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Chapter 213 Underground Maze
Su Wanqing pushed open the metal door that had almost killed her, her legs went weak, and she and Lu Zhao leaned against the wall to catch their breath.

Before me was a low, gray corridor, dimly lit and humming.

Su Wanqing took a breath, pressing the throbbing pain in her temples. The message left by "Night" was brief, and only one sentence remained in her mind—"Continue down, old logistics elevator."

Lu Zhao swayed slightly, still clutching his shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "How far is the exit?"

Su Wanqing shook her head and hoisted the core box back to her chest. "He said there's an elevator, so it shouldn't be too far."

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled rumble came from behind, and the metal door shook twice.

The two supported each other, smelling the musty, rusty scent in the air, and walked step by step into the depths where there was only one indicator light.

Sure enough, at the end of the corridor stood a huge, old-fashioned freight elevator. The elevator doors were warped, and several broken steel cables were still hanging from them. Only the number "-6" was lit on the buttons; the rest were just charred holes.

Su Wanqing bent down and patted the control box, the gears inside making a clicking sound.

Lu Zhao frowned and pressed himself against the steel door. "This depth is far beyond what's shown in the official blueprints."

Su Wanqing glanced at the nameplate next to the freight elevator, which read "Top Secret Level - Time Anchoring Experimental Area" in old font.

She brought the jade bracelet close to the button, and the "Night" notification only said one sentence: You must go to the sixth floor.

The jade bracelet only emitted a faint blue light, and the navigation system did not respond at all.

Lu Zhao hesitated for two seconds, then chuckled, "If it breaks, it'll head straight for hell."

He stumbled, shielding Su Wanqing behind him, and casually pressed the descent button.

The elevator shuddered violently, clicking and rattling as if it were about to break. The half-open safety door creaked as the car slowly descended, the dim yellow light bulbs around it flickering.

The descent was unusually long. Su Wanqing stared at the elevator pointer, counting each step as it descended. The pointer bounced back several times, then stopped heavily. Every time the steel cable swayed, her heart leaped.

The elevator suddenly stopped midway through the journey, and the car seemed to lose its support, plummeting downwards. The two people nearly fell.

The elevator slowly came to a stop again, and the door finally opened with difficulty.

It was completely silent outside, with no signs, peeling cement from the walls, and a thick layer of old ash on the ground. There was nothing there except for them.

Su Wanqing looked down. The small nameplate embedded by the threshold had only a few dry words: Time Anchoring Experimental Zone - Top Secret.

Lu Zhao's breathing was a little erratic. "We're here." His forehead was covered in sweat.

Su Wanqing pulled him out of the elevator step by step. All around were parallel radial corridors with ramps of various heights intersecting, like a spiral winding and staggered.

Su Wanqing tried scanning with the jade bracelet, but the blue light flashed and then went out. The chip temperature was still rising, and it could not navigate at all.

Lu Zhao swallowed hard and said, "There's no going back." His eyelids were burning, fresh blood seeped from the bandages, and his face was slightly pale.

The two could only move forward by relying on the sticky arrows left on the wall and the occasional flicker of dim light.

Su Wanqing supported him, and sometimes she could make out handwritten numbers and strange marks on the base of the wall.

The corridor was becoming more and more like a maze, with constant branching, and ramps that would suddenly rise or fall, with remnants of gates lying across the way from time to time.

Unable to discern directions, Su Wanqing simply followed the arrows that she could barely distinguish between light and dark.

Lu Zhao gradually developed a high fever, his steps became unsteady, and sometimes he would lean against the wall, gritting his teeth as he moved forward.

He asked in a low voice, "Can you still tell which way is the exit?"

Su Wanqing shook her head, fastened the suitcase, and pushed Lu Zhao toward the light. "Don't say anything, let's talk when we get to the end."

However, the two had only taken a few steps when they heard scattered footsteps and low growls overhead. Someone was moving quickly in the upper compartment, and there were occasional sounds of heavy objects rubbing together.

Sometimes, it's the sound of steel being torn apart, mixed with suppressed gasps and shouts.

Su Wanqing felt a chill run down her spine, and Lu Zhao's body visibly tensed. They heard a military squad communicating in hushed tones—chaotic and urgent, but the words were distinguishable: "Divide into four groups, check layer by layer," "Beware of 'lurkers,' prioritize capturing S-7 and the third core alive."

