Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

The armored vehicle stopped.

Lin You glanced at the technician sitting in the back seat, who looked terrified.

This is a real talent.

Seeing the other person's anxious and uneasy appearance, Lin You felt that she needed to do something to ease the atmosphere.

So, Lin You asked calmly, "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet?"

Sitting in the back seat, listening to the two discussing murder, sent chills down his spine.

He stammered, "Lin...Lin Tanzhi."

Lin You grinned, but in Lin Tanzhi's eyes, the smile was incredibly sinister and terrifying.

"Brother Lin, are you going to wait for us in the car, or come up with us?"

Lin Tanzhi replied without hesitation, "I'll go with you."

He certainly didn't want to stay, even though the two men in front of him had killed eight people without hesitation.

They acted quite ruthlessly, and of course, their strength was extremely formidable.

He's not some naive, innocent-looking girl; he's someone who's been through the harsh realities of life.

To him, those eight people were never well-intentioned.

If it weren't for these two people in front of him, he felt he would definitely have been killed without hesitation.

What if those eight guys from before reappear, and I'm all alone in the car...?

He dared not think any further.

So when faced with Lin You's question, he answered almost without thinking.

"I'll go up with you."

The doors of the armored vehicle opened, and three people got out one after another.

We arrived at the entrance of the laboratory building.

The door wasn't locked; it opened with a simple push.

The sound of dry friction echoed through the lobby as the laboratory building doors were pushed open.

The corrosion of many metals by the fog exceeded expectations; I need to conduct a thorough inspection at the base when I get back.

Lin You frowned as she walked in, stood in the center of the hall, and looked around.

The first-floor corridor is long, with closed laboratory doors on both sides.

The words on the sign were blurred; only the words "General Biology Laboratory" and "Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory" could be made out.

Broken glass and overturned trash cans were scattered on the ground, and the glass of the fire hydrant in the corner was broken.

The fire axe has disappeared.

At the end of the corridor is a fire door with a faded A4 sheet of paper pasted on it, which reads: "Please do not move the laboratory equipment in this building. If you need to borrow it, please contact the laboratory management office."

Lin You walked to the fire door and pushed it open.

The door was locked from the inside.

Lin You pulled out a finger bone dagger and inserted it into the crack in the door. The tip of the dagger pressed against the latch, and with a twist of her wrist, the latch popped open.

Behind the door was a stairwell, where a charred corpse of a strange beast lay on the ground.

It is a terrifying beast.

The small, strange beast was huddled under the collapsed steel frame, its claws still scratching the ground.

The scales were charred black, but the hooks remained intact, the four hooks embedded in the cracks of the floor tiles, as if struggling in its last moments before death.

The steel frame collapsed from above the stairs, breaking its spine.

Lin You drew two mantis knives, squatted down, and used the tips of the knives to pry open the beast's claws.

A piece of charred plastic was wrapped around its paw, from which the words "Laboratory Access Permit" and a blurry photo could be vaguely discerned.

She turned the fragment over; the back had the logo of the Department of Biochemistry printed on it.

Mu Xue stood at the top of the stairs, gun pointed at the darkness above, and stated her judgment: "It chased people into the stairwell, and then the steel frame collapsed."

"The steel frame didn't collapse on its own." Lin You stood up and pointed the tip of her knife at the top of the stairs.

The stair railing was burned and deformed, but several chopping marks could still be seen—it was chopped with a fire axe.

Someone cut the bolts securing the steel frame, causing it to fall from above and hit the beast squarely.

"There are people in this building." Mu Xue pushed the safety pin up.

"It was here at least three days ago." Lin You walked up the stairs.

More debris was scattered on the steps: a charred lab coat, flattened goggles, and a lab manual burned down to just the cover.

Lin You picked up the experiment manual and looked at it, but there was no valuable information.

He tossed it aside and continued upwards.

When we reached the corner on the second floor.

Lin You stopped again.

A broken wooden board hung on the stair railing, with a line of words written on it in chalk.

The handwriting was messy but forceful, as if it had been written in a hurry: "There are people on the 4th floor. Don't come up. We'll shoot."

Below the chalk writing, there was a smaller message in someone else's handwriting: "We have food. We can share it. But don't come up."

Lin You stared at the two lines of text and remained silent for a few seconds.

Mu Xue walked behind her and followed her gaze to the chalk writing.

"Two different handwriting styles. At least two different people. One threatening, one making overtures. A very strange mindset."

Lin You sheathed the mantis knife on her back and continued upwards.

Mu Xue frowned and asked, "Why is it so strange?"

Have you ever met someone who is...all bark and no bite?

Mu Xue was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what Lin You meant.

A show of force and intimidation is not true strength, but rather a bluff. Intimidation is a low-cost stress test that only cares whether the other party backs down.

If the other party shows fear or backs down, their goal has been achieved.

When intimidation fails, sudden compromise becomes a means of cutting losses and surviving. They realize the other party is too calm to be intimidated. In order not to completely lose the situation, they will instantly switch to "appeasement" or "concession" mode.

Essentially, this represents a shift from "offensive defense" to "evasive defense."

This also suggests that the person who left the writing was not as powerful as he described.

Lin You's steps were very light, each step landing on the edge of the steps, with only her toes touching the edge.

Even Mu Xue, who was closely following behind Lin You, couldn't hear any footsteps.

Mu Xue followed behind her, but no matter how much she tried to control her footsteps, she couldn't hide the sound of her footsteps.

Mu Xue felt that she was really a bit of a loser.

However, Lin Tanzhi behind her was in an even worse state, his legs trembling uncontrollably as he climbed the stairs.

However, Lin Tanzhi did not make a loud noise.

So Mu Xue gave up on hiding her whereabouts and instead scanned every blind spot on the staircase with her gaze.

The fourth floor of the staircase.

The stairwell was blocked by countless tables, chairs, and benches.

Lin You looked up at the top of the stairs; at least an entire floor was blocked off.

To get to the fourth floor via the emergency exit, you need to clear away the debris blocking the corridor.

Lin You retreated back to the third floor.

I glanced at the elevator.

The elevator stopped working due to a power outage. Lin You went to the elevator door and first put her ear to it to listen.

The elevator shaft was quiet and silent.

Lin You was still worried, so she raised her hand and bumped the elevator door with her elbow.

The stainless steel elevator door made a dull thud, and when I listened again, there was still no sound inside.

Lin You then confirmed that there were no strange beasts in the elevator shaft.

Lin You inserted the bone knife into the crack in the door, the tip of the knife pressed against the gap in the door, and twisted her wrist.

She pried open the elevator door a crack with her hand, then used one foot to brace against the other side of the elevator door.

With a sizzling sound of metal scraping against metal, the elevator doors were violently forced open.

The clanging sound echoed in the empty elevator shaft.

Mu Xue glanced down.

The elevator shaft was bottomless, with steel cables hanging down from the dark ceiling, gleaming coldly under the tactical lights.