Chapter 513
Diving into the Ice Sea
What was that tremor just now?
"I don't know. The monitoring room said it was an energy fluctuation at node number three."
"It's the 3rd again? Didn't we have a problem during the day?"
"Manager Wang has already gone to the central control room; it's estimated that a thorough investigation is in progress."
Jiang Nian kept his head down, trying not to attract attention. But just then, a hand suddenly patted his shoulder.
"Jiang Dawei?"
It's Engineer Chen.
Jiang Nian's heart tightened, but when she turned around, a tired smile had already appeared on her face: "Engineer Chen, you're up here too?"
"That's right." Engineer Chen yawned. "I just finished running at the gym and was about to go back to the dormitory to sleep when this tremor happened. The monitoring room told all the Group B members to stand by, so I had to come up here."
The two walked forward side by side.
"Do you think this platform might have an accident?" Engineer Chen lowered his voice. "I heard about the accident in the South China Sea, where several people died."
"Probably not," Jiang Nian said. "Security is so tight here."
"What's the use of strict security?" Engineer Chen curled his lip. "If there's a problem with the pile foundation, the entire platform will sink. At that point, even the strictest security measures won't save lives."
At the end of the passageway was the elevator lobby leading to the upper platform. A dozen or so people were already waiting for the elevator, whispering about the tremor they had just experienced.
"Where are you going?" Engineer Chen asked.
"Control room," Jiang Nian said. "Supervisor Wang might want to question the people from Group B."
"Then I'll go with you, since I have nowhere else to go anyway."
The elevator slowly ascended.
The air was somewhat stuffy in the enclosed space. Jiang Nian could feel the gazes cast upon him by the technicians beside him.
New faces always attract attention on the platform.
"Did you just transfer here today?" a middle-aged woman wearing glasses asked.
“Yes, they came from the South China Sea base.” Jiang Nian nodded.
"How is the situation in the South China Sea now? I heard that the entire base was sealed off after the reactor leak."
"It's still being processed," Jiang Nian replied briefly. "I was transferred out before the accident, so I don't know the specifics."
"You're lucky," the woman sighed. "I spent two years in the South China Sea, where conditions are much better than here. At least it's warmer."
The elevator arrived at the upper platform.
As soon as the door opened, a biting cold wind rushed in. This was the open-air work area of the platform, and although there were windbreaks around it, the temperature was still frighteningly low.
"Hurry up, hurry up, it's freezing!" Engineer Chen rushed out, hunching his shoulders.
The central control room is on the third floor of the main building, accessible only through an open-air corridor. A fierce wind whips up ice shards that sting your face like knives.
Jiang Nian tightened her collar and walked quickly with the crowd.
Through the glass walls of the corridor, one can see the vast, icy sea outside. A massive pile foundation extends from the edge of the platform, plunging into the dark waters. Beams of searchlights sweep across the ice, occasionally illuminating distant icebergs floating in the distance.
"Look over there!" someone suddenly shouted.
Everyone looked in the direction the finger was pointing.
About 500 meters southeast of the platform, a huge splash suddenly erupted on the sea surface. Immediately afterward, a black metallic object broke through the water, reflecting a cold light under the searchlight.
"what is that?"
"It looks like... a submarine?"
"The organization's patrol units?"
"No, I've never seen this model before."
In the control room, the alarm suddenly sounded.
"Warning: Unidentified underwater unit detected. 500 meters away, surfacing."
Jiang Nian's heart skipped a beat.
Sea Dragon Squad?
No, they should be waiting twenty nautical miles away and wouldn't approach rashly.
"All personnel, enter the building immediately! Security team, prepare to respond!" Old Dao's voice came over the loudspeaker, calm and stern.
The crowd immediately erupted into chaos as the technicians scrambled toward the building entrance.
Engineer Chen grabbed Jiang Nian: "Let's go!"
"Wait." Jiang Nian stared at the black object.
It had fully surfaced, measuring approximately fifteen meters in length, with no markings on its streamlined hull. The hatch opened, and three people dressed in black combat suits jumped out and landed on the ice.
They moved nimbly, quickly spreading out in tactical formations, each carrying a uniquely shaped weapon.
"Intruder!" someone screamed.
Gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.
It wasn't a normal gunshot, but a low, muffled "thud," like it was being silenced. The bullets struck the platform's metal exterior wall, sending up a shower of sparks.
"Get down!" Jiang Nian shoved Chen Gong to the ground.
More gunfire erupted from all over the platform—it was the security team returning fire.
The three men were clearly well-trained, using the undulations of the ice to move quickly, fighting as they approached the platform. Their objective was clear: the central control room.
