205: Chapter 204 The "Tang" File in the Lab! What's Hidden Behind the Iron Gate?
Lin Feng put the experimental log into the void mithril ring, stood up, and looked around.
The laboratory was much larger than he had anticipated.
The area he had reached from the shaft was only the central surgical zone; several corridors stretched out to the sides, lined with rows of closed metal doors. The numbers on the doorplates were blurred, but through the half-open gaps, he could see filing cabinets and experimental equipment piled inside.
Xiao Guang jumped down from his shoulder, walked to the nearest door, and wiped the doorframe with a golden finger—the grayish-white fungal carpet was rubbed away, revealing a line of text engraved on the metal plaque: Archive Room No. ED-003-7.
"These archive rooms should contain all the experimental records of this laboratory."
Xiao Guang turned around and looked at Lin Feng.
"What you just read was only a single log; the real research data should be in the archive rooms. If this lab is truly related to the one you saw at Mount Dashu, there will definitely be traces in the archives—like the same project number, the same organization name, or the same sponsor. This kind of stitching experiment isn't a personal endeavor; it requires a lot of funding and equipment. There must be someone behind it providing continuous support."
Lin Feng pushed open the door and entered the archive room.
The space inside was larger than it looked from the outside. Several rows of metal filing cabinets stood against the walls, most of their doors hanging open, with folders inside leaning haphazardly.
A pile of paper documents lay scattered on the floor. Some had crumbled into nail-sized fragments, but others still remained as complete booklets—although Void Realm energy had corroded most organic matter, the erosion process was actually slower for Materials stored in such high-density, low-temperature, and oxygen-free environments.
When an entire archive room was consumed by Void Realm energy at once, the decay time of the paper was extended dozens of times over.
In other words, while Void Realm erosion was ubiquitous, this sealed space had actually left a glimmer of hope for these records.
He knelt down to pick up the documents scattered on the floor and gently blew the ash off the covers.
The edges of the paper were charred and brittle, but the handwriting of the main text was still legible—it was all handwritten records: experiment numbers, subject codes, sources of stitching Materials, vital sign monitoring data, and detailed observation logs after every surgery.
Every entry was written in extreme detail, as if recording living people as precise mechanical parts.
There were no names in the subject column, only a string of numbers.
Among them, the records for S-112 were placed separately in a folder. A red circle was drawn on the cover, with three exclamation marks added beside it.
Lin Feng flipped open the folder. On the first page was a striking note: "Subject S-112 is showing rare signs of autonomous consciousness awakening. Immediate destruction recommended; reported and awaiting approval."
In the latter half of the folder, there was also a separately archived source list for experimental Materials. The header used a logo embossed with some kind of metal clip—he hadn't seen this logo anywhere else, but the layout and terminology of the entire form were in both Chinese and English.
He silently closed the folder and put it into the void mithril ring along with the experimental log.
"And this."
Xiao Guang pulled a stack of stapled experiment reports from the highest cabinet. The pages also bore the grayish-white tint of Void Realm light erosion.
It read out the key information while flipping through.
"The superior funding unit for the ED-003 experimental base actually has only one letter—the character 'Tang'. Not an institution name, not a department name, just a single character. Experiment numbers, funding amounts, material procurement lists—all were settled upon delivery. Even the organ trade for these Alien Race Warriors was signed for by 'Tang'. Lin Feng, this 'Tang' isn't a researcher or a project leader. He is the person funding the entire base."
Lin Feng took the reports and flipped through them. The reimbursement items ranged from hospital-grade sterile operating tables to energy shielding devices, and even complete specimens of Iron Bone Clan warrior arm blades. Every single item was followed by the same signature—the strokes were scrawled but the structure was stable, the character 'Tang' signed no less than dozens of times.
He gathered these reports with the 'Tang' signature, the financial statements listing 'Tang' as the funding unit, and all the relatively well-preserved experimental data into a complete file. He packed them all into Chu Han's Storage Ring, placing them separately in a folder labeled 'ED-003'.
