I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

The moment darkness enveloped the room, a deathly silence descended. But mere seconds later, the backup power system in the corner of the lab automatically activated, dimly illuminating everyone's faces. Everyone froze in their tracks, no one daring to believe what had just happened. Zhao Li stood there, still clutching the red button, an inscrutable smile plastered across her face.

"What's going on?!" A middle-aged man wearing glasses pointed at Zhao Li with his eyes wide open and asked hoarsely, "What did you do? What's going on?! She wouldn't really..." He didn't finish his words when his companion pulled him hard, "Don't ask! Let's see the situation first!"

Qin Yifei, however, had calmed down, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes. He quickly walked over to Zhao Li and whispered, "Do you think this will solve the problem? If she truly wants to sacrifice herself, she'll have to make sure we can get out of here completely." His voice, though low, was menacing.

At that moment, the core controller screen suddenly lit up again, and the human face reappeared, its lips curled slightly in a mocking smile. "I'm sorry to inform you, but the so-called 'sacrifice' is merely a small step to trigger the next stage of the game. The real challenge has just begun... Now, please prepare to face the final test of the Ring of Fate."

After hearing this, passers-by were completely shocked.

"Another trick of this kind? I knew it wasn't that simple! This is simply infinitely nested!" The hacker boy cursed angrily, threw his hat to the ground, and sweat covered his forehead.

But more people chose to remain silent. They all turned their eyes to the screen, trying to find any key information that could break the deadlock from clues.

At the same time, a virtual projection map rose in the center of the room. A hologram displayed a complete structural model of the base's interior, with the locations of several key nodes marked. Two particularly eye-catching markers were located below the current laboratory and somewhere to the left and front.

The university student immediately approached to observe, frowning as he analyzed, "It seems we need to split up our efforts. On the one hand, we need to disarm the time lock in the core controller, and on the other hand, we need to find additional hidden data modules to crack the remaining security verification keys."

"Wait!" the ponytailed girl cried in fear. "You mean we should split up and explore different places? But there are patrol robots everywhere outside! Who would be willing to gamble their life on this?"

"Shut up!" Du Fan waved his hand impatiently. "If you're afraid, you shouldn't have come. Now that we've come this far, we can either get through together or all lie down. What's there to worry about?" He turned to look at Qin Yifei. "Boss, which path do you think is most important?"

Qin Yifei pondered for a moment and replied, "Based on the current intelligence, the threat level on the core controller side is higher. I suggest that the main force stay behind to fight the enemy, and the rest of the elite follow me to the left front to explore new clues." His tone was gentle but firm, revealing an irresistible domineering attitude.

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd immediately split into two groups, some in favor of staying put and defending their position, while others insisted on following Qin Yifei and attacking proactively. Just as the argument intensified, a piercing mechanical roar reached from afar, evidently a large number of new combat robots were gathering, their target directly at their hideout!

"There's no time to argue!" The fat cook screamed and fell to the ground, holding his head in his hands and trembling. "The enemy is about to attack, run!"

Qin Yi walked over, grabbed his collar, and said coldly, "Remember, anyone who escapes today will die. Your only chance of survival now is to fight head-on!" Then he turned around, waved his arm, and decisively announced the battle plan, "Execute according to my arrangements. The college students will be responsible for debugging the protection system; Du Fan will lead the first group of soldiers to hold the local defense line; I will lead the remaining team members to raid the left front. Leave in three minutes, no delay!"

These powerful words instantly awakened everyone. They stopped arguing and quickly began to make arrangements according to their division of labor.

---

A few minutes later, at the entrance to the left front passage, a team led by Qin Yifei quietly crept in. On the way, a young engineer muttered, "Hey, what do you think of Zhao Li's stance? Did she deliberately set a trap for us by pressing that thing? Will she bite back?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" the young man in a black T-shirt walking beside him retorted unhappily, "Why bother with her? The important thing is to get home alive! Stop dwelling on inexplicable problems and focus on refining your weapons and equipment!"

As he spoke, a heavy alloy door appeared ahead. Qin Yifei paused to inspect his surroundings, then ordered everyone to remain quiet, disperse, and hide, awaiting his next instructions. However, from within the doorway, a low, noisy hum of machinery and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard.

Suddenly, a strange man's teasing voice came from outside the door: "Oh~ It seems that a few stubborn ones have escaped? I wonder how long these poor little bugs can struggle... Hahahaha..." The laughter echoed in the empty corridor, which was extremely creepy.

Passerby A was terrified. He stared at Qin Yifei nervously and asked, "Captain, what should we do? They're clearly setting up an ambush! Should we attack or retreat and try another route? Or should we try to crack the combination lock and sneak in before making any further plans?"

Qin Yifei took a deep breath and responded calmly: "Don't worry. I expected a similar situation, so we must create an illusion to deceive them into revealing their position and then wait for an opportunity to act." Then he listened carefully for a while, suddenly drew out the laser sword, and shouted to all team members to enter combat status!

As expected, the mysterious figure, upon noticing something unusual, immediately ordered all defenses activated. Accompanied by a sharp buzzing sound, dozens of micro-aircraft swarmed out, circling and sweeping overhead...

Faced with an overwhelming onslaught, the team bravely fought back. Even in this perilous moment, one young man naively blurted out, "Hey, isn't this the classic 'last wave of attack'? If we just hold on, the truth will be revealed, right? Hey, come on, guys! Time to earn experience points and level up!"

His words successfully attracted a lot of complaints and criticisms from passers-by.

Just as the battle reached its climax, a female teammate stumbled upon a hidden beam of light flickering through the cracks in the floor. Following the trace, they unexpectedly discovered the entrance to a secret elevator leading to the basement!

"Qin Yifei, come here quickly!" the girl called out loudly and waved to everyone to hurry over to avoid the coverage of the fire network.

Qin Yi nodded in approval and immediately led the group to relocate and board the elevator to escape the scene. As the elevator's violent shaking and turbulence intensified during its descent, everyone's worries finally settled for a moment—until someone accidentally caught a glimpse of a suspicious red light flashing from a surveillance camera in the corner.

"Ahem...this...uh..." The tech geek hesitated for a long time but couldn't come up with a complete sentence. He could only poke Qin Yi next to him to express his doubts.