"Shao Qi stood in front of the elevator, pressing the button, but there was no response. He stepped aside, leaving the task to Zhuo Hao."

"Cheng Yuran hid inside a factory within the walls, taking over its surveillance room. The surveillance room was networked, and each monitor was modified to display feeds from Zhou You's team's recorders."

"After a brief adjustment, all the monitors lit up, clearly showing Zhou You and his team, puzzled in front of an elevator, with a colonel named Zhuo Hao crouched down, coding."

"Li Hang watched for a moment, realizing his skills were far inferior, and said with a blush, 'I... I don't think I can be of any help.'"

"Qin Lifeng patted him on the shoulder, comforting, 'It's okay. Once we get down there, Zhuo Hao will probably be too occupied to touch a computer. That's when you come in.'"

"Li Hang didn't understand at first, but once they took the elevator down, he realized the challenges awaiting them and why Zhuo Hao would be preoccupied."

"With a 'ding', the elevator doors opened. Qin Lifeng held them with his sword, peeking inside, finding nothing amiss."

"Zhou You, with a dart between his fingertips, threw it at the surveillance camera inside the elevator. The camera's red light blinked twice and went off, and then everyone stepped in."

"Do you think they've realized someone has broken in?" Zhou You glanced at the shattered surveillance camera, wondering if that brief moment earlier had been enough for them to be detected.

Shao Qi noticed only two buttons inside the elevator: one marked "-1" and the other "-2". It seemed the laboratory below was spread across two levels.

He pressed both buttons, and the elevator descended rapidly. Everyone readied themselves for combat, aiming their guns at the elevator doors.

Zhou You counted silently. Roughly thirty seconds later, the elevator halted. A "ding" sounded, announcing, "Level minus one."

The elevator doors slid open swiftly. Everyone quickly took cover against the walls on either side of the elevator, guns aimed outwards. Directly in their line of sight stood a large white metal door, with two blinking surveillance cameras positioned above, pointing at the elevator's entrance.

Shao Qi reached out and disabled the two cameras, instructing, "Zhuo Hao, you three stay on this floor. Zhou You, Li Hang, and I will head to level minus two."

The team split into two groups. The journey from level -1 to -2 took about twenty seconds. Shao Qi remarked, "We must be at least a hundred meters underground now."

As the elevator doors opened, Zhou You's throwing knife was already in the air. With two sharp shattering sounds, the door's cameras were destroyed.

The doors on levels -2 and -1 looked identical. Shao Qi spoke into his wireless earpiece, "Zhuo Hao, respond if you can hear me."

"Copy, boss. We haven't opened the door yet."

Li Hang began trying to crack the code on the door. It used iris recognition, a cutting-edge biometric identification system.

Li Hang aimed to hack into the system, hoping to extract someone else's iris data to use. He theorized that multiple individuals could access the door, so if he could steal just one iris' data, they could gain entry.

Soon, Zhuo Hao's voice came through the earpiece, "The door on my end is open, sending data to Li Hang now..." But before he could finish, there was a fizzing sound of electricity in their earpieces. When the noise ceased, all communications were dead.

Shao Qi removed his earpiece, frowning, "Seems like our comms have been jammed. Stay alert."

Zhou You, seeing the sweating young man, asked, "Splitting into two teams with our limited numbers, isn't that risky?"

"We're pressed for time, one team isn't enough. Quality matters more than quantity. Trust in our abilities," he replied. Among the six of them, five were experts. With caution, they could all make it out alive.

Li Hang was close to tears. He was supposed to receive data from Zhuo Hao, but the connection was lost. Relying solely on his skills, he tried various codes but failed to crack the advanced system.

Zhou You wiped the sweat from his temple, reassuring, "Stay calm. If all else fails, we'll force our way through."

Li Hang took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and focused intently on his laptop.

Shao Qi kept checking the time, growing impatient. Just as he was about to act, Li Hang exclaimed triumphantly, "Got it!"

With a clunking sound, the massive steel door unlocked and began to open.

Zhou You praised, "Impressive work! From now on, stay close behind us and keep yourself safe."

Li Hang stowed his laptop in his backpack, gripped his gun, and cautiously followed the team inside.

Entering, they found themselves in a long white corridor. The ceiling was lined with round lights, and every ten meters or so, a surveillance camera was accompanied by something resembling a gun barrel.

Zhou You and Shao Qi halted in unison, sharing a look. Shielding Li Hang, they backpedaled a few steps, only to witness a laser beam shoot from one of the gun-like devices, landing right where Zhou You had stood moments before.

"Are those manually controlled or automated?" Zhou You could sabotage those devices, but he was unsure of the repercussions.

"It seems to be automated. The surveillance system recognizes unfamiliar faces, distinguishing those not stored in its database and automatically attacking intruders. No wonder there's no visible guard. This suggests there might not be many guards below either." Shao Qi raised his weapon, firing rapidly, shattering all the overhead cameras. Alarm bells rang out, and a barrage of laser beams fired from all directions above, weaving a dense web. Any creature passing through would be shredded instantly.

Zhou You and the rest retreated to the doorway. To prevent the door from closing, Zhou You wedged a dagger into its crevice, turning to Shao Qi, "What now?"

Such a piercing alarm would be heard by anyone unless they were dead. Yet, no one has emerged. Either more dangerous traps await, or our adversaries are overconfident, thinking we can't pass this corridor.