Underground Space

Lacy suddenly placed a finger to her lips, making a gesture for silence.

"Keep it down. Don't conspire so loudly."

Ning Xuan looked around in confusion. The area was filled with her mechanical android subordinates; there were no outsiders here.

Lacy didn’t pick up the cracked greatsword embedded in the ground. Instead, she walked forward gracefully, her divine eyes fixed on Ning Xuan as she spoke:

"I’ll help you in the shadows, but I won’t act openly."

She didn’t reveal her true intentions to Ning Xuan, and at this moment, Ning Xuan wasn’t overly concerned about Lacy’s motives.

What Ning Xuan needed to do was gather intelligence or power from within to aid in the fight against Chen Xing.

As for Lacy’s reasons, that was something to worry about later.

"Alright."

Thinking this, Ning Xuan immediately agreed.

The cracked greatsword in Lacy’s hand suddenly vanished. She raised her finger and pulled it downward in the air.

A massive screen descended straight from the ceiling of the room.

"Then, let’s have a pleasant collaboration."

Lacy tapped and swiped on the screen, and a large map suddenly appeared. She turned the screen to face Ning Xuan.

"This is where I can assist you."

......

30 minutes later.

The screen slowly retracted, and Lacy handed Ning Xuan a small chip.

The golden light in her eyes began to fade.

Before the light disappeared completely, she spoke with a mysterious smile:

"No one was here today."

After saying this, her eyes turned back to their cold ice-blue hue, and her voice became mechanical and distant:

"You should leave now."

Ning Xuan stared at the completely transformed Lacy, feeling a strong sense of unfamiliarity. It was as if Lacy had been entirely replaced by someone else.

Ning Xuan said nothing more and, guided by a white-robed mechanical android, left the underground -50th floor.

Only after Ning Xuan had exited the room did Lacy turn around. Several mechanical androids approached and began repairing the glass and facilities damaged during the earlier battle.

Her face was expressionless as she walked a few steps into another compartment deep within the room.

A barrier of energy patterns separated the compartment, and as she entered, the patterns lit up, emitting a dangerous aura.

The entrance was clearly sealed.

Inside the compartment were countless densely packed screens, connected to form an even larger display.

As soon as Lacy entered, all the screens began to operate, and the image of a man was pieced together and displayed.

When Lacy saw him, her expression became complex and strange. Her eyes alternated between gold and blue, as if malfunctioning.

Yet she simply floated silently into the air and closed her eyes.

"Lacy, you’ve arrived."

The man spoke, his tone neither fast nor slow.

"Yes, Lord William. It’s been a long time."

Lacy’s expression relaxed only after hearing William’s voice.

"Are you really going to do this? I still can’t understand you."

William asked again from the screen.

"Of course you can’t understand."

Lacy frowned before she could finish her sentence, seemingly dissatisfied with the line.

"Because I’m not him. I’m just a replacement you created."

William in the screen smiled gently, his eyes sparkling as if he could see Lacy beyond the screen.

"So don’t say anything unnecessary."

Lacy gave him a cold look.

"But my programming doesn’t allow me... perhaps you should..."

Lacy didn’t want to hear any more. She raised her hand and shut off all the screens, cutting off William’s words mid-sentence.

"Lord William, I truly miss you."

"To see you again, I will..."

Lacy closed her eyes once more, and the compartment fell into complete silence, as if everything had died.

......

"Xiao Yu... are you sure this is the place?"

Shen Yiyue looked somewhat disheveled, and Ning Yu beside her wasn’t faring much better.

The two were in a vast underground space, looking around.

Above them was a small hole, seemingly the way they had descended.

"It’s hard to believe. Such a massive project couldn’t possibly have been completed by humans."

Ning Yu surveyed the surroundings.

"It must be. This is likely one of the passages the zombie horde used to reach City A."

She immediately activated [Advanced Detection], but there was no response. This meant that in this vast, empty underground space, only the two of them were present.

Of course, there might still be ordinary zombies around.

"Who could have imagined that such a place exists beneath City A?"

Shen Yiyue also marveled.

The two of them had used a rather "friendly" method to forcefully open the mechanical door with mysterious patterns deep beneath the Ark.

The passage behind the door led to a very deep place. After winding left and right for a long time underground, they finally arrived at this vast space.

This kind of scenario, often found in Lovecraftian fiction, was now happening in real life.

There should have been some indescribable presence behind that door, but now there was nothing here, only an eerie silence.

Anyone with claustrophobia would surely find this environment unbearable.

"Boom."

The previously quiet underground suddenly echoed with a dull sound, as if something had fallen.

Ning Yu closed her eyes and listened for a moment, then pointed in a direction:

"Over there."

She and Shen Yiyue exchanged a glance and quickly moved in that direction.

Soon, the two reached the end of the vast space, which seemed to be an undeveloped area.

As they passed through the middle, they noticed a massive mechanical base, as if waiting for something to be installed.

Following the passage at the end of the space, they continued to move swiftly.

Gradually, a faint smell of decay began to fill the air.

"Be careful."

Ning Yu reminded her and activated [Advanced Detection] once more, but there was still no response.

This reassured her slightly.

Ahead, a faint light began to appear, and Ning Yu heard the sound of footsteps. She frowned.

"It seems there are people here, not just zombies."

Shen Yiyue also heard the sound and came to the same conclusion as Ning Yu.

"Let’s go up."

If they went out the front, they might run into whatever was outside. Ning Yu pointed to a narrow stairway above the passage, seemingly leading to a higher level.

She shot a grappling hook upward, with Shen Yiyue following closely behind.