Chapter 21: Surprise
After coming into contact with , had pictured countless times what this so-called "nation's highest secret" might look like.
Maybe it was a machine room housing several supercomputers, or an underground fortress woven with cables.
But she had never imagined it would be an like this.
The lifting platform descended silently, and the feeling of weightlessness made the newcomers instinctively grip the handrails.
When the platform came to a stop, what met their eyes was a base a hundred meters underground, brimming with science-fiction texture.
Matte unknown-alloy walls extended to both sides, and ice-blue light loops interwove across the floor and ceiling, lighting the corridor as bright as day.
There was no stale smell of earth in the air—only the faintly cool fresh air from the ventilation system.
"This... this is insane!" swallowed, and the rifle in his hand unconsciously lowered.
looked around, her gaze sweeping over the perfectly sealed metal doors. She frowned slightly. "But why is it in the cave that dug?"
She had caught the blind spot.
If this was a top-secret national project, how could a mutant monster have used it as its lair?
The surveillance camera above the corridor turned slowly, and 's signature synthesized electronic voice echoed through the empty underground:
[Because it was an intruder.]
[Its existence caused the base's defense mechanisms to trigger emergency silence and physical lockdown, so I didn't notice at first that there was such a structure underground.]
[While you were celebrating, I used to descend, re-established contact with the central system here, and lifted the lockdown.]
This explanation was half true, half false.
Deep in his mind, breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Thank goodness he'd already prepared a story—putting all the blame on that dead bug was exactly right.
pushed up her glasses, blue light reflecting off the lenses, and made no attempt to hide her confusion. "But there don't seem to be any traces of staff having lived here?"
Even if they'd evacuated when the disaster broke out, they'd have done it in a hurry.
But this place was too clean. Forget the scattered, useless documents—there wasn't even a drop of blood or a 's remains. That didn't match common sense.
[Because I cleaned it up.]
As the electronic voice faded, the alloy door at the end of the corridor slid open.
Several disc-shaped robot vacuums and three medium-sized multifunctional cleaning robots half a person's height glided out in neat formation.
Their mechanical arms carried high-pressure nozzles and ultraviolet disinfection lamps.
[As you can see, the maintenance robots here were preserved relatively intact, so there's even more I can do.]
[Before you came down, I'd already carried out the necessary cleaning and deep disinfection of the public areas.]
looked at those robots, and the image of the flickering lights in the cafeteria flashed through his mind. It suddenly clicked. "So the cafeteria blackout earlier was because you reconnected this place?"
[Correct. This place uses a lot of energy.]
The group exchanged looks and stopped asking questions.
The story had made up couldn't actually stand up to close scrutiny, but the problem was that it fit what people believed most naturally.
After all, this base couldn't have grown out of thin air, right?
Even though that was exactly what had happened, a truth that fell outside the category of human cognition simply wouldn't be taken seriously.
"Follow me."
The broadcast sounded again, and the blue light strips on the floor guided everyone forward.
walked at the front, surveying the underground space.
The corridor was wide enough for two trucks to drive side by side.
Different functional zones lined both sides, but the overwhelming majority of the metal doors were tightly shut, with indicator lights above the frames flashing a harsh red.
"Can't these doors be opened?" reached out to touch one, but the faint electric current that discharged from the door forced him back.
[Insufficient permissions.]
answered curtly:
[At present, only 15% of the base's energy supply has been restored. Most of the core areas are still in lockdown, and I'm still unlocking and exploring them one by one.]
This was actually a lie.
Actually, it was just preparation had made in advance for the future.
The system would definitely reward all kinds of strange black-tech buildings later.
As long as he put them all in the "unlocked areas" when the time came, even if a mech factory suddenly appeared here later, it wouldn't seem too out of place.
The light strips eventually led everyone to a stop before a huge double airlock door.
The indicator light on the door switched from red to green.
Hiss—
The sound of pressure venting rang out, and the heavy metal door slid open to both sides.
A gust of air mixed with the fragrance of soil and the freshness of plants rushed at their faces.
When everyone saw the scene beyond the door, they all unconsciously held their breath.
This was an enormous chamber covering a full two football fields.
The dome was a single "artificial sun" panel simulating natural light, casting down warm, non-glaring rays.