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After confirming that there were no monsters around, Hound and the others filed into the base and met up with Ke Lan in the central square.

"It's even more spectacular when you get closer..." Ivan looked up at the giant cocoon, "It's incredible... I don't know how those creatures created it in such a short time..."

"That's easy." Layton pointed to the cameras around the square and said, "Just go to the main control building and check the surveillance video. By the way, we can also find out where the monsters that attacked the base have gone."

"Let's go to the main control building and see if there are any usable planes on the rooftop helipad." Ke Lan took the lead in crossing the square and led everyone into the main control building.

The situation on the first floor of the main control building was not much better than that outside. All kinds of broken furniture and equipment were scattered on the ground. The floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides were all smashed to pieces. Solidified blood was everywhere. An armored vehicle even crashed directly into the corridor, and the ammunition that exploded blew a big hole in the entire wall.

Everyone walked quickly into the monitoring room. However, a fierce battle had taken place there. The monitor and computer case were covered with bullet holes. Layton squatted down, cut open the case with a welding gun, took a look at the hard drive inside that had been broken into pieces, and shook his head at everyone.

"Go upstairs. There must be a backup of the surveillance video in Manstein's computer." Ke Lan said.

The stairs leading to the second floor had been blown off, but fortunately everyone was equipped with power armor and they jumped directly to the second floor with a light leap.

Like the first floor, the corridor on the second floor was also littered with bullet holes, bloodstains, and claw marks from monsters, but no bodies were found.

"Look here," Leighton, who was walking on the other side, seemed to have discovered something and shouted in a low voice, "This doesn't seem to be the claw mark of a monster... This mark..."

Ke Lan turned his head to look. It was an extremely thin and straight cut, about 1.5 meters long, and made a 45-degree angle with the ground from bottom to top... The scratches made by the monster's claws looked completely different from this mark.

"The edge of the mark doesn't even appear to be damaged on the wall. The mark is very deep, and it is estimated to be more than three centimeters deep into the wall... This mark should have been cut by an extremely sharp blade. The person who dares to use this kind of weapon to deal with those monsters is either an idiot or a master..." Ke Lan couldn't help but look at Asano Akira who was following behind, "Asano, come and see, what level is the person who made this cut?"

Asano Akira walked forward, reached out his hand and touched the knife mark on the wall. He was silent for a moment, then said, "I may not be his opponent."

"What?!" This time it was Ke Lan's turn to be shocked. "You mean to say that after you used that ability, you are still no match for this person?"

"If he tried his best, then I'm not sure." Asano Akira's fingers gently stroked the knife marks, "Because the man didn't use his full strength in this blow, and he even had a lot of strength left."

"..." Ke Lan and the others knew how strong Asano Akira was. A single three-meter-high sea anemone head was enough to wipe them out in seconds. If another swordsman with strength that was no less than his... or even stronger than him jumped out, it was really too magical...

If the decoration inside the main control building had not maintained the minimalist science fiction style characteristic of the Ark, Ke Lan would have almost thought that they had traveled through time and space into a martial arts novel.

"Such a strong guy should still be alive now..." Leighton said in a low voice.

"Not necessarily." Ke Lan looked at the knife marks on the wall and shook his head. "No matter how strong he is, he can't kill a large group of monsters on the opposite side. This is already the limit of cold weapons... Wait, something doesn't seem right--"

As Ke Lan spoke, she suddenly moved closer and began to observe the wall carefully.

"Asano, try to imitate this man's knife-drawing posture and stab me... uh, I mean use the scabbard. Don't use force. Just imitate the trajectory of his knife." Ke Lan said as he stood by the wall. When Asano Akira's scabbard touched his body, he immediately asked Asano Akira to stop and then called Ivan over.

"Ivan, look, Asano's scabbard hits my neck exactly. If my head is cut off at this angle, the blood in my veins will spray in which direction."

"Generally speaking, blood spurts out from arteries. The main ones in the neck are the internal carotid artery and the external carotid artery. One is at this position, and the other is at this position." Ivan said as he used a laser sight to point out the corresponding parts of Ke Lan's body. "If it was cut in this way, the direction of the blood spraying should be..."

