Chapter 653

Bai Ye and the soldiers stood in the ruins left by the radioactive bookworm. After a short respite, they embarked on the journey of exploration again. The depths of the bunker were still an unknown territory. Under the dim light, every step seemed extremely heavy and cautious.

"Everyone, be careful. Keep searching to see if there is any valuable information or clues." Bai Ye's voice echoed in the empty corridor. He held the flashlight tightly and scanned the surroundings with his eyes like a torch. Hearing this, the soldiers nodded, rearranged their equipment, and followed Bai Ye.

The walls on both sides of the corridor looked mottled due to age, with mottled rust even showing in some places. Soldiers used flashlights to illuminate every corner, trying to find any possible clues. However, except for the occasional sound of dripping water and the unknown sound of wind in the distance, this place seems to have been completely forgotten by time.

"Bai Ye, look here!" A soldier suddenly stopped and pointed to an inconspicuous corner on the wall. Bai Ye immediately stepped forward to check and saw some patterns and words scrawled with black charcoal pen. It looked like some kind of impromptu creation with no rules at all.

"What is this?" Bai Ye frowned and carefully identified the graffiti. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't decipher any meaningful information from it.

"It looks like a child's graffiti." Another soldier said with a bit of disdain in his tone, "How can there be such boring things in a place like this?"

"Don't underestimate these graffiti," Bai Ye shook his head, "Sometimes, the most inconspicuous things can reveal important information. We have to look carefully, maybe there are other similar graffiti."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers spread out again and began to search carefully on the surrounding walls. However, as time went by, all they found was more of the same graffiti - disorganized and meaningless. These graffiti seemed to be the random work of a bored person and had nothing to do with their mission.

"Baiye, are we looking in the wrong direction?" A soldier couldn't help but ask, with a bit of frustration in his tone, "There is nothing here except these graffiti, why should we waste time?"

Bai Ye was silent for a moment, looking deeply into the distance. He knew that the soldiers were exhausted, but the mission was not yet completed and they could not give up easily. "Hold on a little longer," he said in a deep voice, "Now that we have come here, we cannot easily look back. Perhaps there is some secret hidden behind these graffiti that we have not discovered yet."

Although the soldiers were unwilling, looking at Bai Ye's firm eyes, they still chose to move forward. They continued down the corridor, the beam of the flashlight making faint rays of light in the darkness.

Just when they were about to give up hope, a soldier suddenly exclaimed: "White night! Here! There are more graffiti here!"

Bai Ye immediately led the soldiers to the place pointed by the soldier. I saw a huge wall covered with dense graffiti. Different from the scattered graffiti before, these graffiti seemed to form a complex pattern or text. Bai Ye took a closer look and found that although these graffiti seemed chaotic, upon closer inspection, some hidden patterns could be found.

"Quick! Put all the lights here!" Bai Ye shouted excitedly. Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately focused their flashlight beams on the wall, and the entire pattern suddenly became clearly visible under the strong light.

However, when Bai Ye tried to decipher these graffiti, he found that they were still full of mysteries. The graffiti appear to be an ancient script or symbol, distinct from modern language. He tried to interpret them in various ways - linguistically, historically, even occultally - but to no avail.

"What the hell is this?" Bai Ye couldn't help but curse, "What did we find?"

The soldiers also shook their heads in confusion. They looked at the graffiti-covered wall with confusion and frustration. They originally thought they would find useful information or clues here, but now it seems that they just found a bunch of meaningless graffiti.

"Baiye, what should we do?" a soldier asked, "Staying here will only waste time and energy."

Bai Ye took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He knew the soldiers were right, but they couldn't give up so easily. He looked around and suddenly noticed a detail on the wall - underneath the graffiti, there seemed to be a small crack. A faint light shone through the cracks, as if hinting at some possibility.

"Everyone, stay back!" Bai Ye shouted loudly. Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately stepped aside and looked at Bai Ye warily. Bai Ye walked carefully to the crack and carefully shined a flashlight into the inside of the crack.

As the light deepens, the scene in the crack gradually becomes clearer. It was a secret door leading to another room, and behind the secret door lay an unknown realm. A strong premonition surged in Bai Ye's heart - that might be the answer they had been looking for.

"Found it!" Bai Ye shouted excitedly, "Everyone, follow me!"

The soldiers cheered up after hearing this, and they immediately followed Bai Ye through the secret door and entered the unknown room. However, the moment they stepped into that room, they realized - the exploration had just begun.

After passing through the secret door, everyone stepped into a darker and more depressing space. The room was empty, with only a few dim emergency lights flickering in the corners, barely illuminating this unknown territory. There was an old and musty smell in the air, which made people frown involuntarily.

"What...what is this place?" a soldier asked in a low voice, his voice echoing in the empty room, sounding particularly hollow.

Bai Ye did not answer immediately, but looked around, trying to find any clues in this desolation. However, apart from a few mottled walls and scattered dust, nothing seemed to be left here. His brows were furrowed, and an ominous premonition surged in his heart.

"We...seem to have been fooled again." Another soldier said frustratedly, his tone full of disappointment and exhaustion. The long period of exploration and fighting had made them physically and mentally exhausted, and the failure to find anything at this moment made them feel unprecedentedly frustrated.

