SCOM - Chapter 62
Chapter 62
"The third floor is for ore decomposition. It's then sent to the fourth floor for rough analysis and testing. After that, these analyzed raw materials are sent up to the fifth floor for further purification to separate impurities, and finally, to the sixth floor for the final test results." Zhang Yongzhen explained as he led them down the third-floor corridor.
"Then what's the second floor for?" Luo Shaoyuan, who was walking at the front, turned back and asked casually.
Zhang Yongzhen politely explained, "The second floor is usually the researchers' offices."
"Secretary Zhang is very knowledgeable about the research institute." As Ji Yuezhi said this, his gaze fell on a large rock in the third-floor decomposition room, as if he had just mentioned it casually.
"As the Star Lord's secretary, I need to know a little about everything." Zhang Yongzhen smiled sheepishly, his expression showing the relaxation of being with people his own age. "Sometimes the pressure is immense, and I'm afraid of not doing a good job. Besides, the research institute is right next to the administrative building, so I'm a bit more familiar with it."
Ji Yuezhi nodded. "Secretary Zhang, could you accompany us inside for a look? I've never seen rock decomposition before, I'm very curious."
"Of course." Zhang Yongzhen bowed slightly, pushed open the door to the decomposition room, and gestured for Ji Yuezhi and the others to enter.
"I'm not going. I'll just look around," Luo Shaoyuan said, a little bored. "What's so interesting about a stupid rock?"
"I already told you, the research institute is a confidential location," Jiang Hong said to Luo Shaoyuan, displeased.
"I'm not going inside, just looking around." Luo Shaoyuan looked at Zhang Yongzhen. "Secretary, I don't need you to accompany me either."
Jiang Hong said, "Why don't you go back first, Luo Shaoyuan."
"I don't want to go back. Who knows where you guys will go to have fun later."
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Zhang Yongzhen mediated, "How about I have a guide from the institute show Classmate Luo around?"
"I guess that's fine." Luo Shaoyuan asked the guide from the institute beside her with little interest, "Do you have anything to eat at your institute?"
"...No, we go to the cafeteria in the administrative center building next door to eat," the institute guide said.
"Fine, you guys do your research here. I'll go wander around." Luo Shaoyuan turned and left.
Ji Yuezhi and Zuo Luohuan entered the decomposition room first. Inside, rocks of various sizes were being rapidly broken down into powder, placed into specific containers, and then a researcher would come, take the box, and send it up a transport tube.
"The powdered rock from the decomposition is sent through this tube to the fourth-floor research lab, where it undergoes rough purification and testing," Zhang Yongzhen explained as he showed them around.
Next, they toured the fourth and fifth floors, but they didn't go up to the sixth.
"The sixth floor isn't open to the public. Only during the later stages will a professor come to check the final results." Zhang Yongzhen said with some regret, "There haven't been any researchers on the sixth floor these past few days, so I haven't been up to see it either."
"I never knew there was so much to decomposing rocks," Jiang Hong remarked from the side.
"Thank you for today, Secretary Zhang. This place is very interesting." Ji Yuezhi turned to Zhang Yongzhen. "Since we've finished the tour, we'll head back now and not disturb you any further."
"It's what we should do." Zhang Yongzhen extended an arm, inviting the three of them to exit together.
When they reached the first floor, Jiang Hong looked up, an expression of annoyance on his face. "Luo Shaoyuan isn't down yet?"
"I came down a while ago." Luo Shaoyuan walked in through the main entrance, carrying several bags that all looked like food, and a drink in her hand. "I wandered around the area. There's so much to eat."
The institute guide behind her had a numb expression. Anyone would be numb after witnessing her eat so much without stopping. She looked like a prisoner just released from jail who hadn't eaten in eight hundred years.
"Alright, let's go back," Zuo Luohuan said.
The person who escorted them back was still Zhou Li, who took them all the way to the restaurant in the Xijiang Prefecture.
"There's a pretty fun game that came out recently. It has a four-player mode. Want to play together? I think the quality of the light screen and sound system in the room is good." Luo Shaoyuan scrolled through her optical computer and showed Zuo Luohuan. "It's a combat game. Want to give it a try?"
