Chapter 129.

Chapter 129.

The storeroom was large and divided into three sections. The first room on the right had a glass door with a thermometer showing a temperature of -80° inside. It contained many barrel-like vessels made of special equipment, presumably storing specimens that needed to be kept at low temperatures.

Knowing the box wouldn't be here, Feng Chen moved to the next room.

The second room was filled with large and small glass jars, each preserving various human or animal body parts. Feng Chen glanced over them briefly before heading to the third room.

Yan Bubu found the glass jars creepy yet couldn't help being curious, continually looking around.

"Look, is that a zombie fetus? It's only as big as my palm," Wang Suizi whispered, pointing at one of the jars.

Yan Bubu, staring at the small zombie floating in the jar, felt indescribable emotions and pulled her away, saying, "Let's not look, it must be that its mother turned into a zombie while it was still unborn."

The third room was vast, with rows of shelving holding various specimens like uncommon minerals, strange and rare tree roots, and many sealed boxes.

Seeing Feng Chen searching the shelves, Yan Bubu also began to look through another row.

"Feng Chen, what exactly are we looking for? Let us help," Cai Tao asked.

Feng Chen didn't hide it: "A silver-white password box the size of a cigarette pack, made of a special metal material, smooth yet with a grainy texture."

"You guys search for it, I'll go to the second-floor control room to delete our surveillance footage," Ding Hongsheng said.

Feng Chen nodded, "Alright, do you need help?"

"No need, it's simple as long as no one's around."

While Ding Hongsheng went to delete the surveillance videos, the rest started searching the shelves, occasionally glancing at the labels of the unusual items they found.

"What kind of animal's bone is this? Qinguo mutant species... it's my first time hearing about such a creature."

"What's in this jar? Salt? It turns out to be Xuangeshi powder, I thought it was salt."

Ten minutes later, they had thoroughly searched the storeroom but found no silver-white password box.

Yan Bubu approached Feng Chen from the other end of the shelf, "Brother, could it be that the box isn't here?"

"Whether it's here or not, both are normal," Feng Chen observed the surroundings. "The institute's soldiers will be back soon. Let's search again before they return."

Everyone began a more detailed search, examining any specimen that could possibly hide a password box.

Yan Bubu, back-to-back with Feng Chen, picked up a large mineral rock to inspect, suspecting it to be hollow and shaking it, "Brother, what if we can't find the box?"

"It's okay if we don't find it," Feng Chen replied calmly. "Finding the box would confirm one of my hypotheses, but not finding it would confirm another."

Yan Bubu pondered, "So, whether the box is here or not, it works for you?"

"Yes, whether it's here or not, it works."

Before Yan Bubu could say more, Feng Chen interrupted, "Hurry up and search, don't waste energy talking. It would be better to find it, so we don't have to go through this trouble again."

"Okay."

Cai Tao muttered while searching, "What kind of treasure is it? I mean, I don't need to know, just really curious..."

"If you don't need to know, then don't be curious," Ji Yi, searching the cabinet beside him, smacked her lips, "I'm more interested in what delicacies the institute's kitchen has."

Chen Wenzhao said, "Focus on searching. Can you stop the chatter?"

Cai Tao responded, "I haven't stopped. I can talk and search... Hey, what creature's skull is this? Looks like a mutant, really weird—"

Suddenly, Chen Wenzhao's expression tensed, interrupting Cai Tao, "Soldiers are coming."

Seeing everyone stop and look at him, he added, "The institute's convoy just passed the right corner, five SUVs in total."

"Your crocodile saw them? Why didn't my wolf-dog tell me?" Cai Tao asked in surprise.

Chen Wenzhao ignored him, and Ji Yi said, "Do you even need to ask? Your wolf-dog must have run off somewhere to go wild."

Feng Chen put down the box he was holding, "Let's go. It takes about eight minutes from the right corner to here. We should leave quickly."

"Aren't we searching anymore? But we haven't found it yet," Yan Bubu said, vigorously shaking a tree root.

Feng Chen took the tree root from him, placed it back, and led him away, "No more searching, we're leaving now."

As they all headed towards the door, Feng Chen's gaze swept over a dark black large earthen jar on a nearby shelf and paused, "Wait."

Yan Bubu also stopped, watching as Feng Chen picked up the jar and turned it upside down. The jar was filled with soil, and the lid fell to the ground along with it.

As he emptied the jar, Feng Chen explained, "Each item's label here is very detailed, clearly stating what specimen it is, except this jar, which just has 'soil' written on its label."

"Soil? Some kind of rare soil, maybe, containing important minerals?"

The group gathered around as Ji Yi pinched a bit of soil between her fingers and sniffed it, "This isn't any important specimen, just ordinary soil found everywhere on the second floor. It's recently added, still moist. Look, there are even fresh grass roots in it."

The jar was almost empty when a silver-white object fell out of the mouth and landed on the dark soil. Yan Bubu recognized it as the password box they were searching for the moment he saw it.

"Brother!" he exclaimed excitedly, picking up the box to wipe off the soil and holding it up to the light for inspection.

"Is it the one? How is it?"

