Chapter 8

"Sure enough, everything is locked up." After a brief inspection of the first floor, Su Xiaoqing couldn't help but say with disappointment. With most of the rooms locked, even if they knew which room Alice was in, they wouldn't be able to easily rescue her. After all, the facilities in this research institute far exceeded their understanding. Even if they tried to break in by force, it would be impossible with just the equipment they had.

"This was expected." Tang Cheng wasn't surprised by this. In the movie, Alice woke up shortly after the zombie outbreak and before the nuclear bomb arrived, not because she was tough, but because Umbrella Corporation deliberately did so to initiate the Alice Plan at a critical moment. Since the Alice Plan hadn't been initiated, there would obviously be certain protective measures to prevent accidents.

The rooms in this research institute weren't something they could just open.

Moreover...

From Tang Cheng's perspective, rescuing Alice first would be a form of plot disruption, or even a plot change. This wouldn't be as simple as they imagined, and it could very well lead to a series of unpredictable consequences. After all, at this stage, Alice's combat ability was far beyond what the six of them combined could handle. If such a powerful ally were with them, their safety would be greatly increased, and as long as they didn't make fatal mistakes, major tragedies would be unlikely. Even if the cycle world allowed such behavior, wouldn't it take countermeasures?

At this point, Tang Cheng couldn't determine what kind of entity the cycle world was. But since it could transport real people into the movie world and change the established facts within it, its power clearly exceeded the understanding of normal people. It could be a game of gods or a game of devils.

Leaving that aside, if Tang Cheng were the controller of this game, he wouldn't let the challengers easily find shortcuts to victory. Instead, he would modify the world's elements based on the challengers' actions. For example, if the challengers found a level-maxed Sword Saint to help them during a mission, he would place a level-maxed demon on their path to keep them on the edge of life and death.

This is like watching a horror movie. The audience doesn't want to see the romantic life and daily details of the main characters; they want to see the terrifying scenarios created by various monsters. The more deaths, the better.

So, in Tang Cheng's view, rescuing Alice first might not be a shortcut but could make their mission more difficult and complicated.

But... this was exactly what Tang Cheng was looking for.

He had no particular feelings about life and death, and whether the mission was difficult or easy didn't matter much to him. The only thing he couldn't tolerate was following the plot step by step, repeating the story he already knew.

"So, what do we do now?" Lu Xiaotian asked at this moment.

Tang Cheng smiled and replied, "There are ways to open these locks, but for now, let's wait for Li's news. I don't want to waste energy on meaningless things."

Tang Cheng didn't specify what methods he had in mind. Su Xiaoqing and Lu Xiaotian exchanged glances, knowing that if Tang Cheng didn't want to say, asking would be pointless. They could only wait patiently, hoping that Tang Ya would have some success.

The surveillance search team didn't disappoint them. About half an hour later, Li Guodong's voice came through Tang Cheng's walkie-talkie, "Tang Cheng? We've found the surveillance room."

"Oh, that's good. Did you find Alice's room?"

"We've already seen Alice on the surveillance screen. She hasn't woken up yet, but Tang Ya is checking which room it is... The result is out. It's room 2B in A1 corridor."

"A1 corridor..." Tang Cheng looked around and saw a 'C' on the wall. "It's not here, then."

"Yes, it's on the other side of the corridor from you," Li Guodong prompted.

Tang Cheng nodded and walked over to the other side. In no time, he was standing in front of a door marked '2B'.

"It seems this is the place."

"Yes, that's right. Alice is inside," Li Guodong said through the walkie-talkie. "Unfortunately, we didn't find anything to open the lock here. The equipment is too advanced, and Tang Ya and I can only do simple operations. We don't dare to touch anything more to avoid unnecessary consequences."

"I understand. You should come back, and I'll handle the rest." After saying this, Tang Cheng hung up the walkie-talkie and frowned at the password lock on the door.

It was a touch-sensitive electronic lock, which Tang Cheng wasn't unfamiliar with, but its design was quite advanced, making it seem extremely complex and intimidating.

Tang Cheng stood in front of the door, frowning for about ten minutes. Even when Li Guodong and the others returned, he didn't move.

