Who gave you permission to travel through time with Earth?

Chapter 11, 2rd Floor

It looks like it's raining outside.

Upon arriving at the second floor of the Beast Company, Fang Jin and his group saw windows for the first time in the building, with the damp, cool breeze and the clear sound of rain seeping in through the cracks.

However, this was not a way for them to leave. The outer edge of the window was also blocked by a similar air wall, so all that could be felt was the sense of contact with the outside world... rather than the actual outside world.

"...That's fucking awful."

Fang Jin regretfully withdrew her hand that was sticking out of the window. The tips of her fingers were deformed by the air wall. The freedom that was just a few inches away was the most agonizing.

Whether it's for them... or for the staff on this floor who are also sealed off.

"If it were really that simple, the time limit wouldn't be set at twenty-four hours. After all, given how ruthless the system is... even if there's a way out, they'd suppress us until the very last few minutes, the very last few seconds."

Zhou Tongtong said with a smile, looking out at the rainy scene... at the same time, she boldly rested her chin on Fang Jin's shoulder, her voice coming right up to his ear.

Xu Rou's eyes widened instantly. Ever since Fang Jin revealed the matter of her premature awakening, this vixen's gaze had been somewhat off, and now she was openly clinging to her...

Don't you know what "first come, first served" means...? That thigh is mine! It needs to be officially acknowledged by the authorities, so give me the best spot!

To be honest... Fang Jin didn't have any romantic thoughts. He didn't feel the softness of a girl behind him, nor did he feel any warmth from a living being on his cheek.

If Zhou Tongtong hadn't spoken, he would have thought he was carrying a mechanical puppet on his back—cold and heavy, with the only warm thing on his body being the engine oil (bad water) inside his belly…

"Haha, so both of the team's beauties have someone they like? Looks like we're out of luck."

Jin Fugui chuckled as he spoke. He seemed to be gradually calming down, and he had even changed his blood-stained clothes... but the stench of blood still lingered.

"Sister Zhou was paired with Brother Lu before, right? Why hasn't there been any progress? The feelings that are forged in the face of life-or-death crises are the most precious..."

"I don't have that kind of thinking. I almost didn't even have time to survive, let alone have time for romance."

Lu Chen seemed not to understand, waving his hand with a smile to interrupt, not even bothering to look away.

"Moreover, favoritism and affection are often the subtle weapons that destroy team relationships. I'm really happy that Brother Fang can take on the potential danger all by himself."

That's true. At least for Lu Chen, tangible benefits are more important than women. The only thing he might be eyeing is Fang Jin's Blood Demon Petals. Consumables are extremely important at this moment.

And Zhou Tongtong… he couldn’t help but recall his experience in the toy box. Surrounded by those bizarre and wicked creatures, the former’s figure and characteristics had indeed left a deep impression on him…

Therefore, he respectfully keeps his distance.

……

Unlike the steel maze on the first floor, after the five people's initial exploration, the structure of the second floor was clearly imprinted in their eyes... because there was a fire map that could be seen every three steps.

The floors are arranged in a sixteen-square grid, with passageways connecting the squares. There are at least four rooms on each side of every passageway, serving as office areas for various field departments.

In terms of numbers, the monsters on the second level are probably several times or even dozens of times more numerous than those on the first level! Moreover, the field operations themselves are a large department, and there is no so-called division of areas between them.

It's easy to imagine that within this limited floor space, with nearly a hundred rooms and all the field staff moving around freely, there's practically no room for them to survive.

Even though the elevator shaft leading to the third floor was clearly marked on the fire safety plan as being located diagonally opposite them, with such a high density of staff, it was simply an impossible task...

"..."

"But actually... why is there not a single person here?"

Things were a bit unexpected. Not to mention the four-way corridor, even when Fang Jin suddenly opened the door of a department... there wasn't even a breathing person inside.

"Could this level be a bonus level?"

Xu Rou guessed, but she also felt something was off. Don't be fooled by the seemingly simple layout of the sixteen-square grid; the architectural standards here were all determined based on the mutated physiques of those blood demons.

Compared to ordinary buildings, the length, width and height of Beast Corporation buildings are increased proportionally, making the entire map actually very large.

The second floor has nearly a hundred rooms. If some of them are bonus levels or rest rooms, it would be reasonable. But if the entire floor is emptied out like this...

It's better to suspect that Beast Corporation has actually gone bankrupt.

"There are sixteen areas in total, four by four, with four to eight rooms in each area. Perhaps only some of the rooms are unoccupied, while the majority are hidden traps?"

"The probability is low... After all, no matter what, locking oneself in a room is equivalent to cutting off some of one's eyes and ears, which is far less reasonable than scattering people throughout the corridors."

"If we finally steel ourselves and don't touch any safe houses, this ambush method is tantamount to trapping ourselves. Neither Beast Corporation nor the system will let us pass so easily."

Xu Rou suggested a possibility, but Fang Jin immediately dismissed it, tapping his temples in thought.

"Lights... or time? Perhaps they have different ambush patterns; we can only analyze and counter them when we actually encounter them..."

"Perhaps there is another possibility... If we look at it from Xu Rou's trap-like perspective, perhaps in all the rooms on this floor, besides the rest rooms and monsters, there are treasures that we have no choice but to explore."

Lu Chen raised a possibility, and his expression brightened at the thought. The other three immediately understood and clapped their hands, saying in unison:

"exit!"

"...but the probability is too low."

Fang Jin frowned. He wasn't trying to be pessimistic, but considering both the time limit and the arrangement of the elevator on the third floor, the probability of finding a way out on this floor by opening a blind box was... not high.

"But it's not zero...that's enough to justify our decision to stop and try."

"We can try, but it can't exceed four hours at most. The theoretical shortest time to clear one level is two hours and fifty-three minutes. We can't exceed this time limit by too much."

"It should be possible... I'll start the timer. Also, this time we can't split up. If we set a trap, it will still be two people facing each other, and the probability of casualties will still be very high."

"..."

The other four were brainstorming, but Jin Fugui, who had started with a calm smile, gradually became sweaty as he struggled to keep up with their train of thought.

It wasn't that he couldn't understand at all, it's just that his thought process couldn't keep up with Fang Jin and the others' mouths. He had just finished processing the previous message when the next conversation was already creeping into his ears.

Jin Fugui suddenly realized that none of them were ordinary characters who were selected to enter the difficult dungeon and survive the first level. They must have some extraordinary abilities.

Even Xu Rou, who seemed the weakest and most vulnerable, demonstrated an emphasis on theoretical knowledge and logical thinking skills, proving she was not a little girl who could be easily fooled.

...Has he overreached himself?