The core of this giant tree, where the research institute was located, was much easier to enter than imagined. One simply needed to walk straight towards the tree to naturally cross the barrier and enter within.
Well, to put it in a way, it was probably similar to the method of entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters from Harry Potter.
Thinking this to herself, Ling Xiaoyou looked at this so-called “research institute.” Surprisingly, it didn’t have the sci-fi feel she had imagined. Instead, it looked more like an ordinary office building completely unrelated to scientific research.
While a normal research institute wouldn’t necessarily be full of sci-fi style either, seeing this still couldn’t help but make Ling Xiaoyou feel a little disappointed.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard Bai Shuanglian’s voice come from the side.
“Someone’s coming.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Ling Xiaoyou heard footsteps slowly approaching from that direction, and not just one set—there were at least five or six people.
The group exchanged glances, then quickly found an empty room nearby to hide in, waiting for the people outside to leave.
Although Ling Xiaoyou could use illusion techniques to hypnotize these people, to avoid the risk of being detected, she wouldn’t use any method here that might lead to exposure unless absolutely necessary.
She glanced around the room and found it filled with various fitness equipment, which struck her as odd.
‘Do these researchers also work out?’
Before she could ponder it further, the footsteps grew from distant to near, quickly passing by the door and gradually fading away.
Ling Xiaoyou quietly pushed the door open a crack and looked at the owners of those footsteps. They were all security guards, similar to the patrol personnel they had seen outside earlier.
‘Guards both outside and inside. This level of security is nothing like the lax measures Jiang Rouqian described.’
Excluding the possibility that Jiang Rouqian was lying, there were essentially only two scenarios: First, Jiang Rouqian’s sudden escape caused the institute to raise its security level. Second, the place had always been this heavily guarded, but something happened during or before Jiang Rouqian’s escape that temporarily drew the security forces away, giving her an opening.
Both possibilities were equally likely, and Ling Xiaoyou couldn’t determine which one it was for the moment.
However, with security already this tight, they needed to be even more careful and cautious in their actions.
After all, while Bai Shuanglian was strong, and this Elder Sister Su, Su Taosheng, was probably no weakling either, no one could guarantee there wasn’t an even more powerful presence stationed here. It was better to be prudent.
Thinking this, Ling Xiaoyou looked at her companions and said,
“Let’s first find the specific location of the research institute. Then we’ll figure out a way to sneak in and see what exactly they’re researching.”
An investigation mission needed a clear objective. Otherwise, searching aimlessly would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and inefficient.
Bai Shuanglian and Su Taosheng both disliked speaking in front of outsiders, and while Su Lihua clearly wanted to speak, she obviously wasn’t very reliable. Thus, the responsibility of setting goals and leading the action naturally fell on Ling Xiaoyou.
The group quietly left this gymnasium and began searching this floor, trying to find the entrance to the research institute.
The results, however, were not ideal. They had almost traversed the entire floor, avoiding countless cameras and patrols, but no matter how they searched, the rooms on this floor were just ordinary office areas, along with rest chambers, changing rooms, and the like. It completely lacked the appearance a research institute should have, looking more like a security company instead.
Ling Xiaoyou pinched her smooth, small chin in thought, then suddenly stopped walking.
‘Right, is it possible that this simply isn’t the floor where the research institute is located?’
‘Perhaps this is just the outer security area, and the real research institute is hidden in a more core location.’
‘If that’s the case, then there must be a passageway leading to the research institute.’
‘Where would it be?’
Just as Ling Xiaoyou was pondering this question, a soft ding sound suddenly came from somewhere, making everyone freeze.
Bai Shuanglian was the first to locate the source of the sound, her gaze fixed on a pristine white wall not far away.
On the originally somewhat monotonous wall surface, three slender black lines abruptly appeared, outlining an extremely simple door frame. Immediately after, accompanied by the sound of mechanical operation and a soft white light, that “door” slowly opened automatically.
Several figures wearing white lab coats walked out from within.
These people had varied appearances. Some looked like ordinary humans, some clearly carried the air of mad scientists, and there was even one with a tiger’s head—it was a Tiger Demon.
Truly, a tiger head on human shoulders.
These white-coated individuals came from different races, but Ling Xiaoyou didn’t sense particularly strong cultivation from any of them. They all seemed to be just ordinary researchers.
“You are…”
Ling Xiaoyou and her three companions saw them, and naturally, the other party saw them too.
Upon discovering strangers here, these researchers immediately panicked. That Tiger Demon’s tail even shot straight up in fright, completely devoid of the imposing aura a tiger should have.
Just as they were about to cry out, Su Taosheng instantly appeared behind these researchers. Using her hand as a knife, she cleanly and efficiently killed them one by one.
Hand up, knife down, blood blossomed like flowers. She was clearly an old hand at this.
Just as Su Taosheng was preparing to deal with the last one, who seemed to be the leader, Ling Xiaoyou quickly spoke up to stop her.
“Wait, leave one alive to question for information.”
They couldn’t kill them all. Otherwise, they’d just be left with a pile of corpses, which wouldn’t be of much use to them.
Hearing this, Su Taosheng didn’t say anything. She changed the hand chop aimed at the other’s neck into a heavy blow, knocking the ordinary human researcher unconscious on the spot.
Seeing this, Ling Xiaoyou breathed a sigh of relief, then couldn’t help but feel a bit weary.
She suddenly felt that this team was bound to run into problems sooner or later: a silent, reckless brute, a happy-go-lucky airhead, plus…
She glanced at Bai Shuanglian.
‘Well, this one is completely fine, very reliable.’
Pulling her thoughts back, Ling Xiaoyou looked at the “door” those researchers had come out of and couldn’t help but feel speechless.
‘Who in their right mind puts a door in a wall? No wonder we couldn’t find the entrance after searching for so long. It was hidden here.’
Complaints aside, they still had work to do.
She quickly stored the corpses in her spatial artifact, used water to clean up the bloodstains, then had everyone change into white lab coats. Carrying the still-living researcher, they all entered the door hidden within the wall.