【Interstellar Contract Magician】Ruyuanke

Just as we were exchanging information, suddenly, an alarm light flashed on the monitoring screen of the research facility, and an emergency message quickly popped up: "Unknown entity intrusion, activate defense system!"

For a moment, the entire hall fell into chaos. The cyborgs and aliens quickly took up combat stances. Nightingale, Lin Hao, and I also took up our weapons without hesitation, ready to face the new challenge.

"It seems that our investigation has just begun." Nightingale said in a low voice, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

I nodded, took a deep breath, and prepared myself to face the unknown. No matter how difficult the road ahead was, I knew that Nightingale and Lin Hao were by my side.

We waited for a long time but saw nothing unusual. Only the shrill alarms from the machines echoed continuously in the hall. Nightingale frowned, and his sharp eyes swept around, as if he could penetrate every corner of this abandoned laboratory.

"The alarm system may be malfunctioning," Nightingale whispered, with a hint of impatience but more of alertness in his tone, "Or, there may be something hiding here."

I gripped my weapon tightly, a faint unease building within me. Though I didn't see any obvious threats, the constant sirens made it impossible to ignore the anomaly. "How about we split up and search?" I suggested, searching for any possible clues.

Nightingale shook her head and looked at me firmly. "No, we need to maintain our formation. Splitting up will only increase the risk of an ambush. Let's check the surveillance system first to see if there are any unusual recordings."

He quickly walked to the control console and began to adjust the rusted equipment. The screen flickered with blurry images, clearly unused for years. After some manipulation, Nightingale finally restored clarity to a portion of the surveillance footage.

"Look here," he pointed to a scene on the screen, "Ten minutes before this, an unidentified entity entered this area, but left no trace."

I watched the screen carefully, only to see a blurry figure swiftly move through the lab, leaving no footprints or traces. That sense of invisible presence was eerie. "This suggests...something is capable of invisible movement."

A complex emotion flashed across Nightingale's eyes. "This might be related to the missing researcher. His research might have touched upon some supernatural or advanced technological realm, causing anomalies in the defense system here."

At that moment, the alarm suddenly intensified, the lights throughout the hall began to flicker, and a tense atmosphere filled the air. Nightingale quickly shut down the surveillance system and turned to me. "It seems we don't have time to think about it. We must act immediately."

He pulled a pistol from his waist that I had never seen before, and then quickly and skillfully completed all the preparations. "Get ready, follow me." His voice was deep and powerful, with an irresistible determination.

We quickly passed through the laboratory and entered another corridor. The walls on both sides of the corridor were covered with complex runes and flashing lights, clearly the product of a different level of technology. As we went deeper, the alarm gradually weakened, but the surrounding environment became more eerie.

Suddenly, a distorted wave seemed to appear in the air ahead, and the surrounding light began to distort. Nightingale stopped and observed her surroundings warily. "What is this place?" I whispered, feeling an inexplicable sense of oppression.

"This is the core area," Nightingale replied with a hint of calmness in her tone, "and it's also where we have the last clue to finding the missing researcher. Be careful, there may be unknown dangers."

We continued on, arriving at a massive control room. At its center sat a complex device, what looked like some kind of power source, surrounded by countless instruments and display screens. Just as we were about to investigate further, a deep voice suddenly boomed from the other end of the room.

"You shouldn't be here."