He couldn't understand these Materials himself, but they involved the trade of alien organs, human experiments, and the procurement of cross-border energy shielding devices. Every single entry would be enough to keep the Ministry of State Security auditors busy for days.
He continued deeper along the corridor.
The archive rooms lined both sides, one after another, each containing several rows of filing cabinets and scattered records.
Most of the content was repetitive—experimental data, observation logs, and material procurement lists.
But in a smaller archive room at the end of the corridor, he found a leather-bound notebook.
On the name column of the notebook's cover was a line of scrawled signature—'Cheng'.
Not 'Tang', but another person.
The first page was filled with dense numbers and formulas—not experimental data, but the calculation of some kind of energy fluctuation curve.
Several hand-drawn design sketches were tucked in the middle, the patterns resembling a miniature Void Realm energy shield generator.
On the bottom right corner of one sketch, a few words were written in pencil: 'For S-112. Hope it makes it in time.'
Lin Feng stored this notebook separately, putting it together with the previously found Materials signed by 'Tang'.
This 'Cheng' might be related to Tang, or perhaps he was just an ordinary engineer in the laboratory back then.
But notebooks don't lie—in that era, there was always someone trying to put the monsters back in their cages at the most critical moment.
He searched through all the archive rooms. After confirming nothing was missed, he prepared to head back the way he came.
Just then, Xiao Jin suddenly jumped down from his shoulder and quickly crawled toward the other end of the corridor.
The pair of purple antennae on its head was brighter than ever before, the purple light tracing a hurried arc in the dark corridor.
It stopped in front of a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor and repeatedly drummed on the door panel with its front legs. It turned back to Lin Feng and emitted several short, urgent squeaks—its cries were a mix of excitement and anxiety, just like when it first caught the scent of the ancient Spiritual Qi in the Taotie's treasure chamber in the desert of the Secret Realm.
Lin Feng walked to the iron door and looked it up and down.
This door was completely different from the ordinary metal doors of the archive rooms—the door body was made of some silver-gray alloy, with no rivets or welding marks, as if it had been cast directly from a single block of metal.
energy shielding devices were embedded in the walls around the doorframe. They had long since lost power, but the concentration of Void Realm energy around the metal door was clearly lower than in other parts of the corridor.
It wasn't the decay brought by the fungal carpet, but some kind of faintly operating residual energy—a very weak protective shield covered the entire surface of the doorframe. It had become extremely faint due to the power cut, but it had not completely disappeared.
There was no handle, no keyhole, and no keypad on the door; only a dim rune array was embedded on the left side of the doorframe.
The arrangement of the array was somewhat similar to the Seal arrays he had seen at the Taigu Dojo, but more complex, with the ends of the lines winding around the doorframe several times before converging.
Six completely extinguished engravings were distributed evenly in a hexagram array on the inner side of the alloy plate. Each etching point corresponded to a spatial coordinate, and the lines connecting the six points defined a completely independent area—the door itself was a spatial blocker, and one capable of maintaining a long-term lock.
"Six-Point Positioning Space Lock."
Lin Feng slowly traced the lines of the rune array with his finger, sensing that there were still extremely weak energy pathways within the lines; they weren't broken, just the power supply had been cut.
If he poured mana into the array, theoretically he could reactivate it—but whether it would unlock or trigger an anti-theft System after activation, he couldn't say for sure.
He took a step back, drew the dragon slaying sword, and glanced at it against the light; the golden patterns on the blade lit up in the darkness. He then looked down at Xiao Jin, who refused to leave the door.
The energy supply required for a Six-Point Positioning Space Lock far exceeded that of an ordinary rune array. To have this level of protection configured in a place like this, either the laboratory's most important core secrets were hidden behind the door, or it was some kind of forbidden area that absolutely no one was allowed to enter.