Courtyard House: I fish in the heavens, a professional bird abuser.

The drainpipe's inlet is at the bottom of a dried-up ditch.

A rusty iron gate blocked the pipe opening, the lock half-corroded and broken. He Yuanchao kicked it, sending the lock and the iron gate flying inside, making a series of clanging sounds.

The pipe is very large.

With a diameter of nearly two meters, it's large enough for an adult to walk quickly while bending over. The pipe walls are made of concrete, and the surface is covered with a layer of sticky moss. There's a shallow layer of water on the ground, making a "splashing" sound when you walk on it.

The air was filled with the musty smell characteristic of old drainage systems, mixed with a faint chemical residue—that was seeping in from the direction of the honeycomb.

He Yuanchao walked in front.

The tactical flashlight of the shotgun was on, the beam of light swaying back and forth on the pipe wall, illuminating the moss and puddles with an eerie green reflection.

Alice followed about two steps behind him.

She walks almost silently—that feline lightness of gait is an instinct given to her after the T-virus awakens.

"Have you walked this road before?" Alice asked.

"No." He Yuanchao replied without turning his head.

"Then how do you know this pipe leads to the hive?"

"Just a guess."

"..."

Alice didn't ask any more questions.

She had grown accustomed to He Yuanchao's style of "knowing everything but refusing to explain."

There's no point in asking questions when dealing with this kind of person.

He will speak when he wants to.

The pipeline extends underground for approximately four hundred meters.

There were two forks in the road. He Yuanchao hesitated for less than half a second at each fork before choosing a direction—his system map had marked the entire sewage system of the Hive, so he could choose any path even with his eyes closed.

About six or seven minutes later.

The pipe ahead narrowed a bit, then suddenly opened up—they entered a medium-sized concrete chamber.

Inside the chamber were several rusted and outdated sewage treatment machines that had stopped operating. The walls were covered with a dense network of pipes, resembling the blood vessels of some industrial behemoth.

On the north wall of the chamber—there is a metal door.

The door bears Umbrella's red and white logo.

And a line of text—"Sewage system maintenance access in Zone B. Authorized personnel only."

"We've arrived." He Yuanchao walked to the door.

He pulled out the access card—the same universal card he had used in the Hive that had been buffed by the system.

"drop--"

The red light on the card reader turned green.

"Buzz—"

The airtight door made a heavy starting sound and slowly slid open to both sides.

A colder blast of air, carrying a distinct smell of disinfectant, rushed out from inside.

Area B.

They are back.

He Yuanchao stepped across the threshold.

The ground beneath my feet transformed from rough concrete into smooth metal grating. The emergency lights overhead were flashing—sure enough, the independent power supply system in Zone B was still operational, albeit with unstable power.

The corridor is very long.

The walls on both sides are made of white-painted metal panels, which is consistent with the design style of Area A, only cleaner.

It seems this area has indeed not been invaded by zombies.

At least not at the moment.

He Yuanchao checked the surrounding signals on the system radar.

Green—No.

red--

Three.

It's about 150 meters away, somewhere at the end of the corridor. The signal is weak, and it seems to be in a dormant or low-activity state.

"There are three red dots ahead. 150 meters away. They haven't moved," He Yuanchao said in a low voice.

Alice picked up the shotgun.

"What is that?"

"Uncertain. But not ordinary zombies—there's no T-virus concentration in the air here, not enough to turn a person into a zombie."

"Experimental subject?"

"Highly likely."

He Yuanchao checked the safety on the shotgun once.

Then continue walking forward.

Each step was taken very lightly.

The figures of two people appeared alternately on the corridor wall under the flickering emergency lights, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like two ghosts lurking in the shadows.

The corridor splits into a T-shaped intersection at the front.

The left side leads to the storage area.

The right side leads to the backup server room of the Red Queen.

He Yuanchao stopped at the intersection.

He gestured to the left—go to the storage area first.

Alice nodded.

The two people turned into the left corridor.

I walked about thirty meters.

Then He Yuanchao stopped.

He saw the scene ahead.

Rows of huge cylindrical glass culture tanks.

It looked very similar to what he had seen in the warehouse in Area A, but there were more of them, and they were bigger.

There are at least thirty or so.

Each one is over two meters tall and filled with a pale green nutrient solution.

And in those liquids—

All sorts of things were floating.

Some of them look like human torsos without skin.

Some of them resembled some kind of unidentified reptile.

Some were completely unrecognizable—just clumps of writhing, strangely colored biological tissue.

In the few culture tanks in the far corner, He Yuanchao saw what he had previously mentioned in Dr. Ashford's description.

Five smaller metal containers marked with red labels.

A layer of white frost had formed on the outer shell of those containers.

Liquid nitrogen container.

It contains the original solution of the progenitor virus.