The post-apocalyptic world has a space full of supplies.

Chapter 177 Revisiting the Research Institute (6)

As before, Ji Lang led the charge, with Lin Yun bringing up the rear, and Yang Xiao, Lu Yuan, and Zhong Qiang in the middle, all equipped with miniature muskets. The two laboratories weren't far apart; their only task now was to avoid being scratched by zombies and successfully reach the laboratory.

The five of them left without hesitation. The moment Lu Yuan put the lead plate back into his spatial storage, the zombies outside rushed in. Because there was suddenly no resistance, and Ji Lang had led them to hide on both sides of the door, they managed to create a positional difference with the zombies. The zombies rushed into the laboratory, while they squeezed out from the doorway.

"Lu Yuan, keep up!" Ji Lang, who was walking in front, quickly sealed the zombies in front of them with wind and snow. Lu Yuan followed closely behind, took a few steps to the last closed door, and smashed the lock open.

"Holy crap! What the hell! Cough cough... cough cough!" As soon as Lu Yuan smashed the lock and pushed open the door, Yang Xiao, who was following behind him, was hit in the face by a blast of sand and dust that filled his nose with ash.

"This..." Lu Yuan rubbed his eyes in disbelief, pulled the door back and closed it, then pushed it open again. The yellow sand still rushed towards him. Fortunately, his exoskeleton was different from Yang Xiao's and the others' protective suits. Yang Xiao didn't wear a helmet because he found it troublesome, so his face was covered in sand. But after Yang Xiao's attack, Lu Yuan's exoskeleton automatically extended his helmet before Lu Yuan opened the door again.

"Shall we go in?" This time, Yang Xiao learned his lesson and didn't face the door directly, but instead hid to the side.

The zombies that were close to them in the corridor were frozen by Ji Lang and wouldn't thaw for a while. This also blocked the movement of the zombies behind them, giving them time to think.

"This feels like a desert!" Zhong Qiang put on his helmet, picked up his small musket, and stepped into the room. Then he felt his foot slip. "Holy crap... pull me up!"

"What's going on!" Fortunately, Lin Yun and Ji Lang reacted quickly, and as soon as Zhong Qiang shouted, they reached out and grabbed him.

"There's no floor under this yellow sand!" Zhong Qiang, who had just been pulled back, instinctively took two steps back to distance himself from the door, then pointed to the vast expanse inside and said, "This is the desert!"

"Are you kidding me? This is a laboratory!" Yang Xiao was skeptical, but he put on the helmet as well, eager to try it out.

"Don't go over there. This isn't a lab anymore. It's too big. If it were a lab, you wouldn't be able to see the edge." Lu Yuan grabbed Yang Xiao and slammed the door shut. Luckily, the door was designed to be pushed inwards. Although the lock had been forcibly broken, the sandstorm inside only kept the door pressed tightly against the wall.

"Let's go to this lab first." Lin Yun led them to the lab across the hall, which had been open before. Since it hadn't been closed, the lock was still in good condition. After all five of them went inside, Lin Yun locked the door.

"What's going on? How come the research institute's laboratory is connected to the desert?" Yang Xiao found this setting a bit exciting. Was it like Doraemon's Anywhere Door?

“Back in N City, there was an old man with a special ability that was tied to his convenience store. As long as he was in the store, the store could continuously replenish its supplies by spending money,” Lu Yuan said, recounting his experiences in N City after separating from Lin Yun and the others.

"Holy crap, how come I've never heard you mention this before?" Zhong Qiang perked up immediately upon hearing about the convenience store and the endless supply of goods. "Which is more powerful, this or your space?"

“Of course, it can’t compare to Lu Xiaoyuan’s space. This space is…” Yang Xiao originally wanted to say that Lu Yuan’s space ring was high-tech from the future, but Lu Yuan interrupted him.

“It should be my space that’s better, because if the old man leaves the convenience store, he will lose his superpowers, and the convenience store itself will no longer update its supplies. The old man also has no way to conjure up supplies elsewhere.” Lu Yuan continued, “What I mean by this is that it is very likely that after the zombie virus outbreak, those who mutate and generate or acquire superpowers are not only humans and zombies, but may also be other animals, or even non-living entities.”

"So, this laboratory has mutated and turned into a desert?" Ji Lang asked, somewhat understanding yet still not quite.

“I don’t know. It’s also possible that something else that was originally in the lab has mutated.” Lu Yuan thought for a moment and then said, “Maybe it’s bacteria in the petri dish? Anyway, we can be pretty sure that there’s a desert behind the door now. There are two possibilities if we go in.”

“One possibility is that we’ve actually entered a desert, but we don’t know where on Earth it is. However, Xiao Lu has transportation, so we can go directly back to the South China base. Another possibility is that although it’s a desert, no matter which way we go, we can’t leave and can only enter and exit through this door.” After listening to what Lu Yuan said, Lin Yun continued to analyze along with his thoughts.

“What Captain Lin said is exactly what I was thinking.” Lu Yuan nodded. “If it’s the first possibility, then it’s fine. Whether we go back to the South China base or not, we can leave the research institute without having to face these zombies.”

“If it’s the second possibility, we’ll have to face thousands of zombies later, and…” Ji Lang glanced at the door and continued, “Moreover, I sensed an existence with even stronger abilities than mine.”

“There’s more than one,” Lin Yun added.

"Shall we go into the desert?" Zhong Qiang recalled the feeling of his foot slipping and said, "But I clearly didn't feel like I was stepping on solid ground. I sank in. What if we step in and sink straight into the sand?"

"Emmmm, why didn't you say so earlier?" Yang Xiao glanced at Zhong Qiang and shook his head helplessly. "Looks like we have no choice but to fight our way up. If only we could all get on Lu Xiaoyuan's starship, *cries*..."

"The system told you not to mess with it." Lu Yuan smiled and began to take out the necessary equipment from his spatial storage. After all, based on Ji Lang and Lin Yun's feeling, they would be facing several zombies with abilities higher than Ji Lang's.

At this moment, Zhong Qiang's auxiliary ability has not yet been activated, and it is hard to say whether it will be stimulated to activate again later. They may not have the same luck as when they arrived, so they can only fully arm themselves for now.

"Take all the equipment first. Lin and I will clear the way later..." Ji Lang took the equipment that Lu Yuan released while carefully looking at Yang Xiao and the other two. After thinking for a while, he spoke again, "Lu Yuan will cover the rear. After all, your mecha has combat capabilities and its defensive capabilities are higher than the protective suits that Yang Xiao and the others are wearing."

“Okay.” Lu Yuan nodded. He was now quite familiar with controlling the mecha. Apart from the advanced functions that the starship system couldn’t activate for him, he could handle level four or five zombies with just the basic controls.