【Ding! Item acquired! B-Class Researcher Permission Card】
【Ding! Temporary mission triggered: Explore underground city A09. Accept?】
【Yes/No】
（Completing this mission will grant you massive Points rewards, additional Equipment rewards, and reveal some of this planet's secrets. Knowledge +2）
（Attention! You cannot face the dangers within the city alone.）
（Suggestion: If you enter, stay close to the Cleaners and act with them. They will absorb a large amount of damage for you.）
（Prompt: Gate control console location→）
The system and the external prompt appeared one after another. After carefully reading them, Zhao Feng decisively clicked 【Yes】.
Mission accepted. Following the prompt, he first went to the right side of the gate.
There was a slight protrusion on the wall here. Touching it with his hand, he realized it was likely a card slot for swiping.
He inserted the B-Class Permission Card he was holding.
With a "ding," all the lighting equipment covered in dust in front of the gate lit up.
Simultaneously, with a rumbling sound, a light blue 3D Projection lit up on the wall.
Looking at the scribbled text on it, Zhao Feng swallowed and muttered to himself:
"I can't understand this alien text either..."
（Detected foreign language, translating...）
（Translation complete）
（Permission confirmed. Main energy systems are offline. Connect to backup power? Yes/No）
Looking at the translated content, Zhao Feng's mood suddenly brightened.
'It's all thanks to you, my little external system treasure!'
He raised his finger and gently touched the character representing 【Yes】 on the projection.
"Swish!" More lines of strange text popped up.
This time, without Zhao Feng needing to instruct, the external system automatically translated line by line.
（Auxiliary Power Unit 1 offline!）
（Auxiliary Power Unit 2 offline!）
（Attempting to activate backup generator unit... Attempt failed!）
（Performing comprehensive self-check... Self-check complete!）
（Main Power Source has shut down.）
（Auxiliary power units all offline.）
（Generator Units A-L all offline.）
（Emergency! Generator units have malfunctioned and require repair.）
（Emergency! Mental Shield Field integrity at 51%, approaching critical threshold, requires repair.）
（Detected normal energy supply at db1000 Protein Processing Center, allocating...）
（Warning! Warning! Warning! Allocation failed! Your permission is insufficient to allocate resources from this location!）
（Conclusion: Underground City A09 is depleted of energy. Remaining energy is insufficient to activate any functions.）
'Mental Shield Field? What kind of Black Technology is that?'
'And why is it so quick to jump to conclusions? Why is that processing center so arrogant? Does it only listen when it wants to?'
（Detected an external public power network. Send connection request? Yes/No）
"Huh? So I have to pay out of my own pocket to get in?"
Zhao Feng pouted but still clicked on 【Yes】.
'Damn it, circumstances are stronger than people. You just wait... I'll see if I don't tear this place down later!'
At the same time, a prompt appeared on his system interface.
【Ding, unauthorized device access request detected. Allow?】
"Yes!"
The next second, all the energy stored by the Geothermal Power Station during this period poured into the underground city.
Seeing that his own power station's energy reserves were depleted, Zhao Feng quickly cut off the connection between the two.
Good heavens, his Wife was still maintaining the shield while unconscious back home.
He would need energy for combat later too; he couldn't let all of it be absorbed by this thing!
As the power was disconnected, new projection information was displayed synchronously.
（City energy replenished to 0.85%, gate opening!）
（Respected B-Class Researcher, welcome home!）
..
After the information popped up, a "rumbling" sound came from the wall.
Then, with a slight tremor, the gate slowly rose upwards.
Seeing this, Zhao Feng quickly retreated far away.
Standing in the back half of the hall, he vigilantly held his Pulse Laser Emitter, staring in this direction.
It wasn't that he was a coward; just looking at the state of those Cleaners was enough of an indication.
There were definitely a lot of Zombies behind this gate.
It was even possible for Mutants, or even Evolved Bodies!
With his small physique, not using so many bodyguards and meat shields around him and rushing forward to fight to the death first would be insane, right?
Like now, using ranged weapons and providing sniper support from the rear while observing the situation was the proper way to act!
As the gate gradually opened, it was like opening the gates of the Hive in Raccoon City.
A massive amount of Zombies roared and scrambled to get out from under the gap of the gate.
Immediately after, they were pinned to the ground by the Cleaners who were already in position.
Countless Crimson threads danced in the air, and the pierced Zombies were instantly reduced to bone and marrow.
They vanished without a trace.
The scene was eerily similar to how a female ghost in an old horror movie would drain a man's vitality.
As the gate fully opened, the number of Zombies pouring out increased severalfold.
They weren't lining up neatly before charging forward.
Instead, they were superimposed, squeezed against each other, limbs entangled as they pressed forward.
They rolled out of the gate like irregularly shaped "meatballs."
Have you ever seen a Zombie Ball, 7-8 meters in diameter, composed entirely of human bodies?
Imagine countless limbs combined, rolling towards you.
At the same time, the heads on top were emitting howls at similar frequencies.
My goodness... the scene was incredibly twisted and grotesque.
Facing such a thing, the Cleaner army couldn't resolve it in a short time.
They were being pushed back by the "Zombie Ball."
Hiding far away, Zhao Feng also felt his scalp tingle watching this scene.
He didn't have time to think much about it.
Seeing his survival space being compressed step by step, he directly aimed his gun at the "Corpse Ball" and pulled the trigger all the way.
The 5-second charging time passed in an instant.
Accompanied by a buzzing sound of cutting through the air, a light blue beam shot out, piercing the "Corpse Ball" in the blink of an eye.
Then, Zhao Feng swung his gun barrel left, right, up, and down.
There was no violent explosion; the beam sliced through the "Corpse Ball" as if it were cutting watermelon, easily dividing it into four sections.
The spherical body, having lost its stable structure, instantly disintegrated.
At the same time, new information appeared before Zhao Feng's eyes.
（Stitcher: High Strength, Slow Speed. Elites among them are called "Stitched Monsters," a type of Mutant originating from "Self-Evolution."）
（Special Skill: Stitching）
（Can "Stitch" with normal Zombies to form "Collective Bodies." The more normal Zombies there are, the larger the "Collective Body" formed, such as "Corpse Balls," "Corpse Towers," etc.）
（Attention! After Stitching into a Collective Body, Speed and Strength will undergo a qualitative change.）
（Suggestion: Attacking the central part of a "Collective Body" with penetrating weapons will have a miraculous effect.）
The death of the Stitcher prevented the scattered Corpse Balls from reassembling.
Those Zombies whose limbs were completely pinned by their own kind lost the agility of their fleshy ball form.
They were all stuck in place, and the Cleaners seized this opportunity to begin their feast.
In a short while, they were all full.
While they were feeding on the Zombies, Zhao Feng also paid close attention to the changes in these Cleaners.
..
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