Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 231

RPK picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the dial button.

......

10: 28pm

Luo Fan and Ying Que walked through the empty shopping mall without feeling uncomfortable, except for the emptiness caused by the lack of sound in the huge space.

All the surrounding shops were closed and the lights were off, except for the main lights in the corridor, which made the surrounding shops seem a bit eerie, as if something inside was spying on all the living things that passed by.

"Luo Fan, this seems a little different from what I imagined..."

Yingque moved closer to Luo Fan.

Although she did not believe in ghosts or gods, the oppressive atmosphere of the environment made her feel a little timid.

But isn't Luo Fan the same?

"This is not what I expected."

How did they manage not to feel fear in this kind of environment when they were young, especially when the lights were off?

It really is a miracle...

However, RPK's voice then came through Luo Fan's walkie-talkie.

"commander?"

"RPK? What's wrong? Something's up?"

Luo Fan's heart tightened. According to the rules, the monitoring personnel would only notify them when there was a situation...

But the other party's answer relieved him.

"No. It's just that the surveillance equipment here is a bit old. It can only view one area at a time, and the resolution is very low with a lot of static. You can only see the general outline, and you can't see any details at all."

"I understand, I'll make do for now."

"Ok."

Luo Fan put the walkie-talkie back into his waistband.

Yingque also heard the conversation, and her beautiful face couldn't help but furrow her brow at the words.

Although it's not a report, a new problem has arisen.

Only one area can be viewed at a time, but the rules require monitoring personnel to keep track of the area where the patrol personnel are located and the area they are going to next. However, there are two teams, which greatly limits the scope of this work.

They can't keep an eye on both teams at the same time...

"Tsk, this is troublesome..."

Luo Fan shook his head; he felt a terrible headache.

Ying Que raised her head and looked at the man beside her: "How about we..."

"Om..."

In an instant, the entire shopping mall was plunged into complete darkness.

The two were startled, and their clasped hands began to sweat.

It is now 10:30 pm.

The entire shopping mall has officially lost power...

320 Weird

"Damn..."

Luo Fan's right hand unconsciously increased its strength.

Yingque took a few steps back, leaned on Luo Fan's arm, and casually pulled out a high-powered flashlight from the pocket of his security uniform, turning it on.

When a beam of intense light burst from Luo Fan's hand, Luo Fan finally realized what was happening and took out his own high-powered flashlight.

A few seconds later, two white beams of light appeared in the pitch-black mall, slowly sweeping across those invisible corners.

"What to do next?"

Ying Que nudged Luo Fan's chest; her brows had remained furrowed since darkness descended.

It wasn't thinking, it was worrying.

But once the work began, they had no chance to back down.

Luo Fan, holding Ying Que's hand, continued walking in the unknown direction: "Let's go first, after all, we're just doing this for money..."

We can't afford to back down now; we have to take a few steps first...

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..."

The sound of their footsteps disappeared into the dark corridor, leaving only two blinding beams of light flickering in the dimly lit mall, sending chills down one's spine.

......

"RPK, work has started. How's it going on your end?"

AK12 immediately turned on her high-powered flashlight after the power outage, even though she had a night vision module, she still chose to use it according to the rules.

If anything happens, it will at least serve as a warning.

Now that the power is out, her first priority is to check the situation in the monitoring room, because that is the most important core, and whether all the work can be carried out effectively depends largely on the handling by the monitoring personnel.

A short while later, a response came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, so far everything is going smoothly, but this monitor can only view the footage of one area at a time. I need to prioritize checking the next area for the commander and the others."

AK12 nodded in agreement: "Received. We will provide feedback immediately if there are any issues."

"Received, call ended."

AK12 put the walkie-talkie back into his uniform pocket.

Even though the power was off, AK12 didn't choose to open her eyes. She didn't think there was any real threat here; she just treated it as an after-dinner walk.

AN94, who was traveling with her, was the same; both of them had indifferent expressions, as if the fact that someone had turned off the lights did not affect their judgment of the current situation.

They had no destination in mind; they simply followed whichever path led to them.

About five minutes later, AN94 looked around.

It was pitch black, everything was normal, and apart from the darkness, there was nothing out of place.

Perhaps... apart from the brightly dressed mannequins in clothing stores.

The humanoids are not human, and no one knows whether the uncanny valley effect will have any effect on them, but judging from AN94's expression, it seems to have some effect.

"12. What are your thoughts on those models?"

Unsure of her own abilities, she habitually turned to AK12 for help.

