As the group walked further down the hallway, they soon came across a massive metallic door. Without wasting any time, Nathan stepped forward and swiped an access card across the scanner mounted beside it.

Beep!

A green light flashed.

The enormous door slowly slid open, revealing a gigantic room painted entirely white, from the floor to the ceiling.

The group immediately froze.

The room was unbelievably huge....so large that it resembled the headquarters of a massive corporation rather than a factory basement. Rows of offices, storage sections, workstations, and long corridors stretched into the distance. Simply walking from one end of the room to the other would likely leave a person exhausted.

Everyone subconsciously swallowed hard.

Although they had expected Basement Level Two to be important, none of them had imagined it would be this enormous.

Slowly, they stepped inside.

The moment the last person entered, the massive door behind them slid shut with a heavy metallic sound.

Clang!

The sudden noise echoed throughout the vast room.

"So Basement Level Two is the factory’s true core..." Ivy murmured under her breath as her eyes swept across the area. "This place is even larger than the entire above-ground facility."

The others silently nodded.

The sheer scale of the place was enough to make anyone feel insignificant.

"We should split into two teams and search the area," Josh suggested, his voice filled with seriousness. "We’ll start with the offices on the left side first. After we’re done there, we’ll move to the right wing."

"Yeah. That’s probably the best option," Erick agreed immediately. "This place is way too huge for a single team to search efficiently. Even two teams won’t be enough to cover everything quickly, but it’s better than sticking together and wasting time."

The others nodded in agreement.

"I’ll pair up with Albert, Darren and Mr Josh," Ivy announced as she walked over to stand beside the three men who all nodded their heads in agreement.

Erick then paired with the other members and soon, the two team immediately began moving toward their designated areas. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The enormous room remained eerily quiet except for the sound of their footsteps echoing across the polished floor.

As they walked, Albert suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Once we’re done searching this place and collecting whatever resources we can find, we’ll need to leave immediately."

His expression turned grim.

"A self-destruction program has already been activated."

Both Ivy and Darren instantly stopped walking.

"What?"

Ivy turned toward him with raised eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that?"

Darren’s expression also darkened.

Albert glanced around before continuing.

"The boss used the Flying Eye drones to locate this facility. That’s how we discovered that this place contained a huge amount of supplies and resources."

His voice remained barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough for Ivy and Darren to hear clearly.

"The apocalypse has already destroyed most supply chains. Food, medicine, fuel, weapons, and equipment are becoming harder and harder to find."

He gestured toward the massive facility around them.

"But places like this still contain enough resources to keep hundreds of survivors alive for months."

Albert continued.

"The risk is enormous as there are plenty monsters here, but so is the reward."

He glanced toward the assault rifle hanging from Darren’s shoulder.

"Besides, our weapons have already been upgraded. They’re no longer limited to firing ordinary bullets."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"These new modifications allow the rounds to generate explosive force upon impact. Against most monsters, a single well-placed shot is enough to blow their heads apart."

Darren looked down at his rifle before nodding.

"That definitely explains why the boss approved this operation."

"Exactly."

"Before we even entered this place, the destruction bomb had already been planted somewhere within the facility," Josh chimed in, his tone serious as he continued walking beside them. "The purpose is simple. Once we’re done gathering resources and safely leave the building, the entire place gets blown to pieces."

"There are countless monsters dwelling inside this factory. We killed plenty of them while making our way here, but there’s no way we’ve eliminated every single one."

He glanced around the endless white corridors.

"This place is huge. There could be thousands of monsters hidden in sections we haven’t even discovered yet."

A grim smile appeared on his face.

"So rather than allowing those bastards to continue roaming around and becoming stronger, it’s better to wipe them all out in one go."

Albert nodded in agreement.

"Besides, we’ll most likely encounter more monsters while leaving the facility after securing the supplies."

"Exactly," Josh continued. "Even if the destruction sequence hasn’t been activated by the time we’re finished, the boss can simply trigger it remotely once we’re safely outside."

He clenched his fist.

"One button."

A faint murderous glint flashed across his eyes.

"And every monster remaining inside this building gets buried under tons of rubble."

"I see..."

Ivy released a heavy sigh.

The logic made sense.