Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 1167 - 899: The Military Secrets by the Lake

Chapter 1167: Chapter 899: The Military Secrets by the Lake

By the fourth day, the Sky Patroller shuttle machine had been repaired up to 80%, and Lieutenant Gabriella took them to Sevaburg’s mechanical factory.

The factory itself was like a massive monument of the old world. Even after enduring catastrophic impacts, its chimneys proudly stretched toward the sky, the brick walls and iron doors showed signs of weather and damage, yet the main structure remained intact.

Xu Cheng and the other crew members entered the factory, where she saw many community members working together in unity.

The assembly line was still operational. The seasoned frontline workers were all toiling hard; welders and fitters were busy beyond measure, and cutters and assemblers kept their hands moving without pause.

Loaders and drivers operated forklifts, trains, and flatbeds to transport materials from other parts of Sevaburg. Xu Cheng recognized several familiar metal boxes, which they had transported from Jialong Slope, now being put to use.

Lieutenant Gabriella led Xu Cheng further into the factory to the maintenance workshop; Xu Cheng looked around, seeing this great plant rumbling as it produced canned goods, weapons, building supplies, along with parts needed for infrastructure and transportation.

The air was scorching; she heard continuous buzzing, pounding, and roaring. An industrial-grade heavy forge hammered forcefully onto a workpiece, emitting a terrifying clang, deforming it with its impact and reshaping it into more suitable parts.

This is the industrial might of humans! Xu Cheng thought dimly.

Compared to this, what are alien monsters? Would those tentacled, grotesque-eyed, thick-skinned creatures dare stick their heads under Sevaburg factory’s machines? They’d probably be crushed to pieces in an instant!

Even if they don’t come courting death, these factories will produce new firearms, cannons, armored vehicles, heavy tanks, and shuttle machines, gradually reclaiming the human homeland, dispelling all the mist!

Xu Cheng understood deeply; even under harsh conditions, their efforts had pieced together old and new technologies into a productive new whole.

Observing their labor and sweat, Xu Cheng felt a strange sensation, one of intense objectives and beliefs. They repaired brick by brick, tightened screw by screw. Sevaburg pieced together a strong whole from its meager resources, lifting everyone up.

"So—we’ve arrived," Lieutenant Gabriella led them to the maintenance workshop deep within the factory.

The Sky Patroller shuttle machine was suspended in the center by mechanical arms, partially damaged, in bad shape.

The female mechanic Yevdokia walked over from behind the damaged engine of the Sky Patroller, casually wiping her oil-stained hands on her faded overalls.

The worn fabric hugged her powerful muscles; her brown hair was cut very short, wrapped in a polka-dot headscarf, and her blue eyes were exceptionally bright.

Yevdokia saluted to the Lieutenant, followed by Xu Cheng.

"Caw!" Xu Cheng clicked her heels together and saluted her.

"This shuttle machine’s technology level is very high, it’s difficult to repair; we’ve done our best," Yevdokia said.

Hearing this, Xu Cheng’s heart was instantly shadowed, although Sevaburg was nice, they couldn’t stay here indefinitely. They must hurry up with the repairs; otherwise, how would they continue delivering goods?

"Ai..." Lianhua sighed loudly, not hiding her disappointment, "...we need to find a better repair facility."

"Comrade Yevdokia is a mechanical expert from Petersburg University, assigned here before the war, and has since been a technical backbone of Sevaburg. She’s seen countless excellent shuttle machines before the war, and the shuttle machine she designed herself even won awards at a world-class competition. I hope you respect Comrade Yevdokia’s expertise!" Lieutenant Gabriella sternly said to Lianhua.

Lianhua quickly glanced at Yevdokia, then said no more.

Yevdokia didn’t appear offended by Lianhua’s rudeness, she merely exhibited maximum professionalism, handing a damage report to Xu Cheng.

"I don’t understand the report." Xu Cheng was uneducated.

"Due to pulse attacks from some unknown energy field, the propulsion system has suffered catastrophic overload, and with prolonged high-load operation, multiple filter capacitors are damaged, most plasma batteries are leaking... Darling, your baby’s taken quite a beating, poor little Envoy, if there aren’t enough materials for replacement, it won’t be flying again—without sufficient parts, the damage of this magnitude cannot be repaired," Yevdokia regrettably said.

"Caw caw," Xu Cheng felt as if she would be trapped here forever, and quickly shook her head.

"No, we must leave Sevaburg for the Taixi Continent!" Lianhua anxiously said.

A hundred million reward! A hundred million reward! As long as they reach Taixi Continent and deliver the goods into human hands, they would be rich and never worry about money again!

