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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 187: Vortex
That night, the sky was dim, and leaden clouds rolled ominously.
Ming Junwei, along with Jin Bo and Xiao Wei, settled into a room across from Su Lan. Three men and three women each occupied their own space. Outside the wall, silence reigned, and everything seemed peaceful.
The discussions of that day had yielded no results. Regardless of Ming Junwei's thoughts, the current situation left him with no means to act. There were guards stationed in the corridor, likely arranged by Kenny himself. The fact that they were still alive felt like an unimaginable "grace," and even Su Lan had no reason to push her luck further.
The three men lounged or sat about, with the window open to welcome the howling wind and swirling dust, exhaling blue smoke into the air. It was undeniable that the treatment of VIP Prisoners was quite good. Ming Junwei squinted as he took a few puffs from his cigarette, flicking the remnants out the window without a care. Sparks were whisked away by the wind, flickering in and out of sight as they drifted down to the ground. Below, the Field Personnel changed shifts in an orderly manner.
Ming Junwei found it surprising that these past two days had been calm, with no incidents occurring. It seemed as if the chaos from a few days prior had simply dissipated into silence. He had expected that this matter would continue unresolved; after all, chaos had erupted from the laboratory to various detention areas. Based on the previous behavior of the Glasses Man, he assumed that they would face severe consequences for their actions. Yet, there was no movement from anyone; it was as if they had been completely forgotten, aside from being confined to their rooms with all their needs met.
Xiao Wei and Jin Bo were more carefree; they ate whatever was provided and slept soundly after filling their stomachs. However, even these two simpletons began to feel something was off. They wanted to talk to Ming Junwei but didn't know where to start. Jin Bo couldn't sit still; one day during mealtime, he stealthily pocketed a stainless steel spoon. The staff responsible for collecting utensils seemed to notice but said nothing, merely giving them a few extra glances before leaving. After a moment of anxiety, seeing no one come to reprimand him, Jin Bo began secretly crafting weapons. He chipped away at a section of wall in the bathroom and spent his days squatting there, sharpening his spoon against the cement wall. Two days passed without any sign of improvement; instead, he had carved out a small groove in the wall.
After meals, Su Lan and her companions would come over for visits, but each person's mood felt strange; conversations often fell into silence. The matter of contacting Bai Yudong was on their agenda but could not be acted upon. There had been no news from Summer Rain either—whether dead or alive remained unknown.
To soothe everyone’s spirits, Su Lan negotiated with the Security personnel in hopes of being allowed some freedom to walk around and look for opportunities to meet Bai Yudong. However, these Security guards received strict orders: these six individuals must not leave their rooms under any circumstances. Thus, even knowing Su Lan's special relationship with Kenny, the guards dared not take it upon themselves to grant them any liberties. Over time, Su Lan grew frustrated; she had once hoped for a fresh start but now found everything shrouded in strangeness.
Wheat's wounds had mostly scabbed over; she hadn’t participated much in confrontations previously—just some minor scrapes here and there. The past two days of ease had allowed her nerves to relax significantly, but this relaxation brought forth waves of sorrow that soaked her pillow night after night. Wheat often thought of Luci and Cao Liang, reminiscing about their life together at the Farmhouse. Though their meals hadn't been as plentiful as here, they lived freely without worries. None of them ever considered leaving; their little courtyard was enough for them to survive.
But all that was gone now. She remembered waking up one day to find many people in their quiet courtyard—men and women who seemed easy to get along with. The girl felt joy; social creatures naturally enjoyed lively company. Unfortunately, just a few days later, a fierce windstorm arose, and a great fire consumed her peace. Thus began an endless journey filled with hardships and dangers at every turn; yet she faced it all fearlessly because many walked alongside her. However, ultimately two people who mattered most to her departed.
Zeng Yadong initially wanted to comfort this frail girl but was stopped by Su Lan; some things could not be soothed by others' words—venting was all that mattered.
Su Lan suddenly longed for those sunny days in Nantang Township; closing her eyes made her feel as if she could still sense the warm sun on her skin. With this thought in mind, her gaze drifted toward Zeng Yadong as memories flooded back—of her sneaking chickens from Gu Yan while sweating profusely as she fanned herself over grilled meat.
