Chapter 341: (EDT) Second Part - Secret Shelter Program
"Gather around, everyone." Zhang Qin Feng clapped his hand for their attention. Jumping into the fast boat they'll be taking to the island later, Zhang Qin Feng makes use of the height it gave him to make an announcement.
"Alright, all of you. Please listen carefully to my instructions." Zhang Qin Feng began once everyone's concentration was on him.
"We'll be separated into two teams, and each team will have eleven members and one Builder's Frame. The main objective here will be to search for the possible entry point into the shelter beneath this island."
"Since our first landing already had this island mapped, all you need to do is follow your own route and search for all the clues here and there," said Zhang Qin Feng. He doesn't even need to add anything else because half of them here had been suspecting something like this from their first trip.
What they were clueless about was the size of this shelter and how dangerous it was.
"I don't think I need to say this, but maintain full alert until we confirm their attitude towards the outsider. As all of you can see from what Department Head Victor had shown to us, our opponent likely possessed more than a single formidable weapon."
"Preventing a fight should be our primary objective, followed by self-preservation. Do not move in recklessly unless you're sure what you're signing for, understand?" Zhang Qin Feng added.
After being shown what the weapon in Victor's hand could do, Zhang Qin Feng is more or less sure that if they end up in a fight, it won't be good for him nor his Wind Base Group.
Furthermore, their arrival here should be already seen by the survivors here. But until now, they received no attempt to initiate a communication.
And this situation could only mean a few things.
Either the population inside the shelter was completely dead, or something else had happened.
But no matter which one of the two, Zhang Qin Feng would have to search for the entrance and get inside the facility before he could decide what to do here.
"That should be all I had in mind. Make sure to keep reporting your situation to me at all times. For any instructions after this, it will depend on how the situation unfolds."
"Let us pray that everything will proceed smoothly and avoid engagement with the other party with force. Do you understand?" Zhang Qin Feng asked all of them if they understood their objective.
"Yes, Sir!" the twenty-four people here responded to him. This time, twice the number of people would be making their way onto the uninhabited island.
Using two different fast boats to travel this time, the separated groups approached the island from left and right. To ensure the Luna Device had no difficulties performing, Victor purposely added an extra Atom Battery Cell to juiced up their electronics.
With this addition to the device, the signal and scanner could work even when located deep underground.
The searching operation began when both ships landed at the far east and west of the island. Zhang Qin Feng's team made their way straight into the forest, while the other team decided to approach from underwater.
A few soldiers with good diving skills quickly get underwater using the diving gear they had, searching for the possible entrance. But the results were not as productive as they've thought.
It was a fruitless effort for the first three days. Multiple pieces of equipment were used to tend the sand underwater, but it was not satisfactory. They did manage to get a few parts related to the shelter, but that was all they could get.
The surface team also chopped a few trees to look for the clue.
On their fourth day, one of the soldiers suggested removing the mountain of skeletal remains to see if something was hidden here.
At first, his suggestion wasn't taken seriously by the others. But when they had no other choice, the Builder's Frames were called to this place to start trying their luck.
The bet turned out to be correct as they found more evidence of a Shelter's entrance further down. From Zhang Qin Feng's initial guess, these bones were gathering here due to the residual buildup from the rising tides. And because more of the bones were collected around here for the past few years, it became large debris that blocked all the scanners from detecting this place.
And to access this entrance further, Zhang Qin Feng had no other choice but to remove close to ten tonnes of useless craps from here. And most of them were skeletal remains, sand, and other items that bond together after years of soaking in seawater.
Even with ten Builder's Frames working day and night, Zhang Qin Feng still took three days to remove most of the obstacles around the entrance. But this also means they're a step closer to the shelter.
Right now, only a two-meter thick bunker door separates him from accessing the shelter. And lucky for Zhang Qin Feng, it seems that the corrosion from the rust, seawater, bones, calcite, and whatever were unable to compromise the shelter's integrity.
Even the electronics were still working well after soaking underwater for so many years.
"Boss, I'll start hacking into the control now to get the door open," Victor said as he plugged the cables into the still usable parts of the electronics.
"Good. Take your time to access the shelter, but remember that safety comes first. Ensure that there's no hidden weaponry along the walls that could kill all of us here once activated before you go straight to the door recklessly." Zhang Qin Feng acknowledged what victor was going to do next.
And while Victor was busy with electronics, the remaining Builder's Frames continued to remove the buildup and make the entrance look more presentable. More and more of the entrance access was opened to Zhang Qin Feng, including the door and the information plate on the wall.
(Programmable Shelter No: 213, Southern Union's Project)
Only the name of the shelter was shown on this information plate. And the vague self-introduction of this shelter made Zhang Qin Feng feeling puzzled.
'Stein… Didn't the record said there are only 212 shelters present? Why is there a number 213 here?' Zhang Qin Feng asked.
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