CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: GOU DEPENDENCY DISORDER

Inside the pit that opened after the iron door was a passage leading in the direction of the small building’s basement. There were no stairs, so one had to jump directly in.

The passage was just over a meter in height, so one had to stoop inside. Yet, above the passage, there was still a meter or more of ceiling.

Thus, in the absence of a staircase, one needed to jump directly into the pit.

A height of over two meters, and not too wide, wasn’t actually too easy for an average person.

Lu Xi’an speculated that this basement must not have been excavated from here during construction.

After Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei jumped in, they stooped through a passage of about two meters, and the scene before them opened up suddenly.

Jumping down a one-meter-high step, below was a square space, and before their eyes were desks, chairs, computers, beds, and a full wall of cabinets.

In the corner against the wall, there was also a toilet and a washbasin. Beside the washbasin was a fallen metal ladder, seemingly just enough to be placed sideways at the passage entrance.

Lu Xi’an understood this straight ladder was meant for people to descend from the entrance, and could be pulled up afterwards.

If someone discovered the basement then, trying to enter, they would have to jump down from the pit entrance, surely making some noise, alerting the basement occupants.

However, after descending, there was a passage requiring stooping ahead, giving the alerted basement occupants enough time to react and attack the intruders in the passage.

However, there were no signs of a struggle here, clearly showing this setup was never needed.

There wasn’t even a trace of anyone here, not even bones or hair. The wall-to-wall shelves were also bare.

Lu Xi’an was very skeptical if this basement had ever been officially used after it was completed.

He checked, the mattress was really soft, softer than the one at the Tan Village shelter in Fengcheng County, should be comfortable to sleep on.

The sheets on the mattress had folds, suggesting someone had sat or even laid on it. But could it be that after things were set, someone tested it and left, not staying?

"Did you find anything?"

Lu Xi’an asked Yao Wei.

Yao Wei shook her head, indicating no.

"Gou, what about you?"

Lu Xi’an then asked the mechanical dog.

Gou blinked its dog eyes twice, also indicating nothing.

It seemed there really was nothing here, and perhaps it really wasn’t ever used.

Lu Xi’an looked around, still not quite giving up. He looked at the computer on the desk and had Gou plug in the power.

The computer could still boot up, but the case was buzzing, showing that accumulated dust over the years was making the fan struggle.

Even booting the computer was a bit of a task. Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei waited several minutes before the screen finally changed to the last open interface.

But frustratingly, the computer had a desktop password set. Lu Xi’an tried 1234567890, six 1s, six 6s, eight 8s, but couldn’t open it.

He dared not try randomly anymore, fearing the computer would lock.

"Sigh, if only Gou could maintain its state while supplying power, it could decipher the password."

Lu Xi’an sighed.

When supplying power, Gou always fell into a static state, otherwise, it had the function to decipher passwords.

Yao Wei nodded but she then felt she was being a bit greedy.

Gou was already so capable, what more could she ask of it?

This thought, she didn’t share with Lu Xi’an. She felt Gou belonged to Lu Xi’an, she couldn’t impose her standards on him.

Moreover, no matter how much Lu Xi’an wished, Gou truly couldn’t do it.

And right then, Lu Xi’an suddenly thought of something, turning to Yao Wei, he said:

"How about we look for the small building’s electrical box, use your power bank to connect the power, then let Gou try to crack the password?"

He suddenly remembered Yao Wei had a tool that could power circuits through the electrical box.

Before they had Gou, Yao Wei would use this method to refuel at gas stations. But now they both relied on Gou, they had totally forgotten about the tool.

Yao Wei also realized this at the moment, nodded, and said, "Alright."

Immediately she turned to leave, to find the small building’s electrical box.

She was somewhat annoyed with herself for forgetting the tool she already had.

Recently, she seemed overly reliant on Lu Xi’an...

And even more on Gou...

She couldn’t continue like this!

But Gou was really convenient...

Lost in thought, she found the electrical box in the building.

Compared to the basement, the small building’s rooms were chaotic, empty, unknown how many people had visited, even doors and windows were removed.

Those that weren’t were smashed to pieces.

Yao Wei found the electrical box on the wall at the corner of the stairway in the small two-story building.

She had her backpack with her when she got out of the car, and the tool for powering circuits was in her backpack. So she took it out, connected it to the circuits in the electrical box, and there was no problem.

She tested the room lights; they worked, meaning the circuits were fine.

After closing the electrical box cover and covering it, Yao Wei returned to the basement, thinking:

She always worried about the power reserve in the power supplier running out, but Gou didn’t need to worry. Could Gou charge the power supplier?

The power supplier did have a charging port, and since Gou could charge drones, it wouldn’t be a problem to charge this.

After jumping back into the pit and through the passage, the basement was already lit. However, the incandescent lamp flickered as if it might break at any moment.

Lu Xi’an had already unplugged the source and monitor cables from Gou’s back and connected them to the power outlet in the basement.

Gou extended a data cable, connected to the computer’s port, its dog eyes flashed red, seemingly in the process of cracking.

This task wasn’t difficult for it, and when Yao Wei walked in front of the screen, she saw the desktop’s lock screen change gradually, one application icon after another appeared.

Cracking complete.

Gou was truly convenient!

Yao Wei couldn’t help but think this.

But then she was a bit confused.

This sentiment seemed like something Lu Xi’an would have.

She had never sighed like this before...

Was it contagious?

Yao Wei couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad thing.

But Gou was definitely useful.

The desktop’s applications were very simple, only "This PC", "Control Panel", "Recycle Bin", "Videos", and "Audio".

The control panel was useless for Lu Xi’an, the recycle bin was completely empty. Lu Xi’an checked "This PC", which seemed equivalent to "My Computer".

But it was mostly empty inside, opening it only revealed program folders, nothing else.

Lu Xi’an had no choice but to check videos and audio. The video section had a list filled with video files. Lu Xi’an glanced at them, and they were all films intended for leisure by the previous occupants.

However, the storage locations of these films were unknown as "This PC" couldn’t find them.

Lu Xi’an checked "Audio". It wasn’t songs as he suspected, but timestamped files.

2100/5/1

2100/5/2

2100/5/3

...

Up to 2100/5/7.

Was it "Seven Days of Joy"?

Lu Xi’an frowned, clicked on the first timestamp file, and a sound came from the computer’s built-in speaker:

The signal here can no longer be connected. I can only go to another shelter. But that shelter is too cold to rest.

Starting today, I can only receive signals there daily and come back to rest. Also, the paper has run out. In the future, I’ll try to memorize the received messages and record them here.

Sigh, should have used the computer to record earlier. Otherwise, paper could be used in that shelter for convenience...