Chapter 440: Secrets in the Abandoned Institute

The world seemed to fall into a deep calm, as if completely cut off.

Yenir blinked in surprise, quickly realizing that he and Zhang Ke had been pulled into their own separate space.

Even though everything around them remained unchanged, he could feel that the two of them had been isolated.

Is this… scripted dialogue?

Sure enough, just as the thought flitted through Yenir’s mind, Zhang Ke standing before him suddenly started talking to himself.

“Yenir, I want to tell you a secret. I’ve been hiding this for a long time… Actually, I wasn’t born naturally.”

“You might not know this, but I’m a product of the laboratory.”

“I have no parents. My birth was the result of a special plan.”

“Although my memory of those early days is a bit hazy, I can still recall fragments of it.”

“Yenir, can you take me to the laboratory where I was born? I have a feeling there’s a secret hidden there… maybe something connected to the Otherworldly Ghost…”

As soon as his words faded, the sense of isolation vanished, replaced by another prompt from the system.

“Beep. Accept escorting the key character, Zhang Ke, into the Research Institute?”

Without confirming, Yenir glanced at the young girl beside him, a flash of peculiar emotion crossing his eyes.

Was that a trigger for a storyline? He had always thought the Ghost Battlefield dungeon had no such tasks.

Otherworldly Ghost origins? Laboratory?

How intriguing…

Just as he suspected, this unexpected Zhang Ke really was hiding secrets.

Yet, as he pondered, Yenir didn’t immediately accept the task.

If it weren’t for the issue with Yinglong, he would have accepted without hesitation.

These hidden storyline tasks related to the dungeon usually offer high rewards—completing them significantly boosts the dungeon’s clearance rating.

But…

He simply didn’t have time for tasks right now…

He needed to get to Level Thirteen and prepare in advance.

Who knew how long Zhang Ke’s task would take? Moreover, Yenir had always suspected something else was at work with this young girl.

Seeing Yenir hesitate, Zhang Ke, who had finished speaking like a marionette, suddenly grew anxious and, returning to normal, pointed away as if scared of his refusal:

“Right here on this level!”

“Yenir! Weren’t you planning to go down? I actually remember there’s a passage in that laboratory that goes down as well!”

Hmm?

Meeting his gaze, Yenir looked curiously at the spot pointed out by Zhang Ke.

A passage? Leading underground? Without having to go through the entrance on every level?

If that were the case, wouldn’t it be more convenient and discreet than fighting through levels with Uncle Liang?

A sudden flash of caution crossed his mind. Yenir studied Zhang Ke thoughtfully and, after a brief pause, agreed.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that Zhang Ke’s sudden task trigger was a bit forced… even his manner of speaking had turned oddly stiff.

Within this dungeon, the structure of every level is indestructible; at most, you can shatter the surface rock.

A passage that bridges levels? It surely couldn’t be that simple.

As for Zhang Ke’s claim that he was born in a laboratory where the Otherworldly Ghost secret is kept, Yenir was noncommittal. Sure, secrets exist, but…

………..

【Military Restricted Area – Keep Out】

A weathered metal plaque hung askew on a gray-white concrete wall.

Scattered bullet holes marred the wall, revealing cannon apertures through which the inner steel bars could faintly be seen.

Gazing at the desolate entrance of the Research Institute, Yenir chose not to barge in directly. Instead, he focused his mental energy to carefully examine it.

This was the Research Institute Zhang Ke had mentioned.

It was located at the far edge of Level Twelve, hidden next to an abandoned construction site.

Had it not been for Zhang Ke leading the way, he probably would never have found this place.

“The ground is clogged with dust… It looks like no supplies team has ever been here.”

“Normally, there wouldn’t be any Otherworldly Ghosts here either.”

Glancing at an excited Zhang Ke, Yenir’s brows furrowed.

The absence of any survivors meant it was unlikely any Otherworldly Ghost could be hiding here. So why had Zhang Ke been too scared to come here before?

This NPC clearly had a lot left unsaid.

