CHAPTER 347: CHAPTER 344 "THE SECRET OF THE BASE

Chapter 344: The Secret of the Base

Chen Nuo had already rushed to Nolan’s side with his men.

"Captain! Your people aren’t following orders!" Nolan looked at the Captain and shouted angrily.

The Captain didn’t speak, but Chen Nuo shook his head and said coldly, "Mr. Nolan, now is not the time for blame! What’s the deal with those monsters underground!"

"How the hell should I know! You should have followed orders just now!"

"Stop arguing, we’re in big trouble! This base has been sealed! We can’t get out!" the Captain said angrily.

Nolan was stunned for a moment. "...What do you mean?"

"A barrier!" Chen Nuo quickly interjected. "A barrier-like enclosure has appeared around the edge of the base. If I have to describe it vividly... we’re ’covered’ inside it!"

The Wizard raised an eyebrow upon hearing Chen Nuo’s words.

As one of the strongest Controllers among humans, the Wizard quickly released his spiritual power, sending several tendrils flying swiftly toward the sky in all directions from the base.

Then, the Wizard’s expression changed.

"He’s not lying! My spiritual power is being blocked—in every direction!"

"Can you break through it?" Nolan asked quickly.

The Wizard looked at Nolan, his expression complex. He furrowed his brow and slowly shook his head.

"The energy of this barrier is very thick... I can’t break through it."

Nolan’s expression turned extremely grim.

Just then, the Neon person, Kamisou Ichiro, suddenly spoke again.

"Where’s Diamond?"

"...I don’t know." Nolan gritted his teeth. "After the explosion at the central control unit, we lost contact. They couldn’t have been buried underneath, could they?"

"Lillian wouldn’t die so easily," the Wizard shook his head and looked back towards the direction of the central control unit, where the flames of the explosion had weakened a bit.

The flames had diminished somewhat; under such low temperatures, the fire was obviously suppressed, but the central control cabin had been blown to bits.

"Lillian! Respond! Respond immediately!"

Nolan, his face stern, tried to contact her again through the walkie-talkie.

"Make a decision quickly, Nolan! What are we going to do? There’s not much time left in the window period! And since this place has been sealed, we need to find a way out!" The Wizard strode over, angrily grabbed Nolan’s shoulder, and said coldly, "If you don’t have a solution, then I’ll find my own way to leave!"

Nolan hurriedly said, "Don’t panic, I’m trying to figure something out... The vehicles outside..."

"There’s no sound from the vehicles," Chen Nuo shook his head. "Vanel and the rest... they might have..."

He paused, then suddenly furrowed his brow and raised a hand, seeming to wave it in the air.

"Do you... feel it?"

At Chen Nuo’s words, the others looked puzzled, but the Wizard’s expression also changed instantly. After feeling the air a few times...

"Damn it! The temperature is dropping!!" the Wizard cursed loudly.

"Yes, the temperature is dropping." Chen Nuo’s brow was tightly knit. "With the barrier’s appearance and this place being sealed, does it mean... the window period has abruptly ended? With the barrier’s emergence, are super-low temperatures imminent?"

This statement made everyone’s face turn ashen.

The Wizard raised an eyebrow, considering. "Nolan?"

Nolan took a deep breath and quickly made a decision. "Everyone, retreat to the command center module! It’s better to be inside than outside!"

"What about Diamond?" Rebecca suddenly asked. "There was an explosion over there, and we’ve lost contact. Are we just going to leave her?"

Nolan turned to Rebecca and snapped, "Shut up!"

Dealing with a Controller was one thing, but with an ordinary Ability User like Rebecca, Nolan was not so courteous; after all, he was a high-ranking member of the Octopus Monster’s operations team.

"Diamond is a Controller! She can handle her own problems!

"And... if she’s encountered something that even a Controller can’t handle, do you think sending more people would make any difference?

"A problem that one Controller can’t solve, are we supposed to send two Controllers over?!"

With that, Nolan turned and led the armed personnel toward the command center module at a run.

Before leaving, he shot a cold remark at the Wizard and the Captain, particularly the Wizard. "You two Controllers, if you want to find your own way out, be my guest! But right now, collective action is the best choice—that’s my opinion!"

The Wizard said nothing. The Captain glanced at Chen Nuo, who nodded slightly.

The Captain immediately chased after Nolan and the others.

The Wizard took a deep breath, looked up at the sky, felt the icy chill in the air, and finally followed.

Chen Nuo glanced at the instrument on his wrist, which displayed the temperature.

Current temperature: minus 60 degrees.

The group jogged to the entrance of the command center module. Behind them, sounds began to emanate from the base again.

From the ground levelled by the warehouse ruins, a RUSTLING sound started again, as if something beneath was stirring restlessly.

"Get inside, quick!" Nolan stood at the entrance, waving his arms frantically. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"

The command center module was the largest in the entire base, with a hall the size of a basketball court and several corridors leading to different sections. Upon entering, Nolan immediately directed the few remaining armed personnel to rapidly haul out equipment.

"There’s a supply area inside the command center module that includes a small armory, and there are plenty of other resources we can use!"

