The door to the small room was also made of iron, but it only had an ordinary lock. Li Kui stepped forward and split the lock open with an axe.
The room wasn't large; it contained only a simple desk, a chair, and a half-human-height tin safe standing against the wall.
On the desk lay scattered documents and ledgers, as well as half a bottle of cheap liquor.
"That instrument was taken out of this safe," Jin Dongdong said, pointing at the tin safe.
Lu Shiyan's gaze fell on the safe. This old-fashioned tin safe shouldn't be difficult for Jin Dongdong.
As expected, Jin Dongdong didn't disappoint him. He took out small tools and manipulated the keyhole. With a 'click,' the safe door swung open.
The safe only had two compartments.
"Where's the hidden compartment?" Su Wan asked.
Jin Dongdong pointed to the inner wall of the safe: "I remember it was in this position." He tapped on the inner wall with his finger, producing a dull sound.
Lu Shiyan stepped forward and carefully examined that section of the inner wall. A moment later, he reached out and gently pressed an inconspicuous corner of the inner wall.
With a soft 'thud,' that section of the inner wall indented inward, revealing a hidden compartment roughly twenty centimeters square.
The hidden compartment had a combination lock. Su Wan asked, "There's a password, Dongdong, can you open a combination lock?"
Jin Dongdong was observing, "I'll try, can't say for sure," he said, and finally succeeded in opening it. Su Wan couldn't help but think, 'He truly lives up to his reputation as the top scorer on the college entrance exam.'
Inside the hidden compartment lay a black velvet box and something wrapped in oilcloth, which looked like a book.
Su Wan's heart couldn't help but beat faster. The metal detector in her hand vibrated even more intensely, the baseline on the screen jumped wildly, and the 'beep beep' sounds became more urgent.
Lu Shiyan first picked up the velvet box and opened it.
Inside the box was a fist-sized crystal, entirely a strange deep purple, with a faint halo flowing on its surface, emitting a terrifying energy fluctuation.
"This is..." Su Wan's eyes widened. This crystal gave her a very familiar feeling, somewhat similar to an energy stone, but its color and the energy it emitted were completely different.
That energy stone was pure, while this deep purple crystal carried a hint of strangeness and wildness.
"Top-tier Mutant core," Lu Shiyan's voice was solemn. "And it's an extremely rare psychic Mutant core."
Psychic Mutant core? Su Wan's heart stirred. This type of core could enhance mental power and even had a chance to awaken psychic abilities. In the apocalypse, psychic ability users were as rare as phoenix feathers; each possessed immeasurable value.
No wonder "Black Wolf" treasured it so much.
Lu Shiyan closed the box and handed it to Su Wan: "Put it away."
Su Wan nodded and put the box into her spatial dimension. She could feel that her spatial dimension seemed to have some kind of craving for this core as well.
Next, Lu Shiyan picked up the item wrapped in oilcloth. Unwrapping the oilcloth, he found a thick notebook, its cover already somewhat worn, with several scrawled large characters written in ink on it—"Apocalypse Survival Journal."
Su Wan leaned closer and saw that the first page of the notebook read:
"X year, X month, X day, the world changed. Those monsters, what we call zombies, swept across the globe overnight. Order collapsed, civilization was destroyed, and survival became the only luxury."
Lu Shiyan quickly flipped through the notebook. The content of the notebook was messy, with records of various mutated creatures encountered, descriptions of the dirty struggles between bases, and some research insights on abilities and cores.
"This notebook seems to contain a lot of useful information," Lu Shiyan said in a deep voice. "Especially the analysis of various Mutant weaknesses and core energy; it's very valuable to us."
"That Black Wolf fellow really got lucky to get these good things," Su Wan pouted.
Just then, a sudden clamor of footsteps and shouts came from outside the warehouse.
"Damn it! The warehouse lock has been picked!"
"Quick! Someone broke in!"
"Catch them! Don't let them escape!"
"Oh no! We've been discovered!" Jin Dongdong's face changed drastically.
