Chapter 976 "Start!"

"Oh!"

A loud noise shook the entire laboratory. Li Jie and Xiao Chen squatted down almost at the same time and looked around. The metal door at the entrance fell again, locking their passage, and the lights in the laboratory began to flicker.

"Hey, look, what are you doing!" Xiao Chen looked around and grabbed Li Jie's shoulders and shook him, "Didn't you tell us to be careful? Why are you so nervous?"

"How should I know! You are the expert on the 'master' key!" Li Jie couldn't help but said angrily, "Look, in a place like this, strange things can happen at any time."

"You make it sound so easy," Xiao Chen stroked his chin with disdain, "Can't you just let me enjoy this suspenseful feeling?"

Li Jie rolled his eyes: "Suspense? What time is it now? Don't tell me this nonsense!"

Just as the two were looking at each other, a crisp "ding dong" sound suddenly came from the console in the distance, and then the flashing indicator light on the wall turned green, obviously a system had been successfully started.

"Hey, hey, hey, this signal is wrong!" Li Jie glanced at the indicator light and frowned immediately, "This is not right, this system has started, maybe after we pressed that button, something was triggered."

"What triggered it?" Xiao Chen looked puzzled. "Could it be the tea machine in the laboratory?"

"You are quite optimistic," Li Jie frowned, "but I feel that there is something complicated behind the 'start' indicator light of this laboratory."

"Hmm?" Xiao Chen suddenly sneered, "Do you think that the 'defense system' just now is just a decoration? I knew that this place must be extraordinary."

Li Jie's face was full of seriousness: "If this is just a simple laboratory, how can these equipment be so complicated? And what we just saw is definitely not just ordinary facilities. Maybe there is a very scary technology hidden here."

"I think you're overthinking it," Xiao Chen spread his hands, "but since you're so nervous, let's go and take a look at what these devices are for."

Li Jie nodded, and without saying a word, he walked deeper into the laboratory and approached a huge piece of equipment.

"What exactly do these devices do?" Li Jie asked in a low voice.

"I think it's a super large refrigerator, specially used to store frozen meat." Xiao Chen squinted his eyes, "Don't you think the cold air it emits is very similar to refrigeration equipment?"

Li Jie: "..."

"Do you believe it yourself?" Li Jie was somewhat helpless. "Do you feel that the facilities here are like the freezer at home?"

"You think too complicatedly," Xiao Chen curled his lips, "Let's just use the simplest and most direct reasoning."

Li Jie's heart tightened and he suddenly turned his head to look at the other end of the laboratory - there was a huge display screen showing rows of numbers and strange symbols.

"Wait!" Li Jie raised his hand. "What's displayed on that screen?"

"What?" Xiao Chen walked over quickly, "Let me see."

He moved closer to the screen and took a closer look. His expression suddenly became a little weird: "This... This is too scary!"

"What?!" Li Jie took a few steps forward and took a closer look - the display screen showed some creepy data.

"Experiment number: A-9937," the screen displayed. "Subject: Unknown - Starting."

"What do you mean by 'unknown'? What does that mean?" Xiao Chen was stunned. "What...what on earth is made in the laboratory? People or..."

Li Jie frowned, and several possible answers flashed through his mind: "Anyway, we are deep in now, and it is impossible to leave. It is better to figure it out first."

"Find out?" Xiao Chen hesitated. "Isn't this a bit too much? I think we should find a way out first, and blow up all those evil experimental projects at the same time, what do you think?"

"You do think about it!" Li Jie rolled his eyes. "It's not something that can be blown up at any time. Just make sure you don't want to become a test subject."

"If you don't tell me, who would dare to come up with this idea?" Xiao Chen scratched his head. "But I still want to know what this data is used for. After all, we don't really have time to play mazes."

"You're right." Li Jie nodded vigorously. "Don't just think about running away. Think about what clues we can find from it first."

As the two were discussing, the screen suddenly flashed, showing a line of even more horrifying words:

"Start countdown: 30 minutes!"

"What does this mean?" Xiao Chen was nervous. "Countdown? Are we going to become experimental subjects?"

Li Jie's face suddenly darkened. "This is even more troublesome. It seems that this is a completely self-circulating system. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped."

"It's over, it's over, it's over!" Xiao Chen began to panic. "Hurry up and check the machine. I really don't want to become... a test subject!"

Li Jie immediately grabbed Xiao Chen's shoulders and said calmly, "Don't worry, we have to figure out what this countdown is for before deciding on the next step."

"I figured it out a long time ago!" Xiao Chen said firmly, "This must be related to the 'Start' button we pressed!"

"You are quite opinionated." Li Jie sneered, "But the more troublesome thing now is that we don't know what kind of system is behind this."

"What are you talking about!" Xiao Chen also began to get anxious, "Should we run away or not? We can't just go in like this!"

Li Jie was silent for a moment, and finally said: "Don't panic, let's go check the control console first, maybe we can find the answer we want there."

"Okay, stop talking and take action!" Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go!"

The two quickly walked towards the control console. When they got to the front, Li Jie looked at the densely packed wires on the panel and quickly determined: "These control wires should be directly connected to the experimental equipment. As long as we can find the key termination button, we can prevent the experiment from starting."

"Stop button?" Xiao Chen looked at the complicated buttons on the panel. "Do you think this is as simple as turning on and off the power?"

"There must be a key button," Li Jie analyzed quickly, "We have to find the one that matches the countdown."

"Right! I understand!" Xiao Chen was shocked, "It's the red one!"

"Red?" Li Jie looked suddenly at a flashing red button.

"Yes! That's it!" Xiao Chen pointed, "Well done! Look, that's it!"

"Okay, let's give it a try." Li Jie walked forward steadily, ready to press the button.

Just as his finger was about to touch the red button——

"Oh!"

The entire laboratory shook again, and the metal door on the wall flashed and suddenly closed.

"Again?!" Xiao Chen's face suddenly changed, "We are really in trouble this time!"

"I think..." Li Jie looked at the ticking countdown, his eyes becoming more determined. "Now, I begin to understand that what is hidden behind this countdown may be far more than just a simple experiment."