Paintings of Terror

Chapter 122: The Magical Use of Mobile Phones

After Ke Xun returned to Lab C with the toolbox, Mu Yiran found a screwdriver in the toolbox and unscrewed the panel behind the machine, revealing the various circuits inside.

“If you damage or modify it, you’ll likely receive a backlash,” Zhu Haowen reminded as he watched from the side.

“No, I just opened it.” Mu Yiran put the panel aside. “Neither the character nor the function of the machine has changed.”

Ke Xun took out his cell phone that had long turned off due to lack of battery. After thinking about it, he 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. “Both of you, take out your cell phone and bring them here. They’ll be needed for the night.”

Zhu Haowen: “…”

This man really was a male canine, not only guarding his children’s but also his own things.

“How are you going to do it?” Qi Qiang looked at Mu Yiran as he hesitantly handed his phone over to Ke Xun.

Mu Yiran took the mobile phone that Ke Xun handed him. Using the tools he’d picked out from the toolbox, he disassembled Qi Quang’s phone without mercy. Without even glancing at Qi Qiang, he just said lightly, “If the lithium battery in the phone is deformed by an impact, its connected internal positive and negative electrodes will inevitably result in a short circuit. The short circuit will cause the internal heat within the battery to accumulate, resulting in a sharp increase in pressure that will ultimately end in an explosion. The lithium ions in the battery will also directly chemically react with the oxygen in the air, causing another violent combustion.”

Qi Qiang’s face of only a junior high school diploma carrier hadn’t even had time to crack at the celestial script that came out of Mu Yiran’s mouth, when he heard Ke Xun added from the side, “You only need to put your phone inside this machine. When it explodes, the fire will destroy the wiring inside and the machine will be scrapped.”

“But can this be regarded as causing physical destruction to the painting’s setting?” Zhu Haowen looked at Mu Yiran cautiously.

“We’re not detonating the phone with our own hands,” Mu Yiran calmly replied. “We’ll set up a linkage system to let the ‘researchers’ do it themselves.”

“…Awesome.” Ke Xun gave a thumbs up.

“Mobile phones aren’t something that can be identified in this painting, rendering it equivalent to a black hole in the universe or in the air, invisible and intangible,” Mu Yiran continued lightly. “As long as it is not directly caused by us, even if it destroyed the machine, it could be considered as having no connection to us.”

“What do you want to do?” Zhu Haowen asked.

“There are only two places where the ‘researchers’ in this laboratory can use their strength.” Mu Yiran glanced at the door of the laboratory, “One is the force used to open the door when entering, and the other is the force used to place and confine the test subject onto the chair connected to the machine. The latter is too arbitrary to be used, so we can only use the former, because the trajectory of the door being pushed open will not change, and so the direction of force will also not change.”

Ke Xun understood what he meant. “You want to create a mechanism that uses the force of those ‘researchers’ pushing the door open to deform the mobile phone placed in the machine, causing an explosion.”

“Even if it can’t be impacted and deformed, it can be pierced directly,” Mu Yiran added.

“What are you waiting for?” Ke Xun said. “Let’s do it.”

Zhu Haowen looked at him: That’s right. He once said that he was an expert at pitting schemes.

They moved the two machines as close to the door as possible and then collected everything in the laboratory that could be useful, such as the supplies on the desks, the hangers behind the door, the mop handle, and the toolbox. They even tore Qi Qiang’s jacket into strips to be used as a rope. Guided by Mu Yiran and with the assistance of the other three, Ke Xun completed a simple mechanism that connected the door to the cell phone battery inside the machine.

When the “researchers” opened the door, the force of the door opening would strike one end of the mechanism, which would jerk the rope that connected it to the other end of the mechanism. This would cause the goat horn-like hammer to drop down and hit the phone battery.

In order to ensure that it would be successful, they conducted a few experiments without using the cell phone battery. After ensuring that when the horn-like hammer smashed down, it wouldn’t use too much force, Mu Yiran gently and carefully made the final preparations for the cell phone battery.

Inside the lithium-ion battery, there was only a thin piece of plastic separating the two electrodes. If the battery was damaged and the plastic layer failed, the positive and negative electrodes would come into contact and cause the battery’s liquid electrolyte to catch fire and explode.

Mu Yiran made the skin of the battery as thin as possible and placed it at an angle that was easy to be smashed and deformed by aligning the tip of the hammer at the position of the plastic.

“What if it fails?” Qi Qiang said through gritted teeth while staring fiercely at Mu Yiran.

“Then ask for more luck.” Mu Yiran indifferently left behind these five words as he walked out of Lab C.

Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen returned to Lab D with him. Ke Xun pointed to the machine whose purpose they were still clueless about. Looking at Mu Yiran, he said, “You said we needn’t make any adjustments to this machine yet, right?”

This machine was much more complicated than the one in Lab C. It had several screens of varying sizes, and since there was no power at the moment, it was unknown what they were used to display.

Several wires protruded from the socket of the machine. The other end of a wire was connected to a device similar to a headband, while there were also devices that resembled clips, handcuffs, and sticks.

