162: Chapter 162 A Vast Dome of Splendor, A Magnificent Graveyard

The heavy alloy double doors slid open to the sides, the friction sound echoing layer by layer in the empty area.

Gu Shen stepped over the threshold.

What greeted him was a strange aura, stifling and rotten, mixed with the smell of dried corpses. What met his eyes was completely different from the industrial ruins of the upper levels, which were filled with the scents of metal, flesh, and machine oil.

The floor was covered with thick, handmade wool carpets. Time had eroded their original vivid colors, and they turned into fine dust with a gentle step. Hanging from the dome was a huge and intricate crystal chandelier. Countless perfectly cut crystals, illuminated by the blue light from the eye sockets of twelve Cyber Iron Guards, refracted a cold and desolate glimmer.

Silence reigned here; no living thing remained.

"My Lord, the radiation level in the air is at an extremely low level, and the biological toxicity is also within the safety line."

Crab's electronic voice rang out at the right moment, revealing a coldness after data analysis, "The 7th Floor is a privileged area of the Shelter. When it was built, it adopted an independent internal circulation life support System and the highest level of lead-steel shielding. The nuclear leaks and biochemical viruses from the lower levels were all blocked outside this line of defense."

Gu Shen walked slowly down the wide corridor.

On both sides were exquisitely decorated suites. The doors were all open to the outside, and various items were scattered on the ground: tarnished gold bars, expensive mechanical watches, and even several beautifully framed oil paintings.

Amidst these dead items that were once worth a fortune, dried corpses lay fallen.

They wore well-tailored, luxurious clothing, their skin and flesh clinging tightly to their bones, presenting a gray-brown color after dehydration.

Some corpses were curled up in corners, some were hugging each other, and others were clutching empty plastic water bottles or torn food packaging bags in their hands.

"Radiation and viruses were isolated, but they were also trapped to death in this golden cage."

Gu Shen looked at a dried corpse lying face up. The cervical spine of the corpse was twisted unnaturally, a delicate metal pistol had fallen beside it, and there was a clear penetration hole in the side of the skull.

"The Mainframe on the Thirteenth Floor cut off the material supply channels and energy supply here." Crab had invaded a dormant terminal embedded in the wall, quickly reading the remaining data.

"The logs show that in the final stages of the bottom-level riots and energy depletion, the life support System here stopped producing oxygen. Oxygen was exhausted. After a long period of food deprivation, they met their final suffocating end in despair."

Wealth and power turned into equal withered bones before the absolute Law of the apocalypse.

Gu Shen flicked his large sleeve, raising a gust of air that swept away a dried corpse blocking the center of the road. The path of a cultivator has no room for pity for the end of Mortals. He stepped over the decaying luxury covering the ground and headed straight for the deepest part of this area.

At the end of the corridor was an indoor ecological park with a vast area.

The simulated sky dome had long since gone out, and the artificial ponds were dried and cracked. Those exotic flowers and plants that were once carefully tended had died in large numbers during the long darkness and drought, turning into a thick layer of black humus.

Gu Shen's footsteps paused slightly, his gaze piercing through the dimness and locking onto the high platform in the center of the ecological park.

Among a pile of withered plant remains, several half-person-high strange plants were stubbornly surviving.

Their stems and leaves presented a sickly white color, with fine black serrations on the edges of the leaves, faintly emitting a dizzying, fishy-sweet smell.

"My Lord, microwave radar shows that these plants contain high-density alkaloids and deadly toxins. They underwent adaptive mutation in the extremely oxygen-deprived and claustrophobic environment, surviving by absorbing the decaying matter of their own kind."

Gu Shen walked forward, using his thunder pattern gold-slaying blade, sheath and all, to push aside the humus around them.

Spiritual Plants in the Great Yu Cultivation World need Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to nourish them, while the mutated plants of the Wasteland rely entirely on the cruel evolution of natural selection. These poisonous plants could grow in the deathly silence, and the Death Qi and vitality contained within them were intertwined, making them excellent Materials for Alchemy or poison making.

