Chapter 525
Breakthrough of the Light Wall
"Are you crazy?"
"0.1 seconds? What can you do in that time? Not even enough to blink!"
“Enough to get through.” Jiang Nian’s tone was frighteningly calm.
He was already adjusting his posture, his knees slightly bent, his whole body like a fully drawn bow.
Old Dao stared at the wall of light.
The red beams of light were so dense that almost no gaps could be seen.
Temperature readings show that the core temperature of each beam exceeds three thousand degrees, enough to instantly vaporize metal.
The only sounds in the ventilation ducts were the hum of the overloaded cooling system and the heavy breathing of the two people.
"There's no time to hesitate." Jiang Nian looked at Lao Dao. "Can you still move?"
Old Dao looked down at the wound on his leg.
The quick-acting gel managed to stop the bleeding, but the muscle tissue was already damaged, and each exertion would tear more of it.
“You’ll be in front of me,” Jiang Nian explained. “I’ll count to three, and you’ll sprint forward with all your might. I’ll give you a push from behind to give you extra speed. When we get to the inspection port, you’ll crash into it first, and I’ll follow closely behind. That way, even if you’re not fast enough, you’ll be able to get out of the danger zone first.”
Behind the glass mask, Lao Dao could see the almost obsessive calmness in Jiang Nian's eyes.
This is not the gambler's frenzy, but the engineer's calculated decision.
“You’re a madman,” Old Knife finally said.
“Same to you.” Jiang Nian had already started the countdown. “Ready. Ten-second cycle, now it’s the third second. We have three seconds to adjust, four seconds to build up, and the final three seconds to sprint.”
Lao Dao adjusted his posture, pulling his injured leg as close as possible, and used his other leg to exert force.
Jiang Nian placed his hands on his back, feeling the rough texture of the deep-sea suit's outer armor in his palms.
Old Dao suddenly exerted his strength, and his injured leg felt a tearing pain, but he gritted his teeth and poured all his strength into the pedaling motion.
Almost simultaneously, Jiang Nian's thrust came from behind.
Old Dao felt as if he had been launched by a cannonball, with the pipe wall in front of him rushing backward.
The two collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
"We're in?" Old Dao couldn't believe it.
“I’m in.” Jiang Nian struggled to sit up and looked around.
This is a circular maintenance cabin, about five meters in diameter, with smooth alloy walls on all sides.
Above them was the access hatch from which they had fallen, and below them was another sealed door.
There were no lights in the cabin, only a faint blue glow coming in through the observation window from the core area.
A huge spherical space, with a diameter of over fifty meters.
“They left in a hurry.” Jiang Nian noticed the items. “They didn’t even have time to take their personal belongings.”
"Because the anchor point is about to explode."
Lao Dao pointed to a row of display screens at the edge of the control room.
Although separated by the observation window, one could see the glaring red warnings flashing on those screens.
"There are three minutes left until the critical point." Jiang Nian looked at the countdown timer. "We need to install all the explosives within these three minutes."
"How do we get in?" Old Dao pointed to the sealed door at the bottom of the maintenance compartment. "That door requires authorization, and it might be locked."
Jiang Nian walked to the door and checked the control panel.
The screen was black, but the power indicator light was still glowing a faint green.
“There is backup power.” He tried pressing a few buttons, but nothing happened. “The system has crashed.”
"Explode?"
“No.” Jiang Nian shook his head. “An explosion might trigger the core area’s security protocol. At that time, the entire control room will be sealed in an independent force field, and we will never be able to get in again.”
"What should I do?"
Jiang Nian stared at the control panel, then suddenly reached out and ripped the outer casing off.
Inside were densely packed circuits and wiring.
"What are you going to do?" Old Dao frowned.
"Manual restart".
Jiang Nian took a small toolbox from his tactical belt, which contained various miniature tools. "Security doors of this level all have mechanical emergency opening devices."
His fingers moved quickly across the circuit board, the tip of his tool piercing a node.
"Directly power the electromagnetic lock."
"Snapped!"
Sparks flew.
With a hissing sound, the air pressure balancing valve opened from the sealed door.
The door slid open a crack, revealing a deep passage behind it.
"It's open." Jiang Nian put away his tools. "Let's go."
The passage was very narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time.
The two climbed down the maintenance ladder, one in front of the other.
The lower you go, the higher the temperature.
"The cooling won't last much longer," Old Knife said, panting. "In ten minutes at most, we'll be roasted chicken."
At the end of the passage, there was another door.
Jiang Nian peeked out, then froze.
