The Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Female Lead is Mine [Transmigration Into a Novel] - Chapter 90

The six-story building in front of them didn’t look grand; in fact, it appeared a bit old at first glance. Faint, mottled dust marks were visible on the walls, and a few bare-branched sycamore trees stood in the yard in front of the gate.

The heavy, dark gray yard gate was tightly shut, with two armed guards standing on either side.

“This place has always been presented as an office building, which is why the security is so tight,” Ding Yao whispered.

If Xu He and her team hadn’t scouted the location in advance, she never would have dreamed that the basement of this building was actually the central control room. However, after learning the truth about the origin of the aliens, her tolerance for the bizarre had increased. No matter how unbelievable a story she heard, she could quickly accept it.

The car stopped at the gate, and a guard approached to question them. “Who are you?”

Ding Yao rolled down the rear window, revealing half her face. “It’s me.”

Her voice was full of authority, leaving no room for doubt.

She was, after all, a superior officer, several ranks above them. And Ding Yao was known for her decisive actions, with countless aliens killed by her hand. The men were wary of someone whose rank and power far surpassed their own.

The guard was indeed intimidated by Ding Yao’s attitude. He said respectfully, “Captain Ding, why are you here so suddenly?”

“An urgent mission from the Commander,” Ding Yao said.

She lifted her chin, commanding, “Open the gate and let us in.”

The guard hesitated. Although Ding Yao had entered alone several times before, each time Li Changhui had sent someone ahead to notify them and grant her entry. This time, they hadn’t received any notice.

A look of impatience flashed in Ding Yao’s eyes. She tapped her finger on the glass. “I said, ‘open the gate.’ Did you not hear me?”

Sweat beaded on the guard’s forehead. He tried to remain calm. “Captain Ding, I haven’t received any notification of your arrival. How about this, please wait a moment, and I’ll go ask the Commander right now.”

Listening to their conversation, Xie Zhitian’s mind was made up.

They had investigated before and knew the building was equipped with an alarm system. In an emergency, a button could be pressed to set it off. The guard’s statement, “I’ll go ask the Commander right now,” rather than “I’ll contact the Commander,” meant there were no communication devices nearby. So, as long as they could handle these people and prevent them from reaching the alarm button, they wouldn’t attract anyone else’s attention.

“So you don’t believe what I’m saying and want to waste time?”

Ding Yao looked at him calmly, the pressure in her voice escalating. “The Commander is busy. I don’t even know where he is right now. By the time you find him, the mission will have been delayed. When the Commander blames someone, I’ll be the first to throw you two under the bus.”

Hearing this, the guard’s eyes clearly showed a flicker of doubt. His partner, seeing this, quickly came over to dissuade him. “You really have no sense, do you? Captain Ding, please don’t be angry. I’ll open the gate for you right now.”

He didn’t fully trust Ding Yao either, but he didn’t want to get into trouble. Besides, while he didn’t know what the most important, most secret part of the building’s basement contained, he knew that the chip to open the gate was implanted in Li Changhui’s body. So even if Ding Yao wanted to enter, she couldn’t.

So he winked at the other guard, then opened the metal gate. “Please, Captain Ding.”

Ding Yao glanced at him. “You two come with me as well. There’s a batch of goods in the trunk. Help me move them upstairs.”

She paused, then added in a teasing tone, “This way you can also see what I’m here for, so you don’t have to be so suspicious.”

Hearing this, the two men relaxed. Since Ding Yao dared to have them follow her, there shouldn’t be any major issues. Unloading the goods and taking them upstairs would only take a moment. They could just lock the gate, and no one else would get in. After they were done, they would return to their posts.

The two guards immediately locked the gate from the inside and followed Ding Yao’s car as it pulled up and stopped in the open space in front of the building.

Ding Yao got out of the car and used a key to unlock the trunk. “Start moving.”

The two guards obediently lifted the trunk lid, intending to show their good performance to Ding Yao and salvage their image. However, the moment they saw the inside, they both froze.

The trunk was empty.

Before they could even think, a sharp, stinging pain shot through the back of their heads, followed by a profound sense of weakness that spread through their bodies. They both collapsed to the ground.

Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang threw the empty anesthetic syringes on the ground and then put the two unconscious men into the trunk.

Ding Yao took the handguns from the guards’ waists, handing one to Xie Zhitian and one to Luo Yang.

“Do you know how to use them?” she asked.

Seeing them both nod, she lowered her voice. “Follow me. We have to be quick.”

Because the main gate was very close to the building’s entrance, there were no guards stationed in front of the building itself. However, according to the intelligence they had gathered, each floor had a security checkpoint and an alarm system, and each checkpoint was manned. The checkpoint leading to the basement was the most stringent, and only Li Changhui could open it.

Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang followed Ding Yao directly to the basement. The four guards at the entrance to the central control room were surprised to see the three of them. One of them spoke up, “Captain Ding, what are you doing here…?”

“The Commander sent me,” Ding Yao replied.

She raised her hands, signaling that she was no threat.

