Back in Lab C, Mu Yiran took out a screwdriver from his toolbox and removed the back panel of the machine, revealing the various wires inside.
"Whether it's damage or modification, it's likely to backfire," Zhu Haowen reminded him, watching from the side.
"No, it's just opening it up," Mu Yiran put the panel aside. "It doesn't change its properties or functions."
Ke Xun took out his phone, which had long since run out of battery and turned off, thought for a moment, then put it back in his pocket and went out to Lab D. He quickly called Qi Qiang and Huang Pi over and then held out his hand: "Take out your phones, we need them tonight."
Zhu Haowen: "..." This guy is indeed a dog-like man, not only protective of his food and belongings, but also of his own things.
"What do you want to do?" Qi Qiang hesitated as he handed his phone to Ke Xun, looking at Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran took the phone from Ke Xun and, without a shred of pity, disassembled Qi Qiang's phone with the tools she had chosen from her toolbox. She didn't even glance at Qi Qiang, simply stating, "If the lithium battery inside a phone is deformed by an impact, the positive and negative terminals will connect, inevitably causing a short circuit. A short circuit leads to heat buildup and a sharp increase in pressure inside the battery, potentially causing an explosion. The lithium ions in the battery will also react directly with oxygen in the air, resulting in violent combustion."
Qi Qiang, with his middle school education, hadn't even had a chance to decipher Mu Yiran's cryptic explanation when Ke Xun added, "Just put the phone inside this machine, and the combustion or explosion will destroy the internal circuitry, rendering the machine unusable."
"But wouldn't that count as deliberately damaging the 'painting's' settings?" Zhu Haowen asked Mu Yiran cautiously.
"So we won't handle the detonation of the phone ourselves," Mu Yiran said calmly. "We'll set up a linkage mechanism and let those 'researchers' do it themselves."
"…Awesome." Ke Xun gave a thumbs up.
"The phone is unidentifiable in this painting, like a black hole in the universe or the air around us—invisible and intangible," Mu Yiran continued casually. "As long as we don't directly cause the damage with it, it won't be considered related to us."
"What do you plan to do?" Zhu Haowen asked.
"The 'researchers' in this lab only used force in two places," Mu Yiran glanced at the lab door, "one was the force of pushing the door open when entering, and the other was forcibly pressing the test subject onto the chair next to the machine and restraining them. The latter is too arbitrary and cannot be used, so we can only use the former, because the trajectory of the door being pushed open will not change, and the direction of the force will not change."
Ke Xun understood what he meant: "You want to create a mechanism to use the force of those 'researchers' pushing the door to deform the cell phone placed inside the machine, thereby causing an explosion and fire."
"Even if you can't deform it by impact, you can just puncture the battery," Mu Yiran added.
"Then what are we waiting for," Ke Xun said, "Let's do it."
Zhu Haowen looked at him: That's right. He had said that making traps to trick people was his specialty since he was a child.
The group first moved the two machines as close to the door as possible. Then, they gathered everything usable in the lab—desks and chairs, coat racks behind the door, mop handles, toolboxes, even strips of yellow leather for making rope and Qi Qiang's shirt. Under Mu Yiran's guidance, Ke Xun did the work, and the other three assisted, they completed a simple mechanism connecting the door to a cell phone battery placed inside the machine.
Once the "researchers" pushed the door open, the force of the opening would strike one end of the mechanism, causing it to deform. The claw hammer attached to the other end would then be struck by the deformation, aiming at the cell phone battery.
To ensure success on the first try, they conducted several experiments without the cell phone battery. After ensuring the claw hammer would hit precisely and with sufficient force, Mu Yiran carefully made final adjustments to the cell phone battery.
Inside a lithium-ion battery, a thin layer of plastic separates the two electrodes. If the battery is damaged and the plastic layer fails, the positive and negative electrodes will come into contact, causing the liquid electrolyte to ignite and explode.
Mu Yiran thinned the battery casing as much as possible and positioned it at an angle where it could be easily deformed by a hammer, with the tip of the claw hammer aimed directly at the plastic layer.
"What if it fails?" Qi Qiang asked through gritted teeth, staring intently at Mu Yiran.
"Good luck," Mu Yiran said curtly before leaving Lab C.
Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen accompanied him back to Lab D. Ke Xun pointed to a machine in the lab whose purpose was still unknown and looked at Mu Yiran: "Do you think we should install a mechanism on this machine beforehand, just in case?"
This machine was much more complex than the one in Lab C. It had several displays of varying sizes, but since it wasn't powered on at the moment, it was unclear what they displayed.
Several wires extended from the machine's ports, the other ends of which were connected to devices resembling headbands, clamps, handcuffs, or sticks.
It looked utterly brutal.
