Chapter 65

After listening to Qiao Chu's words, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao spoke at the same time:

"I..."

Seeing that the other had something to say, they both closed their mouths, and the scene fell into an awkward silence.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"You go first."

Shang Jianyao nodded seriously and replied:

"I want to go to the bathroom first."

"…Don't you have any other thoughts?" Jiang Baimian almost stuttered.

Shang Jianyao answered without hesitation:

"I'll patrol the other rooms while I'm at it."

"Patrol… wouldn't 'patrol' be a better term?" Jiang Baimian asked habitually.

Then, she nodded in satisfaction:

"Go ahead."

As soon as she said this, she turned to Long Yuehong:

"When resting in a room with a closed nature, remember to check that there are no abnormalities inside.

"This isn't a problem that can be solved by simply keeping watch, because such environments are narrow and cramped, with many obstacles. It's hard to escape or fight, and even if you can detect unexpected situations in time, it will be quite troublesome."

As she said this, Jiang Baimian subconsciously glanced at Qiao Chu, surprised by his carelessness in vigilance.

Is this special envoy from the Eighth Research Institute too confident and unafraid of accidents, or does he simply lack experience in this area?

Qiao Chu didn't look at her. He took off the silver rifle from his back and pulled a brownish-yellow painted chair, which was still in relatively good condition, in front of him.

He then walked to the old coffee table, took out several tissues from a black-packaged box, and turned to wipe the heavily dusted chair.

Seeing this, Long Yuehong was unsure whether to follow Shang Jianyao to search the rooms or help Qiao Chu clean the items.

"This time, just remember and sit down," Jiang Baimian didn't make it difficult for him.

Long Yuehong sat on the sofa reflexively, but the originally unknown color of the dusty surface suddenly sank, and then tore with a ripping sound.

This made Long Yuehong lose his balance and almost fall into the sofa.

Jiang Baimian retracted her gentle gaze, looked at her disheveled subordinate, and chuckled:

"Be careful, everything here is an antique from seventy or eighty years ago, or even longer.

"Moreover, there are probably countless bacteria and viruses in the dust. Although you have undergone genetic modification and are not prone to diseases, you still need to be careful."

"Yes, Team Leader!" Long Yuehong stood up, as he had done many times before, and responded loudly.

"Team Leader…" Qiao Chu repeated the term indifferently, not paying much attention.

He had already cleaned the chair and sat down.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen began to tidy up the sofa, chairs, and coffee table, while Shang Jianyao returned to the intersection of the living room and dining room and walked down the short corridor leading deeper into the room.

By now, with the arrival of night, the room was already dim.

The living room area was still okay, as the large floor-to-ceiling windows allowed some starlight to enter, even without the moon, allowing Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and others to barely see each other's faces. However, in the corridor, Shang Jianyao could only roughly make out the outlines of things.

Shang Jianyao unzipped his camouflage backpack with his hand and took out a silver flashlight with a grainy surface.

He didn't always hang the flashlight on his utility belt; sometimes he would put it in the standard-issue backpack of the Security Department.

With the help of the flashlight's orange beam, Shang Jianyao clearly saw the scene ahead:

On both sides of the corridor were brown-red wooden doors, but they were not symmetrical and had different styles: the one on the left was closer to the entrance and had thick glass that obscured the view inside, while the one on the right almost reached the end and had a brass handle with green rust in some places.

At the end of the corridor, on the left wall, there was another brown-red wooden door.

Shang Jianyao first walked to the door on the left side of the corridor, as it was the closest.

During this process, he took out the "Ice Moss" pistol for precaution.

He turned the handle with the hand holding the flashlight, pushed open the door, and didn't rush in. Instead, he shone the flashlight around for a while.

He saw a sink, something that looked like a toilet from a textbook, a sliding glass door, and a partitioned area with a showerhead.

"Bathroom," Shang Jianyao muttered and stepped inside.

In this place where every angle could be seen at a glance, he occasionally jumped to look at the ventilation outlet above, and sometimes squatted to check the narrow space between the toilet and the sink, as if he thought someone could hide there.

In the end, he only found some moss and a few ants in the dark corners, but not many.

After the inspection, he walked to the toilet and lifted the lid.

There was no water inside.

Shang Jianyao, with a scientific spirit, tried the different buttons on the toilet, but found that they were all non-functional.

He straightened his body, exaggeratedly sniffed, and took a few deep breaths.

"There's no smell…" After a few seconds, he concluded, his expression showing neither relief nor disappointment.

Next, he tried the showerhead and confirmed that no water came out.

After completing these inspections, Shang Jianyao fell into deep thought, seemingly pondering something.

After a while, he put the "Ice Moss" pistol back on his utility belt and reached out to pull out the metal filter from the sink drain.

It was so corroded that Shang Jianyao almost broke it.

After placing the item aside, Shang Jianyao used one hand to support himself, jumped up, and stood steadily on the sink, with one foot on each side, maintaining perfect balance.

