao gripped the lockbox, panting heavily. He heard short reports coming from the control room over the walkie-talkie. Su Wanqing's legs were still stained with oil, and the iron gate behind her was bathed in a crimson light from the alarm.

Lin Che moved swiftly, blocking the two of them with his body. Without wasting words, he grabbed Su Wanqing's arm with his right hand and said in a voice so low that only a few people could hear, "The passage is locked, pursuers are coming from all four directions, and the roads to the north and west are all cut off. We can only go down."

Su Wanqing frowned, glanced down at the jade bracelet, and ran her fingers over the embedded screen, where the light spots connected to form a string of data.

She brought the jade bracelet close to Lu Zhao's handheld terminal, and both devices flashed.

After comparing the data, the screen clearly showed that the main channel had entered a red alert state, and all backup channels had their warning symbols lit up.

The voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Squad One, the medical area is cleared; Squad Two, the underground pipes are cleared, prepare to attack the north side from both sides."

Lu Zhao glanced at the map, gritted his teeth, and said, "Three teams will charge straight in. The main control room will be completely sealed off, and the ventilation shafts and elevator shafts will be blocked as well."

Su Wanqing fastened the jade bracelet again: "The commotion is too great, they've resorted to coercive measures. You two move closer to this side first." She leaned against the metal wall and subconsciously touched her waist bag.

The alarm sounded again. Lu Zhao rummaged through his toolbox and pulled out a megaphone. He lowered his voice and said, "There's an abandoned maintenance well on the northernmost side, but no one has ever walked through this area on the engineering drawings before."

Lin Che stared silently at his surroundings, saying nothing more. His breathing was extremely slow, and the veins on his clenched fists were bulging.

He suddenly pulled the two of them and tapped them three times against the half-bent wall to the side.

A rusty panel nearby popped open with a snap. He gently pried open the entrance.

Su Wanqing scanned her surroundings with her jade bracelet and found no high-energy signals leaking out.

Lu Zhao took a deep breath, and the three of them filed inside.

The inside of the pipe was slippery and cramped, and with every meter forward, one could hear the chaotic footsteps and the clanging of metal in the distance.

After crawling less than thirty meters, a large cloud of dust rushed towards us. Halfway down the pipeline, the entire section sank, and two pieces of sheet metal collapsed irregularly.

Lu Zhao tapped the ground with his tool: "A few more meters and it's a dead end. This place won't last much longer."

Lin Che calmly looked around without flinching. "There's something we can try using this passage."

He reached out and pried up a broken support beam, creating just enough space for himself to squeeze through.

Su Wanqing lowered her head, opened the jade bracelet, and swiped her finger to bring up the application. The emergency reinforcement liquid stored in the supplies area immediately flashed on the screen.

She pressed the instant activation button, and a can of high-polymer emergency adhesive stored inside the jade bracelet seeped out of the nozzle, quickly covering the collapsed support point.

Half a minute later, the colloid solidified into a transparent block, and the pipe was barely held up.

Lu Zhao immediately crawled over, his body aching from the metal sheet. He waved back.

Su Wanqing crawled forward, panting all the way. Lin Che steadily supported the two of them from behind, and was the last one to squeeze through.

They managed to crawl out at the last second before the collapse, and heard a soft rumbling sound and small collapses behind them.

Just as Lu Zhao climbed out of the landslide area, his terminal suddenly flashed an alert.

"A heat source signal is approaching from behind; it's a special forces team, and they're carrying new equipment."

Su Wanqing's breathing was extremely low. "Thermal imaging, they can track us into the pipes."

Noisy footsteps could be heard ahead, and the faint sound of military communications could be heard.

"No target visible 30 meters ahead, continue advancing."

Lin Che slowly turned his head and glanced back. "Two minutes later, a team will catch up."

The pipeline outlet faced a partially open inspection well. Su Wanqing massaged her wrist while pulling out her jade bracelet.

She whispered a reminder: "We need to hurry, it's dangerous to go out the exit now."

Lu Zhao's fingers trembled, and just as he was about to speak, a strong beam of infrared light swept across the crack in the side wall.

A flashlight was turned on and shone into the maintenance well in an instant; three special forces soldiers had already silently approached.

The enemy moved with steady steps, their red goggles flashing in the dim light. They scanned the area with composure, and each carried a brand-new model of suppressive firearm and capture net gun at their waist.

Lin Che lowered his head, his voice unusually hoarse: "Don't make a sound."

He crouched low and rushed out. Before the first special forces soldier could even pull the trigger, Lin Che punched him in the shoulder.

He knocked the other man over with his shoulder, sliding across the ground and knocking the thermal imaging device out of the second soldier's hand.

As soon as the third person pulled the safety, Lin Che moved with lightning speed, twisting the opponent's capture net gun with one hand, and then striking the opponent's cervical ganglion with the other hand, knocking him down.

The whole action took less than ten seconds. Lin Che's breathing became erratic, and he wiped his lips hard with his sleeve, leaving a few drops of red on his fingers.

He shook his head and stood in the way of the passage: "Continue, don't stop."

Su Wanqing caught a glimpse of his hands stained red, but she didn't mention it. She only urged Lu Zhao to drag the special forces equipment into the concealed area, and then led the way out of the last section of the pipe. "There are still infrared heat sources approaching from behind the pipe, so we can only rely on the underground drainage system again."

