Life Game In Other World
Chapter 461: The Door Opens (Seeking Monthly Pass for the Big - )

Chapter 461: Chapter 461: The Door Opens (Seeking Monthly Pass for the Big Chapter)

The Research Institute was situated on a relatively high slope, which meant that it was quite far from the city’s underground drainage system in terms of vertical distance.

This allowed the Research Institute to have more ’underground space’ available for use compared to other buildings.

The entire Research Institute had a total of 27 floors, of which 21 were above ground and 6 below.

The first three floors above ground were for administration and reception rooms; above the third floor were various laboratories and meeting rooms that were known to the public.

These things exposed to the sunlight were of little significance to the Research Institute.

The six floors underground were the core of the entire Research Institute, with the first to the fourth sub-levels all being ’surgery rooms’ for operating on ’volunteers’.

The fifth sub-level was the ’surgical equipment room,’ used to store ’important equipment’ needed for surgery, and access to this floor was restricted to a few authorized personnel.

And the sixth sub-level could only be entered by Reid and a few others who had Reid’s permission.

"Kid, come out with me,"

Kors was currently inside a surgery room on the second sub-level, pointing at an assistant who had just finished an operation, gesturing for him to follow.

At the same time, he turned back to the clerk beside him and said, "No need to talk to him anymore, just let him follow."

As the assistant walked out of the surgery room with a somewhat confused look, the woman wearing a pencil skirt patiently and tiredly explained the situation to the assistant.

By now, a few more assistants dressed similarly were following Kors; they had just completed their surgeries and were summoned by Kors.

When selecting the first person, the clerk felt a bit relieved, thinking that Kors had quickly settled on a candidate and she could wrap things up quickly.

But that was just the beginning.

After that, Kors wandered from one surgery room to another, calling out anyone who caught his eye for a chat. If he felt they were not suitable, he would send them back.

Along the way, Kors had spoken with more than a dozen people, choosing five potential candidates to follow him, well, six including this one.

"Hey, take this one with you too,"

The female clerk had just finished speaking with this assistant, settling his emotions, when Kors’s voice came through again.

She hurried in the direction of the voice. By this time, Kors had already moved past a few surgery rooms, standing in the corridor laughing with a somewhat thin assistant.

By the time the clerk arrived, the two had just finished their chat.

Kors saw the clerk approaching, waved his hand, and continued walking forward.

Fearing that Kors would walk too far, she quickly said to the ’newcomer’ in front of her, "Mr. Kors just talked to you? Do you know what we are going to do?"

"I know."

The ’newcomer’ nodded lightly.

The ’newcomer’ in front of her was wearing a thick surgical gown, and a light blue mask concealed his cheeks, making it difficult to see his face. But from the deep and steady eyes, the clerk judged that this must be a rather ’serious’ middle-aged person.

She also nodded and quickly instructed, "Then follow behind, don’t ask too many questions, and don’t talk much."

Having said that, she quickened her pace to catch up with Kors.

The slender newcomer glanced at her retreating figure, then fell in line with the ’potential’ group behind.

His overall demeanor was natural, with a suppressed tension and excitement like that of someone unexpectedly favored by important figures.

The group continued to descend deeper into the building.

——

Reid’s gaze shifted away from the ’candidate assistants’ on the monitor to look behind him.

He had a vague feeling that something was not right, that something was about to happen, but he couldn’t find a logical reasoning to support it.

Yet, the unease made him feel on edge.

He forced himself to calm down, ready to review recent events again.

It was at that moment that his wristband vibrated, notifying him with an ’Eye’ report,

"The ’target’ has disappeared."

Reid was instantly alert.

Was the unease coming from here?

He immediately called the ’Eye’ leader, "What’s going on?"

"After exiting the restaurant, the target walked a circle around the perimeter. When he was about to reach the outermost edge, he seemed to have noticed us, and then we lost him,"

came the rapid response from the other side.

Right, right, right, that’s it.

Reid’s face didn’t exhibit any sign of irritation, but rather, he looked pleased.

Given Pete’s caution, how could he have failed to notice these ’eyes’ all along? He must have detected the surveillance of these spies earlier, which is why he kept lingering, eating, ’playing’ with these eyes.

This disappearance was not the start of the game, but its conclusion. The other party was tired of playing and chose to vanish right in front of the ’eyes,’ clearly indicating he was aware of their presence.

Similarly, this meant that Reid’s arrangements had been seen through by the enemy.

Reid sat up straight, removed his bracelet, turned off the microphone, and tossed it onto the table.

What came next was the real contest of wits with ’Pete.’

A question lay before him.

