Chapter 245: Research Institute

"What’s the situation inside?"

The woman in white robes spotted the little green man and quickly approached.

"There are a lot of people, and I couldn’t find out much," the little green man reported honestly.

There were many traps set up on the ground outside the research institute. If you stepped on the wrong one, you would fall in and die instantly. Even if you were lucky enough to get past that, it was still difficult to get into the institute. The whole place was like an impregnable fortress. Once you left the main gate, it was very hard to get in from anywhere else. In addition, there were patrols, and the patrols were all familiar faces, members of the three giant rat clans. However, the patrol teams did not seem too worried about unwanted visitors at night, because of the monsters said to appear after dark. They grew a bit lax during the night shift.

That was good news. Still, the institute was hard to enter, and many places required a password or an iris scan to get in and out. The little green man could not find out anything more.

"Tsk. Looks like I’ll still have to go in."

The woman in white seemed to be deep in thought. Then she kicked the person next to her. "Weren’t you guys from there before? Hurry up and tell me what you know."

The man in black robes hesitated. "I know some, but it’s been so long. Who knows whether they’ve changed things? Besides... our rescue caused such a big commotion. Anyone with a brain would know that we’d leak information about the research institute. How could they possibly let what we know go unaddressed?"

"That’s exactly why I say, what’s the use of a bunch of useless trash like you? I should have just left you all in jail instead of saving you!"

The several "useless" men: "..."

The little green man: "Wow!"

"All right. Now let’s try to sneak in and see if we can find anything." The woman in white looked down on the group.

The little green man had already scouted the way and successfully crept up against the wall of the research institute. The patrol team inside would not come out. They usually came out only once every two or three hours. Tonight, they probably would not even patrol.

At the main entrance of the research institute:

"I’m telling you, can we stop patrolling? Who would be out wandering around at night? Aren’t they afraid of being killed by monsters?"

Shu Qiu yawned. He hated the night shift most of all. He was so sleepy, but he was not allowed to sleep. The only way he could relax was to have a few drinks at night, when no leaders were inspecting.

Shu Dong glanced at him. "It’s fine if we don’t patrol. We’ve already done it twice, so missing one won’t make a difference."

"Really?" Shu Qiu’s eyes lit up. Not patrolling was good. Patrolling meant carefully walking around the surrounding woods, which was exhausting.

Shu Dong nodded, glanced at the slacking patrol team, and shook his head helplessly. This group must have gone out to play during the day and had not gotten proper rest. Look at the state they were in.

"Then I’ll have a couple of drinks." Shu Qiu grinned and pulled two bottles of liquor out of his pocket. "Captain, wanna have a bottle?"

"Sure."

Shu Dong took one, opened it, and gulped down several large mouthfuls. Seeing this, the others figured that since they no longer needed to patrol, what were they waiting for? They would eat and drink!

The little green man and the woman in white, along with the others, heard the commotion and decided to wait a little while. Before long, the patrol team members were all drunk, and since they had not rested properly during the day, they fell asleep even faster. The little green man was quick. She grabbed a few sleeping flowers and rubbed them under the patrol team’s noses. The giant rats slept even more soundly. The surveillance cameras at the main entrance were covered by unknown plants, making the footage unreadable.

The group quickly slipped into the research institute.

What they had not expected was how lax the institute was. It was completely different from what they had known before. In many places, the doors were left wide open, though in some places a password or iris scan was still required.

At that moment, several people who looked like researchers walked out with their arms around each other’s shoulders, their steps unsteady.

"So, do you think... will that experiment actually work? This outsider... hic! It’s not easy to fool outsiders!"

"Why not? Didn’t those few good-for-nothings... steal a few people over? If you ask me, you... don’t worry!"

"Hey? Why are these guys lying down? Oh dear, they’ve been sneaking a couple of drinks too."

The researchers smiled knowingly but paid no attention. They could just pretend and fool everyone. As long as you did not say anything and I did not say anything, who would know what they were doing at the research institute at night? Besides, they had been busy conducting experiments during the day. Night was their rest time, and they could not deny them rest, could they?

"Oh well, never mind them. The patrol team is... pretty tired too, hahaha."

"That’s right! Let’s drink! Let’s go get some more!"

"You know what? The drinks those outsiders bring are definitely better than ours!"

The researchers walked unsteadily off in another direction. They had just reached a door when they lost control. They were not allowed to leave the research institute.

After the researchers staggered away, the little green man and the woman in white came out of their hiding place.

"Do you think we still need to be this careful?" the little green man asked. "Dressed like this, they won’t recognize us anyway. We might even manage to annoy them a bit."

The woman in white paused for a moment, then suddenly slapped the man in black robes.

The man in black robes: "???" Just talk. Why hit him!

"I think this research institute is full of people like that. Let’s just go straight to them."

The white-robed group had already received sleeping flowers from the little green man. They let everyone they met smell them, guaranteeing a good night’s sleep. However, after searching the research institute thoroughly, they found nothing.

After they regrouped:

"There doesn’t seem to be anything. Does that mean there isn’t anything?"

"But there’s nothing on the first, second, or third floors?"

"Shouldn’t we ask you? Didn’t you come here before?"

The man in black robes muttered under his breath, "We were imprisoned for so many years. How would we know whether anything has changed at this research institute?"

"There should be a basement level. Let’s look for stairs or an elevator down."

Lin Yun, the little green man, made the suggestion. She had read about shady research institutes in novels back in China, and they usually had underground levels, often more than one or two. Since nothing had been found on the ground floors, it must be in the basement.

"By the way, which direction did those people come from? We can search from that direction."

"I remember. It was over here."

The group quickly searched in the direction the researchers had come from, feeling along the wall, and actually found a small switch. After they pressed it, a door slowly opened in the wall.