Chapter 8: The Mole
[Information Technology Department Daily Communication Group]
SAM: “Is the Intelligence Department out of their mind? They’re doing an access inspection right when Containment Failure 031 is happening? The dispatch and support teams are already overwhelmed, and now we have to cater to these big shots?!”
D-point and She Both Lost: “It’s mostly because of that mysterious account from the day before yesterday.”
SAM: “So what if they sent a file? It’s like they’re trying to kill us! After all the back and forth, we still have to work overtime—where’s the justice in that???”
I Want to Get Off Work: “The boss gave the order. What else can we do? Check it out. If there’s any abnormal access, have the field operations team catch the culprits. Let them fight it out between the two departments—just don’t let the blame fall on us.”
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The dump truck disappeared along with all the information.
Robin refreshed several times, then mustered her courage to reboot the tablet, but it did nothing to restore communication.
On the staircase connecting underground levels three and four, she weighed the heavy tablet in her hand, gasping for breath as she continued climbing.
The staircase was daunting but served as a secure zone isolated from the outside world. Since the disaster began, this was the first time she had a chance to review everything that had happened.
First of all, this was definitely no prank. To play a joke on a student engineer, there was no need for such a large-scale setup. And the rampant plants couldn’t possibly be just “special effects.”
Facility 031 was a secret base containing supernatural entities.
When her mentor first mentioned this assignment, he only said, “This will be very beneficial for your future career,” offering a frighteningly high number of credits and requiring a confidentiality agreement.
Robin tentatively concluded that behind the facility lay a vast and mysterious organization.
So, who was the dump truck?
Even without having finished reading the “clearance guide,” from how easily the other party accessed the machine room equipment, casually threw over a massive amount of data, and skillfully directed her actions, the dump truck was clearly very familiar with everything in Facility 031.
They were likely a leader within this secret organization—perhaps even a high-ranking official!
Robin honestly felt she possessed no talent or potential worthy of such a figure’s attention. The dozen or so classmates here were all second-level engineers; there were many with better grades and stronger backgrounds.
The dump truck revealing so many organizational secrets to her couldn’t be purely out of goodwill or amusement.
Moreover, the dump truck never instructed Robin to contact other survivors inside the facility. If the other party were a high-level figure, there would be no reason not to command the guards and other personnel inside, who would be far more reliable.
There was definitely more to this.
She had read through the exaggerated containment measures for the “Seeds of the Apocalypse,” but no matter how wild the plants were, they were still just plants—they couldn’t breach so many layers of security.
The final defense line hadn’t even activated...
Now it all made sense!
Robin suddenly understood everything.
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There was a mole inside the facility!
Someone had colluded with the outside to create this containment failure!
Because of this, the dump truck didn’t direct her to contact anyone inside, instead placing their hopes on her, an outsider and temporary worker.
Robin had no knowledge of the facility, no vested interests, and thus no suspicion—making her the perfect “investigator”!
With this in mind, the communication blackout was likely orchestrated by the mole.
Exactly—everything was clear now!
The dump truck’s remote guidance of her activities had been discovered by the mole, who cut off communications in order to continue their own schemes inside the facility!
This escape route seemed designed to get her out, but there had to be something along the way they wanted her to investigate!
Driven by her mission, excitement momentarily suppressed her fear. Even her pace climbing the stairs changed.
The stairwell was relatively safe; she pulled her pants back on and, during the next rest, turned her attention to the tablet.
The task given to a group of student engineers was to build a new local area network system.
So, was Facility 031 currently using an internal network as well?
As an electronic engineer, it made perfect sense for her to carry a small screwdriver and hex wrench—when she received her work tools, she habitually tucked them into her pocket.
Taking advantage of the safe environment, Robin flipped over the tablet, squatting in the stairwell to start dismantling it.
She couldn’t just let the mole act alone. As the dump truck’s insider in the facility, she had to do something!
If she managed to fix this device, it would be a major achievement!
The back of the tablet was tightly sealed. Even after removing the screws, it was still jammed. Robin slid her screwdriver into the seam, pried it open with a couple of clicks, and let out a breath, ready to work her magic—
But what she saw was like a human brain sliced open, the structure winding and coiling with veins on the surface subtly pulsating.
She immediately closed the back cover, tightened the screws as fast as she could.
A grave mistake—she had forgotten this was a facility containing demons and monsters...
There was no way they used normal electronic equipment.
Wait, the tablet had been taken from a server—could the servers underneath their casings be the same?
Were the welding torch and saw in her toolbox meant to dismantle “it”?
Just thinking about carrying this unknown, possibly living thing all this way sent chills down Robin’s spine. Yet this tablet was her only hope for communication with the outside world.
After struggling for a moment, she wrapped it in her coat and painstakingly strapped it to her back.
...Damn it, the mole had succeeded.
The long staircase finally ended. The eerie green “B2 Level” sign marked more than halfway through the escape plan—significant progress had been made, but she still longed to see the “Safe Exit.”
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Pressing her ear to the door for a moment, Robin twisted the vault-like wheel switch, then used her shoulder to wedge the door open a crack, shielding the tablet and her chest as she squeezed through.
The air on the second underground floor was fresh, much better than on the fifth.
The lighting was white and very bright. The corridor had none of those damned plants. On the walls hung detailed architectural maps and signs. Not far off stood three people in black uniforms...
They looked just like colleagues of the unfortunate guard she’d seen before—similar uniforms, better equipment—but why were their guns all lying on the floor?
Her gaze lingered on the three figures, then shifted to the nearby wall where “CVA-C-888” was printed, finally resting on the open containment chamber door before snapping back.
At that moment, the stairwell door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
The three soldiers turned toward the stairwell.
Under the pale light, their eyes were vacant, bulging veins distorting their grim faces. Their mouths, noses, and eyes were stained a brownish red, blood trailing down to their chests, dried into conspicuous crusts.
They moved stiffly, raising their hands, shrieking as they charged toward Robin.
Having seen zombie movies, Robin turned and ran.
Three zombies relentlessly pursued her.
At first, she stumbled and ran with all her might, soon realizing that although she couldn’t shake them, they couldn’t catch her either.
She slowed her pace to conserve energy, glancing around for any sign of survivors.
Where were the others inside the facility?
Help!
Surely someone had stayed behind to deal with these monsters!
The B2 corridor was spacious, with few containment chambers. Most rooms were offices, even an armory, staff lounge, and recreation rooms.
Almost all doors were ajar—obviously no time to close them during the evacuation—and a piece of cake was spilled on the floor.
As she ran, she suddenly sensed something wrong.
Why were the footsteps behind her growing more numerous?
Turning the corner, Robin glanced back and nearly lost her balance in shock.
Where had all these zombies come from?!
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