He extended his right hand, hovering it above the white poisonous plants.

"Refine."

The virtual fire of the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] surged from his palm, instantly engulfing these mutated poisonous plants.

In the pale white flames, the physical form of the poisonous plants collapsed rapidly. Impurities in the branches and leaves were burned to ash, and the toxins and mutated vitality hidden deep in the roots were forcibly stripped and purified.

After a few breaths, the firelight converged.

In Gu Shen's palm appeared two crystals the size of fingernails, pitch-black as ink, and three drops of milky white liquid.

[Refining complete. Obtained: two pieces of Death Qi Poison Wood Crystal. Three drops of essence white dew (inferior).]

Putting the Poison Wood Crystal and essence white dew into his Storage Ring, Gu Shen turned and left the ecological park, walking towards the core of the 7th Floor area—the Private Office of the Supreme Commander.

The heavy mahogany door was already fragile under the erosion of time and was kicked to pieces by the No. 1 Iron Guard.

Inside the office, behind a wide mahogany desk, sat a dried corpse wearing a crisp military uniform.

He maintained a sitting posture, hands placed flat on the desk. His dried eye sockets stared straight ahead, and on the table lay a yellowed group photo, as well as a metal card exuding a dark gold luster.

Gu Shen walked to the table, his fingers lightly touching the dark gold card.

The touch was cold, the material was neither gold nor jade, and extremely complex micro-integrated circuits were engraved inside. It was completely different from the silver token card he had picked up on the lower levels, giving this card a unique feeling of higher authority.

"My Lord, this is the 'Omega-level' access card for Shelter No. 7. There is only one in the entire base."

Crab's probe lit up with blue light, scanning the card information at high speed, "With it, except for the physical self-destruct device at the reactor core on the Thirteenth Floor, we can unimpededly open all pneumatic gates and isolation zones from the underground 8th to 12th floors, without needing time-consuming physical demolition."

Gu Shen put the gold access card into his pocket and took a look at the commander's dried corpse.

"He guarded the highest authority alone, yet failed to open the door to life."

Gu Shen turned around and walked out with big strides.

"Depart, target the underground 8th floor area."

The twelve Cyber Iron Guards took heavy steps and followed closely behind Gu Shen in unison.

Leaving the executive living area, they came to a highly concealed emergency elevator shaft.

Gu Shen placed the gold access card on the sensing area at the entrance of the shaft.

"Beep—Authority confirmed. Omega Protocol activated."

The heavy, dust-covered steel doors slid open to the sides, revealing a wide passage leading directly into the abyss.

Gu Shen stepped onto the landing platform, and the twelve Iron Guards lined up around him.

The platform began to descend slowly.

The surrounding temperature climbed at a visible speed, and the air began to fill with the pungent smell of ozone and the scorching sensation of extreme heat.

"My Lord, about to enter the 8th floor: this is the high-voltage substation and energy dispatch hub."

There was a hint of vigilance in Crab's electronic voice, "The Mainframe on the Thirteenth Floor set up extremely strong physical barriers on the 8th floor to intercept the reactor's energy. The environment here is extremely harsh, filled with out-of-control high-voltage arcs."

"More troublesome is that the residual high-frequency electromagnetic fields have given birth to a special kind of mechanical Aberration. They feed on Thunder-Magnetic Force and have extremely strong resistance to conventional physical attacks."

Gu Shen stood on the descending platform, feeling the manic energy fluctuations coming from below.

His gaze fell on the No. 3 Iron Guard.

This Iron Guard, which had the bones of the Tier 3 Great Demon "Thunder Cloud Snow Leopard" implanted, seemed to sense the Thunder-Magnetic environment below. The miniature battery in its chest cavity made a low roar, and wisps of ghostly blue electric light faintly emerged on the surface of its titanium-tungsten alloy body.

"Thunder-Magnetic Maze."

Gu Shen stroked the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist, feeling the resonance of the thunder magnetic fine sand inside the blade.

"Just as I wish."