No strange things are allowed to evolve!

......

"The mentor is awake!"

Saeko, who was keeping a close eye on Jiang Shu's situation, shouted, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief and gathered around.

Looking at the concerned crowd, Jiang Shu calmly asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

“About five minutes,” Saeko replied.

Five minutes...

Jiang Shu originally thought it would only take a moment, but it turned out it would take some time.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that you will enter the nightmare world once on each floor. So next time you go from the second basement level to the first basement level, you need to be careful and have someone by your side.

Seeing Jiang Shu staring blankly with his eyes open, Saeko thought he hadn't woken up yet and said with some concern, "You must be too tired. Although it's for the sake of the great cause, you should still take care of your health."

Jiang Shu snapped out of his daze and waved his hand, "It's alright. It's just that I haven't slept for three days and three nights. It's nothing. For everyone's freedom, I don't mind suffering a little."

Everyone who heard this was deeply moved.

They completely ignored the fact that Jiang Shu had only just been sent over, and at most, it had been less than a day.

In fact, while waiting for Saeko to arrange the initial transfer in the morgue, Jiang Shu secretly took a nap.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to notice the decaying corpse beside him.

Now that Jiang Shu has woken up, we can discuss our next steps.

Saeko first shared her concerns with Jiang Shu, and the others chimed in with their own thoughts and plans regarding these concerns.

The strongest test subjects volunteered to go up and fight first, holding the elevator entrance while waiting for reinforcements.

The professional soldiers objected, intending to conserve their strength and send the experimental subjects up to wear down the defending forces first, using them as a trump card to deliver a surprise attack. This would not only allow them to strike unexpectedly but also ensure that the experimental subjects would be in the best possible condition to face the exhausted army, thus increasing their chances of victory. It was a classic example of the Tian Ji horse racing strategy.

As for the researchers, they planned to avoid direct confrontation and instead use the tools on this floor to manually prepare some explosives and stuff them into the elevator. They planned to surprise the elevator when the doors opened, but the only downside was that they might blow up the elevator as well.

Besides these, there were many other ingenious ideas that even Jiang Shu found amazing.

To be honest, if it weren't for the time constraint, Jiang Shu would have been very willing to try those disgusting methods.

However, unless a breakthrough can be achieved quickly, it will definitely turn into a tug-of-war, so a head-on confrontation is inevitable; it's just a matter of who goes first.

"But the elevator is only so big, it can only hold a maximum of twenty people at a time. It would take at least ten trips for us to all get up. That would take so long... our losses could be huge."

Seeing that Jiang Shu still intended to launch a strong attack, the conservative researchers, led by Saeko, were somewhat worried.

“I know,” Jiang Shu nodded. “So this problem needs to be solved first.”

Everyone's eyes lit up: "Do you have a good idea?"

Faced with the expectant gazes of the crowd, Jiang Shu gave an irrelevant answer: "By the way, how much is the height of a floor?"

"You mean between the third basement level and the second floor?" One of the researchers, though puzzled, replied, "About six meters."

"Six meters..."

Jiang Shu glanced at the number of researchers and muttered to himself thoughtfully:

"That should be about enough."

"What do you mean by 'enough'?" Everyone was puzzled.

Jiang Shu smiled and said, "If there's no road, we can find our own way. In the days before elevators, did people not go upstairs? They could take the stairs."

"Um..."

Saeko looked troubled:

"There really aren't any stairs here... In fact, as one of the Empire's most important secret units, this location is so carefully chosen that there's absolutely no possibility of any natural disasters, so there's no need for any security passages at all."

If anything could cause the people here to need to flee, it could only be that the experimental subjects have gone out of control.

But if that were to happen, the higher-ups would not hesitate to self-destruct the entire laboratory to prevent the experimental subjects from escaping and exposing its secrets.

"What a wonderful phrase, 'living as long as heaven and earth.'" Jiang Shu was somewhat surprised: "So that's why there's only an elevator?"

