Extraction (1)

"Look for possible ways to get out," Li Nuxie told her brother while her eyes were still trained on the red hard drive.

"Sure, but don't you want to take it out now?" Li Chao asked her, his eyes darting back and forth from Li Nuxie's face then to the safe containing the hard drive. He then walked near the wall and knocking them lightly. Huang Wensheng followed Li Chao and did the same. Based on the sound of their knocks, Li Chao knew that the walls were made of steel layered with concrete. So vicious, he thought.

Li Nuxie tilted her head. "Not so fast," she uttered. There's no guarantee that nothing would happen when she remove the hard drive. How can something so simple be in the middle of this place?

She frowned as she noticed that the room started to get foggy. She glanced towards the stairs, and indeed, a smoke was coming from there. "We don't have much time. We need to get out now," Li Nuxie exclaimed.

Li Chao and Huang Wensheng both looked towards the stairs. Only their eyes laced with worry and fear were visible behind their protective suits. However, no matter where they looked, it seemed that there was no escape.

Li Nuxie extended her hand and grabbed the hard drive before putting it inside the pocket of her suit. She stood still, waiting for something to happen. Her brother and Huang Wensheng also stopped moving.

After sometime, Huang Wensheng broke the silence. "Should there be an earthquake or something like those in movies?"

If it was not a serious situation and their lives were not on the line, Li Chao might had smack Huang Wensheng's head. "Don't watch unbelievable movies in the future," he advised.

Li Nuxie crouched below the table, her hand ran through the legs of the table, searching for mechanisms. She frowned. No mechanism at all? She refused to die with no bones at all. That corrosive poison will definitely crash their bones to dust.

"Help me look here," she told them as her gaze landed on the two people who looked like statues experiencing existential crisis. "Unless you want to die without bones," she added.

Upon hearing what Li Nuxie has said, Li Chao and Huang Wensheng hurried to her side. They knocked on the floor. As the sound reached Huang Wensheng's ears, he froze.

"T-That's the sound of wood," he stammered. Were they safe now? The brother and sister stared at Huang Wensheng.

"I know the sound. My neighbor is a woodworker," he insisted.

Li Nuxie glanced at her brother before she straightened her body and took a step back. Li Chao also stood up, placing both hands at the edge of the table. It was made of steel and was fastened on the floors.

"You're in the way," Li Nuxie told Huang Wensheng. Realizing the action of Li Chao, the teenager stood up, taking a step back away from the table.

Gathering all his strength, Li Chao tried lifting the table. However, it didn't budge. Li Nuxie got near the table and seeing her did that, Huang Wensheng took a step nearer. The three of them tried lifting the table but to no avail.

"How to lift this up?" Li Nuxie muttered. The table would not budge and it was getting hazy already.

Li Chao sighed before he leaned his back on one leg of the table. "If we can't lift it, there should be another way," he spoke, analyzing the situation. As the words left his mouth, the table moved followed by the clinging of metals. "What the hell?"

Li Nuxie and Huang Wensheng watched as the table gradually moved sideways before it finally stopped. The wooden floor then opened, revealing a round tunnel. It looked like an endless void. Looking at each other, Li Nuxie positioned herself. Everyone understood that it was better to be surprised of what lies beyond the tunnel than be suffocated and turned into dust.

Taking a deep breath, Li Nuxie jumped down the tunnel. Li Chao motioned for Huang Wensheng to follow before he also jumped down. Just as he jumped, the door at the top of the spiral staircase burst in. The corrosive liquid flowed down, slowly melting the steel staircase.

The tunnel was made of PVC material, making their descent smoother. It didn't take five minutes before Li Nuxie fell down on the dumpster. She immediately rolled over, narrowly avoiding Huang Wensheng's body. He groaned as he landed on the piles of discarded boxes.

"Rolled over!" Li Nuxie ordered him. She glanced at the hole, expecting her brother to fall any time.

Huang Wensheng rolled over in a hurry. Sweat trickled down his face behind his protective suit as he thought the possibility of being crushed by the body of Li Chao. A while later, Li Chao fell down straight to the boxes, groaning.

Li Nuxie patted her pocket, checking if the hard drive was still there. She exhaled as she confirmed that it was still there. However, her relief was short-lived when she heard the hovering of a drone.

"Take cover! That's a drone!" She lunged on the boxes. Li Chao and Huang Wensheng took their own boxes to conceal themselves.

Now that they were able to get the hard drive, the next problem was the extraction. Hopefully, Li Chanying was ready.