How cruel it appeared.

“I think this machine shouldn’t be fatal at first,” Zhu Haowen said thoughtfully. “The contents of the experiment log indicated that No. 282 was still alive even after the first ET test, otherwise it wouldn’t be possible for them to advance to long term observation.”

“Moreover,” Qin Ci added, “If you want to destroy this machine tonight, I suggest that you don’t do it too early for the time being. In case the machine has to be running for the signature to appear. Therefore, if the machine is destroyed too prematurely, there’s a chance the signature might not appear.”

If this was the case, there was nothing they could do. In Lab C, they could rely on the “researchers” exerting force to open the door to destroy the machine. However, they could not replicate this method in Lab D because they could not be certain whether the machine would be required for the signature to appear.

“Then tell me, if this is the case, can we just use a mobile phone to blow up the tool for the frontal lobotomy? It would be less dangerous, right?” Wei Dong said in a moment of inspiration.

“The tools used for frontal lobotomy are all simple and small pieces. Unlike complicated, electronically controlled machines, there must be spares. Therefore, destroying this set wouldn’t be helpful.” Mu Yiran, who was studying the ET machine, responded, faintly extinguishing Wei Dong’s aura.

Ke Xun took a utility tool and started working with Mu Yiran. They removed one side panel on the machine, exposing the complicated wiring and mechanical parts inside. After careful inspection, they concluded that there was nothing that could be used in there and put the panel back on.

After that, they could only sit quietly in the dark. There was no food or water in the basement, and they still had to stay the entire night.

Everyone turned off all their mobile phones to save power. They also turned off the flashlights, and so Lab D was completely enclosed in darkness. Ke Xun sat next to Mu Yiran. They were both leaning against the wall, looking out into the black hole-like darkness in front of them. Then Ke Xun shifted his hand, and when he made contact with Mu Yiran’s hand, he held it in his own.

Mu Yiran paused, and he was about to shake Ke Xun’s hand away, but Ke Xun tightened his grip, insisting on holding hands. Then Ke Xun leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Yiran, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Ke Xun had already shown several times in the past that his instinct was quite accurate.

Mu Yiran paused again, and asked quietly, “Why?”

“It’s just an inexplicable feeling,” Ke Xun put his chin on Mu Yiran’s shoulder. “”It’s not toward the others, it’s me. My muscles are tense and there is a little feeling of being scared.”

As he said this, he pressed Mu Yiran’s hand over his heart.

Mu Yiran: “…”

Very good, the excuses are getting more and more impeccable.

When Mu Yiran withdrew his hand, Ke Xun no longer chased after it. He just rested his head on Mu Yiran’s shoulder, with the tip of his nose only a few millimeters away from his ear, no longer moving.

Mu Yiran’s neck became slightly itchy from the soft and messy hair on this man’s head, but he didn’t push him away. He sat motionless, letting him lean on him.

Darkness and silence not only brought fear and loneliness, but also made people think calmly so that they could face the truth in their heart.

It was unknown how much time had passed in this silent darkness, but finally, Mu Yiran sighed softly in his heart.

In the end, it was impossible for him to be hard-hearted; in the end, it was impossible for him not to be drawn in and not to stumble.

A night that was more tense and unpredictable than the previous few days arrived. Qin Ci took Li Yaqing back to Lab A, and Ke Xun followed Wei Dong to Lab B and made him lose consciousness before returning to Lab D. In Lab C, Huang Pi and Qi Qiang were silent.

“Have you thought of countermeasures in case a frontal lobotomy is forced upon us?” 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 the door, they will take a few minutes to make preparations before the experiment begins. We’ll use this time to search for No. 282 with our phone camera and observe his behavior.”

“I have a speculation. Since the three of us are awake and the frontal lobotomy could not be performed on all of us at the same time, then one of us must be taken to do the ET test in the meantime.”

“The first step in the frontal lobotomy is to prepare an anesthesia needle and apply local anesthesia to the test subject. This will take up a part of the time. During this time, the ET test will be launched. We can then learn about its content and take the opportunity to find the signature.”

.

“So, the time from the ‘researcher’s’ entrance to the onset of the anesthesia is the most critical for us. The third person who isn’t chosen as a test subject will be responsible for finding the signature as soon as possible and rescue the other two.”

“The biggest problem is,” Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen, “we have less than an hour, and we have no way of knowing in what form the signature will appear. Therefore, our responses and judgements would need to be quick and accurate, so as to decrease our chances of making mistakes. This mission absolutely allows for no mistakes.”

“Then, good luck to us.” Ke Xun grabbed Mu Yiran and Zhu Haowen’s hands and put their three hands together in a cheering posture.

Mu Yiran: “…”

Zhu Haowen: “…”

Ke Xun suddenly thought about what Mu Yiran had said previously, which was self-evident, making him feel awkward and embarrassed.

[In Lab D, only people with herectical tendencies in their sexual orientation will become test subjects.]

…What was most frightening was the sudden silence in the room.

Seeing that the other two had fallen into silence, Ke Xun remained motionless, pretending that he wasn’t there, not even daring to breathe.