"I don't think this machine will be fatal on the first try," Zhu Haowen pondered. "The experimental log shows that number 282 survived the first ET experiment; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to be observed for such a long time."
"Furthermore," Qin Ci interjected, "if you want to destroy this machine tonight, I suggest you don't act too soon. If the key to finding the signature lies in the machine's operation, you should at least figure out what it does first. Will destroying it too early cause the signature to disappear?"
If that's the case, then they can't set up any more mechanisms. The mechanism in Lab C relies on the "researchers" pushing open the door to enter the room, giving them only one chance. Lab D can't use the same method because it's unknown whether the machine used for ET experiments is even useful for finding the signature.
"Then what do you think? In that case, why don't we just use our phones to blow up the lobotomy equipment? Wouldn't that eliminate one danger?" Wei Dong had a flash of inspiration.
"The tools for lobotomy are simple small parts, unlike complex electronic machines. There must be spares. Destroying this set won't do any good." Mu Yiran, who was studying the ET machine, didn't even look up, calmly extinguishing Wei Dong's inspiration.
Ke Xun, with tools in hand, worked with Mu Yiran to remove one side of the outer shell of the machine used for ET experiments, revealing the complex wiring and mechanical parts inside. After careful inspection, they found nothing usable and covered the shell again. They could
only sit in the dark for the rest of the time. There was no food or water in the basement; they had to endure until nightfall.
Everyone turned off their cell phones to save electricity and turned off their flashlights, plunging Laboratory D into complete darkness. Ke Xun sat next to Mu Yiran, the two leaning against the wall. With nothing in sight, Ke Xun reached out and touched Mu Yiran's hand.
Mu Yiran paused, about to pull away, but the other person tightened their grip, holding on tightly. Then, warm breath pressed against his ear, and a low voice whispered, "Yiran, I have a bad feeling."
Ke Xun's intuition had been quite accurate several times.
Mu Yiran paused again, asking quietly, "What is it?"
"It's just a strange feeling," Ke Xun rested his chin on Mu Yiran's shoulder, "not to anyone else, just to myself. My muscles are tense, and my heart is pounding. You can feel it."
He then pressed Mu Yiran's hand against his chest.
Mu Yiran: "..." Very well, the excuse was becoming increasingly convincing.
Mu Yiran withdrew his hand, and Ke Xun didn't pursue him. He simply nuzzled Mu Yiran's ear, which was almost touching his nose, before resting his head on Mu Yiran's shoulder and remaining still.
Mu Yiran's neck was slightly itchy from the soft, fluffy hair on the other's head, but he didn't push him away. He just sat there motionless, letting the other lean against him.
Darkness and silence, besides bringing fear and loneliness, also allow one to calm down, think, and confront one's true inner self.
He didn't know how much time had passed in this darkness and silence before Mu Yiran finally sighed softly in his heart.
He couldn't be heartless after all, he couldn't be completely unburdened.
Another night, even more tense and unpredictable than the previous few days, descended. Qin Ci took Li Yaqing back to Lab A, Ke Xun followed Wei Dong to Lab B, knocked him unconscious, and returned to Lab D. Qi Qiang and Huang Pi in Lab C remained silent.
"If we are forced to undergo a lobotomy, have you thought of a plan?" Zhu Haowen looked at Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.
"We only have a very short time to act," Mu Yiran said. "After the 'researchers' enter, they will have a few minutes to prepare before the experiment begins. We will use this time to use our phone cameras to find No. 282 and observe its behavior.
"I have a theory: since all three of us are conscious, and a lobotomy cannot be performed on all three at the same time, then one of us will definitely be taken to do the ET experiment simultaneously.
"The first step of the lobotomy is to administer anesthesia to the test subject, which will take some time. During this time, the ET experiment will have already begun, and we can learn about its contents and take the opportunity to look for the signature.
"Therefore, the time from when the 'researchers' enter until the anesthesia takes effect is the most crucial for us, and the third person besides the two who become test subjects will bear the heavy responsibility of finding the signature as soon as possible and rescuing the other two."
"The biggest challenge is," Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen, "that we won't know in what form the signature will appear until the very last moment. Therefore, all our responses and judgments need to be made immediately and in the shortest possible time. There's no room for error; this is a zero-tolerance task."
"Wish us luck." Ke Xun grabbed Mu Yiran and Zhu Haowen's hands, putting their hands together in a gesture of encouragement.
Mu Yiran: "…"
Zhu Haowen: "…"
Then he suddenly remembered what Mu Yiran had just said, which seemed to imply an embarrassing fact:
[In Laboratory D, only those with heterosexual tendencies become test subjects.]
…The worst thing is when the air suddenly goes silent.
Looking at the other two who had fallen silent, Ke Xun remained motionless, pretending he wasn't there, not daring to even breathe.