Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40: Underground Base
The Insect Clan is especially sensitive to the scent of food. Garbage Star was originally piled high with massive amounts of food scraps and other refuse, so it naturally became a treasured habitat for them.
And now, in their minds, humans were synonymous with fresh meat. Shi Lan had only been falling for a little over ten seconds when a swarm had gathered. She couldn’t imagine how many more had been attracted by now.
Her eyes darted around the room. The bedroom was bare, and with the bed collapsed, there was nowhere to hide. She struggled to her feet and scrambled toward the third bedroom.
When she was looking for the gun earlier, she’d noticed a wardrobe in here. One side was flush against a wall, making it a decent place to hide for the time being.
Driven by her survival instinct, Shi Lan dove into the wardrobe faster than she’d ever moved in her life. Xiao Du phased through the wood right after her. Hearing the vibrations from the ground, it grew frightened and instinctively pressed closer to its master. freёwebnovel.com
Shi Lan held it in her arms, slowed her breathing, and listened for any sounds outside.
The building’s tremors grew stronger. The Insect Clan was closing in.
Pressed against the inside of the wardrobe, she could feel it begin to hum and tremble along with the building.
For a moment, Shi Lan worried the wardrobe would fall apart. She pressed herself tighter against the wall behind it.
The insects were too large to get inside the building. Their eyes peered through each window as if on patrol, their noses twitching as they searched for the source of the scent.
A few smaller insects managed to crawl into the rooms. They effortlessly lifted heavy chunks of the wall, tossing aside anything in their path as if they were rummaging through garbage.
One by one, the insects entered the room where Shi Lan had first appeared. They investigated every suspicious crack, sniffing for a long time. But aside from a strange fragrance, they couldn’t detect the scent of flesh.
The section of wall Shi Lan had leaned against now carried the scent of her sweat. An insect approached, extended its long tongue, and licked it. Then, it violently tore the piece of wall free and began to greedily lap at the lingering scent.
When the other insects saw this, they rushed over to fight for the piece. Unable to find any actual meat, they began to squabble over the scented plaster.
One of the insects, losing the fight, was sent flying by another. It smashed through several walls before landing with a heavy THUD in the room where Shi Lan was hiding.
Hiding in the corner wardrobe, Shi Lan held her breath without realizing it. Xiao Du said nervously, "Master, if they come for us, I can lure them away. They can’t eat me, anyway."
"Okay."
Shi Lan gave a slight nod. Peeking through a thin crack in the wardrobe door, she saw the insect lying on the floor.
The insect was dazed for a moment before it scrambled back to its feet. It was about to rush back to fight for the piece of wall when it seemed to catch another strange scent. It leaped onto the bed, sniffing everywhere. Its long tail swung around and accidentally smacked against the wardrobe, which creaked precariously.
Something heavy fell and smacked Shi Lan on the head. Her face contorted in pain, and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, terrified of letting out a single sound.
The insect looked toward the wardrobe in confusion. It drew closer, its nose twitching. Shi Lan didn’t dare press her eye to the crack again. Just as a frantic Xiao Du was about to dart out and lure it away, the insect turned and left.
Thankfully, Shi Lan’s perfume worked. The insect hadn’t detected her human scent. Seeing that the others fighting over the plaster were taking off, it hurried after them.
Having found nothing, the insects were left with only the piece of plaster that smelled of meat. Their minds were consumed by a primitive desire to feed. They had arrived as quickly as they left.
Shi Lan didn’t dare to move. A long time passed before the world outside fell completely silent, and only then did she finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
With a rare moment to catch her breath, she activated her chip and sent a message to everyone who was worried about her, letting them know she was safe.
She looked through the messages. She hadn’t expected that even the five people from the prison knew she was missing. They’d even called in a lot of people to help.
Shi Lan mentally filed away their acts of kindness and scrolled to her message thread with Yan Huoshui, reading it carefully.
He had sent a lot of information. He told her to find a gas mask first and to hide her scent. He also said that if she navigated to the "Research Institute" on her map, she would find the underground base on Garbage Star. It was an old, sturdily built facility that the Insect Clan couldn’t penetrate.
Shi Lan did a quick search. To her surprise, the location pinged right on top of this abandoned building.
’Looks like I’m lucky after all.’
Shi Lan decided to find the underground base. She turned off the chip, rubbed her aching head, and then looked at the object that had fallen beside her. It was a mechanical gun.
Just when she thought all was lost, a new hope appeared. The very weapon she’d been looking for had practically fallen into her lap.
She looked up. It had been hidden in a secret compartment at the top of the wardrobe. No wonder she hadn’t found it earlier.
Shi Lan picked up the weapon. It was heavy. She spent a few moments getting a feel for it, familiarizing herself with its basic operation to ensure she could use it against any insects she might run into, before heading downstairs.
Worried that the insects might have circled back, she was extremely cautious, moving downstairs without making a sound.
She was on the third floor. Every step she took kicked up clouds of dust, and the silence was unnerving.
Thankfully, she reached the first floor without incident.
Yan Huoshui had said that the most dangerous place is often the safest. The entrance to the Research Institute was behind a bookshelf in the main hall, and one of the books was the switch to open it.
But it had been ten years, and he’d forgotten which book it was he’d accidentally used to open it. He could only tell Shi Lan to search for it herself, mentioning it was probably in the middle section.
The hall was wide open, with a clear view of the outside. Shi Lan felt increasingly exposed, wishing she could run back and hide in the wardrobe again.
But she’d only been lucky that the insect hadn’t smashed the wardrobe. Who knew if she’d be so lucky next time? It wasn’t a permanent solution. frёeωebɳovel.com
She pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and asked Xiao Du to keep watch outside while she opened the glass doors of the bookshelf.
The books had been sitting on the shelves for so long that even inside the cabinet, they were caked in a thick layer of dust. The titles on some were completely illegible.
She gave them a quick scan. There must have been several hundred books. The sight alone made her feel a wave of despair.
’How am I supposed to find it?’
Shi Lan had no talent for solving puzzles. She decided to just start in the middle, pulling out every book and tossing it onto the floor.
The THUD of the books hitting the floor sounded eerily like the footsteps of an insect. If Xiao Du hadn’t confirmed the coast was clear, she would have thought they were back.
After several minutes of work, she had only managed to clear a single small section of the shelf.
’This isn’t going to work,’ she thought. ’It’s making too much noise. I remember there are insects underground, too. This could draw them out.’
Shi Lan frowned, thinking. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "Xiao Du, you can pass through walls, right?"
She remembered how it had phased into the wardrobe to join her.
Xiao Du nodded. "Yes. What is it, Master?"
Shi Lan’s eyes lit up. "I have a very important mission for you. Just phase through to the other side and open it for me from in there."
Xiao Du realized this was a viable plan and immediately passed through the wall.
Once inside, it looked around and, sure enough, found a button that looked like it would open the door. It leaped up and pressed it.
Soon, the bookshelf in the hall began to shift, slowly revealing an entrance.
Shi Lan rushed over, scooping Xiao Du up and giving it a kiss. "Xiao Du, you’re the best!"
After the kiss, she looked past the entrance and saw that it led to an elevator. There were only two floor buttons.
She pressed the button for floor -1.
Meanwhile, Bai Feng arrived on Garbage Star, leading Teams A and B.
