Time passed quickly, and evening soon arrived. The desert temperature plummeted, as was typical, dropping from over forty degrees Celsius during the day to below minus ten degrees Celsius at night.
Having never expected the forest to border a desert, the group hadn't packed any warm clothing. Lingsha wasn't sure about Ikezawa's situation, but at least she wasn't particularly cold.
The main reason was Li, who radiated warmth and kept snuggling closer. Lingsha felt like she was sleeping with a heated blanket in her arms.
Of course, the same was true for Li. She only felt warm and smelled a comforting scent near Lingsha, so she instinctively snuggled up close.
Especially after falling asleep, Li would emit a soft, purring sound, not a snore, but the contented noise a cat or dog makes when being cuddled.
Meanwhile, in the Chat Group:
Daoist Wuwei: "F-f-family... I'm freezing to death! Does anyone have any warm c-c-clothing?!"
Daoist Wuwei: "This old rat's about to kick the bucket~!"
After checking the group chat, Lingsha hugged the Doggirl in her arms even tighter. Compared to the others, she couldn't help but feel that her situation was far happier.
In the end, Shu Cat sent Ikezawa a cotton quilt and a hot water bottle, allowing him to survive the night.
The night passed without any further monster attacks, and the trio resumed their journey early the next morning.
Lingsha studied the map in her hands. The red dot representing their position was steadily approaching the green dot marking their destination—the First Laboratory. But when she lowered the map, all she saw was an endless desert stretching before them, without a trace of the laboratory in sight.
The truth was easy to guess: either the laboratory had been completely destroyed, or... it lay buried beneath their feet.
Ikezawa leaned over to glance at the map, then declared decisively, "No time to waste. Let's start digging!"
This time, Lü Heng had supplied them with a military-grade shovel. But even with his enhanced physique and proper tools, Ikezawa couldn't match Li's digging speed. The Doggirl stood with her legs spread wide, bending low over the sand. Her hands moved with such blinding speed that they seemed to leave afterimages, as she shoveled massive amounts of sand behind her.
From Lingsha's perspective, Li was visibly sinking into the sand at an alarming rate.
The upper layers of sand were loose and crumbly. Near Ikezawa, half a shovel's worth of sand would flow back into the hole almost as soon as he dug it out. Conversely, the deeper layers were densely packed and firm, with little risk of collapse.
In just a few moments, while Ikezawa continued to laboriously scoop away sand one shovel at a time, Li had completely disappeared beneath the surface. Then, a triumphant voice rang out from below: "I think I found it!"
Lingsha approached the edge of Li's excavation and peered down. The hole was at least five or six meters deep. Amidst the reddish-purple sand, she faintly glimpsed a patch of silvery-white metal—likely the rooftop of the First Laboratory.
They had found the structure, but there was a problem: this wasn't an entrance. How were they supposed to get inside?
Digging horizontally to search for an entrance would almost certainly trigger a collapse, burying them alive. Yet clearing all the sand above the laboratory seemed an equally impossible task.
So, the only way in is to punch a hole in the roof of this laboratory and go straight through? Lingsha pondered.
Meanwhile, Li had already begun trying to tear through the ceiling with her bare hands. Though her strength was formidable—she could shred alloys effortlessly—the smooth metal roof offered no purchase. Even her immense power seemed useless without a point of leverage... or so it appeared.
Li clenched her fist and slammed it against the ceiling with a resounding thud. The impact shook the surrounding sand, causing some to slide away, and left a visible dent in the metal roof.
One punch followed another, the dent deepening with each strike. Finally, after countless blows, Li broke through the metal. Now with a point of leverage, she gripped the jagged edges and tore the opening wide enough for one person to pass through.
Lingsha glanced at Li's hands—small, delicate hands that looked like those of a young girl, soft and pale. Then she looked back at the twisted ceiling, its surface marred with a mosaic of clear fist-shaped imprints.
Lingsha: "..."
Does this mean Li's physical strength has surpassed even steel? That seems a bit far-fetched, doesn't it? That punch she threw—if it had landed on Lü Heng, it probably would have killed him instantly.
When Lingsha looked up, the first thing she saw was Ikezawa crouching by the entrance, his face frozen in stunned disbelief. He stammered blankly, "Uh... uh?"
To prevent the entrance from collapsing when they left, Li went back out and widened the opening further. Only then did the three of them officially enter the laboratory.
Buzz-zzzt...
Lingsha pressed a switch on the wall. A surge of electricity made the lights flicker a few times, but they failed to ignite. However, the darkness only seemed to bother Ikezawa.
Lingsha surveyed the surroundings. Her gaze immediately fell upon overturned tables, scattered chairs, and plates littering the floor. Clearly, they were in a cafeteria or kitchen area. Without much effort, she located the exit and led them out.
It's worth noting that the darkness and chaotic state of the cafeteria caused Ikezawa to stumble repeatedly along the way, producing a continuous cacophony of clattering and banging. This continued until they finally exited the cafeteria.
The corridor stretched before them, its walls lined with piles of debris. Half the lightbulbs dangled from the ceiling, and in stark contrast to the orderly Third Laboratory, this place was utterly chaotic, bordering on the extreme.
Buzz... buzz...
With each step the trio took, the motion-sensor lights flickered intermittently before abruptly dying, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Ikezawa muttered under his breath, "Why does this feel like we're exploring an abandoned horror spaceship in a sci-fi movie? I wouldn't be surprised if space zombies jumped out from some dark corner next."
Lingsha, however, could see everything clearly and held several trump cards, so she remained calm. As for Li, with her sharp eyes and keen hearing, she skipped ahead, eagerly examining every unfamiliar detail with childlike curiosity.