Lu Shiyan's gaze sharpened: "It seems the commotion here still alerted them. Su Wan, you and Jin Dongdong take the items and retreat the way we came, then meet up with Xiao Han and the others. Li Kui and I will cover your retreat."
"No! It's too dangerous!" Su Wan immediately objected, "Let's go together!"
"Listen, they're targeting us. You go first, we'll be able to get away quickly. Li Kui, prepare to fight!"
Li Kui nodded, gripping his fire axe.
"But..." Su Wan still wanted to say something.
"Wan Jie, listen to Lu Ge!" Jin Dongdong tugged at her sleeve, anxiously saying, "We'll only drag them down if we stay here!"
"You two... be careful!" Su Wan took out two submachine guns, several magazines, and grenades from her spatial dimension and handed them to Lu Shiyan and Li Kui.
Lu Shiyan took the guns and gave Su Wan a deep look: "Don't worry, we'll be right there."
Su Wan no longer hesitated. Pulling Jin Dongdong, she turned and rushed out of the warehouse.
At the warehouse entrance, seven or eight burly men had already gathered, charging menacingly towards them.
"Stop! Leave the things behind!" The bald, burly leader with a fierce face roared, carrying a homemade gun in his hand.
"Black Wolf!" Jin Dongdong's body involuntarily trembled when he saw the bald, burly man.
"So it's you, you pretty boy!" Black Wolf also recognized Jin Dongdong, a sinister smile appearing on his face. "You had a path to heaven but didn't take it, and you broke into hell without a gate! Perfect, today I'll let you know what it means to wish for death but be unable to die!"
"Courting death!" Lu Shiyan's icy voice rang out.
The submachine gun in his hand instantly spat out angry tongues of fire.
"Da da da da da!"
Dense bullets rained down on the charging burly men.
Screams immediately erupted. Several burly men at the front fell to the ground, several streams of blood spurting from their bodies.
Black Wolf reacted extremely quickly, performing a clumsy roll, barely dodging the fatal spray of bullets, but a bullet grazed his arm, leaving a bloody mark.
"Damn it! They have guns! Get your weapons!" Black Wolf, hiding behind a row of shelves, roared hoarsely.
More footsteps came from all directions; clearly, everyone in Black Wind Stronghold had been alerted.
Li Kui also raised his submachine gun and fired fiercely at the enemies attempting to encircle them. Although his marksmanship was not as precise as Lu Shiyan's, he was brave, and for a time, he suppressed the enemy's offensive.
Su Wan and Jin Dongdong took advantage of this opening to quickly rush out of another warehouse exit and ran towards the breach in the wall they had entered through earlier.
"Trying to run? Not that easy!" Seeing this, a ruthless glint flashed in Black Wolf's eyes. He pulled out a dark object from his in my arms, pulled the fuse, and threw it in the direction Su Wan and Jin Dongdong were fleeing.
"It's homemade explosives! Be careful!" Lu Shiyan's pupils contracted.
Su Wan felt a huge sense of danger Attack. Without thinking, she instantly entered her spatial dimension to evade.
"Boom!"
A loud explosion, flames shot into the sky. The powerful shockwave sent nearby debris flying.
"Su Wan!"
Lu Shiyan threw away the submachine gun, which had run out of bullets. On his hands, lightning and flames intertwined, emitting crackling sounds.
Lu Shiyan charged directly at Black Wolf. The faint green wooden armor glowed on his body, deflecting the flying debris.
Black Wolf had just been grinning sinisterly towards the direction of the explosion, thinking that those two troublesome guys had been reduced to charcoal, when he felt an extremely sharp killing intent envelop him.
He only felt a blur before his eyes, and a figure interwoven with electric light and sparks was already close at hand. The instinct for survival caused his fire ability to instantly erupt.
Blazing flames suddenly rose from his arms, forming two thick fire whips, carrying scorching heat, and violently lashed out at the approaching Lu Shiyan.