I transformed into a cute girl and lived a carefree life in the apocalypse.

Ye Qianxue, who had just gotten out of the car, was a little worried when she heard that Yan Ziming was going in alone, but unusually, she didn't say anything to object.

Yan Ziming gently pinched Ye Qianxue's cheek:

"Don't worry, you can keep watch outside. Just remember to keep Xiaoqi and Tiantian from running around. See you later."

"Yes, Qianxue will keep an eye on them."

As Ye Qianxue watched Yan Ziming walk into the research institute, her aura changed instantly. She no longer seemed like the cute little sister following behind her older sister, but rather a battle-hardened female warrior.

She accompanied Yan Ziming through the most difficult period of the past five years since the apocalypse, and it was through countless battles that she grew to her current level, eventually developing a sharp and assertive demeanor.

Ye Qianxue didn't know when it started, but she felt that only her older sister was dazzling, so she usually hid her aura very well when Yan Ziming was around. Most of the time, she just needed to play the role of her older sister's cutest little sister.

But now that my older sister has given me a task, I absolutely cannot let her down. I must be fully focused!

Liu Wenbin also sensed the change in Ye Qianxue's demeanor, noting the faint sense of pressure she exuded. However, he was no ordinary person to have risen to the position of company commander; he was only momentarily surprised before quickly issuing new orders:

"Everyone, proceed to your designated locations and prepare for combat!"

"Yes!"

In less than a minute, the armored forces stationed there disappeared, leaving only a cloud of dust.

......

Yan Ziming frowned. As soon as she entered, she saw various bloodstains on the walls and countless corpses on the floor, including human and mutated species, which almost covered the entire corridor.

"Looking back, it was a very intense battle..."

Yan Ziming even doubted whether there were still any living people inside.

He took out the communication terminal, tapped a few times, and a 3D panoramic map appeared, with a small arrow indicating Yan Ziming's location.

After studying it carefully, Yan Ziming's face turned green—she couldn't understand it.

"Damn, what kind of crappy research institute is this? Why make it so complicated?"

The 3D panoramic map was filled with countless small cubicles and security doors, and there were two floors above ground and three floors below ground. If Yan Ziming had to search for each one, he would be exhausted.

After stumbling and bumping along for more than ten minutes, Yan Ziming's path was blocked by a security door, which was tightly shut, without even a crack.

It seems that if we don't find a way to deal with the security doors, the subsequent actions simply cannot proceed. Yan Ziming roughly counted that there are dozens of security doors in the entire research institute.

"If we can't let go of our worries, we'll have to resort to some unconventional methods."

Yan Ziming looked around and immediately noticed a recognition terminal next to the security door, which appeared to be a fingerprint recognition machine.

"That's it!"

Chapter 109 Hitting a Wall

Yan Ziming found an identification terminal on the wall next to the security door. After studying it carefully, she stretched out her slender finger and pressed it.

However, instead of pressing the fingerprint recognition area, she pressed the connection port of the recognition terminal.

Then, a thin current surged through Yan Ziming's hand, flowing along his fingers into the identification terminal. Soon after, a green light flashed on the terminal's display, and the security door slowly opened from both sides.

Judging from Yan Ziming's practiced manner, it was clear that this wasn't the first time he had done this.

"You think you can stop me with just a door? No way!"

Yan Ziming smiled slightly and stepped into the area isolated by the security door.

A gust of cold wind swept through the room, making Yan Ziming, who was already dressed lightly, shiver.

Damn, why is it so cold in there!

Yan Ziming guessed that the temperature was probably below 10 degrees Celsius, and that the temperature control system had probably malfunctioned after the intrusion.

Yan Ziming shuddered again, her delicate body trembling slightly. Although her upper body was dressed fairly modestly, her lower body was a completely different story.

The over-the-knee socks that had been covering her legs had long since disappeared for well-known reasons, revealing two exquisite, ivory-white legs that were pressed together together in the cold, wriggling like noodles, their smooth and delicate skin gleaming with a captivating luster.

Moreover, the skirt was very short, only covering part of her thighs. Whenever a cold wind blew by, she would always feel a chill under the skirt, which made her feel extremely ashamed.

The indoor lights flickered, some of the photoelectric equipment was completely broken, and most of the working equipment was just flashing. The entire room was only black and white, and the eerie atmosphere was very similar to the scenes in ghost movies.