Having discovered his setup, what choice would ’Pete’ make?

A normal person’s first instinct would surely be to run, to recognize the plan’s failure and to leave at once.

But would Pete do that?

After having killed so many people at the Research Institute, anyone else would almost certainly face a city-wide manhunt and pursuit by the official forces of Limen City.

Yet, the enemy chose a less traveled path, confronting him directly and forcing an exchange of evidence, ensuring that Reid would not bring the official forces of Limen City into it.

When Reid presumed the enemy would leave on an airboat, the enemy instead conducted a feint and entered the wilderness.

Every move of the opponent was beyond his expectations.

’Pete’ was not someone who liked to take a conventional approach.

If ’Pete’ were to run away now, it would mean that his public appearance and this whole setup had failed to achieve their strategic goal, leaving his daughter in jeopardy.

Reid tried to put himself in ’Pete’s’ shoes, to think from his perspective about what he would do in this situation, what the most beneficial choice would be.

Then he quickly arrived at an answer.

Without doubt, the most advantageous choice for ’Pete’ at this moment was to practice misdirection, to ’make a sound in the east, then strike in the west.’

Not to leave, but to proceed with the original plan and sneak back home.

Earlier, in order to disguise troop movements and to confuse ’Pete,’ Reid had relocated most of the outposts close to Pete’s home in the inner circle.

At this moment, the outer circle of Pete’s home was swarming with ’eyes,’ but the inner circle, closer to home, was virtually empty.

If Reid, thinking like an ordinary person, believed ’Pete’ to have already left, he might let his guard down. That’s when ’Pete’ could sneak back into his home undetected and safely return his daughter.

By doing the opposite of what’s expected, Reid will find it more difficult to suspect that there’s a catch at ’Pete’s’ home.

Now, believing he had untangled the entire affair, Reid allowed a smile to appear and lightly tapped the table surface.

The officer opposite him stood up immediately.

"Zadi."

Reid looked at the officer’s face and affectionately called out the officer’s name.

"Director, your orders?"

Officer Zadi responded with a resolute, ringing voice.

"Take the mercenary squad to Pete’s house right away. There are seven C-level Strengthening Potions in the safe; bring those too,"

Reid also stood up; he spoke quickly, his expression fierce, "Move fast; he might run if you’re too late. This time I want not just his daughter’s life, but his as well."

"Yes, sir!"

The officer immediately nodded and ran towards the door.

"Wait a moment," just as the officer pulled open the door of the office, Reid suddenly called out. He hesitated for a moment and then said in a low voice to the perplexed officer who had stopped,

"The enemy might be very strong. If you’re truly unable to defeat him, call for the company’s help immediately. In the city, he’s alone, but we have the company behind us."

Making this decision essentially meant revealing his prior mishandlings to the higher-ups,

but at this moment, Reid also realized he was facing an exceedingly tricky adversary, and without utilizing the company’s power, the situation could spiral out of his control.

After weighing the pros and cons, he still decided to prioritize getting rid of the major trouble that was ’Pete.’

"Yes!"

The officer nodded gravely and then pulled open the door and walked out.

Reid sat back down in his chair, picked up the wristband, and turned the microphone on again.

The leader of ’Eye’ was still online; the communication hadn’t been disconnected.

"Everyone move immediately towards the direction of the ’Nest,’ keep a close watch on every road, and report to me immediately if any suspicious individuals appear," Reid ordered quickly.

"Yes!"

The voice on the phone responded promptly.

Reid cut off the communication, placed the wristband on the tabletop, and reclined back in his chair.

This cat-and-mouse game should come to an end.

For the first time, a genuine smile spread across Reid’s face; he thoroughly enjoyed matching wits with smart people and reveled in the joy of victory.

He admitted that Pete was intelligent and talented, possessing such strength at his age was an indication of exceptional talent. But what of it?

In the end, Pete was just a person, after all.

Only the young dream of changing the world by relying on force and talent.

Individuals cannot fight against consortiums.

Reid felt it was his duty to ’teach’ this life lesson to Pete—as a gift to him in death.

At this moment, Reid was in a good mood; he powered on the tablet and reconnected to the surveillance of the underground space.

By now, Kors had arrived on the fourth level underground with his ’candidate assistants.’

These assistants stood crowded together, even going beyond the screen of the surveillance camera.

Reid, who had been smiling, suddenly froze with the smile rigid on his face.

This was not the way to select candidates; he suspected that Kors was purposely causing him displeasure.

He picked up the wristband, intending to call the female clerk who led the team, instructing her to bring Kors and that large group of ’candidate assistants’ back.

