The derelict elevator was unusable to begin with; they had been taking the stairs ever since entering the building.

Since the elevator was derelict, Zoe Pierce had temporarily dismissed it after her scan of the floor came up empty.

The moment Nathan Lockwood suggested the possibility, Zoe Pierce immediately thought of the mezzanine and double-sided elevators she had seen on Earth.

A closer look at the building’s elevator design made the idea seem even more plausible.

This wasn’t a transparent, central glass elevator, but one set against the very edge of the building—opaque and completely sealed.

They were now in the underground parking garage on level B1, which also had an elevator.

Zoe Pierce was the first to approach. She placed her palm on the dust-covered elevator doors and extended her spiritual power downward.

’An elevator needs a pit for its car, so there has to be some sunken space.’

This elevator was normal, but the one to her right had a hidden compartment in the shaft at the first-floor level.

On closer inspection, it was clear the two elevator shafts had been deliberately built larger than necessary. A normal shaft is a snug fit; without scrutinizing it, no one would have noticed the anomaly.

Her eyes snapped open as she looked at Nathan Lockwood. "The first floor."

"Can we still use this elevator?" The doors were completely sealed shut, as there wasn’t even any power.

Chase Shaw and Miles Sherman stepped forward to inspect it. "If this elevator is special, it has to have a backup power system."

The two of them got to work with practiced familiarity, and in less than fifteen minutes, the elevator emitted a single BEEP.

It was back online.

Zoe Pierce licked her lips, which were dry from the tension. All seven of them stood inside the elevator, a perfect fit.

The elevator took them directly to the first floor.

The doors opened to a view of the main entrance, just a few dozen steps away.

This time, Nathan Lockwood stood at the back of the elevator car and stated confidently, "There’s another elevator right here."

"A narrow model, only big enough for two people."

Its interior was barely a third the size of a normal elevator’s.

Miles Sherman and Chase Shaw began examining it, and at that moment, the two people Shelton Zane had brought with him asked in low voices, "Do you need our help?"

"I can bend metal," one of them offered. "If you need, I can just rip this door open, as long as that won’t affect anything."

’That’s certainly a useful spiritual power,’ Zoe thought, ’at least in a situation like this.’

But Zoe Pierce saw Miles Sherman shake his head. "If we cause any damage, we might trigger another security system."

That was a valid point.

If they triggered another system, investigating this place would become much more difficult.

It took Miles Sherman and Chase Shaw another ten minutes to get the elevator’s outer panel open.

A narrow elevator, just as Nathan Lockwood had described, was revealed before them.

Miles Sherman looked at Zoe Pierce, then glanced at Nathan Lockwood. His voice was low as he said, "Zoe and I will go first, then Chase and Nathan. Aaron, you okay bringing up the rear alone?"

This arrangement made it clear that Miles Sherman’s previously stated position regarding Shelton Zane hadn’t changed.

Now that they’d made a tangible discovery, he was completely sidelining those two.

"No problem." For Aaron Xavier, this was much more interesting than fighting Xenobeasts.

It was like a puzzle, with clues appearing one after another, waiting to be solved.

Miles Sherman and Zoe Pierce went first.

’This is the first time I’ve realized how good Miles is with his hands,’ Zoe Pierce thought.

’On second thought, because his spiritual power is Invalidation, Miles has always had to develop other skills.’

’It just wasn’t as obvious.’

’At the beginning, it was Chase who showed me he could get the main door open.’

’But today, Miles and Chase just needed a shared glance and a few words to formulate a plan and put it into action.’

’It was surprisingly efficient.’

The hidden elevator descended, taking a full two or three minutes before it finally stopped.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a corridor lined entirely with metal.

The corridor was pitch-black, lit only by the faint glow from the elevator—a sight that immediately conjured unsettling images.

It was as eerie as a scene from a horror film.

Miles Sherman stepped out of the elevator into the corridor first. Once he was sure there was no danger, he took Zoe Pierce’s hand.

"The reason I didn’t want them to follow," he explained, "is that I was worried they might disturb the scene and destroy potential clues."

"While the cave lab also warrants investigation, we’ve already seen the facility on Planet B36. It’s unlikely the other cave lab is any bigger than that one."

"That’s why this lab in Riventhal is a higher priority for investigation than the one in the cave."

"I understand."

’It wasn’t the first time they’d had to be cautious. Even though the others were undoubtedly professionally trained, the organization they were facing was too dangerous to take any chances.’

As the elevator ascended to get the others, Zoe Pierce extended her spiritual power down the corridor. "It’s just a straight hallway," she reported. "I don’t sense any immediate danger."

The hallway stretched for nearly a hundred meters before ending at a familiar-looking metal door.

"There’s... a Spiritual Power Shielding Device here." The familiar little gadget was once again right in front of Zoe Pierce. "A Xenobeast experiment?" she murmured.

The device had been sitting right at the elevator’s entrance, but no one had noticed it in the dark.

That was because the shielding device was completely ineffective against Zoe Pierce, and Miles Sherman’s spiritual power was, coincidentally, Invalidation. As a result, neither of them had noticed anything was wrong.

Miles Sherman bent down, picked up the shielding device, and shook his head. "The battery is almost dead."

In other words, it was no longer having an effect.

Just then, Chase Shaw and Nathan Lockwood arrived. They were startled for a second by the dark corridor, but then they spotted Miles Sherman and Zoe Pierce standing off to the side.

Zoe Pierce handed the Spiritual Power Shielding Device to Chase Shaw. Even though she knew the situation was serious, she couldn’t help but joke, "Look familiar?"

Examining it under the weak beam of his light, even Chase Shaw had to chuckle.

Almost in perfect sync with Zoe Pierce, he voiced the same thought, "A Xenobeast research base?"

’There are almost no known marine Xenobeasts. If a Xenobeast Tide were to ever occur in the ocean, most planets would be completely paralyzed.’

’Mecha are waterproof, but they can’t sustain underwater combat for more than half an hour.’

’The vast majority of Xenobeasts are land-based.’

’Only a tiny fraction of species can fly.’

"I’m not sure either." Zoe Pierce pursed her lips, recalling the Xenobeasts they had seen the moment they entered the other lab. "We can’t rule out the possibility that there are species of Xenobeast here we’ve never seen before."

It was all too possible.

"Don’t worry. There haven’t been any reports of incidents like that on Planet C14 in recent years," Nathan Lockwood said. "So if anything is left over, it must have been abandoned."

Their abilities won’t be too strong. They might even be fragile.

By the time Aaron Xavier arrived, they had all mentally prepared themselves for this place being a Xenobeast research base.

"Whoa, you guys almost gave me a heart attack." Wherever Aaron Xavier went, the atmosphere rarely stayed normal for long. Seeing their faces suddenly illuminated by light in the oppressive darkness, he had almost stumbled backward in fright.