"Is there no other way?" Bubble asked sadly.

"A way..." Yevdokia pondered, "We can only recover from the mist zone. I remember there’s our Sevaburg military shuttle airport by the nearby lakeside, but it’s submerged by floodwaters, so it’s been left unvisited. If lucky, we might find some suitable parts for replacement, maybe even military-grade, better parts."

"Forbidden zone!" Bubble exclaimed.

"I don’t want to go to the forbidden zone!" Lianhua shook her head.

"..." Yet Xu Cheng nodded, prepared to set out.

The forbidden zone was a place where alien creatures were active, veiled in thick mist, a nightmare hell for them, going there was tantamount to suicide.

But if they couldn’t repair the Sky Patroller, she couldn’t continue the mission and would be trapped here forever!

The forbidden zone must be ventured into!

"Caw!" Xu Cheng confirmed the location, then led them out of the mechanical factory, preparing to explore the military airport within the forbidden zone.

Only five of them, bravely venturing into the forbidden life zone to recover resources.

They passed through the cluster of old bunkers, arriving at the edge of Sevaburg. Xu Cheng, Bubble, Lianhua, Shahua, Ming Gongqiao stood in a row, facing the thick fog. Though determined to come here, they felt at a loss.

All these years, they had never truly entered the forbidden zone once.

They didn’t dare.

"Prepare all your guns." Ming Gongqiao distributed weapons and ammunition to the team members.

"I’ve got one." Xu Cheng took out her large handgun "Well Tiger."

"Where did you get such a good gun?" Lianhua looked closely at the Well Tiger in Xu Cheng’s hands.

"My dad gave it to me." Xu Cheng said quietly.

"I never knew you had a dad either." Lianhua laughed.

"I have a dad. He’s very good to me." Xu Cheng aimed her gun at the unknown enemy in the mist, "No more questions."

"Fine, I don’t want any trouble." Lianhua shrugged, just trying to steel herself, "Oh well..."

"We are doomed." Shahua said with grievance, "Definitely!"

"Once you enter the mist, don’t stray too far from each other, report any situation. Watch out for the Replacers, they will assassinate you and return disguised as you." Ming Gongqiao said.

"Uh..." Bubble was so scared, she opened her palm, the locator was in her hand, and the arrow pointed to Xu Cheng beside her.

Xu Cheng took a deep breath, clenched her jaw.

For the repair mission, she had to go, had to leave the safe place and rush into the mist.

Sevaburg couldn’t possibly have enough resources to repair the Sky Patroller. If she wanted the Sky Patroller to race across the sky again, she had to take the risk.

"Quack!" Xu Cheng stepped forward, determined to go all out.

Entering the forbidden zone!

——"Wait!"

A voice called out from behind.

Xu Cheng and the others turned their heads.

They were instantly stupefied.

They saw troops coming from the direction of Sevaburg, a high-flying red flag, marching in unison.

They were—— soldiers of Sevaburg!

An entire guard infantry camp, well-equipped, in full combat gear, carrying all sorts of weapons, mainly Kalashnikov rifles, old-fashioned, yet looking menacing like they had fangs.

There was also a team of heavily armored soldiers in powered armor, even with signs of patching, these armors were still immensely heavy and indestructible, wielding rocket launchers, miniguns, heavy laser rifles, and flamethrowers.

The Sevastopol Guardians rolled out in full force, with the only remaining armored vehicles, motorbikes, and an advanced tank, all were brought out!

The vanguard.

Soldiers of Sevaburg, they were all willing to help!

Leutenant Gabriella led at the front, saluting Xu Cheng and the others: "Let’s go."

Xu Cheng looked at her in shock, and Lianhua’s expression was completely stunned too.

"What?" Gabriella moved forward, entering the mist first, "Little Envoy, don’t we need to find enough parts to make your Shuttle Machine hum again? Then...let’s go! Let us help you find the parts to repair the machine!"

"Quack!" Xu Cheng ran forward, an unprecedented power surged in her heart.

The mist parted before them, as if melted by their fiery spirit.

A thousand-strong army covering them, assisting them in reaching the old military airport by the lake.

"Hiss——"

"Caw caw——"

"Howl——" Bloodthirsty, malformed beasts and starlight monsters crawled in the mist, silently gathering, waiting to launch a deadly strike on the troop.

The atmosphere around became increasingly harsh, forcing them to speed up their actions, quickly reaching their destination.

The lakeside’s secret military airport had been flooded, and because of the broken terrain, the once small puddles had now turned into a vast silvery lake, almost completely submerging the airport runway.

Silence and stillness prevailed around, making it hard to guess what treasures lay within.