At this point, Ivan was also stunned, because on the wall behind Ke Lan... right above the knife mark, there was a bloodstain like that.

"The blood of those monsters is as thick as asphalt and it won't spurt out at all... This knife killed a human being." Ke Lan stated his conclusion.

"Fuck it, at this time, there are still people who attack their own people?" Leighton couldn't help but curse.

"The people he kills may not be his own... In short, be careful. Even if you see humans, they may not be our allies." Ke Lan patted the knife mark on the wall and continued to move forward.

At this time, Asano Akira suddenly spoke up: "Twelve meters ahead, the first door on the right, there is movement behind the door."

"Is it that kind of monster?" Ke Lan asked. Hound and Layton had already drawn their guns and were pointing them at the door that Asano Akira mentioned.

"There are two breathing sounds, the frequency is consistent with that of humans, they should be survivors." Asano Akira added.

"I understand." Ke Lan signaled to Hound and the others and tiptoed to the door.

From the doorplate, it can be seen that this room is the office of the base director, that is, Manstein's secretary. Ke Lan pulled out his pistol and put it against the door, then motioned for Layton to come forward and cut the door lock with a welding gun.

This door was originally equipped with an alarm device, but now the defense system of the entire control building has been paralyzed. Even if they blow the door open directly, the alarm device will not be triggered.

In less than ten seconds, the welding torch cut open the door lock. Ke Lan gently pushed the door open, put the energy shield in front, and walked in.

The room was filled with a strong scent of perfume, but in this perfume... there seemed to be a hint of urine smell...

The floor of the room is covered with thick carpet. The bookcases, desks, coffee tables and chairs are all made of expensive solid wood. Opposite the desk is an exquisitely crafted leather sofa.

At the innermost part of the office is a large wardrobe embedded in the wall, which is obviously the only place in the entire office where someone can hide.

"Don't hide, come out, we are from the Soma Group." Ke Lan said, pointing the gun at the wardrobe.

After about half a minute, the closet door creaked and opened half a crack. After several seconds, a beautiful woman in disheveled clothes stumbled out of the closet.

The woman was wearing a bloodstained business suit, with messy brown curly hair draped over her shoulders. There were obvious wet marks on the edge of her skirt and her dark brown stockings, and the pair of high heels on her feet were one higher than the other, with the broken heel lying not far from the closet.

"You...are you really from the Soma Group?" The woman shrank her neck, looked at Ke Lan with some fear, and asked cautiously.

"Yes, I'm Ke Lan, the nominal top person in charge of this base, and your immediate superior." Ke Lan replied.

"You, you are Mr. Ke Lan?" The woman raised her head in some surprise. This time, she finally saw Ke Lan's face behind the mask.

Ke Lan had some impression of this woman. When Manstein came to greet them, she followed behind Manstein. It seemed that she was indeed the owner of this office.

"What about the other one?" Ke Lan knocked on the thigh armor with the handle of the pistol, making a crisp metal collision sound. "Mr. Manstein, are you still planning to hide in the closet?"

In this base, apart from Manstein himself, there is no other person who has the status to ask his secretary to come out and confirm the situation first.

"Mr. Ke... Mr. Ke Lan, you... you... are all still alive?" When Manstein climbed out of the closet, the hound rushed up quickly, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up.

"What do you mean we are all still alive?!" The hound growled at him, "Well, you are finally in my hands, now you can start praying--"

"Don't... Mr. Hound... this is a misunderstanding!" Manstein shouted hurriedly.

"Misunderstanding? Fucking misunderstanding!" The Hound had just raised his fist, but before he could strike down, Manstein had already screamed.

"No, no, no! Don't do it! It really wasn't me! The person who ordered the firing wasn't me... It was Yui, the female secretary you brought with you! She... She's a spy for the Mitsui Group! She modified your communication channel and fabricated the news that you all encountered unknown creatures and died. Then she used my name to issue an order to the camp to close the mine! It was all that woman's fault. You really can't blame me!"