Lu Zhao tucked the lockbox tightly under his arm and turned his head to ask, "Can you hold on?"

Lin Che didn't answer. "If you can leave, then leave."

As they walked to the end of the water pipe, Su Wanqing saw a drainage well. Without hesitation, she inserted the second energy core into the jade bracelet's interface.

Suddenly, the jade bracelet emitted a beam of blue light, illuminating the entire drainage well.

She was stunned for a moment. The blue light formed a straight circle, and the jade bracelet screen automatically switched, displaying several unfamiliar operating interfaces.

The "Storage" section had doubled in capacity, and a "Memory Bank" module lit up for two seconds. She hurriedly downloaded part of the data, but a string of garbled characters froze on the screen.

"There's more space in the jade bracelet now, so we can afford it," Su Wanqing said softly.

Lu Zhao, leaning against the well wall, didn't even have time to examine the data closely. He spotted a rusty iron door on the left and hurriedly pushed it open.

"This door isn't new, but it's still standing. Behind it is an abandoned drainage area."

Lin Che braced himself against the wall with one hand, paused for a moment, and a little more blood seeped from the corner of his lips.

His movements slowed, and his hand holding the knife trembled slightly, but he didn't back down. Su Wanqing noticed that his breathing was getting heavier, and his chest was rising and falling slightly.

Without saying much, she handed all the first aid supplies to Lu Zhao to stand in front, and then took out her jade bracelet and turned it to the highest lighting setting.

After turning into the drainage channel, all three of them choked on the sewage. Behind the metal door was a low passageway, with discarded sensor parts embedded in the ceiling and old water stains all around. Only the blue light reflected from the jade bracelet was still relatively bright.

The pipe was blocked by a fallen steel plate, but there was still a sliver of space visible.

The exit wasn't far ahead, and Lu Zhao was about to quicken his pace when he heard soft panting behind him.

Lin Che bent down and kicked away a metal plate. His eyes were a little dark, and his lip color was lighter than before.

"You can get out from here."

Lu Zhao quickened his pace and turned to look at Lin Che. He asked, his voice sharp, "Your injury...you're not going to do anything about it?"

Lin Che raised his hand to stop him, then looked up at Su Wanqing, his gaze calm and restrained: "Su Wanqing—"

He paused, as if pondering each word. "This core isn't ordinary energy; it's also a key. Once you've collected them all, don't let anyone control you, no matter who it is, including me."

He coughed as he spoke, blood seeping from between his lips. He gripped a lever, gritted his teeth, snapped off the rusty doorknob, and slammed it against the outermost old iron gate.

The wall plaster shook and the iron gate creaked open with a loud crash. Outside was an open channel that ran the entire length of the ground floor. Lu Zhao was the first to drag Su Wanqing out.

Lin Che then reached his physical limit. He took another step forward, leaning against the tube wall, blood rolling down his fingertips.

Another group of armed men were chasing them in the distance, their voices rapid and incessant. Su Wanqing resisted the urge to help Lin Che, fastened the jade bracelet on her wrist, and whispered, "Quick...go!"

The group staggered out of the abandoned drainage area. No one dared to stop, and they could only grope their way forward along the narrowest line.

Lu Zhao clutched the locket tightly, his lips pressed together. Su Wanqing deliberately gripped the jade bracelet; the data she had just downloaded was stuck on the initial screen. Clicking on the "Memory Bank" revealed several blurry short clips, but the content was incomplete.

"I wish there was more information," she muttered subconsciously, her voice barely audible.

Lu Zhao heard this but said nothing, only urging her to focus on running away.

Not far beyond, the footsteps of the pursuers behind them gradually faded into the distance, but the alarm bells and communications never stopped.

When the last section of the open channel slope closed at the ground, the three people were finally free.

Lu Zhao leaned against a broken section of pipe, turned on the main control device, and stuffed the lock box into his arms.

Lin Che moved even slower, his right hand gripping the broken handle, blood seeping from between his fingers, but he didn't say anything, his movements without the slightest hesitation.

Before Su Wanqing could catch her breath, she suddenly turned around and saw Lin Che standing at the exit of the open canal. He gritted his teeth and said coldly, "The way out is now completely blocked."

After he finished speaking, he braced his hands against the wall and, propelled by inertia, crashed into the last iron gate that blocked his way.

The metal door was finally deformed by the impact. Lin Che's breathing was uneven, and his body swayed noticeably.

He managed to open a small gap, giving the two of them room to pass through.

Without a word, Lu Zhao pushed Su Wanqing out first. The light outside was so dim that only their shadows could be seen on the other side. He walked in front, carrying the lockbox on his back.

Lin Che lowered his head, wiped the blood from his lips with his sleeve, and turned his back to Su Wanqing.

Beyond the passageway lay the safe zone at the edge of the building. Finally, his back stiffened more than before, and his voice carried a hint of heaviness, "Let's go."

Su Wanqing exited the passage, while Lu Zhao was tidying up the lockbox. Lin Che was the last to move to the edge of the exit, kicked aside the clutter, glanced back at Su Wanqing, but said nothing.