SFS Chapter 227 The Gate
Chapter 227 The Gate
This time it went smoothly; the seven of them arrived in Beijing in just over an hour. To avoid any further mishaps, they didn't waste time resting and adjusting, but went directly to the research institute's underground parking lot.
This time they did not encounter the Zhao Qi zombie in the illusion. The reason why Zhao Qi would turn into a zombie in everyone's illusion is probably because everyone doesn't like this person.
The zombies in the corridor weren't particularly high-level, so with the help of Gu Nanfeng and Pei Sihao, two high-level ability users, they cleared them out quickly and even obtained a considerable amount of crystals.
“If the gap isn’t too big, you can just use these crystals to upgrade your abilities.” Stopping at the door of that strange laboratory, Ji Lang made the decision for Lin Yun to take out all the crystals they had collected along the way.
"Hmm." Because Gu Nanfeng and the others hadn't left the base since the later stages, both he and Pei Sihao were at level six, about to reach level seven when they came out this time. No one knew what lay behind the door, so he naturally accepted the crystal Lin Yun handed him and, together with Pei Sihao, chose the corresponding attribute to absorb and upgrade.
Pei Sihao's water-based ability is alright, and he has a fair number of corresponding crystals, but Gu Nanfeng's lightning-based ability doesn't have as many crystals. There are very few people with this kind of advanced ability and zombies, so there aren't many crystals available for them either.
In general, when there isn't enough, people will choose to spend several times more basic ability crystals to improve their abilities. However, the amount of "several times" is subjective and depends on individual circumstances. Some people only need a few more crystals, while others can only absorb two or three times the amount and still struggle to keep up.
Fortunately, neither Gu Nanfeng nor Pei Sihao were unlucky. Pei Sihao successfully advanced by absorbing only three water-type crystals from level five zombies, while Gu Nanfeng absorbed slightly more, namely seven fire-type crystals.
With the superpower issue resolved, the six began checking their protective suits and masks. Their previous equipment had been stripped away by that damned United Government, and the ones they were wearing now were only lent to them by Comrade Lu Yuan after much deliberation.
Thinking about how the previous six sets of protective suits had gone down the drain, Lu Yuan felt his heart bleed. These protective suits were really scarce. The main reason was that when they set off from the Republic Government Star, his assigned mission was to carry supplies, which is why his spaceship had so many sets of protective suits. Later, he stored them in his space.
However, this protective suit was very ordinary in design and felt of poor quality. It was neither warm nor cool, and it didn't seem to offer any protection. So, Lu Yuan on Earth initially disliked it and didn't use it at all. That's why these dozens of protective suits have survived to this day.
This protective suit is capable of supporting spacewalks, so even though he has a mecha, Lu Yuan wouldn't waste it. In case he returns to interstellar space in the future, this is very important equipment. Especially since his mecha's main system has now disappeared and should have been absorbed by Wei Guo. If it can't be found, or if it is found but can't control his consciousness, then many of his mecha's functions will be unusable, making this protective suit even more important.
"You absolutely must return this to me after you return to the South China base," Lu Yuan emphasized again.
"Give me back Lu Xiaoyuan! He's not as stingy as you!" Yang Xiao was furious with Lu Xiaoyuan. He wouldn't give her food or clothes. It was one thing to not give to others, but they were brothers who had risked their lives together. Not giving him even that was stinginess to the extreme.
"Don't look at me like that. If I were as compassionate as I was when I was young, would I have stockpiled so many supplies?" Lu Yuan glanced at Yang Xiao. Anyway, he wasn't a brother who had gone through thick and thin with these people now. Unless he lost control of this body, he wouldn't get anything from him for free.
"You..." Yang Xiao wanted to say something, but Ji Lang stopped him.
"Alright, now that everything is ready, let's not waste any more time." Ji Lang said, reaching out to grasp the doorknob. Just like last time and in the illusion, a powerful force was pressing down on the damaged door.
"How is it?" Lin Yun asked from the side.
"There should still be sandstorms ahead." Ji Lang withdrew his hand from the doorknob.
"So, is it like in the illusion?" Pei Sihao looked at Lu Yuan. At least this time, the four of them could directly enter the spaceship, and the others wouldn't need to go in.
Pei Sihao thought about it and then fell silent. The spaceship in the illusion was clearly an illusion created by that advanced mental ability user after Lu Yuan woke up. Whether this thing was safe or not was another matter, not to mention whether Lu Yuan was alive or not.
“No need, this desert is probably fake.” After Gu Nanfeng finished speaking, he looked at Lu Yuan and asked, “Do you have a rope in your space? A longer one.”
“There are many of these, I can give them to you.” Lu Yuan’s spatial storage contained a vast collection of ropes dating back to ancient times, so he generously offered several different kinds for Gu Nanfeng to choose from.
Gu Nanfeng picked out a climbing rope that looked to be of good quality from a pile of ropes. It was about two or three hundred meters long, and then he prepared to hang it around his waist.
"I'll do it." Ji Lang realized that Gu Nanfeng might be planning to go in and scout ahead on his own, so he tried to snatch the rope from Gu Nanfeng's hand.
"Don't rush, take the other one, we have to go together." Gu Nanfeng smiled and pointed to the ropes scattered on the ground in front of Lu Yuan.
Ji Lang didn't say much. He walked over to Lu Yuan, picked out a rope that he felt was good, and hung it on himself just like Gu Nanfeng had done.
After Gu Nanfeng finished hanging up his end of the rope, he handed the other end of his rope to Pei Sihao as he was about to get his.
"This?" Pei Sihao glanced at the rope in his hand, and before Gu Nanfeng could answer, he immediately understood. He then nodded to Gu Nanfeng and said, "Don't worry."
"I'll hold it for you." Lin Yun walked over to Ji Lang and took the other end of the rope from him. Actually, Ji Lang also wanted to have Yang Xiao hold the rope for him, just like Gu Nanfeng, but with Yang Xiao's small frame, he would most likely get pulled in by him, so it was better not to take the risk.
"Let's go." After checking the rope, Gu Nanfeng and Ji Lang walked to the door together. The two of them worked together to push the door open, and then a cloud of yellow sand rushed towards them.
Seeing the swirling yellow sand, everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their faces. But after a while, neither Gu Nanfeng nor Ji Lang, who were facing the door, felt anything unusual.
Gu Nanfeng opened his eyes and checked the situation. The sandstorm was still swirling, but it seemed that they couldn't get out of that door; not even a wisp of wind could escape.
Ji Lang quickly realized something was wrong and opened his eyes. He tried to recall what had happened last time; Zhong Qiang had gone inside, but they didn't seem to feel any sand blowing out from outside.
“This door…” Ji Lang looked at Gu Nanfeng with a puzzled expression.
"What's going on?" Yang Xiao and the others were originally hiding on both sides of the door, but seeing the situation, they all came over.
"Hey, this door is interesting." Lu Yuan touched the door frame of the door that had been opened. He put his finger inside and then took it out, only to find that his finger was covered with a layer of yellow sand.