"Have you played it?" Zuo Luohuan asked.
"Nope, it came out last month. I haven't had a chance to play it yet." Luo Shaoyuan turned her head and asked a nearby waiter, "Do you have game controllers? Send four to my room."
"Yes, we do." The waiter quickly went to get the game controllers.
After the four of them finished their meal, the game controllers had already been delivered to Luo Shaoyuan's room.
They all went to her room, fiddled with the setup for a while, and then started playing the game.
The sound of gunshots and headshots boomed throughout the room, loud enough to deafen them.
If someone in a room in the building opposite could see inside, they would discover a speaker placed right next to their listening device, with the volume turned up to the maximum.
"I walked a full circle around the research institute. There aren't many defenses around it, but there are laser devices. Their glass is one-way, so I couldn't see inside from the outside," Luo Shaoyuan said as she sat down. "Later, I went to the cafeteria in the administrative center. It's on the eighth floor. If we first enter the cafeteria through the kitchen pipe vent and then jump from the window to the roof of the adjacent research institute, we can avoid the laser devices and reduce trouble."
"Not 'we'." Zuo Luohuan leaned against the sofa, pointed a finger at herself, and corrected, "It's 'me'."
Ji Yuezhi frowned and turned to look at her. "I'm going too."
Zuo Luohuan chuckled. "You stay in the room and help me put on a show."
After a moment of silence, Ji Yuezhi said, "Yan Yan's parents were in the 377th Army. They'll have weapons. Have him bring them to you and go with you."
"Okay," Zuo Luohuan agreed.
"The third, fourth, and fifth floors of the institute should be fine." Ji Yuezhi looked up slightly at Zuo Luohuan. "Zhang Yongzhen deliberately said the sixth floor wasn't open to the public, but I believe the second floor is where they keep the important things. The wear on the second-floor elevator button is the lightest; it can't be the researchers' offices."
Zuo Luohuan was taken aback. She hadn't told Ji Yuezhi much, and he didn't know Zhang Yongzhen, yet he was able to notice so many things.
"Jiang Hong, do you have anyone working at the hotel?" Zuo Luohuan asked.
"What kind of staff do you need?"
"A housekeeping attendant," Zuo Luohuan said. "One visit in the afternoon, and another in the evening and the next morning."
Jiang Hong thought for a moment and said, "It'll take a few days."
"That's fine."
The group played games in Luo Shaoyuan's room all afternoon, only returning to their own rooms in the evening.
Zhou Li noticed that this group of young masters and misses had probably tired themselves out playing and lost interest in Xijiang Exile Star. Aside from visiting their junior's parents at the hospital, they just holed up in the hotel, occasionally coming out for a dip in the hot springs or a drink at the hotel's quiet bar.
"Tsk, tsk, young people are so energetic. They start every day at noon, changing the bedsheets several times a day. It's true what they say: a full belly and warm clothes lead to lustful thoughts." Zhou Li shook his head as he watched the hallway monitor, seeing Zuo Luohuan knock and enter Ji Yuezhi's room.
"It's a pity there are no cameras in the room, or we could watch a live broadcast," someone in the room said crudely. "I hear those two are a top-tier Alpha and Omega."
Zhou Li turned and glared at the speaker. "What nonsense are you spouting? The Xijiang Prefecture never installs cameras in rooms. We respect our guests' privacy."
In reality, the Xijiang Prefecture had installed them before. Later, someone with a powerful background from the Western District came to play at the underground casino and unexpectedly discovered a camera in their room, nearly bringing down the entire entertainment industry of Xijiang Exile Star. That's why they no longer dared to install cameras in the rooms. Even the listening devices were only in Zuo Luohuan's and her friends' rooms, and they had been installed temporarily.
At noon, Zuo Luohuan entered Ji Yuezhi's room as usual and stayed for over two hours. Then, Ji Yuezhi called for room cleaning. A housekeeper, one of Jiang Hong's people, came in pushing a cart. Zuo Luohuan hid inside the cart and was taken out of the hotel. She then met up with Yan Yan and waited for night to fall, when the administrative building's lights went out and it was sealed for the night.
