One day later. Night. The sky was filled with stars and moonlight.
"You ditched the car because you were worried about being spotted?" The night wind blew as Dream Monroe glided across the wasteland, her feet never touching the ground. Though she had insisted she would only observe and not intervene, with the target so close, she couldn't help but slip into action mode.
"Kind of." The two had been walking for over an hour. Out here in the endless wasteland, there was no way to set up surveillance, so they didn’t need to limit their speed to anything a normal person could manage.
Jill Young couldn’t fly close to the ground like Dream Monroe, but she was no slouch in the speed department. She wasn’t going all out, just keeping things low-key, but with her Ninety-Nine Supreme Technique, even her light-footed steps were as grand and swift as an emperor striding down the royal road.
Wherever she passed, the dry grass parted on its own, like peasants kneeling in worship. Each step Jill took spanned several yards; in this one hour, she was actually moving faster than a car.
"This Tiberius Laboratory is built out here in the middle of nowhere, far from any roads or people. The nearest town is fifty kilometers away—practically military base standards, with radar watching all around. Cars are just too big and obvious to dodge radar. Easier to go on foot and avoid the hassle."
They’d already squeezed intel about the Tiberius Laboratory out of Donald Zade, so they knew all about the radar perimeter. But Jill Young wasn’t about to trust the info blindly—she mentally tripled the radius, just in case the Zade House whipped out some surprise black tech.
So, way outside the three-times radius, they parked in a lively little town—no way radar would care about that.
Ground radar stations weren’t a worry anymore, but Dream Monroe frowned and glanced up at the sky. "If the Tiberius Laboratory is really that important to the Zade House, do you think they might have a satellite watching this place 24/7?"
New Mexico’s weather was just too good—no clouds or smog, the sky as clear as a freshly washed window. Out here on the empty prairie, even at night, the starlight and moon made it bright enough to read. If there really was a spy satellite keeping tabs on this place around the clock, that’d be a real pain.
"Don’t worry too much. Unless the Zade House has some wild new toys in aerospace, satellites can’t track human-sized targets at night." Caution never hurts, but sometimes you’ve got to show some guts when it counts. "Alright, we’re almost there. Just up ahead."
The wasteland rolled with gentle hills, lizards scuttling through the grass—a real tropical vibe. The two dashed up a modest slope and stood at the edge of a cliff, peering ahead. About three kilometers out, there was a cluster of low buildings.
Those low buildings looked just like a regular farm: a country road led to the gate, fields stretched out in every direction, farm equipment was neatly arranged, and scarecrows dotted the land to keep wild birds away.
Tall barns and packed cattle sheds oozed rural charm. From a distance, the soft glow of lights on the curtains made the whole place look peaceful and calm.
"This is the spot?" Dream Monroe squinted. "Those fields aren’t just for show—they’ve really been farmed. See that harvester? Looks like they just brought in a fresh crop today."
No matter how you looked at it, this was a legit working farm—not the kind of place you’d expect to find some weird black-tech lab.
"Phew—smell that breeze? The milk from those cows is seriously rich. The Zade House staff are pros; even their cover operation is run with military precision. Gotta hand it to their management." Jill Young gave a little nod, then stroked her chin. "It’s smart, too—if you buy supplies in bulk, people notice and get nosy. Grow your own, and it’s safe and cheap. Genius."
"Are we sure this is it?" Dream Monroe glanced around, doubtful. "It’s a big place, and I know the scale of a lab doesn’t always match its reputation, but I always imagined the famous Tiberius Laboratory would be bigger."
"Oh, it’s bigger, alright. Everything up top is fake—the real lab is underground." Jill Young whipped out an AR Monocular, snapping it open like a pirate captain and squinting through one eye. "Let me take a good look at this Tiberius den of doom—whoa, it’s huge!"
The AR Monocular looked old-school, but it was actually a nifty gadget. Jill Young’s SkyEase platform had just started its trial run a few days ago—small scale, still in beta, but already showing promise. This AR Monocular was one of the fun little finds she’d picked up on SkyEase.
The monocular itself wasn’t anything fancy—it was just an AR device. The Eternal Night Holdings Group techs had used intel from Donald Zade to sketch out an electronic map of the Tiberius Laboratory ahead of time. Feed that map into the monocular, and you get a pretty accurate preview image.
So really, it was a map. But what made it better than your average map was that it could be checked and updated against real-world conditions.
"Here, you take a look." Jill Young handed the monocular to Dream Monroe, who took it with curiosity and peered through—instantly surprised.
Through Dream Monroe’s eyes, she saw a long, deep shaft beneath the farm. The shaft plunged down dozens of meters, then branched out into a massive underground complex. At its heart was a thirteen-story inverted pyramid, with passageways radiating out like dandelion fluff, forming more than ten separate units.
She turned the monocular left and right—the underground area was huge. The two of them were already standing right above the Tiberius Laboratory.
"This image is just a rough preview. I mean, how accurate can Donald’s rambling intel really be? It’s close enough for reference. But the monocular can update anytime—more info we collect, the clearer the picture. Plus, after Dawn Monroe worked her magic, it’s got some extra features. Like this one."
Jill Young fiddled with the monocular, pressing a few buttons. Instantly, Dream Monroe’s view was dotted with bright markers—people moving around the farm, their positions and actions crystal clear.
"Things like x-ray vision, target marking—not as pro as Dawn Monroe’s paparazzi-grade lenses, but each feature’s got its uses. That x-ray mode just helped us find the shaft entrance and confirm the lab’s location."
"Looks like an upgraded version of the Hive from Resident Evil." Dream Monroe set the monocular down, half joking, half amazed. "Why do all secret labs have to be underground?"
"It’s not just labs—even military bases get built in caves or underground. It’s got tons of perks: hard to detect, missile-proof, bomb-proof, safe from accidents. Plus, who knows what freaky stuff they’re cooking up down there? If something goes wrong, it’s easier to contain and fix it underground."
Jill Young pointed at the farm ahead. "If you’re the enemy, unless you’ve got a tunneling superpower, you’re not getting through dozens of meters of dirt. So for us, the only way in is the shaft. And if they lock down the shaft, it’s pretty much impenetrable—unless you can go totally invisible, like ‘can’t be picked up by any scanner’ invisible. Otherwise, brute force is a no-go."
"Whatever happens, I’m not going down there for you." Dream Monroe calmly repeated her stance. "I’m just here to watch, to witness. Whether you get in or not—that’s all on you."
"Relax, relax, this little challenge won’t stop me. I’m not sneaking in—I’m walking in, loud and proud." Jill Young glanced around, then pointed at someone: "Look, I think that person would make a perfect driver for us!"