"No, we can't give up." Bai Ye shook his head firmly, his eyes scanning back and forth in the room, trying to find any possible omissions. "Since there is such a secret door here, it means there must be some secret hidden here. We have to keep looking."

After hearing this, the soldiers still had doubts in their hearts, but they still managed to cheer up and continue searching in this desolate area. They used flashlights to illuminate every corner and listened to every sound, hoping to find some useful clues.

However, as time passed by, they still found nothing. Those graffiti, those cracks, those seemingly unusual details have lost their original meaning here. This place seems to be a corner forgotten by time, with nothing left but dust and silence.

"Bai Ye... Do we really want to continue searching?" A soldier finally couldn't help but ask, his voice trembling and uneasy. The long exploration has exhausted all his patience and perseverance. He just wants to leave here as soon as possible and return to that relatively safe world.

Bai Ye was silent for a moment, then slowly turned around and faced the soldiers. His eyes were full of firmness and determination, as if there was an invisible force supporting him. "We cannot give up," he repeated again. "Our task is not completed, our mission is not over. As long as we have breath left, we cannot let these efforts go to waste."

The soldiers looked at Bai Ye's determined eyes, and couldn't help but feel inexplicably moved and admired in their hearts. They knew that Bai Ye was not only cheering for them, but also cheering for themselves. In this world full of unknowns and dangers, they can only survive if they unite and face it together.

"Okay," one of the soldiers finally said, breaking the silence, "we listen to you. But... what do we do next?"

Bai Ye smiled slightly, then walked to the center of the room and began to study the walls carefully. He scanned the walls with the beam of his flashlight, trying to detect any unusual clues. However, these walls all look very ordinary and mundane, nothing special about them.

"Maybe..." Bai Ye suddenly stopped what he was doing, and his eyes fell on a slight scratch on the wall. "Is there... any mechanism here?"

The soldiers immediately gathered around after hearing this, and they carefully observed the scratch. However, no matter how they looked, they couldn't see any clues. The scratch looked like a random mark, nothing special about it.

"Are you sure?" a soldier asked, "Is there really any mechanism here?"

Bai Ye did not answer immediately, but gently touched the scratch with his hand. His fingers moved slowly over the scratches, as if searching for something. Suddenly, his finger stopped motionless in one place - there seemed to be a tiny depression there.

"Found it!" Bai Ye shouted excitedly, "There is indeed a trap here!"

The soldiers immediately gathered around after hearing this, and they looked at Bai Ye nervously. I saw Bai Ye carefully pressing the depression and then quickly stepped aside and looked at the wall warily.

However, time passed by and the wall showed no reaction. The soldiers became a little impatient and urged: "Baiye, please check if you made a mistake?"

Bai Ye ignored their urging and continued to wait patiently. He knows that this kind of mechanism often takes a certain amount of time to be triggered and cannot be rushed.

Finally, just when the soldiers almost gave up hope, there was a slight noise from the wall. A seemingly ordinary stone wall slowly moved to the side, revealing a hidden cave entrance.

"Success!" Bai Ye shouted excitedly, "We found it!"

The soldiers cheered when they heard this. They couldn't wait to rush into the hole to see what secrets were hidden inside. However, when they actually entered the cave, they found themselves trapped in a bigger mystery again...

After entering the hidden cave, the sight before them made everyone hold their breath involuntarily. It's a much larger and more complex space, surrounded by intricate mechanisms and gleaming dashboards. In the center, a thick metal door stands impressively. The door is inlaid with a seemingly ancient combination lock, which is covered with dense scales and buttons, as if it is a portal to the unknown world.

"What...what is this place?" a soldier asked in a low voice, his voice full of awe and curiosity.

Bai Ye did not answer immediately, but walked quickly to the combination lock and observed it carefully. He knew that this combination lock might be the key to the real secret and must be treated with caution.

"Don't move," Bai Ye said in a deep voice, "There may be traps here. Let's crack this combination lock first."

The soldiers immediately quieted down after hearing this, and they stepped aside to leave enough space for Bai Ye. Bai Ye took out a small calculator from his pocket, which he had prepared for this mission to handle complex mathematical problems and encrypted information.

He took a deep breath and began to carefully study the scales and buttons on the combination lock. These scales and buttons seemed to be arranged according to a certain pattern, but he could not see what the specific pattern was for a while. He tried to enter several possible combinations, but the combination lock did not respond.

"It seems that this combination lock is not simple." Bai Ye muttered to himself. He frowned and fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, the soldiers gathered around. Although they did not understand the complex encryption technology, they could help Bai Ye in their own way. Some of them counted the possible number combinations on their fingers, while others tried to recall any clues that might be related to the password.

"Bai Ye, look at this," a soldier pointed to an ancient mural next to the combination lock and said, "There seem to be some strange symbols and numbers on it. Could it be related to the password?"

Bai Ye immediately raised his head when he heard it. He looked in the direction the soldier pointed and found a mural depicting an ancient scene. The characters and scenes on the mural seemed extremely mysterious and strange, and those symbols and numbers were interspersed in them.

He was moved and immediately walked to the mural to observe it carefully. He tried to match these symbols and numbers with the scales and buttons on the combination lock, but soon found that it was not easy. These symbols and numbers seemed to have undergone some kind of complex encryption, which required great wisdom and patience to decipher.