"Damn it, someone actually dared to attack the platform?" Engineer Chen lay on the ground, his voice trembling.
Jiang Nian didn't speak, her mind racing.
This isn't the Sea Dragon Squad, nor is it anyone from the base. Then who could it be? An enemy within the organization? Or…?
"Old Qin," he said in a low voice into the communicator, "unidentified armed personnel have appeared on the platform. Three of them are on the ice in the southeast direction and are moving towards the central control room."
"What?" Old Qin's voice was filled with shock. "Our people are all on standby outside, they're not our people."
Can it identify an individual?
"Analyzing the footage... wait, their equipment... it's a bit like the Dawn People."
"breaking Dawn?"
“An underground resistance group that opposes the organization. We had intelligence that they were active in Greenland, but we didn’t expect them to dare to attack the platform directly.”
The gunfight continues.
The three men had reached the edge of the platform and were beginning to climb the windbreak wall. The security team's firepower was intense, but the enemy's protective gear was clearly more advanced; most of the bullets bounced off their combat suits.
"Knife Team! They're wearing reinforced armor!" a security guard shouted into the communications channel.
"Use high-explosive shells!" Old Knife's voice was icy.
A few seconds later, an even more violent explosion rang out.
Ice shards and metal fragments flew everywhere. One of the intruders was blasted off the wall but quickly got back up and continued firing.
“They’re not here to cause trouble,” Jiang Nian suddenly said.
"What?" Engineer Chen was stunned.
“If they came to sabotage the platform, they should have blown up the foundation piles or energy nodes directly. But they went straight to the control room…” Jiang Nian stared at the three people’s movements, “They came to steal things.”
The control room door suddenly opened, and Supervisor Wang rushed out, followed by two technicians. His face was ashen, and he was carrying a silver briefcase.
"Knife Team! Escort them to the emergency escape pod!" Manager Wang roared.
Old Knife peeked out from behind cover, fired a barrage of shots to force back an intruder, and then rushed toward Manager Wang: "This way!"
Just then, another mutation occurred.
Suddenly, an even more violent tremor came from below the platform, ten times stronger than before!
The entire building was shaking, its metal structure groaning under the strain. Light bulbs on the ceiling burst, sending debris raining down.
"There's a problem with the pile foundation!" someone screamed.
"Warning: Node 5 is experiencing energy outage and is overloaded." The system's electronic voice sounded particularly jarring amidst the alarm.
Jiang Nian's heart sank.
The explosives he placed on node five were prematurely triggered due to interference from the activated energy field.
No, it's not explosives. If it were explosives, the noise would be much louder.
"Elder Qin, what's going on with node number five?" "It's not explosives!" Elder Qin's voice was urgent. "It's a problem with the node itself! The energy output has exceeded the safety threshold by two hundred percent, and the core temperature is skyrocketing! Jiang Nian, you must get out of there before it melts down!"
What will happen if it melts down?
"It's equivalent to a medium-sized reactor exploding; the entire platform would be blown into the air!"
Engineer Chen scrambled to his feet, his face deathly pale: "What on earth happened? Intruders and node malfunctions, what's going on today?!"
Jiang Nian grabbed his arm: "Engineer Chen, do you know where the emergency escape pod is?"
"I know, it's on the east side of the bottom layer, but it requires supervisory authority to activate."
"take me."
"Now? There's gunfire outside!"
"The platform is about to crash; staying here is a death sentence."
Engineer Chen gritted his teeth: "Let's go!"
Taking advantage of the chaos, the two ran down the corridor to the ground floor. Along the way, they encountered several panicked technicians who were all crowding towards the escape pods.
"Don't push! Take your time!"
"Let the supervisor go first!"
"Why? Are we all going to die here?"
Panic is spreading.
Jiang Nian noticed that the three intruders had breached the outer defenses and were engaged in a firefight with the security team at the control room entrance. Old Dao, protecting Supervisor Wang, fought and retreated towards the elevator.
“They’re going to the escape pods too,” Jiang Nian said.
"Then let's hurry!" Engineer Chen quickened his pace.
On the east side of the ground floor, the escape pod area was already crowded with people. Six spherical escape pods were arranged on the launch pad, each capable of holding four people. But there were at least thirty people on site.
"Access card! Who has an access card?"
Where is Supervisor Wang?
"They're behind, coming soon!"
Jiang Nian scanned his surroundings. There was only one door between them and Node Six, but the crowd was in chaos, making it impossible to get through.
"Engineer Chen, you wait here, I'll go find the access card."
Where are you going to look?
"Manager Wang definitely has it on him."
Jiang Nian turned and walked back, stopping at the corner of the corridor. Lao Dao and Manager Wang were coming from another direction, and the sound of gunfire behind them was getting closer.