"What's he doing?" Li Guodong asked Lu Xiaotian and the others, puzzled.

"We don't know either," Lu Xiaotian shook his head. "He said he had a way to open the lock but didn't tell us what it was. After you talked to him, he just stood there, completely focused, so we didn't dare to disturb him."

Hearing this, the three of them became even more puzzled. Tang Ya tilted her head curiously and saw that Tang Cheng was staring blankly ahead, his gaze unfocused.

"Found it." Suddenly, Tang Cheng's voice rang out, and his gaze returned to normal.

"Found what?" Everyone asked curiously.

"Of course, the password." Tang Cheng smiled and rubbed his eyes a few times, as if it had been quite difficult. He muttered to himself, "Indeed, entering that state is quite tough for me, but at least I got something out of it. It wasn't for nothing."

"Password?" Everyone's eyes became even more curious.

Tang Cheng didn't explain and simply pressed the lock nine times. Then... click!

The door opened with a light sound.

"Damn!" At this moment, Li Guodong and the others' eyes nearly popped out. They had known that Tang Cheng might have a way to open the door, but they had assumed it would be either breaking in by force or something more advanced, like a lock expert cracking the code. Although the technology in this world was more advanced than in their reality, since they could be transported into the movie world, it wasn't surprising that there were such experts in the real world.

But they never expected Tang Cheng to use such a simple and straightforward method.

Entering the password and opening the door... although simple, the shock it brought was no less than cracking the code.

Tang Cheng had undoubtedly entered a nine-digit password. Without any clues, finding a nine-digit password among the ten digits from 0 to 9 was almost impossible.

But Tang Cheng hit it on the first try!

Of course, they weren't unfamiliar with similar methods, such as sprinkling some lime powder on the lock and finding the correct password through the depth of the fingerprints. However, this usually only appeared in novels or movies. In reality, it would require adequate tools and professional personnel, and if there were no fingerprints on the lock, this method wouldn't work.

But Tang Cheng didn't use any tools. He just stared at the lock for ten minutes with his naked eye... At this moment, looking at Tang Cheng, they were filled with disbelief. If they didn't know he was one of the challengers, they would have suspected he was a high-ranking executive of Umbrella Corporation.

Although everyone was curious about how Tang Cheng did it, there were secrets between people, and they couldn't ask too much. Moreover, there were more important things to deal with now.

As the door opened, Tang Cheng was the first to enter and saw the heroine of this world.

Alice, on the surface, was the security chief of Umbrella Corporation's underground laboratory, "The Hive." In reality, her true purpose was to bring down this deeply evil company, and she was an infiltrated spy. However, due to an accident, her mission failed, and she lost her memory. She was then forced to re-enter The Hive with a special task force composed of mercenaries. At this moment, the T-virus had already erupted in The Hive, turning all the staff into zombies.

After a fierce battle, Alice not only recovered her memory but also managed to escape from The Hive. But just as she was about to celebrate her escape, she was captured by Umbrella Corporation, leading to the scene Tang Cheng was now seeing.

The room in this laboratory had only one bed, and on it lay a white woman with tubes inserted into her body. She was naked and in a deep sleep, covered only by a white sheet... This was Alice, the heroine of the Resident Evil movie.

"Who here speaks English?" Tang Cheng didn't immediately wake Alice but asked his teammates behind him.

"I have a level six English certification," Tang Ya said.

"I can speak it too," Li Guodong added.

The other three shook their heads.

"Alright, you two will handle the communication." Tang Cheng nodded and walked up to the woman on the experimental bed, looking her over. Then he pressed her philtrum hard.

"Ugh!" Suddenly, Alice's eyes snapped open.

Seeing her awake, Tang Cheng quickly raised his hands, "Don't worry, I mean no harm."

As soon as Tang Cheng spoke, Alice's gaze turned to him. After a brief moment of confusion, her eyes suddenly lit up with joy, and she exclaimed, "Tang Cheng, you're alive?!"

"Huh?"

Even the usually calm Tang Cheng was taken aback by this.

Alice actually knew him... How could this be possible?

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