Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva
Chapter 1153 - 162 Ancient Machinery in the Ruins_3

"Found it!" The personnel observing the situation below heard an excited voice coming through the earpiece, followed by the appearance of marked symbols in one corner of the camera.

"Is it there? Let the shuttlecraft descend."

"Yes."

Three days later, the once endless yellow sand and desolate wilderness gathered thousands of technicians. They erected tents along the leeward side of the collapsed building ruins, with massive machinery about a hundred meters high slowly starting amidst the wind and sand, beginning to excavate the soil and stones in the ruins.

"Speed up the progress! Quickly plan out the area and depth, and there will be two more giant excavators deployed tomorrow."

"No problem!" answered a member below, standing firm.

Four days later, a gigantic pit about 600 meters wide emerged in the sand-laden wilderness, surrounded by several giant excavation machines. Standing at the edge of this wide black pit, a group of people cautiously watched the endless darkness below.

"How deep is it here?"

"Approximately 12 kilometers deep, and the radiation pollution is extremely severe."

"During the civil war, the Southern Federation fleet bombed here, piercing the bottom shell armor with the main cannon of the battleship's central axis, burning through the underground battleship factory."

"To prevent reuse, the Federal Official conducted blasting and burial for such military factories in the forty years following the end of the civil war."

"Though most of the building structure is damaged, according to the confidential information preserved, a workshop producing the core components of the central axis main cannon collapsed due to the bombing, buried in the deepest layer beforehand, thus escaping disassembly and blasting. Moreover, the transfer hoisting device at the bottom of the workshop is intact. If activated, it should send it directly to the surface. This method was originally intended for transferring production lines during wartime but was not used."

"That's our target then. Who among you is willing to go down and activate the hoisting device inside?" The slightly plump middle-aged man spoke. Originally a regular excavation and mining company in the Western Star Domain, they never expected to be entrusted with such an important task this time.

"Boss, the radiation index shown here..." A worker beside pointed to the instrument in his hand, showing data that indicated going down in this status would make survival nearly impossible.

"The existing protective gear needs to be layered, and there's not enough time for customizing special equipment," the middle-aged man explained.

"No time, the time is limited, but going down there means our lives." Another worker objected.

"I'll increase the salary by three times. As long as the device is activated, each of you will receive 300,000 Federation Coins." The middle-aged man spoke again.

"You know, right now is the most critical moment, all the hope of the Western Star Region is placed on us..." He intended to move them with reason and emotion.

"No." Several workers still refused. They weren't new and understood that in such situations, going down would inevitably leave serious sequelae.

"You guys... Fine, I'll add another portion, 500,000 Federation Coins per person." The middle-aged man thought this was high enough, especially for workers in such remote and barren places where it usually took ten years to earn that amount.

Seeing this, some workers hesitated. Although going down was indeed dangerous, perhaps if they wore several layers of protective clothing, the consequences might not be too severe.

"First, get the contract agreement." A worker spoke up.

"No problem." Hearing they finally agreed, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief. This project was extremely urgent, and the decision from above required completion, but teams with experience and familiarity with the local environment were scarce, which is why they were approached.

Seeing the middle-aged man agree, a few felt a bit of regret, wondering if they agreed too easily.

"Make it 700,000." They attempted to speak again.

"This..." 700,000 wasn't impossible to give, but the middle-aged man feared they would call out even more.

"Can be considered, but only 400,000 can be given initially, then the remaining 300,000 upon successful completion." He explained.

"No, we must receive 700,000 before going down." A few workers insisted.

After some more argument, seeing the urgency of time and fearing these few might really back out, the middle-aged man could only wipe his forehead and agree to their demand.

"Okay, 700,000 it is, but this must be the final increase. We will sign the contract immediately."

Soon, a few special contractual documents were printed, then connected to the network to begin notarization.

The workers took the documents, frowning as they flipped through the terms. Though the middle-aged man agreed, they had seen many bosses who reneged and refused to pay afterward. They found it hard to discern the traps in such professional documents, worried about clauses requiring them to return money if the middle-aged man changed his mind later.

With anxiety and hesitation, several began slowly putting on protective suits, while the radiation indicator beside them continued to emit warning sounds.

Will we really survive this descent? The initial joy of earning 700,000 was quickly overridden, and one of the workers' movements became increasingly slow.

Suddenly, he took off his helmet and rushed to the middle-aged man, grabbing his collar.

"You must open the video camera and broadcast to everybody, telling the world about your promise, that as long as we activate the device below, you'll give 700,000 Federation Coins, with no going back on your word!" No longer caring about dignity, he desperately clutched the manager's collar, demanding the video be broadcast globally. He didn't trust promises and contracts, instead with a face full of blood, tears, and struggle, fought for what he was risking his life for.

"I..." Choking with his collar being seized, the middle-aged man struggled to breathe, looking at the furious and emotionally charged worker in front of him. He nodded as much as possible, raised his personal terminal, opened the camera, and began linking to a livestreaming platform.

"I promise you, as long as you activate the underground device, I'll give 700,000 Federation Coins."

Finally, this oppressive livestream began appearing online, and afterward, the workers slowly descended into the depths.

An hour...

Three hours...

Six hours...

Twelve hours...

Two days later... On the desolate wilderness, people through the livestream room watched the gigantic machine slowly rise from the soil, towering and full of rust, yet its internal steel frame was still intact, like a deceased Titan Giant.

Meanwhile, the stopped life signal on the instrument on the side also slowly extinguished.

Watching this scene, the middle-aged man silently removed his hat, bending to offer his apology.