No wonder this country treats seppuku as a ritual; they're ruthless not only to outsiders but also to themselves.

Jiang Shu asked curiously, "You all know this, yet you still dare to work here?"

Upon hearing Jiang Shu's question, the professional soldiers and researchers were somewhat ashamed: "Wasn't it because we weren't aware enough before? We were all used to being oppressed and didn't realize that this was completely wrong. Even though these precautions were clearly written in the agreement before we joined the company, we still signed it obediently and accepted this risk."

At this point, everyone felt a renewed sense of hatred towards the empire.

"So, the reason they haven't used this method to stop us is because the higher-ups think the situation here is still under control. But if things get out of their control, the entire lab could explode?" Jiang Shu asked again.

"should be."

Saeko nodded at first, but then shook her head:

"But I think they won't do that unless absolutely necessary. Even if it really comes to that, you might still be able to leave before then."

"As long as we take control of the entire lab first, everything will be fine."

"I didn't know this before, but now it seems you all are indeed determined, which makes me very gratified and proud," Jiang Shu praised the group.

This was in stark contrast to the empire that did not value their lives, and it immediately moved them deeply.

Jiang Shu could almost see the words "maximum loyalty" written on their faces.

"However, I knew from the beginning that there were no stairs, so the stairs I was talking about were not those."

"So you mean...?"

"As I always say, if there's no road, create a road; if there's no staircase, create a staircase!"

......

Upstairs, just one floor away.

Just like with the melatonin case, a group of superhumans with special abilities, along with a group of better-equipped professional soldiers, are on high alert.

But unlike the other side, they didn't block the elevator door and wait to surprise the people inside as soon as it opened; instead, they kept a considerable distance apart.

This left some peripheral figures who didn't have enough information very confused.

"Captain, why don't we just block the doorway and shove the gun into the mouths of the people inside as soon as it opens?"

"Idiot!" the captain scolded in a low voice. "The data shows that many technicians have been infected by the escaped test subjects and have betrayed the Empire. They may launch a suicide attack at any time. If we get too close and they rush out to self-destruct, we won't have any chance to react."

"I see. But why didn't you tell me such important information sooner?"

The captain paused for a moment, then said, "Because I just heard it from them myself..."

The soldier quietly turned his head and looked at the superhumans behind him who held a superior position in the laboratory and possessed superpowers.

Could it be that the captain asked the same question and received the same answer?

So he asked cautiously, "Captain, you did it too?"

"Yeah... I did it too."

The soldier sighed. They were clearly better soldiers than the lower-level security forces, yet the difference in their situations was like night and day, despite being only one level apart. If he had known this would happen, he would have simply gone easy on them and sent them directly down there.

Although the treatment is worse, at least when I'm bored I can torture the test subjects, which is better than being tortured by them here.

Just as I was thinking this...

Ding!

The elevator floor started to change.

"They're here!" The captain raised his right fist to alert everyone, then pulled back the bolt, tightened his finger on the trigger, and aimed at the elevator door: "After being out of contact for so long, we've finally made a move."

hum...

The elevator doors slowly opened.

But there was no one inside, only a bunch of equipment whose purpose no one could figure out.

“This is…” the captain frowned.

boom!

Before he could see them clearly, the items suddenly burst into intense flames.

Because the space was too confined, the explosion had a greater impact than its original yield.

The explosion generated a powerful blast wave that instantly blew the people at the front away. Although those behind could barely keep their balance, they were also shaken, their ears rang uncontrollably, and they temporarily lost their hearing.

Just as their dizziness subsided somewhat, before they could even check for any casualties or injuries themselves, they faintly heard shouts.

The shouts grew louder and louder as they approached.

"Get them!"

"Down with the lackeys! Give us back our land!"

Everyone squinted with difficulty, and then were shocked to find that people from the lower level were emerging one after another from the still-smoking elevator and charging towards them.

"No? Where did they hide just now?!"