Zeng Yadong looked at Su Lan with a strange expression before stepping closer to touch her forehead with concern: "Aso, are you alright? What are you laughing about? It's quite eerie at this hour."
"Nothing much, just feeling a bit hungry," Su Lan said with a light smile, brushing her hand away and strolling toward the door. "Call Wheat to get up and eat something; you need to fill your stomach before you have the strength to cry." With that, she ignored Zeng Yadong's astonished expression and opened the door to order food.
The security team was on an overnight shift, five of them rotating. They were quite relaxed, often playing poker during their downtime, almost ready to set up a mahjong table. When they heard the door lock click, one of the security guards dropped his cards and got up to check.
Su Lan smiled at him and asked, "Do you have any desserts? Or maybe some fruit?"
"Uh?" The security guard widened his eyes, barely suppressing the urge to slap her. He stammered, "I... I'll go ask..."
"Thank you," Su Lan replied with a bright smile, winking at him as she watched the door.
Zeng Yadong was wetting a towel to wipe Wheat's face. The little girl’s eyes were swollen like peaches, red and puffy, looking more pitiful by the moment.
"Should we call Xiao Ming and the others to join us?" Zeng Yadong suggested, pointing with his chin. "I can't help but worry about them; it feels like those three have already jumped out the window and escaped."
"They won't," Su Lan shrugged lightly and chuckled. "There haven't been any gunshots."
After chatting for a bit, they heard footsteps running down the corridor. Su Lan opened the door to see the same security guard rushing back with a tray filled with colorful food.
The guard's eyes lit up as he gasped for breath. "There really is something! The White Team found these in the storage room and brought them all for you."
"Thanks a lot," Su Lan said cheerfully as she took the tray from him. Before closing the door, she paused in confusion. "White Team?"
"Yeah, White Team."
No wonder the security guard looked so excited; although the tray wasn't large, it was filled with plenty of food. Many brightly packaged snacks that girls loved, along with some seasonal fruits that looked a bit bruised but tasted quite good.
After months of fleeing like this, they never expected to find such things in this place. Without caring about their three comrades next door, they dug in eagerly.
Zeng Yadong's quick eyes spotted a box of small cakes. She tore open the box and took a bite, smearing her mouth with sticky fruit jam, and as she chewed, she ended up spitting crumbs everywhere.
"Ugh!" Zeng Yadong choked hard, bending over and coughing violently, tears streaming down her face.
"Slow down, no one is going to steal it from you," Su Lan laughed as she patted her back to help her breathe easier, but then noticed Zeng Yadong squatting down, rummaging through the cake crumbs.
Wheat paused her own eating and looked over curiously. "Sister Dong Dong, what are you doing?"
"Tsk tsk tsk." Zeng Yadong pinched a crumpled piece of something with her fingers and tossed it onto the table.
Su Lan and Wheat exchanged puzzled glances before picking up the paper ball and unfolding it. They saw a hurriedly scrawled line of text that was clearly written in a rush, as if torn from a larger sheet. Su Lan frowned and set the paper down before hurrying out the door.
The two quickly leaned in to take a look at the note, which read: "Don't act rashly, Song An has me. Wait for news."
&&&&&&&&&
In the brightly lit Underground Level Two laboratory, An Zheng looked exhausted as he sat back in his swivel chair with a cup of coffee, staring at several documents spread out on his desk with a bitter smile.
The laboratory had undergone significant renovations thanks to Kenny's bold changes. The personnel were no longer so bloated; An Zheng's research team now consisted of only twenty people, all quietly focused on their tasks. Outside the Transparent Glass walls, there were many armed guards not watching the lab but rather preventing any escaped prisoners from causing further trouble.
As Ming Junwei had anticipated, the chaos underground was not going to settle easily. After all, the corridors were a maze, and many living people and zombies had escaped from the Testing Ground. The Security team had eliminated some of them, but no one could guarantee that there weren't any stragglers left behind. Currently, both the fifth level Testing Ground and the third level Feed Area were completely shut down; there were no isolation barriers between them—only severed lighting circuits that made searching even more difficult.
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