Time quickly went by since Xu Feng and Aera had escaped the isolated area room.
Numerous guards patrolled each corridor, prompting them to stay hidden and wait patiently until the coast was clear.
Thus, what would usually take around 5 minutes of walk, turned into half an hour before they finally reached the emergency exit door.
As the emergency exit door required a scan, Aera attempted to use her card, only to end up being denied access.
"Tsk, they are quick." Aera clicked her tongue in annoyance. She proceeded to test with some of her backup access cards. However, all of them ended up being denied and the hologram prompted that there were only two attempts left.
Once those two attempts were used up, an alert would be sent to nearby guards to check the situation.
"Here, try my permit slip card." Xu Feng said.
"A permit slip card?" Confused, Aera glanced at Xu Feng as if he were a fool.
"How could a permit slip card be enough to override the authorization to access the emergency exit door?" She continued, only to hear a beep sound.
The beep sound was different from the sound she heard when denied.
"It seems like it works." Xu Feng gazed at her with the same expression she had used earlier.
Aera's eyes were colored in disbelief, clearly unable to comprehend how a permit slip card had that much authorization.
Nevertheless, Xu Feng and Aera swiftly escaped through the emergency exit door.
Upon leaving the isolated area, Xu Feng said, "We'll need to return to my dorm."
"Why your dorm?" Aera asked.
"The dorm in my place only has one rotating camera. If we're fast enough, then we can avoid being spotted. Also, no one would expect us to be hiding there."
"Are you not going to use this opportunity to ask why I'm escaping with you?"
"It probably has to do with the ongoing infectious virus. You suspect foul play from someone in the high rank, right? "
Nodding, Aera seemed a bit surprised that Xu Feng was able to realize the severity of the matter.
"Supervisor Harvey has been suspended from his post temporarily, and I'm also going to be on the wanted list soon." Aera smiled bitterly and explained.
"I'll need to contact Supervisor Harvey to inform him about the situation." She continued, feeling pressured by the situation.
However, to her dismay, Xu Feng shook his head and said, "No, you shouldn't contact anyone."
"Are you suspecting Supervisor Harvey?" Aera wasn't foolish to not understand his subtle implication.
"Have you met with Supervisor Harvey at all?" Xu Feng didn't respond and instead asked her another question. "And your current situation is because you realized something and wanted to report it to the higher-ups, right? But the information seemed to be shackled and you ended up being labeled as a spy."
"You're quite informed for someone who was trapped in the isolated area."
"It's more like it's quite obvious that we have a rat or rats in the plural." Xu Feng shrugged.
"Anyway, let me see the tablet." He then asked, but directly snatched it from her.
As he got the tablet in hand, he realized Aera was more thorough than he thought. She had turned off network access from the start and was going incognito mode. The CCTV screens were pre-installed and had live feedback without requiring network access.
'Seems like she was prepared beforehand for such a situation.' Xu Feng smirked and began opening up the battleship's trajectory.
"Hmm, the battleship destination is at…" Alarmed, he was surprised to see the flight trajectory.
"Indeed, it's Planet Zaun." Aera helped finish the sentence. "However, Planet Zaun shouldn't have been the destination in the original path. This meant that someone in the higher-ups wanted something from there."
"A bioweapon." Xu Feng commented.
Although silent, Aera's expression made it obvious that she knew bits of the detail. "A bioweapon would enhance our battleship standing, but to use the lives of our crewmates to accomplish that— I find it sickening."
"You say that yet you mercilessly killed those Trainees." Xu Feng said, gently reminding Aera's actions weren't all colorful and bright either.
Yet in response to that, Aera's expression remained firm.
"Those Trainees violated the laws of the battleship. Also, their identity as spies from other battleships was confirmed. Thus, they deserve to be executed." Aera clarified, highlighting that they weren't bloodthirsty or anything.
Xu Feng didn't bother to respond, given that arguing wouldn't even help much in their current situation.
What they needed to do now was stop whoever was scheming against them to construct a bioweapon.
However, the chance seemed slim, given that they had been discovered despite their great hiding spot by numerous guards.
"The traitors are over here!"
"Quickly capture Aera! Dead or alive!"
"How—" At first alarmed, Aera soon realized why they were discovered. She laughed bitterly and turned to Xu Feng.
"Take this." She said, handing him a mysterious totem. "It appears that you were right about Supervisor Harvey."
Her expression was solemn, almost as if she had realized she was truly one fool.
This hidden passage was only known to a few people, and Harvey was one of them who knew about her method if things were to ever go awry. It was a slip of a conversation, but one that bit her back fiercely.
"Go and do your plan. They have me prioritized but not for you." Aera urged, having noticed the guards had begun calling for reinforcement.
Before Xu Feng could even respond, Aera charged forward and confronted the guards head-on, taking the first strike. The battle quickly turned chaotic, with numerous tremors occurring from the deadly impact.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng didn't hesitate further. He stored the mysterious totem in his inventory and proceeded to retreat.
In their current circumstance, it was either the two of them dying together or he escaped alive. The guards' main target was Aera, and not him.
'The emotional layout of this trial really wants to dampen the player's motivation.' Xu Feng narrowed his eyes and he fled, using the tablet as navigation.