Chapter 269 The Laboratory: Total War

Everyone thought the explosion was aimed at them.

They had anticipated this, so they deliberately kept their distance.

Although the explosion caused some shock, there were no serious casualties. They were even complacent, thinking they had defused the most dangerous attack.

But they were wrong.

The explosion was never intended for them from the beginning. It would have been a pleasant surprise if it had hit them, but it wouldn't have mattered at all if it hadn't.

Its most important purpose was to blow up the elevator and the elevator doors.

If you observe carefully before the explosion, you will find that the explosives were mainly placed near the elevator doors and in the weak points of the elevator floor.

This is the blasting spot that Jiang Shu carefully selected by using a VPN.

In fact, Jiang Shu originally planned to try to blast a gap from another direction and launch an ultimate flanking maneuver to catch them off guard.

However, it was also because of the ability to bypass the firewall that Jiang Shu discovered that the gaps between the layers in the laboratory were very thick, and there were no interlayers or gaps, only cushioning materials with extremely strong compressive and tensile strength.

Thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite normal. Although the probability of natural disasters occurring in the laboratory's location is very low, such as common natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, it must have been scouted in advance to ensure that the location is not in an earthquake zone or near the sea. However, when building, even if natural disasters are not considered, human-caused disasters must be taken into account, right?

It can't be something that can be built haphazardly like resettlement housing.

Military units of this level of secrecy need to be sturdy enough to withstand several missiles, so they are not only very thick but also made of very solid materials. The explosives that researchers could collect, which could be used to make hand-made bombs, simply could not damage any part of the laboratory.

So there was no other way but to break through head-on and take over the elevator shaft, a strategically vital location.

In short, at these detonation points, controlled amounts of explosives can precisely destroy elevator doors and elevator floors, but not enough to collapse the elevator shaft and block the only passage between the two floors.

At the same time, the explosion can produce an effect similar to a stun grenade, preventing the defenders from directly blocking the elevator exit.

This period presents a good opportunity to launch an attack.

So, before the smoke had completely dissipated, the evil spirits appeared from within the smoke.

The garrison commander reacted very quickly, immediately realizing that the elevator must have been damaged and these people had climbed up from the elevator shaft.

This means that the mysterious food outlet no longer exists; it's like the city wall has been reinforced with ladders, and the two sides no longer need to engage in a battle over the elevator.

However, the captain was not too flustered.

He quickly calmed down and began to organize a counterattack.

"Don't panic, everyone! There aren't many places to climb in the elevator shaft, and the distance between the two floors is quite high. It will take some time to get up. As long as we push those who have already climbed up back down, their rate of ascent will definitely not keep up with the rate of attrition! As long as we can withstand this wave, the pressure will gradually decrease!"

Hearing the captain's shout, everyone's morale was finally boosted a little, and they quickly adjusted their formation, which had been scattered by the explosion, and began to counterattack.

They all believed their captain's words without a doubt.

If you put yourself in their shoes, their overall quality is definitely better than that of the lower-level troops. But even for them, it would be quite difficult to carry weapons and loads and climb nearly three floors by hand, especially when the target they are climbing doesn't offer many points of leverage.

Isn't that why they didn't get up there until some time after the explosion?

And these people in front of us are professional soldiers. So wouldn't it be even more difficult for the researchers in the intelligence data, those who sit in the office all year round and have extremely poor physical fitness, to come up here?

Therefore, no one doubted that they were now facing the absolute main force of the rebels.

Having already secured a favorable position, if we can withstand this first wave of attacks and resist the pressure, the enemy will eventually weaken and eventually collapse, while the pressure on our side will gradually decrease. With this shift in momentum, we will surely be able to suppress this rebellion.

Therefore, when they first discovered that those who had already come up had no intention of waiting for the people behind them to come up and launch a powerful attack, but instead only attacked without defending, and kept charging forward, they were quite happy.

He thought to himself, "Why didn't he even look for cover? Isn't this just walking into a trap and hastening his own death?"