But AK12 just shrugged: "What can I think? These things will never be scarce in any era. They can only stand still for people to admire. They're not even as good as us... Or have you and AA12 been watching too many horror movies lately?"

AK12, expressionless, suddenly turned his head and looked at 94 beside him with a wicked grin.

"Uh, of course not!"

"Ah, of course! 94's expression never lies, right?"

"Alright...alright, focus on patrolling, otherwise if a thief comes, the Commander's sweet plan will be ruined."

AN94 looked away somewhat awkwardly. If the AK12 didn't have a night vision module, it might have been difficult for it to notice the bright red mark on the other person's face.

They knew, of course, that they were just being a third wheel for the commander, but what could they do? They were following the commander anyway, so they couldn't let the benefits go to outsiders, could they?

"Tsk tsk tsk, how can someone be so sincere when acting as a third wheel for the commander? How pathetic..."

"Then what are you doing here? Just pry the lock off and go back to sleep!"

Their conversation brought a touch of lightness to the otherwise lifeless shopping mall.

But that only applies to the two of them...

Not everyone enjoys listening to loud noises so late at night...

......

"45, is there any way to make the surveillance cameras clearer? There are too many blind spots... It's too dark, damn it, I can't see anything at all."

RPK fiddled with the display screen several times, trying to install other software to modify it, but it just didn't work.

Even 45, an expert in electronic warfare, was helpless: "It's simply not working. This device is too old, there are no other players or related function expansion options, and, most importantly, there's no network, so I can't download other software to help with the processing."

How could a shopping mall be so poor that it can't even afford a better piece of equipment...?

While the two were busy dealing with the old equipment, AK15 got up and prepared to walk towards the area outside the security room.

"I'll go check out the surrounding area. Contact me if there are any problems."

"Well, be careful."

The two nodded, not paying any attention to her.

"..."

Before leaving, AK15 rechecked the situation at the entrance to the security room and conducted a simple analysis based on the topographical map on the security room wall.

The security room has two entrances, each consisting of a door: a standard sliding iron door and a fireproof gate. The fireproof gate is activated by a red button on the side of the door; pressing it closes the door, and it can be opened at any time. Below the red button is a white button...

"cha"

AK15 trembled involuntarily, and suddenly, dim lights came on in the corridor.

The lighting was pitifully dim, barely enough to make out the situation in the corridor, and it was also flickering wildly.

AK15 immediately contacted RPK: "What did you do?"

"Hmm...we pressed the white button, and the lights in the hallway turned on, but it seems like they can't be turned off; nothing happened after I pressed it..."

RPK pressed the white button several times, but the light did not dim.

Twenty seconds later

"despair!"

The corridor returned to darkness, just as it had at the beginning. This time, RPK tried pressing the button again, but the lights did not turn on again.

Even the white buttons have dimmed.

"Tsk, the equipment here is really... hard to describe."

RPK cursed angrily and then ended the communication.

Okay, AK15 has decided to continue with its own summary.

The general layout from the shopping mall area to the security room area can be simply understood as a "U" shape. Two corridors lead directly to the security room area, each about 20 meters long. Each corridor has a storage room, which is probably filled with cleaning tools and similar items.

The layout of this security room is quite strange. It's not adjacent to any storefront, but rather a separate space led to by two corridors into a dark interior area. Even during the day, this layout wouldn't make any customer want to go inside...

321 New Recordings (Two-in-One)

Without the night vision module, it would be almost impossible to see an area more than 12 meters away with the naked eye. However, in accordance with the rules, AK15 still took a flashlight and conducted a simple patrol around the security room.

The mall's interior space is enormous, and completing a full patrol would take considerable time, not to mention they might also need to check the electrical distribution room afterwards, which is located at almost opposite ends of the street...

The basement is located behind a hidden door on the first floor of the mall. This location is marked on the map in the security room. Just go there on time.

"Tsk, the situation is getting more and more complicated..."

......

Luo Fan and Ying Que couldn't tell if they were scaring themselves. Although nothing unexpected had happened along the way, they were still under a lot of psychological pressure.

The recording had created a preconceived notion that they felt threatened, and now they were truly on edge.

Luo Fan whispered, "Que'er?"

"what happened?"

"I'm increasingly suspicious that the recording might be a prank by the former security guard..."

"It's hard to say..."

Human limitations are magnified at this moment: lacking psychological resilience and night vision modules, they can only rely on their own eyes and two flashlights, unlike the girls.

"Alas!"

The flashlight in her hand flashed twice, startling Yingque, who was focused on her surroundings.