After passing through several dim and damp corridors, they finally arrived at the source of the sound—an underground entrance sealed by a heavy iron door. The iron door was covered in rust and hung with a massive lock.
"The animal sounds are definitely coming from inside," Lin Xiaoqiang said with certainty, clearly hearing faint whimpers and uneasy growls from within.
"How do we get in? This lock looks really sturdy," Wang Meili tried pulling the iron door, but it didn't budge.
Ah Zhai looked around and noticed what appeared to be a ventilation duct on the adjacent wall. "Maybe we can climb in through there?"
The ventilation duct was narrow and dark, making it very difficult to climb. Relying on his relatively agile build, Ah Zhai took the lead and squeezed inside, followed closely by Lin Xiaoqiang and Wang Meili, who carefully wriggled through the duct.
After a long crawl, they finally reached the end of the ventilation duct. Below them seemed to be a spacious area, and they could hear the faint hum of operating equipment.
Ah Zhai cautiously removed a piece of iron grating from the vent and looked down. By the dim light below, they saw a shocking scene—
It was an underground space set up like a laboratory, filled with various strange instruments and equipment with blinking indicator lights. Some animals were confined in cages, pacing restlessly, including some stray cats and dogs they had seen in the park, and even some small mammals that looked like they were used for experiments.
What disturbed them even more was that they saw the mysterious man from the photo, wearing a white coat, standing in front of a huge instrument. The instrument emitted an eerie pink glow and the low humming sound that residents had previously reported.
"It really is him!" Lin Xiaoqiang exclaimed in a low voice, recognizing the gloomy man operating the instrument.
"What on earth is he doing?" Wang Meili asked nervously.
Lin Xiaoqiang listened carefully to the thoughts of the imprisoned animals. Their fear and pain flooded his mind like a tide.
"They're scared... that instrument... makes them feel very uncomfortable... it's like something is being extracted..." Lin Xiaoqiang's expression grew increasingly grave.
Just then, they saw the mysterious man walk to a cage, take out a very weak-looking white rabbit, and then place the rabbit into the pink-glowing instrument. The instrument emitted a louder hum, and the pink light became even brighter. The white rabbit let out a weak and painful squeal.
"He... what did he do to those animals?!" Wang Meili was furious and wanted to rush down to stop him.
Lin Xiaoqiang quickly held her back. "Wait! We don't know his purpose yet! Let's observe carefully first!"
They continued to observe the situation below through the ventilation opening. The mysterious man seemed to be conducting some kind of experiment. He kept adjusting the parameters of the instrument, recording the readings, a fanatical and eerie smile on his face.
"Looks like we've discovered something extraordinary," Ah Zhai said quietly, holding up his camera. "This guy must be related to the pink anomaly in Barbie City! These animals... they might be the key!"
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