"Finally found it, hidden in this earthen jar."

Yan Bubu turned the box around, then silently looked at Feng Chen.

"It's fake, isn't it?" Feng Chen asked, unsurprised.

Yan Bubu nodded, "Yes, it's fake." He pointed at one side of the box and explained, "There should be a scratch here, but this box doesn't have it."

"Fake?" The others stared at the box, "So we broke into the research institute just to find a fake box?"

"Let's go, we need to leave quickly. The soldiers will be back soon," Feng Chen didn't elaborate but secured the box and then spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Old Ding, have you finished your part?"

"Done. I've deleted all the surveillance footage from tonight. I'm waiting for you at the stairway entrance."

As he spoke, the sound of cars approaching from afar stopped in front of the institute.

Without lingering, they swiftly left the storage room, locked the door, and retraced their steps downstairs.

Outside the main door, the sound of soldiers allocating tasks could be heard, "First and second squads go eat, third squad stays on guard, fourth squad checks the institute..."

Leading the way, Cai Tao peeked around the staircase corner, saw the soldiers gathering for orders, and gestured to the others.

Ding Hongshen, crouching down, ran from the end of the corridor under the glass windows, joined the group, and they all quickly descended to the ground floor, turning towards the back door behind the staircase.

"...Dismissed. Go to your respective posts."

"Yes!"

As the soldiers opened the main door, Ji Yi, who was last in line, also slipped out the back door.

"Hurry, hurry, they'll soon realize the monitor has been tampered with," Ding Hongsheng urged.

After running through the backyard, Ding Hongsheng climbed up the wall first. Feng Chen, holding Yan Bubu by the waist, lifted him up directly. The other two sentinels didn't delay either; Ji Yi hoisted Wang Suizi on his shoulder, and Cai Tao crouched down to let Chen Wen step on him. Once all three guides were on the wall, the three sentinels quickly and cleanly climbed over.

While still on the wall, they heard the shrill and urgent sound of an alarm ringing inside the compound.

"We've been discovered, run."

Even though the ground outside was paved with bricks, Yan Bubu leaped down and, before he could stabilize, was pulled by Feng Chen to run swiftly forward.

Several quantum beasts were already waiting in the shadows and now followed, running alongside their owners.

As they ran, Cai Tao glanced at a nearby bush, "Can we—"

"No," Feng Chen interrupted him, "Those sentinels can use their psychic power to find us."

While running, Feng Chen released his psychic power, probing the area behind them.

He saw figures bustling inside the institute, with some searching inside and others opening the main gate, dispersing into several groups to search the surrounding area.

"Don't panic, we're all wearing sterile suits, even if someone sees our backs, it's fine," Feng Chen instructed, "Everyone scatter and run, retract your quantum beasts into your psychic realm, and find your own way back to the academy."

Reaching the crossroads, the group immediately split into three different directions.

Feng Chen, holding Yan Bubu, sprinted forward. Hei Shi was already back in the psychic realm, but Binu still ran alongside the two.

Feng Chen spoke into the earpiece, "All sentinels be ready, run if you can, if not, knock people unconscious, just don't let them see your face."

Upon hearing this, Binu hesitated a bit.

Feng Chen looked back at him, "You're a top student from the guide class, rough tasks like fighting aren't meant for guides."

Binu no longer hesitated and dashed past them towards the front.

Feng Chen concealed his psychic power around the corner, closely watching two soldiers approaching their direction. As they were about to turn the corner, his psychic power struck like a chopping hand at the back of one's neck.

That soldier immediately fell unconscious, and as the remaining one was about to press his alarm, Feng Chen redirected his psychic power, striking the other in the neck.

The second soldier also collapsed silently.

They were now close to the academy and could see several trucks parked at the entrance, with people shouting in front of each vehicle, "Weapons are to be returned, do not bring them into the academy, go back to the truck you came in, change back into your own clothes, combat suits will be cleaned by the academy..."

"Quick, take off the sterile suit," Feng Chen whispered.

He quickly removed his sterile suit and helped Yan Bubu strip off his, then discreetly stuffed them into the cargo area of a nearby truck.

Surrounded by students, he led Yan Bubu, blending in nonchalantly with the rest of the students.

Voices of the others also came through the earpiece.

Ji Yi: "Wang Suizi, Ding Hongsheng, and I climbed onto a academy truck, should have shaken off anyone following us, now coming back with the truck."

Cai Tao: "I put the sterile suit on a wolfhound to lead people away, then I escaped and retracted it into my psychic realm. Chen Wen and I are hiding now, hahaha..."

Yan Bubu and Feng Chen found the truck they had used earlier, handed in their weapons, and changed back into their own clothes.

"Remember to change clothes, our truck is parked right at the entrance."

After Yan Bubu finished instructing, Feng Chen straightened his collar, standing still, listening to the conversations of other students around them.

"Glad we got there in time, the rental point we were responsible for didn’t suffer much damage, but it looked pretty bad."

"Our point had more casualties, some people hiding in cabinets were found by zombies, damn it."

