Chapter 20: Underground Base
Morning sunlight pierced through the clouds, laying a pale golden coat over the battered nuclear power station.
At the breach where the perimeter wall had collapsed, was directing everyone to temporarily seal it up with abandoned shipping containers and steel plates.
guided from the side, making sure the structure would be sturdy enough.
and a few strapping young men were responsible for hauling the heavy loads. Sweat soaked their backs, and though every face was weary, each also carried a sense of reassurance.
"This side—a bit more to the left! Slather the gaps with cement!" shouted, her voice somewhat hoarse.
After a morning of busy work, the main defensive gaps were all temporarily plugged.
Crude as they were, they were enough to keep the zombies outside from casually wandering in.
Inside the cafeteria, the long-missed aroma of food filled the air.
, wearing an apron printed with a cartoon little yellow duck that he had dug up from who knows where, was deftly tossing a big spatula.
The huge iron wok seemed to come alive in his hands, leaping up and down; the potato chunks and beef inside took on an enticing sauce-colored glaze under the firelight.
Even though he had barely rested last night, he was still bursting with energy—in fact, a little overexcited.
Several women among the survivors who had been homemakers weren't idle either, coming over on their own to help.
With their assistance, a lavish victory feast was soon laid out using ingredients from the cold storage.
Potato stewed beef, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, hot-and-sour cabbage, iron-pot chicken, and a steaming pot of seaweed egg drop soup were all carried onto the long cafeteria table.
Everyone sat crowded around the long table. The restraint and fear from their first arrival were gone, and the atmosphere was lively.
held his daughter, carefully blowing on the soup in the spoon to cool it, while his wife smiled gently beside him.
, , and a few other newcomers also raised glasses of beer to and with some reserve, stammering out their thanks.
and sat together, watching this lively scene, smiles on their faces as well.
No matter what, this shelter had finally weathered this disaster—alarming, but safe in the end.
***
While the survivors savored the peace of having survived the catastrophe, 's consciousness was immersed in the system's light screen.
A torrent of data streamed past, finally settling on the harvest list.
[ One: — Completed.]
[Mission Rating: Ordinary.]
[Rewards: 3,000 , x1, blueprint x1, " " formula.]
[Killed Second-Order special mutant ' ' x1. rewarded: 100.]
[Killed Second-Order special mutant ' ' x1. rewarded: 300.]
[Special drop: x1.]
[ Four: — Triggered.]
[Total : 6,100.]
This tide had looked dangerous, but the harvest was extremely bountiful.
were unprecedentedly abundant; more importantly, the rewards also seemed quite interesting.
The could solve the long-term food source problem. Its use was limited for now, but it could count as a cornerstone for future development.
The —now that was really useful. At the very least, it would definitely help 's research. Perhaps it really could unlock the secret behind this disaster.
The was practically a divine tool for underground development!
knew very well that dangers lurked everywhere above ground now. A stable underground base was the essence of a high-quality shelter.
Even though this blueprint looked somewhat complicated and sci-fi, that didn't matter—he could directly materialize blueprints with .
But when he saw the cost of materializing such a hub, even he couldn't help wincing.
A full 5,000 !
That was almost all the he had harvested from the tide crisis. He had finally gotten rich, and after this deal, he'd be poor again.
That kind of drop was something an ordinary person couldn't appreciate.
But knew very well that this investment was a must.
A truly solid shelter absolutely could not have an underground space under enemy control.
[Target location confirmed: beneath the abandoned warehouse in , coordinates (-244, -78, -150).]
[Confirm installation of the 'Underground Ecological Barrier and Expansion Hub'?]
"Confirmed."
***
Above ground, at the ruins of the abandoned warehouse, the deep pit that the missile had forcibly blasted open was like a gate leading to hell.
The " " hovered above the huge pit, its engine emitting a low hum.
A high-strength alloy steel cable slowly lowered from beneath the UAV's belly, with firmly secured at its end.
Under 's control, the cable began paying out at a steady speed.
's single eye, flashing red light, became the sole pathfinder pressing into this unknown.
[Depth: -30 meters.]
[Environmental humidity: 92%. Analyzing rock wall structure... Composition includes granite, quartz, and unknown organic matter.]
's tactical searchlight tore through the darkness; wherever the light beam reached was damp, rough rock wall.
It was covered in dark green moss, and clusters of strange fungi gave off a faint blue fluorescence under the light, making this vertical shaft look eerie and beautiful.
The deeper it descended, the colder and damper the air became.
[Depth: -80 meters.]
[Trace gamma radiation detected. Intensity level: safe.]
The rock walls began to change, showing clear traces of animal excavation.
No longer a smooth vertical surface, they were covered in a great many irregular scrape and dig marks—some even half a meter deep.
The cable continued lowering. When 's mechanical claws touched the solid ground, a dull "clack" sounded.
[Depth: -152 meters. Bottom reached.]
The cable dropped by the UAV automatically unlocked and retracted.
stood alone in this underground space, vast beyond imagination. Its searchlight beam was like an insignificant sword, futilely cutting at the boundless, thick darkness.
It was like a colossal underground cavern; the dome rose so high its far edge couldn't be seen, and the air was filled with a strange odor mixing soil, decay, and sulfur.
But was certain this could never have formed naturally—no one would build a nuclear power station on such a structure.
Not far ahead of , the skeleton of a creature too enormous to describe lay quietly crouched there.
The skeleton's form showed a seven-out-of-ten resemblance to an , but its size was several times greater; its segmented limbs were like toppled stone pillars.
The ghastly pale bones were covered in dried, dark red lines resembling blood vessels, like some sinister totem.
And in front of the skeleton's skull stood a crude altar-like structure built from stacked black rocks.
Seeing this, immediately thought of the cult story about "God's Blood" that had once mentioned.
Could it be... people were running a cult here too?
didn't have approach recklessly. Instead, he had it scan the entire space in 360 degrees.
Apart from the giant skeleton and the altar, the whole cavern was empty—dead silent in a frightening way.
What made even more uneasy was that, in 's echo imaging, the space wasn't just enormous; it also connected to several large openings leading in unknown directions.
After confirming this, unhesitatingly chose this place as the starting point of the underground base.
[Materialization of the 'Underground Ecological Barrier and Expansion Hub' initiated.]
[ consumed: 5,000.]
[Remaining : 1,100.]
Along with the system notification, an abrupt change erupted right in the center of this underground cavern, in the open space before .
Countless faint blue data streams materialized out of thin air, rapidly interweaving, outlining, and filling in.
In a way that defied realistic comprehension, they rapidly decomposed the surrounding matter and reorganized it.
In a matter of moments, everything—including the giant creature's skeleton—was reassembled into an enormous inverted black triangular pyramid hovering in midair, brimming with sci-fi beauty.
Its main body was made of a matte unknown alloy, and pale blue energy ripples flickered across its surface from time to time.
The moment it took shape, the circuits around it lit up in sequence, casting an ice-blue glow that completely illuminated the dark cavern.
This was the "Underground Ecological Barrier and Expansion Hub"—an underground base core that integrated defense, construction, and management in one.
Hum—
A low energy resonance sounded. The hub's apex touched the ground and rooted itself firmly into the rock stratum.
The next second, a faint blue energy ripple visible to the naked eye burst outward in all directions, centered on the hub.