Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster! -
Chapter 51 Goodbye
Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Goodbye
Although Chen Jian consciously slowed down, because the greatest threat in the urban area had been eliminated, and some small monsters and wild animals had no intention to attack, their progress was still quite fast.
The team proceeded north along the Baisha Zhou Avenue overpass, turned right after traveling 10 kilometers, and reached the destination of Han Shui Military Armament Officer School just two hours later.
The secret was right in front of their eyes, and even Chen Jian couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.
However, even so, he still maintained the calmest mind.
After making a simple observation of the surrounding terrain and planning the entry and retreat routes, Chen Jian ordered:
"He Shuo, find a vantage point on the perimeter to establish an observation post."
"Keep the drones at low altitude reconnaissance to ensure the surrounding environment is safe."
"Shen Yue, establish a machine gun position at the main gate, and keep an eye on the road in front of the gate."
"Xie Liu, Zeng Yi, and Li Shi, the three of you separately guard the east, west, and south sides."
"If there are any problems, report them promptly."
"Switch your walkie-talkies to the new frequency I just gave you. From now on, everything we do cannot be known by Xu Lie."
"Lei Jie, come with me into the campus, advance and search to determine the exact location of the coordinates."
"Understood!"
"Copy that."
Everyone answered in turn. Without much delay, Chen Jian switched his exoskeleton to combat mode and then stepped into the gate of the Military Armament Officer School.
He had never been here before, but judging from the buildings in front of him, the style was slightly different from his era.
Taller buildings, a wider field overgrown with weeds and shrubs, and definitely not belonging here...
A large number of trucks, armored transport vehicles, and fewer tanks of various models.
All these vehicles were completely rusted and could not be started again.
But even with just a glance, Chen Jian could imagine that before the so-called catastrophe arrived, there must have been a large-scale emergency mobilization organized here.
"What exactly happened...."
Chen Jian muttered to himself as he walked forward.
Lei Jie looked around, scraped rust off a tank with a dagger, then shook his head and said:
"Can’t see the serial number, it’s too old."
"But undoubtedly, these are our own things."
"And these vehicles show no damage signs----I mean, they don’t seem like they’ve seen combat."
"Just like that 99A in Han Shui City, it seems they had barely completed assembly here and were already..."
He did not continue, and Chen Jian did not ask further.
Both understood what the unfinished sentence implied.
Was the equipment abandoned?
For that army, the only possibility for such an occurrence is that the operators of the equipment have already perished.
So it’s very likely that the catastrophe occurred in a completely irresistible manner.
The assembly here could have been the team’s final desperate attempt before fate struck.
But unfortunately, they seem to have not succeeded.
----Or did they succeed?
If not, where did the remaining people come from?
Chen Jian took a deep breath, made a gesture, signaling Lei Jie to move forward.
At this time, they were less than six hundred meters away from the target location.
Based on the coordinates, the latitude and longitude mark was just behind the teaching building of the Military Armament Officer School.
The two did not separate, but circled from the left side of the teaching building after confirming with He Shuo that the surrounding environment was safe.
The closer they got to the target location, the more lush the grass and vegetation became.
Fortunately, with the support of exoskeletons, their progress was not too slow.
Chen Jian carefully watched his footing. Although it was already the end of September and the temperature had dropped significantly, no one could guarantee that a venomous snake wouldn’t emerge from the bushes.
If bitten, without antivenom, he might die in a rather absurd way...
He remained vigilant at all times, but just as he took the next step, he suddenly heard a faint "click" underfoot.
Unlike the snapping sound of a twig, this sound had a crispness akin to plastic or metal breaking.
"Hold on."
Chen Jian raised his hand and then used his dagger to clear out the surrounding shrubs.
Lei Jie came over, squatted down, and asked:
"What is it? Stepped on a landmine?"
"No."
Chen Jian shook his head and continued cleaning as he replied:
"If I stepped on a landmine, I’d have been blown up already. Do you think this is a movie with defused mines?"
"Feels like some metal part.... wait, it’s a gun."
Chen Jian pulled a piece of broken plastic from the loose soil underfoot, and after shaking off the mud, Lei Jie immediately recognized it as a 191’s engineering plastic handguard.
"More than one."
Chen Jian continued to clear the area, and Lei Jie started helping as well.
In just a few minutes, a large section of the area was cleared.
In the soil, scattered guns were buried.
And... bones that had weathered and almost turned to dust.
"These are human bones."
Lei Jie said in a low voice.
"No kidding, of course they’re human bones."
"They all died here... not right."
