The woman struggled, only able to make muffled sounds.
“Don’t move, don’t scream, or I’ll snap your neck!” Leo threatened, his face twisted into a menacing expression.
Feeling the immense pressure on her neck and struggling to breathe, the woman nodded repeatedly, indicating she wouldn’t scream.
Leo loosened his grip on her neck slightly and quickly scanned the area ahead, noticing a room with an open door.
He gestured to the three people behind him to check if there was anyone in the room.
Knox moved swiftly to the door and peeked inside.
Seeing no one inside, Knox signaled for the others to enter.
After closing the door, Leo noticed the room was small, making it feel cramped with five people inside.
Three rows of shelves stood in the room, filled with small test tubes used for experiments. Almost every tube contained a liquid, many of which were different colors.
Feeling the woman’s body trembling, Leo slowly removed his hand from her mouth but kept a firm grip on her neck.
If she made any attempt to scream, Leo would not hesitate to choke her.
“Please, don’t kill me,” the woman cried.
“I’ll ask you some questions now. As long as you answer truthfully, I won’t hurt you,” Leo said coldly.
“Ask me anything. I’ll tell you everything I know,” the woman replied, terrified.
Leo took out his phone with one hand and showed her a photo. “Have you seen this Cauldron?”
“I have, but it has four legs instead of three,” the blonde woman replied shakily.
Leo’s face lit up with excitement. “Where is the Cauldron?”
He noticed hesitation in her eyes, but more fear. It seemed revealing the Cauldron’s location was extremely dangerous.
Knowing what she was thinking, Leo tightened his grip on her neck slightly and threatened, “Don’t worry. If you tell me where the Cauldron is, I won’t kill you. But if you don’t, I’ll snap your neck right now!”
Terrified, the blonde woman said, “Don’t kill me. I’ll tell you. The thing you’re looking for is in the Quantum Research Center.”
Hearing this, Leo recalled the internal layout map brought by the vampire but didn’t remember seeing this place. He asked coldly, “How do we get to the Quantum Research Center?”
“Turn right after exiting this room. Walk fifty meters, and there’s an elevator on the left. The access card is around my neck.”
“Take the elevator to the third basement level. Walk ten meters down a corridor to a password door. The code is 764536. Beyond that door is the Quantum Research Center,” she explained in one breath.
Leo slowly released his grip on her neck and turned to Knox. “Knox, take-”
Before he could finish, Knox struck like lightning, delivering a chop to the back of the blonde woman’s neck.
Her eyes rolled back as she collapsed to the ground.
“You…” Leo stared wide-eyed, unsure what to say.
Knox scratched his head innocently. “What did I do?”
“You’re an idiot!” Vivian exclaimed. “What if she gave us a fake password?”
“Oh… I didn’t think of that,” Knox realized his mistake. “What do we do now?”
“Let’s go. We’ll be discovered sooner or later anyway. Whether the password is real or not doesn’t matter now,” Leo said, taking the ID card from around the woman’s neck and opening the door.
Using her ID card, they entered the elevator and saw five levels on the control panel.
Leo pressed the button for the third basement level.
The elevator descended smoothly.
When it reached B3, the doors opened.
No one was outside. Following the blonde woman’s directions, they walked ten meters to a password door.
They hadn’t triggered any alarms so far, and this underground base seemed sparsely populated. Apart from the guards they had taken down and the blonde woman, they hadn’t seen anyone else.
This password door must lead to the Quantum Research Center.
Leo approached and entered the code on the touch screen beside the door.
A red X appeared on the screen, indicating an incorrect password.
Immediately, a sharp alarm sounded.
“Damn it! Retreat!” Leo shouted.
As they turned around, a massive metal wall dropped from the entrance, sealing them inside a ten-meter-long corridor with no way out.
Vivian’s fear of enclosed spaces made her extremely anxious. She instinctively grabbed Knox’s arm. “What now?”
Knox tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry, I-”
Before he could finish, they heard a “swish” sound as hidden nozzles emerged from both walls of the corridor.
“Stay close to me!” Trystan’s cold voice commanded.
As they huddled together, flames erupted from the nozzles, filling the corridor.
Ordinary people would have been incinerated instantly in such conditions.
But they were not ordinary people. With Trystan, WONDER’s top Esper expert, leading them, fire was child’s play.
A hemispherical shield protected them from the raging flames.
Trystan then extended his right hand and opened his fist. Explosions like firecrackers echoed as all nozzles and their mechanisms blew up. The remaining flames dwindled and vanished.
Dissipating the shield, Trystan approached the metal password door and traced an oval shape with his finger before punching it.
With a loud bang, an oval hole appeared in the door.
Trystan’s methods were indeed impressive!
He entered first through the hole, followed closely by Leo and the others.
Inside was not a Quantum Research Center but an empty room with another door on the far wall.