Carrying his unresolved confusion, Nathan continued following the group as they wound their way through the underground passage. After some time, they arrived at the previously mentioned B‑restaurant.
However…
It was completely different from what Nathan had imagined—a restaurant full of chairs. Instead, the place was packed with massive cabinets, each about two meters tall and more than a meter wide. Thick pipes as wide as fists connected beneath them, and the floor was covered in white mist that hid their feet, making the ground impossible to see.
"This is… a restaurant?? Could these cabinets all be storing food?"
Unable to resist his curiosity, Nathan asked.
Kaplan, the mercenary with a wrist computer and a laptop on his back, explained gloomily:
"We shouldn't be mistaken. The map shows this is indeed the B‑restaurant."
"Maybe the company left some secrets here—things they don't want outsiders to know, or even you to know."
The handcuffed man, Matt, interjected at that moment.
James, the captain, glanced at Kaplan's wrist computer map but ignored Matt's words. He turned to another teammate and gave orders:
"Jed, you and Rain guard the exit here, and keep watch on the prisoner."
"Sir, the gas readings here are zero. Maybe the defense system malfunctioned, so the Red Queen didn't release poison."
The female mercenary holding an instrument reported suddenly.
"Alright. Then search the area while you're here. There might be survivors. But don't go too far. We'll continue forward. As for you two…"
James looked at Nathan and then at Rachel beside him, clearly judging them harmless but also the weakest.
"We'll follow you. This place feels creepy. It's safer with you."
Feeling the danger—perhaps just an illusion from the mist at their feet—Nathan decided to stick close to the heavily armed group. James didn't mind, simply nodding for him to follow.
As Nathan walked forward, he was drawn to the metal cabinets. Curious, he peered through a rectangular window, but inside was only fog and pipes—nothing else visible.
"Are you that interested in what's inside?"
Alice, in her red dress, also leaned closer to observe.
"Secrets always make people curious. Rachel, do you want to see?"
"I want to look too."
Like any ordinary girl, Rachel's curiosity was evident. Nathan slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her up so she could see inside.
But before the three of them could look for long, James noticed and barked at them to rejoin the team.
Obediently, they followed the group through several more metal doors until they reached the final barrier before the Red Queen's chamber, as Kaplan had described. A metal gate blocked their way.
Kaplan sat at the computer by the entrance, operating three terminals at once. His fingers clattered rapidly on the keyboards as he tried to break through the defense program to open the gate.
Nathan watched from the side, his eyes occasionally drawn to the mercenaries' firearms. They were clearly the latest models, far more advanced than the common or older guns he had used at the shooting range. He also glanced at Rachel from time to time—after all, everyone liked cute things, and he was no exception.
After waiting quietly for a while, a sharp electronic "beep" sounded. The gate opened automatically, revealing a corridor more than ten meters long, its walls entirely made of glass.
"Bring the equipment. Let's go."
James ordered his men to carry the half‑man‑tall cylindrical metal device they had dismantled from the previous room, then led the way himself.
His steps were slow and cautious. But halfway through, the lights suddenly came on. Startled, he raised his rifle and looked back at Kaplan at the computer.
Kaplan checked quickly and said:
"It's automatic lighting. No need to worry."
James nodded in understanding, lowered his body again, and carefully advanced to the other end of the corridor. He pressed a device resembling an old‑style phone against the door.
Kaplan's fingers flew once more, and soon he broke through the defenses, opening the door to the chamber that housed the artificial intelligence supercomputer—the Red Queen.
The remaining three mercenaries carried the cylindrical device inside.
"What is that thing?"
Nathan asked curiously before Alice could speak.
"It's used to shut down the Red Queen. It releases a powerful current to disrupt the mainframe and force a reboot."
Kaplan had barely finished speaking when the corridor's side doors suddenly slammed shut. Inside, James and the four mercenaries immediately panicked, scanning their surroundings and shouting into their radios:
"Kaplan!"
"It looks like a dormant defense system. Opening the door triggered it."
"Put it back into sleep mode!"
"I'm trying!"
Kaplan's hands hammered the keyboard, desperately attempting to disable the defense. But… nothing worked.
Through the observation window, Nathan saw a visible laser beam suddenly appear, rushing toward the four mercenaries.
James shoved two of them down, but one had four fingers severed, and the female medic's neck was sliced clean through by the beam. Her head slid slowly off.
Alice, watching with Nathan, and the unarmed amnesiac man behind them—said to be Alice's fake husband—shouted frantically at Kaplan to hurry.
But then a second beam appeared. One mercenary collapsed instantly, cut in half by the laser. Another tried to leap aside, but the beam followed his movement, slicing him into two pieces.
James, as captain, was far more skilled. He jumped up, grabbed the ceiling grid, and stretched his body straight to avoid the beam.
But soon another laser appeared—and midway, it transformed into an unavoidable dense mesh. It sliced James, the captain, into fragments.