Chat group, starting from the Infinite Terror God Space

Just as the group was about to have a deeper conversation, Zhang Jie, who had returned from scouting, suddenly patted her on the butt, abruptly interrupting the conversation.

"Sir, we've found another route, but it's a longer detour. We'll retreat here, go through Restaurant B, and then head straight to our destination. It'll take about twice as long," Zhang Jie and another mercenary reported to Matthew.

The cold ventilation ducts hummed overhead, the corridor lights flickered, and a faint smell of disinfectant mixed with the rust of metal filled the air. Every step echoed hollowly. Soon after, the other two scouts returned. The long-haired female soldier, Ryan, said in a low voice, "Sir, that way is completely blocked. The entire floor is flooded."

Matthew Addison nodded slightly: "Alright, let's take the second route then. Time is running out, let's set off immediately."

Left with no other option, Zheng Zha and his group had to retrace their steps with the main force. Fortunately, this time the mercenaries didn't run away. After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally stopped in front of a heavy alloy iron door. One of the mercenaries stepped forward and operated a terminal, and the iron door slowly slid open to one side, the ear-piercing mechanical friction sound particularly jarring in the silent corridor. Several men in the front row, armed and on guard, cautiously entered.

Before them lay an extremely spacious hall, neatly arranged with countless small shipping containers, each several meters square. The containers gleamed with a cold, hard metallic sheen, and a chilling aura seeped from their cracks, condensing into a thin layer of frost on the floor. The biting cold sent a shiver down their spines. Anyone who had seen Resident Evil would know that this was the cryogenic storage facility for the Creepers. Once the main computer was shut down, these dormant killing machines would awaken, transforming into monsters a hundred times more terrifying than zombies.

A mercenary stared at the computer screen and said, "This is Restaurant B... that's how it's marked on the map."

Matthew Addison leaned forward to examine it, while Matt whispered beside him, "There are probably some secrets the company doesn't want to reveal here."

Matthew glanced at him but didn't reply. Instead, he ordered the mercenaries beside him, "J.D., Ryan, Zhang Jie, you stay here to guard the prisoners and protect the exit."

At this moment, another female mercenary spoke up: "Sir, the gas concentration here is zero. Perhaps the gas hasn't spread here; maybe the defense system has malfunctioned."

Matthew nodded: "Very good. J.D., Ryan, Zhang Jie, there might still be survivors here. Do a quick search, but don't go too far. Prioritize guarding the target and securing the exit, understand?"

The three nodded in agreement, but Zhang Jie sneered and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Anyone who had seen the movie knew perfectly well—survivors? They didn't exist; there were, of course, a whole bunch of zombies.

Zhan Lan quietly walked up to Zhang Jie and lowered her voice: "I want to ask you something, is it possible for us to change the plot of the movie?"

Zhang Jie nodded: "Go on, is there anything else you want to ask?"

She chuckled softly, her voice as clear as a bell: "Then can we use plastic bombs here? If we blow up all the crawlers in the room, wouldn't we get several thousand reward points?"

Zhang Jie laughed too: "That's true, blowing this up would definitely make a fortune. But I have two questions for you. First, will they give us time to plant the bomb?" He gestured with his chin toward the group of mercenaries.

"They have no idea what's in those boxes, let alone the consequences of shutting down the mainframe. If we do anything unusual, the most likely outcome is that they'll shoot us dead, or even trigger the premature release of the crawlers. The 'God' won't let you rewrite the story so easily; even if they do, they'll most likely maximize the difficulty and unpredictability, understand?"

Wang Qi shook his head inwardly. Zhang Jie was right; rewriting the plot was indeed dangerous, but ultimately it came down to a matter of strength. If one had enough strength, gaining the trust of mercenaries wouldn't be difficult, and the reward points from Restaurant B could have been easily secured.

Moreover, in *Infinite Terror*, danger and reward are not necessarily proportional. Occasionally, opportunities arise with high rewards but relatively low risks, as seen in Restaurant B. Unfortunately, even the lowest risk is beyond the current capabilities of the Central Continent Team.

Ultimately, the problem lies with Zhang Jie. If he were a normal, experienced player, he could have easily planned to secure the rewards here.

After answering his own question, Zhang Jie posed a second question: "Now, in horror movies, what's our biggest asset for survival?"

Zhan Lan paused slightly, then touched her forehead: "Power? No... luck? That's too unpredictable... It must be familiarity with the plot, right?"

"You're right," Zhang Jie laughed. "Knowing the plot is our greatest asset. So I will never change the plot without absolute certainty. Anyone who dares to mess things up for reward points, I won't hesitate to send them to their death."

Wang Qi could see clearly that Zhang Jie was deliberately misleading the Zhongzhou team so that the team would remain "ordinary" and he himself could live longer.

Just then, Matthew Addison shouted the order: "Move! The rest of you, follow me!"

Zhang Jie remained calm, continuing to follow at the back of the group, pretending to search around. The mercenaries didn't suspect anything, but Zheng Zha and the others knew that he was only keeping up with the group because he was restricted from straying more than 100 meters from Matthew Addison.

The cold, hard metal walls on either side of the corridor, bathed in a stark white light, cast long, flickering shadows. The group passed through several heavy alloy doors, finally arriving at a central computer control room. The massive control panel was riddled with wires, and most of the screens were now flashing gibberish; clearly, the central computer, Flame Queen, had completely malfunctioned, rendering the entire laboratory unusable.

Kaplan, the team's most computer-savvy member, immediately turned on three portable computers. To Zheng Zha and the others, his skills were top-notch, his fingers flying across the keyboard. But several minutes passed, and the door to the core mainframe remained tightly shut. Only the sounds of keyboard clicks and the low hum of the equipment filled the room.

A female mercenary couldn't help but ask, "Why is it taking so long?"

Kaplan didn't even turn his head: "The Flame Queen is an intelligent mainframe with an extremely robust defense system. If she could easily breach the firewall, she wouldn't have been chosen as the master controller of the laboratory."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft sound rang out, and the tightly closed door slowly opened.

Matthew Addison immediately said, "Put away the equipment!" After saying that, he turned to look at Zheng Zha and the others.

"You stay here."

Behind the door is a passageway more than ten meters long, with glass curtain walls on both sides, which is completely different from the steel barrier outside.

After finishing his sentence, Matthew walked into the passageway alone, his steps extremely cautious. Even so, when he reached the middle section, he was suddenly startled—the glass walls around him suddenly lit up, the sudden burst of light enough to freeze an ordinary person instantly.

Kaplan's voice came through the communicator: "Don't worry, it's just an automatic sensor light, nothing to be nervous about."

It's clearly a laser net for a defense system, and they dare call it motion-sensor lights? What's there to be confident about...?

Wang Qi sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm, quickly placing himself beside Li Xiaoyi and Zhan Lan. This was a crucial moment; he couldn't afford to show any abnormality or attract attention.