Geralt of Rivia: The White Wolf

Chapter 18 Verifying the Conjecture

Matthew raised his hands, placing them at his sides, and looked at Zheng Zha with a helpless yet wary expression, saying:

"Kid, you can use your other hand to support the gun; that way you'll have a more stable grip."

"I don't want to get accidentally shot dead by you!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zha recalled the simple shooting posture that Zhang Jie had taught him before, so he quickly used his other hand to support the fingers holding the gun, pressing his palm tightly to keep the gun stable.

Seeing Zheng Zha's actions, Matthew breathed a slight sigh of relief and said very seriously:

"Listen, I don't know why you keep stopping me from entering the Flame Queen's server room, but the mission time is about to expire, and I have to complete the mission before it ends."

"Otherwise, even if we go back, the company won't let me and my team off easily!"

Zheng Zha took a deep breath and organized his thoughts before speaking:

"Listen, I'm not exaggerating. You all know that the Flame Queen is currently the most powerful artificial intelligence. How could she let Kaplan seal her off so easily?"

At this moment, Kaplan's expression clearly showed some resentment.

"And that passageway, the one containing such an important place as the Flame Queen motherboard, is it just a passageway?"

"Would Umbrella Corporation really create such a simple design and put it here?"

"Take a good look at the walls of the passage. They are clearly different from the steel walls outside. They must have been designed to protect the Flame Queen motherboard behind it."

At this point, Zheng Zha said in an extremely firm tone:

"Therefore, I suspect that this passage is a special kind of defensive weapon."

Kaplan couldn't listen anymore and questioned:

"That's impossible. It's just a diamond tunnel with ordinary sensor lights."

"I had already checked it before, and I had already blocked the Red Queen's system. Otherwise, how would I have obtained the password and opened the door to the main server room?"

At this moment, Zhan Lan spoke up and asked, "What if the Flame Queen deliberately lied to you?"

Geralt spoke up at just the right moment:

"Thinking back to the sudden power outage when we were going down the stairs, the Flame Queen probably wanted to wait until we were all inside the passage before activating her weapons."

These words sealed the deal.

Immediately, Matthew looked at Kaplan and said:

"Let's double-check: does this passage contain a weapon system?"

Kaplan also lost his composure, his expression no longer as confident as before, and he put his hands on the keyboard again, typing away furiously:

"Give me some time, and I'll verify it soon."

At this point, Spence vented his frustration, "Do we really have to take that motherboard?"

"There are so many monsters here, and we're running out of time. What we need to do is return immediately."

Standing next to Spencer, Ryan punched him in the stomach and yelled, "Shut up!"

Spence vomited and knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach.

Rain glanced at Spence with disdain before looking away.

At this time, the mercenaries were also in a state of unease. After all, they thought they were just here to carry out an investigation mission, but who would have thought that such a big surprise was left waiting for them in the Hive.

Moreover, just when I thought I would be able to complete the mission and return home, another unexpected problem arose at the last minute.

"This is impossible..."

"These weren't there just now!"

Suddenly, Kaplan, who was sitting in front of the computer, looked at the screen and couldn't help but exclaim.

Matthew immediately stepped forward, stood beside Kaplan, and looked at the computer screen, asking, "What's wrong?"

Kaplan swallowed hard, glanced nervously at Matthew and his teammates, and then said, "That passage is actually a laser weapon, which has been in a constantly activated state."

At this point, Kaplan noticed the strange looks in Matthew and the others' eyes and quickly added, "The Flame Queen deliberately hid this weapon module in the system, which is why I didn't notice it just now."

The hot-tempered Rain stepped forward, grabbed Kaplan by the collar, yanked him off the chair, and yelled:

Do you know what you're saying?

"You almost killed them!"

Matthew and the mercenaries who were about to enter the laser tunnel together were instantly terrified.

Kaplan remained silent, letting Rain tug at his collar, looking guilty.

"Alright, Rain, let him go!"

In the end, it was Matthew who spoke up.

Rain said unhappily, "But Captain, Kaplan almost killed you all just now!"

Matthew said seriously, "I know, time is of the essence, we can't afford to waste any more time."

Rain glared fiercely at Kaplan before releasing her grip.

Matthew looked at Kaplan and said, "Now tell me, are the laser weapons in the passage shut down?"

Upon hearing this, Kaplan tapped the keyboard again, checked for confirmation, and said dejectedly:

"Captain, it's all shut down."

Matthew asked again, "Is it really completely shut down?"

"Flame Queen, have you really sealed it off?"

Kaplan stood up without a word, walked to the side, picked up the machine used to shut down the Flame Queen, and then looked at Matthew:

"Captain, I'll go in with you."

Seeing this, Matthew nodded and said:

"No need, Kaplan. We still need you here to monitor the Flame Queen and deal with any emergencies."

Kaplan retorted, not backing down an inch:

"I can guarantee that, for at least an hour, without my authorization, the Flame Queen will not be able to break through my blockade!"

Now was no time to waste. Knowing he couldn't persuade Kaplan, Matthew ordered, "Move!"

And so, with trepidation, Matthew and his group stepped into the laser tunnel once again.

This time, Zheng Zha did not stop him, because he had already done all he could.

Fortunately, Kaplan's risky operation this time didn't back down; the laser channel's weapons were indeed shut down.

At that moment, Geralt heard the emotionless voice of the main god Sen again in his mind: "Participate in rewriting the fate of Matthew and his mercenary squad. Reward: 1 C-level side quest, 2000 points."

Zheng Zha's expression suddenly became somewhat dazed, clearly indicating that he too had heard the main god's notification:

"Significantly participated in rewriting the fate of Matthew and his mercenary squad, earning two C-level side quests and 4000 reward points."

Zhan Lan, Zhu Peng, and Li Xiaoyi all showed surprised expressions at the same time. The three of them also received "1 C-level side quest and 2000 reward points" from the main god.

Li Xiaoyi also showed a look of surprise, but he had previously been told that Alice had overheard him talking nonsense and the God had deducted his reward points.

This time, Li Xiaoyi kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything out of line.

Zhan Lan and Zhu Peng were the first to react, instinctively looking towards Zheng Zha.

Just then, Zheng Zha's gaze fell upon the two of them, and then upon Li Xiaoyi, who was standing to the side with a joyful expression.

The three of them exchanged glances and understood in unison that they, including Li Xiaoyi, had just received reward points and side quests from the main god.