He then used his chin to hold the flashlight, took off his pants, and aimed at the drain.

After resolving his physiological needs, Shang Jianyao jumped down and put the metal filter back in place.

In the living room outside, Qiao Chu heard the noise, frowned, and pinched his nose, while Long Yuehong and Bai Chen showed complex expressions.

Jiang Baimian didn't hear the slight noise and was seriously distributing compressed cookies, energy bars, and other food.

Shang Jianyao came out of the bathroom, politely closed the door, and then, with one hand holding the gun and the other the flashlight, walked to the end of the corridor.

At this point, there was a door on his right and another on his left front.

He compared the gun and flashlight and decided to choose the left.

As he opened the door, he was equally cautious.

The most eye-catching thing inside was a relatively wide bed, with a dirty light green bedsheet and two pillows in the same pillowcase.

To the right of the bedhead was a low cabinet, and to the right of that was a tall cabinet reaching the ceiling, painted in off-white and in a dilapidated state.

To the left of the bedhead was a table, on which was a fairly large LCD screen and a black metal box.

Near the LCD screen were a mouse, a keyboard, and a deep blue object with a honeycomb-like surface.

To the left of the table was a wall and a large windowsill, on which was a brown blanket with many holes, presumably bitten by rats, and a small wooden table.

Shang Jianyao held the flashlight and walked from the passage between the foot of the bed and the wall to the windowsill.

He bent down and searched carefully for a while, but could only say regretfully:

"No rat droppings…"

This sentence echoed in the somewhat empty room, seemingly carrying a hint of doubt.

Shang Jianyao then walked to the table with the LCD screen and picked up different items with the hand holding the gun.

As a graduate of the Higher Education Electronics Department of "Pangu Biology," he easily recognized that it was a computer.

He tried to turn his head to look at the camouflage backpack behind him but gave up the idea of putting large items into it.

Finally, he picked up the object with a black honeycomb-like surface.

This was only slightly larger than his palm.

Combining his professional knowledge and his observations at the small trading market in the "Activity Center," Shang Jianyao quickly confirmed that this should be a small speaker.

A speaker that could play music.

He quickly unplugged the speaker's cable and completely detached it from the computer.

After cleaning the deep blue speaker with the bedsheet, Shang Jianyao took off his camouflage backpack and put the speaker inside.

He wasn't sure if the speaker still worked, and even thought it probably didn't, but it didn't matter. He could repair it as long as he could find suitable, intact components to replace the damaged ones.

After putting the camouflage backpack back on, Shang Jianyao again held the gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other, and began to inspect the corners and different items in the room.

He soon moved to the other side, first bending down to look under the bed, then opening the bedside cabinet.

The low cabinet had two drawers, one on top and one on the bottom. Shang Jianyao first opened the top drawer, which was filled with various items but had a musty smell.

"Ultra-thin… Aspirin… Day & Night…" He flipped through each item and put them back.

He then opened the bottom drawer, which was empty.

Shang Jianyao stared at it for a few seconds, withdrew his gaze, straightened his body, and walked to what seemed to be a wardrobe.

After opening the wardrobe, he saw black jackets, white lace dresses, and other garments whose styles he couldn't name.

They were neatly hung there, and except for the unpleasant smell, they seemed no different from when they were new.

Shang Jianyao recognized the lace dress because some women in "Pangu Biology" liked them.

These were impractical items. In a situation where all energy from the environment was directed to the "Inner Ecological Zone," leaving only a small portion for the "Living Zone," long-sleeved and long-legged clothing was the best choice, which was also convenient for work.

Only women from families with a bit more means would use contribution points to exchange for fabric and make a dress based on the styles worn by the relatives of certain management personnel.

These were among their most precious possessions, worn only for year-end performance reviews, certain group activities, or romantic strolls in various corners.

Shang Jianyao subconsciously reached out to touch the white lace dress.

Perhaps the horizontal bar of the hanger was already corroded, or perhaps it was in a delicate balance. As soon as Shang Jianyao touched the dress, the bar slid down, causing many clothes to fall onto the wooden floor below.

Shang Jianyao silently watched for a few seconds and withdrew his hand holding the "Ice Moss."

He continued to inspect the drawers in the wardrobe but found nothing noteworthy.

Soon, he left the room and entered the one on the right side of the corridor.

This room was smaller, with a narrower bed, a row of off-white wardrobes, and a desk with a lamp.

The bedsheet on the bed was blue, with many small golden stars, much cuter than the one in the adjacent room.

However, it also had many stains.

Shang Jianyao searched the room thoroughly, and finally, he bent down to the pillow and shone the flashlight back and forth.

After some time, Shang Jianyao placed the flashlight on the bed and adjusted its position.

He then extended his hand and, at the edge of the pillow illuminated by the flashlight, picked up a long strand of hair.

A white strand of hair.

PS: Please give me a recommendation!