Chapter 13: The More Cunning One Is, the More Likely They Are to Undermine Their Own Success

Bjorn couldn’t make sense of it.
How did a temp worker, combined with a simple “queue effect,” manage to open the door to the control room—a place where their authority was even lower than that of the janitors?
His eyes widened as he stared at Robin standing outside the door, then at Lei beside her, and finally at the tablet Robin held like a precious treasure. He was utterly baffled by what he saw.
Were they communicating with the outside world?
Impossible—he had already cut off all communication channels!
“You... I... you... you all...”
Bjorn was so stunned that he was speechless, forgetting even his escape plan. He raised his hand, pointing back and forth between the two, yet couldn’t form a single coherent sentence.
“Do you think he’s okay? He looks so excited to see us.”
“Probably scared out of his wits, considering everything that’s happened.”
“How pitiful.”
Robin and Lei whispered to each other.
“I’ll report to the boss first and ask what to do...”
Typing a few letters quickly, Robin noticed Lei stepping back a few paces toward the doorframe, which caught her attention.
Outside the control room, zombies filled the entire corridor. As Lei retreated to the door and pressed the switch, the heavy door slid shut with a swoosh, cutting the horde in two and trapping all the zombies outside.
Within seconds, the long-lost howls echoed again.
“Did you interrupt the effect?”
“Yes, pretty convenient, right? Just be careful not to catch me from behind—now the effect is back on me.”
Robin flashed an “OK” sign with one hand and swiftly reported the situation.
[Boss, we’ve found new survivors! Can we take him with us when we run?]
Shi Rang pondered on the other side of the screen.
It was not surprising to find someone in the control room; the very name indicated it was a key hub.
But was it necessary to bring this person along?
The facility was so dangerous, and this individual was stationed just a step from the exit, clearly a brave soul with strong conviction.
Perhaps he was there to assist the mobile squad—maybe it was better to let him be?
Shi Rang switched back to the activity page, intending to check the map for reference, only to be startled.
Time seemed to jump forward; the mobile squad’s arrival had been shortened by over seven minutes, and the “Seeds of Doom” appeared to have been fertilized, playing a map-coloring game inside the facility—the control room was about to be surrounded!
“The ‘Seeds of Doom’ are showing abnormal activity. Take him and evacuate immediately.”
Shi Rang quickly typed the door code marked on the map.
“Leave the control room, head straight through the dormitory area, and proceed to the ground exit.
“The exit door code is 7355608!”
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At the same moment the command for the dump truck arrived, a tremor shook the control room.
All three inside were thrown to the floor.
The overhead lights flickered—sometimes going out, sometimes switching to the red alarm light, sometimes flickering erratically. The doorframe of the entrance door was under pressure; a crack split the middle of the door, and in the shifting light and shadow, zombie arms reached through, clawing wildly.
The entire facility felt like a critically ill patient, trembling violently, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
“Warning: load-bearing structures fractured, building stability declining.”
Red letters flashed on the large screen in the room.
“Move quickly!”
Robin clutched the tablet tightly, crawling on all fours toward the door. Her pocket’s lighter and small tools fell out, but there was no time to care. She grabbed a wrench from the floor, and once the tremors lessened, she pulled Lei and dashed to the far side of the room.
The unknown facility employee was already crawling, clutching a suitcase and opening the door to the exit.
Truly a formal member of a secret organization—quick reactions!
Robin intended to push Lei forward, but he resisted fiercely, desperately gesturing toward his back. In the dim light, she couldn’t understand.
They pushed and pulled each other, blocking the way near the exit.
As the two fumbled in the flickering light and blaring noise, the employee slipped through the door and rushed out.
“Hey, wait! Don’t run off! Do you know the way?”
She shouted after the employee, but the noise was too loud. Even Robin struggled to hear Lei’s voice beside her.
She had no choice but to chase after the employee.
Before Lei forcefully dragged her out of the control room, she glanced back once more at the room, catching sight of the large screen displaying the facility’s layout, marked with all the information needed to command, seemingly capable of remotely controlling many systems.
...Could the doors holding the containment units be opened from here?
The tremors kept coming. The corridor seemed to shift and tilt; the floor rippled like waves. Just a few steps meant falling down, with knees and elbows aching badly.