Chen Jian spoke halfway and then suddenly realized.
"Not all of them died in this small area... it’s the entire back of the teaching building that’s their ’graveyard’!"
"No wonder the vegetation is more lush here, because there’s more organic matter here..."
His words came out with difficulty, for he knew that those who fell here might be his comrades he had never met.
But now, they had become the nutrients for plant growth.
What was it after all? What was that catastrophe?
Chen Jian stood up, sheathed his dagger, and said:
"Keep moving forward, we are less than two hundred meters from the target location."
"Understood."
Lei Jie replied briefly, and the two continued to advance.
Pushing through the underbrush, when a low earthen mound appeared before them, they knew they had reached their destination.
"Underground facility."
Lei Jie said in a deep voice:
"I guessed it was an underground facility, but it’s strange..."
"If there was a facility here, why did they die outside it?"
"Or did they not have time to enter the facility and died here?"
"That’s possible."
Chen Jian silently nodded and pointed to the iron door at the underground entrance, saying:
"This should be the first standard safety door, blast it open."
"No need."
Lei Jie stepped forward, grabbed the rusted iron gate, and with the exoskeleton operating at full strength, accompanied by the jarring sound of friction, the already fragile door was pried open instantly.
"Activate night vision, get ready to enter."
Chen Jian ordered again, and both descended their night vision goggles and entered the darkness of the underground facility.
The passage was long, with some remnants of bones and fabric scattered on the ground.
But in terms of density, fewer died here compared to outside the door.
Was something preventing them from entering the facility?
Or were they stopping outsiders from entering the passage?
An ominous thought arose in Chen Jian’s mind.
If it had reached the point where this team’s faith collapsed to survive, how terrifying was the so-called catastrophe?
He could not bear to think further and only buried his head to continue walking.
The passage spiraled downward, the elevation constantly lowering, and after nearly 500 steps, he finally saw a new iron door.
A thicker three-proof isolation door.
"Can it be opened?"
"No problem, the environment here is relatively stable, the rust doesn’t seem as severe."
Lei Jie moved to turn the doorknob, and Chen Jian helped him.
After twisting several times, with a light "click," the lock bolt popped open.
"Let’s pull it open."
The two together pulled open a crack in the isolation door.
But what appeared before them was not an underground space, but... another door.
Stuff was pasted on the door.
A line was written on the yellowing paper.
"Open the pressure relief valve first, the valve is on the right."
Beneath this line, a red pen drew the shape of a pressure relief valve and pointed to the right.
Following the direction of the arrow, Chen Jian instantly saw the so-called pressure relief valve.
Without wasting a second, he immediately turned the pressure relief valve open.
White vapor gushed from the slit in the isolation door, and then a gust of wind roared in from the passage behind!
The massive pressure difference almost pressed Chen Jian against the door panel, and only after more than a minute did the wind gradually subside.
"Inside here is a semi-vacuum environment..."
Chen Jian exhaled a long breath and continued:
"Put on the masks, activate air supply, let’s go in."
"Copy that."
The two exerted force to open the final isolation door, and this time, the vast space inside the facility was finally exposed to them.
It was indeed an underground facility.
And it was a facility storing a large amount of supplies.
The supplies were haphazardly piled on the expansive ground, seemingly the people who transported them in had no time to organize them.
Moreover, these supplies showed no signs of being used.
Even after hundreds of years, the place retained its initial state.
What about the people?
They built this underground facility, but where did they go??
Chen Jian looked around, then noticed a piece of paper on the ground in front.
A paper placed on a conspicuous flag.
He feared damaging the paper and dared not reach out to take it, but only moved forward, half-kneeling to read.
The handwriting on the paper was a bit sloppy, the phrasing simplified to a great extent, obviously written in haste.
And the content shocked Chen Jian to the core.
"October 19, 2045.
We know:
Sudden large-scale deaths.
Cause of death is multiple organ failure and thrombosis.
Two hours from onset to death.
No abnormal weather.
Not a man-made disaster.
No radiation.
No virus detected.
We have no time left.
Emergency reserve supplies have been transported in.
To ensure the internal environment is clean and safe, we will leave the facility.
After disinfection, this facility will enter perpetual operation mode.
More information is north.
They survived longer.
We do not know what you will face.
But when you open this door, the responsibility is upon you.
Walk the path we did not complete.
Farewell, comrade."
...
Chen Jian took a deep breath.
The people here were not moving inward.
They were moving outward.
They knew they couldn’t die here.
Because this piece of pure land was left for the people who came after.
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