Old Dao crawled over and looked in the direction Jiang Nian was looking.
The core control room is right outside the door.
But unlike what you see through the observation window, up close, the space is surprisingly large.
Each of those suspended crystalline structures was the size of a truck, and as they rotated, they created a slight airflow that stirred up the debris floating in the air.
What's even more chilling is that there are people in the control room.
Three technicians in special protective suits were floating in front of the central control console, frantically operating something.
"The organization's remaining team," Old Knife said in a low voice, "They didn't leave?"
“They can’t be evacuated.” Jiang Nian pointed to a piece of equipment behind the technicians. “Look at that, an independent life support system. They’ve sealed themselves inside the force field.”
Sure enough, a pale blue spherical force field surrounded the three technicians, barely protecting them from the external high temperature. However, the edges of the force field were already fluctuating, and it clearly wouldn't last much longer.
"What are they doing?" Old Dao squinted.
Jiang Nian adjusted the telescope function of the mask to magnify the image.
On the console screen, a line of commands was displayed that kept jumping around.
“They are trying to shut down the anchor point,” Jiang Nian said.
"What?" Old Dao was stunned. "The organization wants to shut down the anchor point? Why?"
“Because the anchor point is out of control.” Jiang Nian stared at the data streams. “Look at the energy readings, they’ve exceeded the safety threshold by 200%. If this continues, the anchor point will explode on its own, even before the Ruins Passage opens.”
He pulled up the calculation model that Qin Lao had sent him earlier, "enough to flatten the entire east coast of Greenland."
Old Dao gasped: "Then what are they still doing here? Why don't they just shut it down remotely?"
“It can’t be turned off,” Jiang Nian said. “Once the anchor point exceeds 90% of the energy threshold, it will switch to local control mode. All remote commands will be blocked, and someone must operate it on-site.”
Jiang Nian stared at the three technicians. "The organization sent them not to maintain the anchorage, but to destroy evidence. Once the anchorage spirals out of control beyond repair, they'll activate the self-destruct sequence, blowing the entire structure into the sea." "If we install the explosives now, the explosion might break their termination agreement. At that point, the anchorage won't be shut down or destroyed by us; instead, it will continue to overload until…"
He didn't finish his sentence, but Lao Dao understood.
Until it explodes completely.
"What should we do?" Old Dao asked. "Wait for them to close? Or force our way in?"
“There’s no time to wait,” he decided. “We have to make our move first.”
"How do we make a move? Those three are inside the force field; we can't get in. And if we alert them, they might just initiate self-destruction."
“Not necessarily.” Jiang Nian stared at the pale blue force field. “Look at the frequency of the force field’s fluctuations; it’s synchronized with the energy pulses of the anchor point. This means that the energy of the force field is drawn from the main system of the anchor point.”
"so?"
"Therefore, if the energy fluctuations at the anchor point are disrupted, the force field will also become unstable."
Jiang Nian took the first explosive from his waist. "We don't need to break through the force field. We just need to create a strong enough energy interference to disable the force field for 0.5 seconds. 0.5 seconds is enough for me to throw the explosive in."
"And then what? The explosives will kill them all."
“That was their own choice,” Jiang Nian said coldly. “If they chose to stay, they should have known the risks.”
Old Dao stared at the three technicians.
One of them was wiping away sweat; his protective suit and face mask were completely fogged up. The other person was looking down at a photo in his hand; the photo was of a little girl.
“They have families,” Lao Dao said.
“We have that too.” Jiang began setting the explosive parameters. “And if the anchor point explodes, more than just the three of them will die.”
silence.
In the control room, the technician who was looking at the photos suddenly looked up and said something into the communicator.
Then he put down the photo and started manipulating the console even more frantically.
“They’re speeding up,” Lao Dao said.
“Then there’s even less time to hesitate.” Jiang Nian finished setting the explosives and handed them to Lao Dao. “You’re in charge of the east support node, and I’ll take care of the west side. We’ll meet up here after the installation is complete.”
"What about the north and south sides?"
“They need to be installed simultaneously.” Jiang Nian looked towards the control room. “Someone needs to go.”
"Who? Those three people?"
“Yes,” Jiang Nian said, “but not on their own volition.”
He turned on his communicator and tuned it to a public frequency.
"Can the technicians in the anchor point control room hear me?"
The three people in the force field froze simultaneously, and suddenly turned their heads to look around.
"Who is it?" one of them shouted into the communicator. "This is a restricted area of the organization. Identify yourself immediately!"