The armed personnel carried out box after box of supplies. Under Nolan’s command, they ran outside, took items from the boxes, and began scattering them around the module’s perimeter, quickly forming a semicircular arc near the main entrance.

"What exactly are we supposed to do?" The Wizard asked, visibly impatient.

Nolan looked at the Wizard through clenched teeth. "Get your people to help, quickly!"

The Wizard took a deep breath, glanced at Nolan, then signaled his subordinate with a look. The subordinate immediately joined the armed personnel in their work. The other Ability Users also started helping move supplies.

Chen Nuo noticed that in the Wizard’s group, all four original Ability Users were present, but one technician was missing—the one the Wizard had mentioned fell into a pit and vanished.

It seemed highly probable they were dead, perhaps dragged away by a monster after falling.

What Chen Nuo found somewhat strange was a detail he noticed about Nolan’s own team.

The four armed personnel remaining with Nolan had all come out to help transport materials.

However, the two technicians who had been with Nolan’s group still hadn’t appeared.

They must still be in that module marked "Laboratory"!

More than twenty boxes of materials were moved, and Chen Nuo also joined in the effort.

Soon, in front of the command center, items in special packaging were piled up in that semicircular area.

Chen Nuo glanced at the packaging and raised an eyebrow.

"Solid fuel?"

Just then, an armed guard on watch suddenly shouted, "Those things are coming out again!!!"

On the far left side of the base, the ruins in the warehouse area shifted a few more times and then began to collapse in large sections, as if the ground underneath had been hollowed out again. The rubble from the previous explosion caved in, and several new cracks appeared on the surface. With their emergence, that unnerving RUSTLE was heard again.

Then, translucent monsters crawled out one by one. They seemed to emit low growls, not loud, more like a soft SCRAPING. But there were many of them, and the combined sound was spine-chilling.

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!!" Nolan shouted from behind.

Chen Nuo noticed these monsters crawled sporadically from the fissures but didn’t immediately attack. Instead, they lingered around the cracks, growling softly and pacing restlessly.

"Why aren’t they coming over?" Rebecca’s voice came from behind him.

Chen Nuo didn’t respond. Instead, Kamisou Ichiro said coldly, "Are you hoping they come over?"

The female Ability User glared at Kamisou Ichiro but said nothing. She took a deep breath, glanced into the distance again with a trace of fear in her eyes, and slowly retreated into the command center module.

After entering the module, Chen Nuo walked directly up to Nolan.

"What do we do now?" Chen Nuo asked.

He raised the interface on his arm that displayed the temperature. "It’s down to minus 63 degrees! And it’s still dropping!"

"Exactly, Nolan! We can’t just be trapped here and die! If the temperature keeps falling to those extreme lows, we’ll freeze to death! We’re not Controllers! Controllers might be able to withstand this cold, but we don’t have that kind of power!"

Rebecca was clearly terrified and agitated. After she led the outcry, even the two ordinary Ability Users beside the Wizard walked over, joined Rebecca, and looked at Nolan with agitation.

Nolan took a deep breath. "Quiet down..."

"Quiet about what?! Now is..." an Ability User shouted angrily.

"I SAID! QUIET DOWN!!!!" Nolan suddenly roared.

His unexpected shout startled everyone.

However, Nolan quickly continued, "I’m trying to contact the outside! We’ve lost contact with the convoy; they must have met with an accident and been wiped out! But I’ve already contacted the outpost! They’ve sent people driving over to support us; it will take about twenty minutes! They’ll bring equipment and high-performance explosives to see if we can blast open this damned barrier!"

"And what if it doesn’t blow open?" the Wizard interjected with a sneer. "A barrier I can’t break through, you think you can blast it open with bombs?"

Nolan glanced at the Wizard but said nothing.

But that look made both Chen Nuo and the Wizard instantly realize something.

A hint of surprise appeared in Chen Nuo’s eyes, and the Wizard’s mouth fell open. "You wouldn’t... FUCK! You’ve got some serious nerve!"

"It’s a small, tactical one..." Nolan shook his head, not explaining further.

The Wizard pondered for a moment and then said no more.

The Captain asked, "Then what about the immediate problems?"

"You mean..."

"First, the temperature! Second, those monsters outside!" Chen Nuo immediately stepped into the role of the Captain’s "spokesperson." He quickly added, "The temperature is still dropping! If it keeps falling like this, our cold-weather gear won’t withstand much lower temperatures!"

"We brought those modified astronaut suits, but they’re all outside! In the convoy!" Nolan shook his head. "But we have other methods. There’s a large reserve of solid fuel here; we can make a fire to keep warm."

"Make a fire? Like primitive people? Can a fire protect us against super-low temperatures of over a hundred degrees below zero?!!"

"No, of course not in here." Nolan sighed helplessly. "This also relates to your second question, about the monsters outside."

Chen Nuo nodded, looking at Nolan. Clearly, this Octopus Monster operative was hiding many secrets; this base definitely had some! After a moment of thought, Chen Nuo nodded. "Then you can tell us now."

Nolan said, his face expressionless, "Here... there is an underground space."

Everyone fell silent.

