Xueqin felt a sudden wave of suspicion, but those feelings waned when she saw the faces of the rescued members of the other team. She recognized them. One was even the first to start dancing on the table. The girl had jet-black hair so dark that it was as if it could even overshadow the color of the night, so she gave a strong impression to everyone.
Bai Xiaoke had already relaxed her shoulders as she whispered to the girl on the other end, "What happened?"
The girl with the jet-black hair was called Allo. She wiped off the blood on her face, almost as if to erase her panic, and replied breathily, "The military attacked us! It was too dark at that time, so we couldn't even tell how many people they had. Luckily, Mr. Gong saved us, but we still lost contact with one of our members."
Under those circumstances, the probability of the missing member surviving was minuscular. Allo became dejected after she said that.
Xueqin and Bai Xiaoke were momentarily at a loss for words. Before they got over their shock to speak, Gong Daoyi asked, "Why are you two in the men's toilet?" He could see the urinals behind the two women in the lit toilet.
His words reminded Bai Xiaoke about their current situation, and once again, she had a bitter taste in her mouth. She told Gong Daoyi about their predicament: "We are trapped here right now. Dong Haohao and Xu Wei are stuck in resin, and I don't know how long they will last..."
Her voice trailed off toward the end. 'Does it matter even if we managed to contact the other teams? Disregarding that most of them are busy dealing with the military, even if there were any teams available to help now, this laboratory is too dangerous. If we ask anyone to come, aren't we asking them to court death? Besides, can we even survive till then. Maybe we might have to use this soon.' Bai Xiaoke thought to herself as she touched the gun by her waist and threw a glance at Xueqin. The latter pursed her lips obstinately but revealed helplessness in her eyes.
"Don't come here. The laboratories are too dangerous. You guys just have to save the other teams." Bai Xiaoke never imagined that she would ever say something that selfless. It pained her to say that, as every word grated her throat.
Allo fell silent. She knew that if they rushed to the laboratories only after meeting up and helping the other teams, Xueqin, and the others would probably be dead by then. Her eyes reddened, and she muttered, "Take care." Another person suddenly pulled over the screen. The screen wobbled momentarily before stabilizing and focusing on Gong Daoyi's face.
"I have an idea that might save everyone," he leaned forward slightly as he spoke, revealing his well-defined chest under his unbuttoned shirt. "Allo, just follow the plan I told you just now. I'll deal with the situation at the laboratory. Can both of you last for another six minutes?"
Gong Daoyi spoke in an even-mannered tone, but his words were like a ray of hope for the two despairing women. Xueqin stared at him in a daze, feeling conflicted. For a moment, there were so many words she wanted to say to him. She wanted to ask if he was planning something to sabotage them. Yet, with the current situation, if he wanted to harm them, he just had to choose not to save them. He wouldn't need to take this risk. In the end, she just nodded wordlessly.
"Alright. Wait for me. I'll be there in six minutes. I'm disconnecting—" Gong Daoyi smiled, and his eyes sparkled like diamonds.
Just when he reached his hand out to turn it off, Bai Xiaoke suddenly shouted, "Wait! Can you pull your hair to the back?"
Gong Daoyi paused briefly before obediently combing his hair with his long fingers.
Bai Xiaoke stared at the screen for some time and suddenly exhaled deeply. A shadow was cast over Xueqin's shoulders, and she noticed it. She turned behind and saw a new escort; he was 1.9m and had a muscular frame with well-defined abs. Xueqin's face instantly darkened. Enduring the pain from her broken bones, she reached out and disconnected the call.
After a few of Bai Xiaoke's awkward laughs, the toilet became quiet again. The two women fixed their eyes on the communicator, watching the seconds tick by. They would imagine hearing the "Microorganism Cloud" corroding the toilet door whenever the digits changed. But when they listened carefully, they heard nothing outside. It was almost like they had been completely forgotten. Unexpectedly, nothing happened for the next five minutes.
It was logical. Since the people looking for them were only researchers and not professional militants, they weren't that good at searching for targets. Xueqin exhaled, preparing to say something, when she suddenly felt the floor shifting and fell to the ground. Next, they felt a second of weightlessness before their bodies, including the escort, were firmly restrained to the ground. The floor began to sink, and the gap under the door, stuffed with a jacket and toilet paper, grew farther and farther away from them.
"Haha! I forgot to mention. The laboratory is designed with the concept of building blocks. Each room can be taken apart!"
Though the toilet shouldn't have any monitoring screen, the two women could hear that man's voice clearly as the floor and the walls quickly slid apart.
"Stop playing. Quick, get them in the pool," the dry, monotonous voice ordered. With that said, the toilet floor began to slant almost 90 degrees while the door swung open with a swoosh. The door opened to total darkness, so they couldn't see what that pool was. The two women didn't have time to look as they slid down the slanted floor. The escort held on to a urinal with one hand, with Xueqin on his back, while Bai Xiaoke grabbed his other hand. Meanwhile, the toilet floor continued tilting and even started to shake as if determined to shake off the three pests stuck to it.
"How long has it been? My arm... I can't hold on much longer..." Bai Xiaoke complained. She tried her best to tread on the ground, trying to gain some traction. The escort was her ability, so she had to activate her ability to keep her and Xueqin alive. This took a toll on her, and her forehead was covered with sweat.
Before this, the communicator had already slid away from them and into the black pool beneath without making a sound. Xueqin had to cling to the escort with her broken arms. The pain was so intense that she couldn't even make a sound in response.
"Okay! You can jump over now," they heard someone say cheerfully.
Bai Xiaoke, trying to hold on, felt a sudden fury. She was just about to curse when she remembered something. She turned her head, and she almost burst into tears. Somehow, a large black hole had appeared on one of the walls of the toilet. Gong Daoyi held the hole's edge while he beckoned for them with his other hand, "Quick!"
"Mr. Gong, you are finally here," she said hoarsely.
She could hear the vague sounds of the researchers scrambling, "What is that?"
[Wormhole]
The most common way to explain the concept of wormholes in the universe is to fold a piece of paper and punch a hole through it. Following this concept, this special item can pierce through spacetime, providing the shortest passageway between two points in spacetime. A maximum of ten people can travel through the wormhole each time. This is a god-sent tool for spying and assassination.
This is a consumable item. Each one of these can only be used once.
The value of a [Wormhole] was pretty much self-explanatory, so even Xueqin couldn't help feeling a little moved.
The passageway of the wormhole was very dark, but the peculiar thing about it was that one could sense the faint flow of ultraviolet light. After Gong Daoyi stabilized the wormhole, he dispatched the bird that helped eat away the capsule doors in the arena. This time, its mission was to eat amber. The two women waited anxiously in the wormhole. After some time, they saw Dong Haohao and Xu Wei behind the bird, which returned to them, and they also leaped into the wormhole.
Dong Haohao was covered with blood, and her face was filled with animosity. "We killed the two researchers who came to check the wormhole," she panted, saying, "That felt fantastic!"
It was a miracle that all four women survived. They chatted as they walked and followed Gong Daoyi. Before they could calm themselves down, they had already reached the exit.
Afterwards, Gong Daoyi waved his hand and opened the exit. He was the first to step out of the wormhole. The ultraviolet light suddenly stopped as if losing all momentum. It froze and faded away. A dusky yellow light poured in from the opening. Bai Xiaoke stepped outside, startled by the soft, fluffy texture beneath her feet. She was standing on a woolen rug.
Not far from them, someone scoffed loudly. They turned toward the sound and found a man standing in the hall. It was the Chief of Police, Aliba.