“I am Jiang Nian,” Jiang Nian said calmly. “You should have heard of me.”
silence.
Then came a series of chaotic electrical noises, like someone rapidly switching channels.
"Jiang Nian?" another voice rang out, more composed. "That key? What are you doing here?"
“I’m here to stop the anchor point from exploding, just like you,” Jiang Nian said. “But I need your help.”
"Help? The organization's wanted poster says that you can kill them if you see them."
“Then you can try it now,” Jiang Nian interrupted him. “But before you fire, I suggest you take a look at the countdown. You know better than I do.”
Within the force field, the three exchanged a few quick words.
"What do you want to do?" the calm voice asked.
"Install the explosives and destroy the anchor point."
Jiang Nian spoke frankly, "But I need two people to go to the support nodes on the north and south sides. I will be responsible for the east and west sides."
"Destroy it? Are you crazy? The anchor point contains the coordinates of the Ruins of Return, as well as three years' worth of research data."
"Which is more important, those documents or the entire Greenland?" Jiang Nian countered. "Or do you think the organization's orders are more important than the lives of millions of people?"
“Our orders are to attempt shutdown, and if shutdown fails, initiate the self-destruct sequence.” A third voice interjected, young and trembling, “The self-destruct sequence is already counting down. If the shutdown protocol fails to complete before self-destruction…”
"How long is the self-destruct countdown?" Jiang Nian asked urgently.
Five minutes.
Jiang Nian glanced at the time.
“Not enough,” he said. “The shutdown protocol will take more than twenty minutes, and the self-destruction will only take five minutes. You won’t be able to wait for the shutdown to complete.”
Silence fell again in the force field.
“So,” the calm voice said slowly, “your plan is for us to help you plant explosives, blow up the anchor point in advance, and prevent the self-destruct sequence?”
"Correct."
"But the explosion of explosives could also trigger self-destruction."
“That’s assuming the self-destruct program has already been activated,” Jiang Nian said. “If we can destroy the support nodes before the self-destruct is activated, the entire anchor point structure will collapse. The main system will crash, and the self-destruct program will naturally fail.”
Inside the force field, the three of them quickly resumed their conversation.
Finally, that steady voice rang out again: "We need to see the explosives. And your installation plan."
Jiang Nian took a dynamite from his waist and threw it out through the maintenance port.
The explosives drifted slowly toward the force field in zero gravity, struck the pale blue barrier, bounced off slightly, and then hovered there.
"Thermonuclear fusion explosive, with a yield of 500 tons," Jiang Nian said. "The outer shell is boron carbide ceramic, which can penetrate energy barriers. The fuse is a mineral crystal, which requires a biological key to activate."
"Marrow ore?" the young technician exclaimed. "Where did you get it?"
“That’s not important,” Jiang Nian said. “The important thing is that this thing works. I’ll give you the explosives on the north and south sides, and you can install them. I’ll handle the east and west sides. Activate them simultaneously after installation, and detonate in thirty seconds.”
"Thirty seconds?" the steady voice questioned. "Is that enough time to evacuate?"
“There is an emergency escape route inside the anchor point, leading directly to the sea surface.” Jiang Nian pulled up the structural diagram. “From the support node to the entrance of the escape route, it takes at least twenty seconds. We have a ten-second redundancy.”
"What if the passage is blocked?"
“Then let’s swim,” Jiang Nian said. “It’s better than being blown up.”
A bitter laugh came from within the force field.
“You’re a madman,” the steady voice said, “but I like your plan. At least it’s better than waiting to die.”
The pale blue force field flickered and opened a small opening. A hand reached out and grabbed the floating explosives.
"I am Engineer Chen, a senior engineer in energy systems," the steady voice said. "These are Xiao Li and Xiao Wang. The three of us are responsible for the final maintenance of this anchor point."
“Jiang Nian,” Jiang Nian said, “this is Lao Dao.”
"Old Knife?" Engineer Chen paused. "The Old Knife from Dawn?"
“That was true before,” Old Dao said coldly. “Now we’re cooperating.”
A brief silence.
"Alright then." Engineer Chen seemed to have given up on arguing. "How do we activate the explosives?"
“You can attach it to the main structure of the supporting node anywhere,” Jiang Nian said. “Then press the red button on top, and the marrow crystal will light up blue. After the blue light flashes three times, a 30-second countdown will begin. You can cancel the countdown during the countdown, but once it reaches zero, it cannot be stopped.”
"understood."
Engineer Chen said, "Give us the explosives on the north and south sides, and we'll install them. When will you start on the east and west sides?" (End of Chapter)