"Holy crap, is this really a research institute and not some haunted house or something?"

Yan Ziming trembled slightly. Despite being a seventh-level ability user, she still retained some rather endearing traits, such as being afraid of ghosts.

Ye Qianxue had once teased Yan Ziming so badly that she almost cried, resulting in a wet pair of panties appearing on the balcony. As a result, Yan Ziming beat Ye Qianxue to a pulp.

"Aiya!"

Just then, an air conditioner above Yan Ziming suddenly started working, and a wisp of cold air brushed down from above, brushing past her skirt. Startled, Yan Ziming immediately reached out and covered her fluttering skirt, letting out a rather cute scream. If Ye Qianxue saw her blushing face, she would definitely be overwhelmed by how adorable she looked.

"Looks like I need to hurry."

Yan Ziming quickened his pace following the map and walked for a while. He then encountered another security door, which was still tightly closed, without any gaps.

They repeated the process again, and the security door was opened in no time.

"This won't work; it's too inefficient."

There are dozens more security doors like this. How long would it take to open them one by one?

We must confirm the location of the rescue target before we can take any action.

The problem now is that she can't confirm the location of the rescue target, which causes her to wander around like a headless fly, and the operation has come to a standstill for a time.

Yan Ziming wanted to take out his phone to contact Ye Qianxue and the others, but he couldn't find it anywhere on his body.

Ah, she remembered that her personal belongings had been taken away by the military when she entered the northern city wall...

"I should have had Liu Wenbin send someone to follow me."

Yan Ziming secretly regretted that he had tried to show off back then! Now he was so sad.

It seems I can only try my luck and see if I can find the target location by chance, like a blind cat finding a dead mouse.

......

"Damn, is this some kind of crazy thing? Why would a research institute have so many security doors? To prevent wives from catching their husbands cheating?!"

Yan Ziming went berserk. She searched, unlocked, searched again, and unlocked again, repeating this process more than ten times. Even she couldn't help but feel mad.

Moreover, along the way, some mutated species suddenly pounced on Yan Ziming when the door opened. Although they did not cause any harm to Yan Ziming, he was still startled when they first appeared.

"Why don't we just blow the wall down?"

Yan Ziming came up with a rather dangerous idea, but she rejected it the moment it crossed her mind.

"It would be embarrassing if it caused a collapse and buried me."

She is currently on the basement floor of the research institute. She has only searched one of the two floors above ground, which is the floor she entered from.

Yan Ziming felt that it would be safer to hide in the basement if one were to seek refuge, so she gave up on searching the second floor and went directly to the third basement level to scavenge.

However, the research institute, which had three underground floors, was much larger than the two floors above ground. It took her more than an hour to search just the first floor. At this rate, wouldn't it take her several hours to finish searching?

The longer she stays inside, the greater the chance that the people outside will be discovered by the mutated species, and the more severe the danger they will face.

Yan Ziming weakly punched the wall, his anxiety growing heavier.

"What good is a communication terminal besides looking at maps...? Huh? A communication terminal?.....Damn, a communication terminal!"

Yan Ziming then realized that Liu Wenbin had given her not just a map viewer, but a communication terminal!

Communication, communication, isn't it just what the literal meaning is for communication?! How come she didn't realize it for so long? She must have really lost her mind.

If only I had used this thing to contact the outside world!

Yan Ziming found a button on the communication terminal with a speaker logo printed on it.

"This should be it."

Yan Ziming pressed it:

"Hello, this is Yan Ziming, can you hear me?"

"Received, received. This is Liu Wenbin. Please respond."

It really works!

Yan Ziming was almost moved to tears.

She was wondering what to do if no one answered, but now it seems that all the problems can be solved!

"Hello? Can you hear me, big sister?" came Ye Qianxue's impatient voice from the other end.

A smile unconsciously crept onto my lips:

"Yes, I can hear you. How's the situation on your end?"

"Uh... Qianxue doesn't quite understand these things, but Tiantian has recovered her spirits, and also,"

"..."

Yan Ziming seemed to hear the sound of something being snatched away, and also heard a huge rumbling sound.

"Hey, how's it going on your end?"

A few seconds later, Liu Wenbin's voice came again, but with a hint of helplessness.

They had been at the designated location for quite some time, waited for a wave of mutated species, and then waited for rain, but they still hadn't received any news from Yan Ziming, which almost drove him crazy with worry.