Chapter 33: Second Basement Level

"What's wrong?"

Fang Heng took the prison map he had scavenged from the first floor out of his backpack and compared it to the local terrain.

"Look, our position on the map is here. This is the marked warehouse; no problem there, it's right to our right."

"This part is fine too. The passage after the left turn ahead connects to the basement of Building 2."

Liao Bufan leaned in to take a look.

It was indeed as Fang Heng described.

However, he quickly spotted a discrepancy.

"Hmm? The passage ahead isn't marked on the map?"

"Correct. And the map doesn't indicate that the prison has a second basement level either."

After double-checking and confirming, Fang Heng put the map away.

He then used his hands to test the bars of the iron gate.

The iron gate was exceptionally heavy and sturdy.

On the wall next to the gate, there was an electronic card reader.

The three iron gates should all be controlled by magnetic cards.

"Hmm..."

Fang Heng let out a low hum of contemplation. He pulled a small hammer from his backpack and swung it at the iron gate.

*Bang!*

14.

The iron gate had approximately 750,000 HP.

Fang Heng made a rough mental calculation.

With his tireless zombie clones, it wasn't entirely impossible to smash it open. However, it would take far too much time; the cost outweighed the benefit.

[Prompt: The current selected disassembly target is a special item triggered by a mission. Forcible destruction may lead to the destruction of the mission item, causing the mission to disappear or fail. Please proceed with caution.]

Fine.

"It looks like brute force won't work."

Fang Heng shrugged and put away the small hammer, completely abandoning the idea of a violent entry.

"Let's go check somewhere else first."

Returning to the fork in the path, Fang Heng entered the right-hand passage to investigate.

It was another iron gate.

However, this gate was in the open position.

The iron gate hung high up.

As long as the electronic lock was triggered, the gate would drop, completely severing the passage between Building 2 and Building 3.

Liao Bufan poked his head in to look into the passage.

It was pitch black inside.

"The power in Building 2 is already out. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

"No thanks, I'm not interested."

Liao Bufan quickly pulled his head back.

Exploring in total darkness was essentially a death sentence; any random mutated zombie could take his life.

"I suspect the spider zombies we encountered earlier likely crawled out from in there."

"I think so too. There might be even more mutated zombies inside. It would be best if we could find a way to seal this place off."

After discussing it, the two turned back and returned to the warehouse room outside the fork.

Fang Heng tried turning the warehouse door handle.

The door was locked from the inside.

"The keys."

Right.

The ring of keys left behind by that incompetent policeman.

Fang Heng tried them.

Soon, he found the key to the warehouse door in the ring.

He cautiously pushed the warehouse door open.

Inside the warehouse, a total of six corpses lay on the ground.

They had been dead for some time.

Five of them were wearing prison guard uniforms, but the middle-aged man was wearing a suit.

He was somewhat stout and was still clutching a handgun in his hand.

He had committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot.

Was he the warden?

Fang Heng remembered seeing a photo of the warden.

He looked somewhat similar to this suicidal middle-aged man.

The warden's appearance here was too abrupt; could there be clues hidden on his person?

Fang Heng stepped forward, pulled the handgun from the warden's hand, and then tried searching his pockets.

Sure enough, there was something!

[Prompt: You have obtained Prison Management Magnetic Card-C.]

Item: Prison Management Magnetic Card-C. Description: A special mission item capable of opening the iron gates to the prison basement passages.

Fang Heng immediately thought of the iron gate he had just seen.

Without a doubt, this magnetic card could control the gate.

Next, Fang Heng rifled through the pockets of the guards, confiscating all of their firearms in the process.

[Prompt: You have obtained Guard Handguns *5, Common Handgun Bullets *243.]

"Fang Heng, come look quickly!"

Liao Bufan, who was searching the room, shouted out, his voice filled with pleasant surprise.

"Look! Good stuff!"

Liao Bufan pointed to a locked weapon crate.

"Do you have the key on you?"

Realizing what he meant, Fang Heng pulled out the key ring.

The lock on the weapon crate was clearly different from the door lock.

Fang Heng quickly found the corresponding key, and with a *click*, the crate popped open.

[Prompt: You have obtained Sniper Rifles *3, Sniper Rifle Bullets *120.]

"Holy crap! Sniper rifles!"

Liao Bufan couldn't help but shout.

"We hit the jackpot!"

In the game, sniper rifles were devastating weapons.

This was true in the early, mid, and late stages of the game.

Once they hit a player, they almost certainly caused disabling effects.

A graze to the arm meant an arm blown off; a graze to the scalp meant a head shattered.

Fang Heng also couldn't resist reaching out to touch the muzzle.

They were indeed high-quality items.

In his memory, sniper rifles only appeared in the late game.

Once equipped with armor-piercing rounds, they were among the few firearms capable of dealing damage to Zombie Kings.

The Federation had released firearm data: for an average player to fully master such a weapon, they would need at least Level 10 Firearm Proficiency and 10 points in Strength.

[Prompt: You have completed the second stage mission—Explore the Basement.]

[Prompt: You have obtained Survival Points: 540.]

[Prompt: Third stage mission triggered.]

[Mission: Explore the Second Basement Level of the Prison.]

Mission Name: Explore the Second Basement Level of the Prison. Mission Description: You have discovered a hidden area not marked on the map in the prison basement, which leads to the second basement level. Please attempt to enter and explore the second basement level without destroying the main structure of the prison. Mission Reward: Survival Points.

Upon receiving the mission, Fang Heng lowered his head in thought.

"Let's go. We'll test the magnetic card first."

Fang Heng patted Liao Bufan on the shoulder.

The two returned to the iron gate once more. Fang Heng attempted to insert the magnetic card into the slot on the wall.

*Beep, beep, beep...*

"Verification successful!"

*Rumble!*

The iron gate connecting Building 2 and Building 3 slowly descended.

Looking at the pitch-black void behind the gate, Liao Bufan couldn't help but swallow hard.

"I always feel like there's something terrifying hiding in there. Closing the door makes me feel much more at ease."

Fang Heng felt the same way. He had a vague sensation that something in the darkness was staring at them, instilling a sense of unease.

Once the iron gate was closed, that feeling of being watched diminished significantly.

"Yeah, we'll deal with Building 2 later. For now, we can focus on establishing a shelter in peace."

Liao Bufan nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

Finally, they could slack off for a few days.

Before leaving, Fang Heng ran to another passage to test it.

Through experimentation, he found that the magnetic card scavenged from the warden could also open one of the three iron gates leading to the second basement level.

As for the remaining two gates, they remained closed.

Based on his years of gaming experience, Fang Heng suspected the remaining two cards would likely need to be found within Buildings 1 and 2.

"What a pain!"

What kind of secrets was this prison hiding?

The second stage mission alone required facing a massive number of mutated zombies; the difficulty of the third stage went without saying!

Fang Heng scratched his hair in frustration.

For now, forcibly exploring Buildings 1 and 2 was far too dangerous.

He could only wait until the shelter was completed.

Fang Heng decided to put the hidden prison mission on hold for a while.

At least by severing the connection between Buildings 2 and 3, they could enjoy a period of relative peace.

Next, the shelter construction plan was only one step away.

Nails!

He didn't have enough furnaces to produce the required number of nails; he needed to go buy some more.

After grinding spider zombies all day, he had over ten thousand survival points—enough to buy out all the remaining furnaces from the Doomsday Merchant!

With these thoughts in mind, Fang Heng and Liao Bufan left the basement together.

(End of Chapter)