After walking for an unknown amount of time, an automatic door was half-open. Inside was a circular laboratory with old, dusty walls and a huge holographic wall hanging from the ceiling.

Su Wanqing mustered her remaining strength and pushed open the door a crack. Lu Zhao gritted his teeth and squeezed in. Most of the machines in the room were broken, except for the most conspicuous holographic projection table, which still had a faint glow.

She hesitated for a moment, then tried it with the jade bracelet, and the holographic device was activated.

A beam of light illuminated the center of the laboratory. A map showing the distribution of the seven energy cores appeared on the wall, each core marked with a different color: purple at the center, surrounded by red, blue, green, orange, yellow, and silver-white.

The core functions and their corresponding numbers are also displayed next to it.

Su Wanqing stared at the composite image, her nerves taut. She had seen this pattern many times in her dreams: an outer ring embracing the center, intertwined at the core, actually some kind of complex time knot—she always woke up within this pattern just before the end of her dream.

She whispered to Lu Zhao, "This is what I dream about every time."

Lu Zhao stared at the holographic lightbox, his wrist trembling slightly. Just as he was about to step forward, a progress bar lit up on the wall, with a line of explanatory text scrolling across it—

"Seven cores constitute the main device of the 'Time Loom,' which must be matched with human anchors to activate the time rewriting authority."

There were three activation tests in history, the last one occurring 72 hours before the virus outbreak. The test status was: catastrophic failure - worldline disruption - emergency protocol activation.

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "It's not just a simple energy source; the entire device requires all seven cores to be assembled."

She reached out and touched the fluorescently marked anchor point symbol with her fingertip. "This 'anchor point'... is it human neural data?"

Lu Zhao's voice was hoarse: "The structure in your brain. You are the 'anchor point'."

"They said 'S-7' from above, they know it." His voice became hoarse, and the emergency light beside him flashed twice, followed by the distant clanging of metal being dragged diagonally down the corridor, the echo reverberating.

While silently reciting the mysterious numbers on the holographic wall, Su Wanqing lifted the core box to look at it. Even the jade bracelet was no longer hot, only cold.

She suddenly thought of something and moved closer to Lu Zhao, "The catastrophic failure they're talking about, is it the jumper wire breaking? Or is it simply impossible to return to the original point in time?"

Lu Zhao nodded, his forehead sweating more and more, and muttered to himself, "They're keeping it from everyone; what they really want is to reset the cataclysm."

He had barely finished speaking when a series of footsteps echoed under the emergency lights, accompanied by the loading of metal firearms.

The two quickly exited the circular laboratory and switched back to the corridor from the circular hall.

As he passed through an old door, Lu Zhao's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. He pulled out his backpack, clutching a small hacking device in his hand.

His hand was trembling, but he still plugged in the data cable.

Su Wanqing helped him set up a dilapidated instrument table behind the door, and the two of them shrank into a blind spot in the equipment room.

Lu Zhao looked down at the device, the screen flashing codes intermittently. He held his breath and said in a few words, "The signal scan is messed up, but military communications are very close."

Less than a minute later, Lu Zhao finally managed to steal a few segments of communication. His voice was short and sharp: "Third core priority, capture S-7 alive, kill him directly if necessary. The target's neural structure is crucial to the overall plan."

He gave a wry smile, "You've been specifically mentioned by the higher-ups."

Immediately following, a new conversation surfaced, in which the commander's tone was exceptionally stern: "The countdown to the 'Ark' project is 72 hours from now. All cores must be brought back to the Ark base. If the window of opportunity is missed, the consequences will be borne by the individual."

"Don't let anyone interfere with the signal tower's route." Lu Zhao slapped the table with his finger and gestured towards Su Wanqing with his chin: "They don't just want the core; they have another mission."

Su Wanqing frowned and lowered her voice, "'Ark' Project... They're preparing to seize the core, and they're ready to act within seventy-two hours."

The sounds of gun bolts and dog footsteps grew closer outside, and the lights in the equipment room went completely dark.

She tugged at Lu Zhao, signaling that they should leave as soon as possible. He didn't say anything, and firmly grasped the spare energy bar that Su Wanqing handed him.

Despite their injuries, the two followed the remaining scattered and dimly lit signs and moved deeper into the maze.