Chapter 520 - 514: A Sweeping Victory

Inside, she had used space barriers to partition off several separate areas.

Things like this, which were only being stored temporarily, were placed in their own compartment.

That would make them quite convenient to retrieve later.

Xie Ning opened the metal door of the warehouse on the right again.

This warehouse was a temperature-controlled storage unit, and the things inside seemed completely untouched.

It was all large equipment—brand-new experimental pods, cryogenic pods, and other high-tech items.

Just as before, Xie Ning sent out her spiritual power to inspect it several times.

After confirming there were no issues, and in the fine spirit of never leaving anything behind, she collected every single thing in the warehouse, big and small, including the large equipment and various instruments, into her personal Space.

’Wow, after stashing all that, my once rather empty personal Space is actually starting to feel a bit crowded.’

Chen Zhaowei probably couldn’t take all this large equipment with him at once, so he had no choice but to leave it here.

What Chen Zhaowei could take was likely just some data, finished potions, and small instruments.

Leaving these large pieces of equipment and instruments behind must have been a painful blow for Chen Zhaowei.

’He probably fled with his tail between his legs, his heart bleeding every step of the way.’

’That poor pervert.’

’If I were Chen Zhaowei, I’d never be willing to run off like a beaten dog with my tail between my legs.’

’So where could he be hiding now?’

A smile on her face, Xie Ning’s spiritual power scoured every nook and cranny of the Earth Corridor.

Sure enough, her patient inspection revealed what seemed to be a hidden door at the end of the Earth Corridor.

When her spiritual power swept over that area, she could feel a faint, unusual energy fluctuation.

But the small secret door was built to be extremely inconspicuous, blending almost seamlessly with the adjacent Earth Corridor, so most people wouldn’t notice it.

’Something hidden this well must be good.’

Xie Ning’s spirits lifted.

Finding treasure was certainly something to be happy about, but Xie Ning had seen her fair share of action. She wasn’t about to let a moment of excitement cloud her judgment.

She remained extremely cautious.

She used her spiritual power to sweep the end of the Earth Corridor back and forth several times. Only after confirming repeatedly that there was nothing unusual did she pull her Defense Cloak tighter and approach the end of the corridor, one step at a time.

Her caution paid off, as she soon noticed a slight superpower fluctuation from both sides of the Earth Corridor—something was wrong.

Suddenly, a faint sting pricked her spirit world.

This was an emergency warning from her Spiritual Prediction, an ability that had emerged after her Spiritual Ability leveled up, which alerted her to extremely dangerous situations.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xie Ning instantly spread her Metal Wings and shot away from her spot.

At the same time, a gray substance that had been lying dormant on the earthen walls on both sides suddenly lunged at her at high speed.

Xie Ning took a closer look and saw they were several gray vines.

The vines lashed out with incredible speed. If Xie Ning hadn’t been vigilant and moved immediately, she might have fallen into the trap and been bound by them.

Fortunately, thanks to her caution and the warning from her Spiritual Prediction, Xie Ning dodged the vines in an instant.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that the vines were covered in fine, dense barbs, with bits of unidentifiable flesh clinging to them.

The sight made Xie Ning’s skin crawl.

’That bastard Chen Zhaowei... Even though I haven’t officially met him, I’m already filled with an overwhelming urge to kill him.’

’A person like him absolutely cannot be left alive. I have to find him and deal with him as quickly as possible.’

Once a vicious and meticulous person like him was identified as an enemy, Xie Ning would never let him run loose.

At that moment, she was already planning to notify Cres to unleash his spiritual power to its full extent and search for the man’s whereabouts.

’It would be best if I could deal with him quickly here at Gushang Base.’

’If not, things could get troublesome.’

’After all, it’s best not to drag out problems that can be solved quickly, lest they grow into a disaster that harms everyone, myself included.’

As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Xie Ning had already dodged three attacks from the vines. Seizing the right moment, she slammed down with the golden hammer in her hand.

’The vine is a living organism. And from the looks of it, Chen Zhaowei and his people must have soaked and modified it with some potion, which is why it grew so... thick, sturdy, ugly, and covered in hidden barbs.’

’As long as it’s a living thing, it’ll be easy to deal with.’

’With things like this, once you find their roots, you can tear them out completely in one go.’

Her vision was completely obscured by a chaotic tangle of thrashing vines.

But Xie Ning’s spiritual power passed through them without obstruction, penetrating the wall to instantly locate where the vine’s rootstalk was buried.

It was in the wall behind the secret room.

Xie Ning didn’t hesitate. As her hammer fell, the wall crumbled, sending dust flying.

The mutated plant seemed to sense the approaching danger and began to wave its vine-like branches even more frantically, lashing them one by one toward Xie Ning.

If a normal person were hit by these vines, they’d be covered in barbs. But Xie Ning, relying on her Defense Cloak to block them, weaved back and forth between the branches and vines. With a few sharp chops—HACK! HACK!—severed sections of withered branches, writhing like snakes, fell to the ground.

Xie Ning landed, crushed a severed branch under her heel, and then took flight again as countless more vines swirled toward her.

The young woman set up a ring of blades around the outside of her Defense Cloak. A volley of Metal Knives spun around her body, and any vine that recklessly attacked was doomed to destroy itself.

After another ten minutes of this stalemate, Xie Ning’s quick reflexes spotted an opening. Shielded by the Metal Knives, she charged straight in.

As the vines scraped against the Metal Knives and fell away in pieces, the mutated plant let out a piercing shriek.

"Eat this!" Xie Ning backhanded a knife into the wall of the secret room’s entrance. When she felt the tip of the blade hit something hard, she happily shoved it in deeper.

The shrill cry grew louder, and the entire wall of the Earth Corridor began to crack.

Meanwhile, Ji Xiuming, standing in the middle of the small courtyard, felt a faint tremor from underground, like a small earthquake. He quickly tightened his grip on the chain of the metal cart and cast a worried glance toward the entrance.

Half an hour had passed, and he had no idea what was happening to the Boss inside. A sense of panic began to well up in Ji Xiuming’s heart.

Another fifteen minutes passed. The tremors grew stronger. Ji Xiuming clutched the metal chain, pacing back and forth within the Space Barrier, silently praying for her safety.

Just then, a dust-covered head popped out from the top of the earthen hole and, with a WHOOSH, flew out of the opening.

Ji Xiuming had excellent eyesight and immediately saw it was Xie Ning. His face lit up with a huge smile as he waved frantically at her. "Boss!"

’Thank God, the Boss is okay. If anything had happened to her in that underground warehouse, I’d have regretted it for the rest of my life.’

Xie Ning dove down, waved her hand to dissolve the Space Barrier around them, and yelled, "Go! Run for it!"

Without a second word, Ji Xiuming grabbed the metal cart and ran.

A ball of Yingying’s green light hummed as it spread out from the depths of the earthen hole.