The guard hesitated, then offered a polite smile. “The Commander didn’t mention this. Please wait a moment, Captain Ding, I’ll find someone to ask.”

He was a bit confused. Was Ding Yao trying to break in? But this was a restricted area. Ding Yao didn’t have the key, and she should know that using force to open the door would trigger the alarm…

Even though he wasn’t sure of their intentions, to be safe, he discreetly gestured to the two men behind him.

Although the guard speaking to Ding Yao was polite, Xie Zhitian noticed that the two guards near the door already looked on alert and were moving toward the alarm button. Without hesitation, she quickly darted forward, pinned one of them to the ground, and injected anesthetic into his neck. At the same time, Luo Yang also quickly took down the other two, without making a sound.

Ding Yao also smoothly dealt with the guard she was speaking with, then looked at the two of them in surprise. Their agility and speed were rare even among the guards. It was no wonder that they were chosen by the queen to do her bidding at such a young age; their strength was not to be underestimated.

However, she didn’t have time to think. She pressed the chip in her palm against the door control. After a faint click, the metal door slowly slid open.

After walking down a long, narrow corridor, they finally saw the true face of the central control room.

The room was dimly lit, with dozens of screens of varying sizes emitting a faint, pale blue light that made everyone’s faces look ashen. On the screens were countless lines of code, densely packed and continuously flickering.

Perhaps the control room had some other identification system, because the moment they stepped into the room, a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire building. Immediately, there were hurried footsteps from upstairs—the guards were rushing toward their location.

Fortunately, they had gained enough time to end this absurd farce before the others arrived.

The control panel was covered in buttons of various colors, with symbols underneath that were completely incomprehensible.

But one thing was certain: the current world did not need magnetic field interference.

Ding Yao bent down and examined the panel for a moment, quickly making a decision.

“Cut all power.”

Tang Zhuoran’s room was on the fifth floor of the sanatorium. From her window, she could see the bustling commercial street below.

She leaned by the window, staring blankly at the busy crowd on the street. It was ten in the morning, the liveliest time for the market. The clamor filtered through the half-open window, making her feel inexplicably irritable.

If she walked down that street, she would surely attract a lot of attention.

Tang Zhuoran lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the bright red totem mark on the back of her hand.

After entering the sanatorium, Tang Zhuoran wanted to keep a low profile and avoid attracting any attention, so she didn’t even resist and chose to comply.

The moment the mark was placed on the back of her hand, a burning, stinging sensation spread across her skin. Although the pain wasn’t severe, her heart still gave a heavy jolt.

She didn’t know how long it would take to remove this mark, which was made of a special material.

But it didn’t matter. She had been subjected to cold stares and treatment because of her physical mutation more than once or twice; she had long since gotten used to it, and she had no choice but to get used to it.

Tang Zhuoran looked away and walked over to the table to pour herself a glass of water and take the medicine she had brought.

What was reassuring was that with the help of the medication and inhibitors, she and the other altered people living in the sanatorium hadn’t felt any discomfort during their stay.

Compared to the others, her mission was quite easy: she just had to protect the altered people in the sanatorium and prevent their condition from worsening. As for the other parts of the plan, she hadn’t had a chance to participate yet and didn’t even know what stage it was at.

Security at the sanatorium was strict, and visiting hours were short, so there was no opportunity to inform her of the entire plan. But Tang Zhuoran wasn’t worried; she trusted the abilities of her companions.

However, when a person is idle, time stretches infinitely, and it can feel a bit lonely.

Just then, she suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps in the hallway.

Tang Zhuoran’s movements froze for a moment. She quickly walked to the door and peered through the peephole.

When she saw who was outside the door, her body suddenly stiffened.

Xia Fufeng was walking toward her room. Her long hair was tied into an energetic ponytail, with some strands loose around her ears, as if she had been running for a long time.

A little white fox was perched on her shoulder, looking around leisurely.

Tang Zhuoran didn’t hesitate. She immediately opened the door and pulled the person inside. She held Xia Fufeng’s shoulders, her voice filled with urgency. “Xiao Xia? Why are you here?”

Xia Fufeng was startled by the sudden opening of the door, but when she saw the person she had been longing for, a smile immediately appeared on her face.

She looked up at the person in front of her, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve come to pick you up.”

Tang Zhuoran froze for a moment, then walked back to the door and glanced outside, finding no one else nearby.

“Are you alone?” she asked in surprise.

Her gaze swept over the little fox on Xia Fufeng’s shoulder, pausing slightly.

“What’s wrong with Naigao?” Before Xia Fufeng could answer, Tang Zhuoran asked another question. She used her finger to touch the white fur on the little fox’s chest. “Whose blood is this?”

A large patch of red blood was stained on Naigao’s pristine white fur. On closer inspection, there seemed to be dark red blood on its lips and between its teeth.

After hearing this, Naigao’s body trembled, and then it nonchalantly began to lick its fur, as if trying to hide something.

“It’s a long story,” Xia Fufeng said with a smile, swaying their clasped hands. “But, Sister, I think I can protect you now too.”

Support