"Jiejie, what's in the research institute?" Yan Yan had brought the equipment bag his parents used to use. Inside were only two long ropes with hooks, a dagger, and a pistol, but not many bullets.
"I'm not sure." Zuo Luohuan hadn't seen anything at the time, but Hong Tongdao's actions towards her had made her all the more suspicious that something was wrong.
The two of them entered through a dedicated kitchen pipe vent and successfully reached the eighth floor of the administrative building. Following Luo Shaoyuan's directions, they went to the window.
"..." Yan Yan estimated the distance between the two buildings. "Jump from here?"
He felt it was impossible to jump to the roof of the adjacent research institute. The two buildings looked close, but in reality, the gap was too wide.
"Mhm." Zuo Luohuan pushed open the window and jumped out directly.
Yan Yan didn't even have a chance to reach out and stop her. He watched as she took several strides in mid-air and successfully landed on the roof of the research institute.
...It didn't seem that far after all.
Yan Yan took a deep breath and jumped too, but his estimation was a bit off. He watched as he stretched out his hand but couldn't grab the edge of the roof.
I'm going to break my legs now, he thought, I'd better not trigger the alarm. There are laser devices around here.
Just then, a rope was suddenly thrown down from above. Yan Yan immediately grabbed it, dangled above the sixth floor for a moment, and then quickly climbed up.
Zuo Luohuan pulled the rope back. "Junior, you'd better practice more when you get back."
Yan Yan: "...Yes."
The two of them circled the rooftop and finally chose to carefully cut the lock on the door.
Zuo Luohuan led Yan Yan to the sixth floor, but instead of pushing open the fire escape door, she continued down to the second floor.
They moved with extreme caution. It was then that Zuo Luohuan discovered there were laser devices here as well. For an ordinary ore testing center, using such things was excessive, which only further indicated that there was some unspeakable secret inside.
Fortunately, they discovered them in time. Although their progress was difficult, they finally found an obviously encrypted office.
Zuo Luohuan took out the lock-picking tools Jiang Hong had gotten for her from her pocket, placed them on the lock, and after about ten minutes, the lock opened.
They exchanged a glance and stepped lightly inside.
The desk in this office was ordinary, but there was a safe in the corner.
Zuo Luohuan stared at the safe for a long while before deciding not to touch it. She scanned her surroundings, her gaze sweeping over the books on the bookshelf.
The books were a mix, mostly about ore testing technology and the like, along with many picture albums.
Zuo Luohuan gestured for Yan Yan to come over and check the books, while she reached out and took down the picture albums that were the same size as, or slightly larger than, the document she had seen before.
Her fingers flipped through a thick album about rock formations. The paper was very thick; many albums on the market liked to use this kind of glossy, heavy paper, but...
Zuo Luohuan held the album. The feel was wrong.
Using the faint light from her optical computer, she carefully examined the album. Finally, she gently tore open a page, revealing a document inside.
Every page of the album had a hidden layer.
Zuo Luohuan tore open all the pages and took out the documents inside. It wasn't the one she had seen before.
Beside her, Yan Yan recorded everything. It was a complete test result. He happened to see the conclusion and gasped.
"...The mines on Xijiang Exile Star have Silver-Blue?"
Zuo Luohuan suddenly shoved the extracted documents at Yan Yan. "Take this chance and leave."
She herself took the album and the first document she had removed and quickly left the office.
It was only then that Yan Yan heard another person's footsteps in the corridor.
Zhang Yongzhen stood in the corridor. Seeing Zuo Luohuan, a strange smile appeared on his face. "You're here."
"Secretary Zhang?" Zuo Luohuan stuffed the album into her backpack right in front of him. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for someone." Zhang Yongzhen stared at Zuo Luohuan, flipping out a dagger in his hand. "And now I've found them."
"Is that so?" Zuo Luohuan placed her hand on the corridor railing and abruptly jumped down from the second floor.
Zhang Yongzhen stood on the second floor, looking down at Zuo Luohuan below. "Shui Bai, when I didn't see your body, I knew you weren't dead."
Zuo Luohuan stopped in her tracks. She watched a two-meter-tall robot dog emerge from the darkness, took a few steps back, and turned her head to look up at Zhang Yongzhen on the second floor. "Who is Shui Bai?"
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