As if sensing Yenir’s intense gaze, Zhang Ke’s eyes flashed with a strange light before she whispered, as if explaining:

“I’ve actually always wanted to come back here.”

“Ever since I have any memories, I was sent to Level 10.”

“Before, someone always prevented me from returning to Level Twelve. Later, when Level Twelve fell—and even after Level 10 collapsed—I could only live on the few upper levels.”

“Although becoming a Ghost Hunter gave me a chance to come down… I must admit, everything below Level 10 is just too dangerous. I never dared go down.”

“It was only this time, with the mission and meeting you, that I thought of coming to take a look.”

After Zhang Ke finished speaking, her teammates couldn’t help but exchange surprised glances. They had only just learned that their captain’s past was far from ordinary.

Nodding slightly, Yenir accepted Zhang Ke’s explanation.

Within the vicinity—within a hundred meters—he couldn’t sense any Otherworldly Ghost presence.

It seemed to be nothing more than an abandoned Research Institute.

If all went well, he should be able to find some discarded documents inside and trigger a new task.

What a cliché storyline…

Signaling Uncle Liang to follow him, Yenir strode directly into the depths of the Research Institute.

…………..

Twenty minutes later.

Looking over a pile of yellowed paper documents and folders on the table, Yenir quickly skimmed through them. Meanwhile, Zhang Ke, lost in thought, stared blankly at some photos hanging on the wall.

Faded group photos of the research staff adorned the peeling walls.

Yet on the transparent glass, several splattered dark red stains were clearly visible.

It was obvious that when this place fell, many lost their lives in this very room.

Perhaps too much time had passed; the room, which resembled a meeting area, emitted nothing but a faint moldy smell.

“The Artificial Spinal Cord Project…”

“A new concept and feasibility report for blood extraction…”

“An enhanced plan for myoglobin-rich red blood cells…”

He spread all the documents across the table for a quick scan, then asked Zhang Ke:

“Didn’t you say there was a passage here?”

“We searched the entire Research Institute. Where exactly is the passage?”

Multitasking and studying the institute’s layout, Yenir felt a growing sense of impatience.

After thoroughly searching the Research Institute, they couldn’t locate the purported passage. Besides its remote and hidden location, the structure itself seemed utterly ordinary.

Zhang Ke, upon arriving, looked almost dazed as if she had lost her soul, unable to answer any questions. Her teammates, after a brief search, were all left dumbstruck.

In this abnormal situation, everything felt eerily strange.

This was nothing like Yenir’s expectation of discovering something immediately upon entering, which would then trigger the task.

He couldn’t shake the feeling of being trapped, as if something was just off.

If it weren’t for Zhang Ke and her team being completely stupefied, he might even have suspected that he had encountered a paranormal event.

“There are no clues whatsoever.”

“All we found were routine research reports; even the institute’s history is blank.”

“The computers are all broken—they won’t turn on.”

“What’s going on… The system even indicated that this place is connected to the origin of the Otherworldly Ghost. There must be some clue here.”

“Even though I don’t necessarily have to complete this task, at least there should be some lead, right?”

Setting the documents aside, Yenir glared at the stunned Zhang Ke beside him.

They had wasted nearly half an hour and had found nothing.

In hindsight, he’d rather have taken Liang Lie straight down to Level Thirteen.

Every second counted—the sooner he acted, the more time he’d have.

And why did these NPCs seem so ‘broken’?

Just as Yenir was about to find a way to ‘wake’ Zhang Ke, a bizarre disturbance suddenly emerged in the corner of the meeting room.

As if materializing out of thin air, an elderly researcher in a disheveled white uniform appeared, seemingly wedged into the wall.

Half of his body was embedded in the wall.

Flailing his arms and legs wildly, the man’s expression was stiff as he flickered like a broken slideshow, as if desperately trying to force himself out.

What the—!?

Yenir was stunned into silence.

Never had he witnessed such a bizarre scene; even Liang Lie, who had always remained silent, looked genuinely surprised.

As if recalling something, Liang Lie’s eyes flashed with an odd light before he incredulously called out to Yenir:

“Yenir!”

“It seems we’ve triggered a system glitch!”