……

"Let’s go, let's get inside," Feng Chen pulled Yan Bubu to walk inside, "Let's go home first, take a shower and change clothes."

Back at their small building where they lived, Feng Chen showered first. After he was done, Yan Bubu went into the bathroom, and Feng Chen left the building.

Instead of heading towards the usual direction of the teaching building, he turned right, walking deeper into the area of detached small buildings.

The academy's instructors and administrative staff lived in this area, including the dean. The dean's residence was larger than the other buildings and came with two small courtyards.

Kong Siyin was sitting behind the large desk in his study, talking to someone on the phone.

"Yes, every sentinel and guide is precious now, so their safety must be ensured. Due to the varying times of their evolution, some are sent to battlefields as soon as they enter the academy, which is very dangerous. Many students lack practical experience. My intention is to train them gradually, and I hope the military doesn't send them into too perilous battles... Yes, I understand... Yes, I know the situation is difficult, and the military is short-staffed..."

The door was suddenly pushed open, and a tall, handsome young man in military uniform entered, followed by a robust black lion.

Kong Siyin's eyes followed Feng Chen as he turned to close and lock the door, still talking, "The students will continue guarding the plantations and mines, but as for zombie combat, we should avoid sending them if possible... Alright, I understand... Okay."

After ending the call, Kong Siyin, hands crossed, looked calmly at Feng Chen, "What's the matter?"

His tone was like he was in the principal's office facing a regular student, not in his own home, having been quietly infiltrated and the door locked.

"There is a matter," Feng Chen stopped in the center of the study, his tone equally calm.

"For matters, go to the dean's office, this is my home," Kong Siyin reprimanded, "Get out."

Feng Chen didn't respond but took out a device to disrupt surveillance and placed it on a nearby coffee table. Meanwhile, the black lion walked up to Kong Siyin and snapped the hidden alarm under the desk in half with a crunch.

Throughout this, Kong Siyin didn't spare a glance at the black lion, only shifting his gaze when the alarm made a breaking sound.

Feng Chen didn't miss this detail and was somewhat surprised, "Dean Kong, you can't see my quantum beast?"

"I underwent mutation and healed back to being a normal person," Kong Siyin's eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses fixated on Feng Chen, "Why? Do you think a regular person can't be the dean of a sentinel and guide academy?"

"Not at all, I just think that Dean Kong, as a regular person who can be the dean of a sentinel and guide academy, must have extraordinary wisdom and talent, and that makes me respect you even more," Feng Chen stood upright, neither humble nor arrogant.

Kong Siyin said, "Then do you know that the ruling officials of the Eastern Alliance, Chen Sizhe, and of the Western Alliance, Ran Pinghao, are both ordinary people who have healed from mutations?"

Feng Chen was slightly taken aback, "I did not know that."

"What are you trying to do by sneaking into my residence?" Kong Siyin's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze sharp, "Don't think just because you destroyed one alarm, I don't have other ways to deal with you."

"I'm aware that Dean Kong has many methods, but I just wanted you to see something."

Kong Siyin slowly leaned back in his chair, "See what?"

Feng Chen reached into his pocket and pulled out a password box, stepping forward to place it on Kong Siyin's desk before retreating to his original position.

Kong Siyin's gaze lingered on the password box for a few seconds, but his expression showed no surprise, instead, his anger seemed to dissipate.

He stood up and walked to the water dispenser by the window, "Coffee? A rare yield from the plantation."

Feng Chen declined, "Thank you, but no."

"Hmm, actually, I don't like coffee either," Kong Siyin poured two cups of water, handed one to Feng Chen, and took the other back to his desk.

"Alright, let's get down to business," Kong Siyin gestured towards the password box on the table, "What do you mean by this? Trying to blackmail me with this box? That's quite naive."

Feng Chen placed his cup on the coffee table, "Dean Kong, you misunderstand. I'm just here to ask what exactly happened when General Lin Fen handed over the password box."

Kong Siyin scoffed, "And why should I tell you?"

Feng Chen replied, "Because every day in Central City, so many people turn into zombies. This password box is linked to everyone's fate, and also because of your conscience, Dean Kong."

Kong Siyin's face darkened, his tone turning icy, "You think I lack a conscience?"

"I wouldn't dare," Feng Chen responded.

"I don't believe there's anything you wouldn't dare," Kong Siyin slammed the table, causing a loud bang, and the teacup on the table jumped.

Feng Chen remained composed, taking a few steps forward and bowing slightly towards Kong Siyin, "Dean Kong, I wasn't sure at first, but when I saw the fake password box simply placed in that pottery jar, I understood."

"Understood what?" Kong Siyin countered.

"You suddenly decided to match me with a guide after discovering the deep bond between my guide and me, aiming to force me to leverage my connections. After confirming that I wasn’t planted by the Allied Forces, you then placed this box in the research institute's storeroom, waiting for me to retrieve it. And after confirming the box was indeed fake, I would undoubtedly come to you."

Feng Chen looked up at Kong Siyin, "Dean Kong, you investigated me so cautiously and used the box to lure me here. Isn't this because you want to tell me about Lin Fen's affairs?"