In the ever-present terror of the corridor possibly collapsing into an abyss at any moment, everyone scrambled for their lives, rolling and crawling.
Robin guarded the tablet and wrench tightly, frequently checking on the employee and Lei—the former was running in the right direction, likely toward the same exit; Lei was far behind.
During the escape, her mind raced.
Her knowledge of “secret facility management” came entirely from movies.
Coincidentally, she had watched a horror film—she couldn’t recall the name—where the protagonists trapped in a control room foolishly pressed a big red button that unleashed all the monsters in the secret base.
That control room looked advanced too. Could this one do the same?
If she were a mole, wouldn’t this be the perfect place to act?
Robin’s eyes widened as she fixed on Lei’s staggering figure ahead.
Why was this guy, who refused to seek refuge, so terrified at the sight of survivors?
Could he be the mole?
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If Bjorn knew what Robin was thinking, he'd surely scold her for not understanding the layered security measures and authority levels within Facility 031.
He had spent weeks meticulously planning this operation, executing multiple heart-pounding covert actions to prepare every step!
Who would design a “release monsters” function as a one-button trigger?!
Yet at this moment, Bjorn had no intention of probing these two strange individuals’ backgrounds. Clutching the heavy “token of loyalty” in his arms, he cursed himself for wasting the precious escape window in shock and daze as he ran.
Run faster, run faster!
If the Seeds of Doom entered their second growth phase, they would release toxic gas!
He dashed through the spacious office corridor, passing the once beloved “slacker’s” lounges and tea rooms. Lights above flickered off one by one as he passed; darkness chased him from behind.
He felt strange noises behind doors left ajar, as if something was watching him...
The floor in the office section was much steadier—this was the “tunnel” extending from the facility, with heavy foundations and soil beneath, no risk of collapse.
The massive exit gate loomed near. Bjorn nearly collided with it, flipping open the emergency switch cover to reveal the keypad.
The code...
The code...
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Damn it, stop trembling!
Since those two unexpected people appeared, Bjorn’s intricate psychological defenses had collapsed. Walking a tightrope, he suddenly realized he wasn’t a skilled acrobat—he was perilously close to the abyss, the end nowhere in sight.
He was so frightened by the stray hairs at the nape of his neck that he kept looking back, searching for nonexistent vines, struggling not to look behind the door where he felt someone lurked.
How many minutes left?
How long until the mobile squad arrives?
How far had those damn plants grown?
His body refused to cooperate. Clutching the suitcase, he couldn’t replicate the steady grip he’d had before; his thumb’s nail scratched randomly on the physical keypad, and in a careless moment, he pressed the wrong number.
The keypad glowed red at the edge.
[Incorrect password. Two attempts remaining.]
Two attempts left. It’s okay, try again—
3... 6...
Suddenly, a figure lunged beside Bjorn, reaching to press the code.
“I’ll do it!”
“Get away! If you want to die, don’t drag me down!”
Bjorn was nearly scared out of his soul. Unaware of his inner turmoil, Robin thought he had lost his mind and tried to shove him aside with her shoulder.
In their struggle, Robin accidentally hit the keypad, pressing a number.
[Incorrect password. One attempt remaining.]
“I know the code! Don’t interfere!”
“You’re just a temp—you don’t know anything!”
Bjorn shoved her to the ground and threw himself onto the keypad.
Anger steadied his trembling hands.
[Password correct.]
[Please stand clear of the gate.]
With a rumble, the heavy door blocking the exit shifted upward slightly, then began to rise gradually. Light from outside poured in through the gap beneath, illuminating Robin’s face as she lay in front of the door.
The engineer saw an upward slope outside, with the dark red sunset resting atop it.
A fresh breeze brushed Robin’s face, and the surge of hope eased the pain in her shoulders.
They were outside.
Bjorn, who had been waiting for this moment, eagerly lowered himself, waiting for the gate to rise enough to pass through.
“Robin!”
Lei’s shout came from behind, the gate’s mechanical noise swallowing most words, leaving only a high-pitched, piercing cry.
“Run—!”
“The door’s open! Come on!” Robin turned her head, looking back while lying on the ground.
At that same moment, inside and outside the facility, Robin and Bjorn both froze in place, stunned and motionless.