Just then, he saw Kors at the front of the line wave his hand towards those behind him, signaling them to wait here a moment.

What was he going to do?

Reid was puzzled.

Immediately after, he saw Kors approach the door leading to the fifth level underground. This door was sealed extremely tightly, with all connections perfectly aligned, not even a sliver of shadow could pass through.

At the foremost part of the door, there was an electronic keypad; Kors approached the door, entered the code, and verified his identity.

Then he opened the door, revealing a somewhat deep staircase.

Kors had the clearance to go down to the fifth level underground.

Reid then watched as Kors forcefully pushed open the door and rushed into the stairwell.

The collision of the electronic door with the walls made a loud noise.

Reid had an idea of what Kors was planning to do, so he immediately switched to the stairwell’s surveillance.

In the view of the camera, he saw Kors enter the stairwell, look up at the surveillance camera, and continue to swiftly descend.

He didn’t stop at the fifth level, heading straight for the sixth level underground.

Reid kept switching cameras, following Kors’s footsteps.

Kors had clearance for the sixth level underground.

As one of the veteran figures of the Mars Project, Kors held high clearance within the Research Institute, and could access almost everywhere except for a few most critical places.

Kors quickly entered the code for the sixth level, verified his identity, and pushed open the door, marching in.

Reid continued to switch surveillance cameras.

The construction of the sixth level was simple with only a short corridor, flanked by an elevator and five rooms on both sides.

Apart from the elevator, the remaining rooms were used for storing certain ’materials.’

At the end of the corridor was a weathered, yet sturdy silver metallic door.

The door resembled that of a bank vault, but appeared even more robust than the vault door of a bank, with every seam tightly sealed, allowing not a single sliver of light or shadow to penetrate.

Reid watched as Kors approached the metallic door.

The surveillance footage ended there, as the security system wasn’t entirely foolproof, so cameras were not allowed to record inside the metallic door.

---

"This is the ’vault’ door of the Research Institute."

Kors looked at the metallic door in front of him, reaching out a hand to gently tap on it.

The thick metal emitted a series of muffled thuds, so thick that tapping on it felt like hitting a solid object rather than a door.

"This door is said to withstand a barrage from Seraphim Mechas, only equipment more powerful than Seraphim could possibly breach it."

Kors seemed crazed as he caressed the metal door, murmuring to himself.

The Seraphim were comparable to C-level, although too cumbersome to be agile in a fight against humanoid C-level opponents; however, purely in terms of firepower, they were among the strongest in the C-level category.

A defense system that even Seraphim couldn’t damage essentially meant that no C-level could damage it.

Next to the door was a device for identity verification.

"All of the data and materials of this Research Institute, including some from the Mars project, are stored here."

As he spoke, Kors was visibly excited, his aged face slightly twisted.

He tried to place his withered palm on the biometric scanner of the identity verification device.

"Identification failure, unauthorized access detected."

A shrill alarm instantaneously reverberated throughout the entire floor.

"I don’t have the authority to open this door, can’t open it, can’t obtain anything."

Kors stared at the metallic door, seemingly having lost his senses, repeatedly attempting to gain access.

Ding—

The elevator doors at the beginning of the corridor opened, and an officer in a crisp uniform, Zadi, stepped out. He glanced at the blinking alarm in the corridor with a smile and then at Kors, "Mr. Kors, your ’assistants’ are still waiting for you."

With that, he reached out, pulling Kors away from the metal door to the elevator, and effortlessly pressed the elevator button with his own clearance.

Kors was not having an ’episode’ for the first time, nor was Zadi the first to pull the old professor back in this manner. As the years piled up, the professor’s unfulfilled obsession seemed to start affecting his health.

Only then did Kors come to his senses, head hanging low as he slowly stepped into the elevator.

The officer watched Kors enter the elevator, waited for it to ascend, then slightly exhaled in relief.

He looked up at the camera above him and nodded slightly in salute.

He then turned and headed towards the metallic door at the end of the corridor.

The Research Institute’s most valuable data was stored here, as was the Strengthening Potion C-Ⅶ.

"Biometric verification successful"

"Password entered correctly"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Zadi."

With a faint vibration, the heavy metallic door slowly opened, revealing what was behind it.

The first thing that caught the eye was the warm lighting and the space divided into two distinct parts.

Zadi crossed through the opened doorway.

The lighting from both sides of the metallic door cast two completely different shadows on his figure as if two people were overlapping each other.

---

In the elevator

Kors, with his head lowered, glanced at his shadow beneath his feet, and then lifted his gaze to the surveillance camera in the elevator.

"The door is open."

A hoarse voice resounded in the miniature earpiece in his ear.