"The knife team, they're catching up!" a security guard shouted.
"You guys hold them off!" Old Knife didn't even turn his head, pulling Supervisor Wang towards the escape pod area.
Just as they were turning the corner, Jiang Nian suddenly made his move.
A precise chop to the back of Old Dao's neck. Old Dao groaned, his body went limp, but surprisingly, he didn't collapse immediately.
He whirled around, and the stun baton swept across!
Jiang Hou leaned back to dodge, drew his short blade, and thrust it straight at the opponent's wrist.
"It's you!" Old Dao recognized him, a fierce glint in his eyes. "I knew something was off about you!"
The two exchanged blows rapidly in the narrow corridor. Old Dao was clearly a trained fighter, his moves ruthless, each strike aimed straight for vital points. But Jiang Nian was faster, his short blade flashing silver, forcing Old Dao to retreat repeatedly.
"Who exactly are you?" Old Dao asked, panting.
"The one who'll take your life," Jiang Nian replied coldly.
Another clash ensued, sparks flying as the stun baton and short blade collided. Old Dao suddenly released his grip, the stun baton flying from his hand, while simultaneously drawing a pistol from his waist with his left hand!
The gun barrel was raised.
Jiang Nian lunged forward, grabbed the other person's wrist with his left hand, and pushed him upwards.
"boom!"
The bullet hit the ceiling, sending sparks flying.
Almost simultaneously, Jiang Nian's right-hand short blade pierced Lao Dao's ribs—not a vital spot, but enough to render him incapacitated.
Old Dao's eyes widened, and he slowly knelt down, blood gushing from his wound.
He stared at Jiang Nian, his eyes filled with resentment, "The platform can't be destroyed."
"Why?" Jiang Nian squatted down and took the access card out of his pocket.
Jiang Nian frowned, but didn't have time to ask further. He stood up and looked at Manager Wang, who was hiding in the corner.
Manager Wang, clutching the silver briefcase, was deathly pale: "Don't kill me, I'll give you anything you want..."
"Permission card, the highest level of access for all nodes."
“In my office.”
Jiang Nian pulled Supervisor Wang up, turned to Engineer Chen and shouted, "You go up to the escape pod first, don't wait for me!"
Engineer Chen opened his mouth, then finally nodded, turned and ran towards the crowd.
At the other end of the corridor, the gunfire suddenly stopped.
Three intruders broke through the defenses and rushed towards them. They spotted Jiang Nian and Manager Wang and immediately raised their guns.
"Put down the hostages!" the leader shouted, his voice altered by a voice changer, making it sound very strange.
Jiang Nian shielded Manager Wang in front of him: "If he comes any closer, I'll kill him."
“His life or death is unimportant,” the intruder said coldly. “What we want is the box in his hand.”
Manager Wang trembled and clutched his briefcase tightly: "This...this is top-secret information from headquarters...I can't give it to you."
"Then I'll take you with me."
All three opened fire simultaneously.
Jiang Nian pulled Manager Wang into the room next door, bullets hitting the door frame and sparks flying.
"To your office, quick!"
Manager Wang scrambled ahead to lead the way, with Jiang Nian following behind, closing and locking the door behind him.
The office was at the end of the corridor, requiring passage across an open-air pier. The pier offered no cover, leaving it completely exposed to the intruders' firepower.
"We can't go that way!" Manager Wang panicked.
"There's no time left." Jiang Nian glanced at the time; it was 4:15. "The node could melt down at any moment."
He took a deep breath, suddenly kicked open the door, and dragged Manager Wang out.
Gunshots rang out immediately.
Bullets whizzed past him, striking the metal railings of the pier with a piercing thud. Jiang Nian shoved Manager Wang forward, turned around, and the short blade flew from his hand.
"Whoosh!"
The short blade pierced precisely into the shoulder of an intruder. The man screamed in pain, and the muzzle of his gun veered to one side.
The other two immediately switched their firepower.
Jiang Nian rushed into the office and locked the door behind her.
Where's the card?
With trembling hands, Supervisor Wang unlocked the combination lock on his desk and took out three black access cards. "Red ones are for master control, blue ones are for node access, and green ones are for the escape system..."
Jiang Nian took the card: "What's in the briefcase?"
"It's the core data of the anchor point, and the encryption algorithm for the spatial coordinates..."
"The coordinates of the Ruins?"
Manager Wang's eyes widened: "How did you know?!"
Jiang Nian stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly reached out: "Give me the box."
"No! This is top secret!"
"The platform is about to explode. Do you want to die with it, or let me try to take it out of here?" (End of Chapter)