The Wizard nodded. "An underground space? Do you mean excavated heating tunnels or...?"

"No, much deeper than that. Fifteen meters underground! Of course, at that depth, it’s impossible to excavate a very large area. But it’s enough to accommodate all of us.

"That place is radiation-proof, blast-proof, and earthquake-proof. It’s made of composite steel alloy and thermal insulation materials. The steel plates have an average thickness of fifty centimeters, with the thickest parts being one hundred and ten centimeters!"

When Nolan finished explaining, everyone was silent.

Everyone stared at him in astonishment.

But one thought was in everyone’s mind:

Why would the Octopus Monster dig such a deep place in a hellhole like Antarctica and build what amounted to a doomsday fortress... Why?!

"Everyone!" Nolan said slowly. "The temperature has only dropped a little so far. We can’t be sure the window period will definitely end, nor can we be certain the temperature will immediately plummet to that horrific level!

"The outpost has already sent people!

"In the best-case scenario, we only need to hold out for 20 minutes. Reinforcements will arrive, we’ll blast open this barrier, and we can get out!

"This means we might not even need to use the underground fortification I mentioned.

"We haven’t reached the worst-case scenario yet!

"And even if the worst does happen, after hiding below for 27 hours, the next window will arrive. Then we can fight our way out all the same!"

The Wizard looked at the Captain.

The Captain, caught by the Wizard’s gaze, was momentarily startled but then quickly understood.

This was an instinctive action from the Wizard. When facing a crisis, the Wizard naturally began to filter people, looking for those he considered qualified to be his "companions" or "peers."

Clearly, among everyone present, only the Captain, another Controller, was someone whose strength the Wizard acknowledged.

So, at this moment, the Wizard instinctively looked toward the Captain.

The Captain, his face impassive, had a flash of insight and preempted the Wizard, asking, "What’s your opinion, Wizard?"

"..." The Wizard was momentarily stunned. That bastard stole my line!

However, the Wizard didn’t want to waste time overthinking it and immediately said, "Nolan, take us down there first. I want to see this place you’re talking about."

Nolan’s eyes flickered as he seemed to weigh his options.

"They’re charging over!!!"

Just then, an armed guard at the door yelled, "The monsters are coming!!"

Nolan immediately left the Ability Users and ran to the doorway.

Through the window, he saw that the distant warehouse area had been completely breached. Dense swarms of monsters crawled out and then, amidst RUSTLING sounds, slowly surged toward the command center.

Their initial speed was slow, but as the monsters’ roars grew more agitated, those at the front suddenly picked up speed.

With some leading the charge, the monsters behind also began to sprint.

As far as the eye could see, hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters were running low to the ground, their eight long limbs scuttling like spiders...

It really is a bit like that time in the rainforest... Chen Nuo sighed internally.

Nolan took a deep breath and commanded, "Ignite! Hold your positions! Defend the hall!!!"

The Octopus Monster’s armed personnel were clearly very loyal; even in this desperate situation, they still carried out Nolan’s orders without fail.

Quickly, the command center door was opened, and four armed personnel gathered at the entrance...

"Ignite those solid fuels!!" Nolan turned his head and shouted to the Ability Users behind him, "All of you, act now!!"

The armed personnel took out incendiary sticks and threw them toward the piles of solid fuel outside; soon, more than a dozen sticks had been tossed.

At this point, the Ability Users also joined in. One of them even possessed fire control abilities—though clearly not very powerful, it was enough to help start the blaze.

As the fire spread, the area in front of the command center was quickly encircled by a semicircular ring of fire!

Many of the monsters that reached the front lines immediately let out terrified roars and began to retreat, but they were pushed and shoved by the surging horde behind them, causing a few to be squeezed out.

As they crossed the ring of fire, the monsters’ bodies ignited as if doused in oil. Once touched by the flames, they were instantly engulfed!

"They’re afraid of fire?" The female Ability User, Rebecca, said, her eyes lighting up.

"No, they’re sensitive to temperature... They can only adapt to low temperatures," Kamisou Ichiro stated, standing beside Rebecca as he stared at the monsters.

"Open fire! Open fire!!!" the armed personnel roared.

The four armed personnel guarding the entrance immediately opened fire, shooting at the few monsters that managed to cross the ring of fire.

"Don’t let them get near!"

"FIRE!!! DON’T SAVE BULLETS!!!"

Gunfire erupted continuously.

The Wizard glanced outside. The ring of fire had successfully halted the wave of monsters. They began to retreat, maintaining distance from the flames, but still swarmed restlessly just beyond it.

Occasionally, a few monsters were pushed over the ring of fire by their companions, only to be swiftly gunned down by concentrated fire.

"They shouldn’t be able to get through..."

"But the solid fuel won’t burn for long!" Chen Nuo shook his head.

The Wizard looked at Chen Nuo. "Mr. Anderson, I quite appreciate your intellect. Do you have any thoughts at this moment?"

Chen Nuo glanced at his old adversary, then lifted his chin slightly, gesturing towards Nolan.

The Wizard understood, nodded, and walked over to Nolan. "Nolan, take us to see that underground fortification!"

"Let’s repel this wave first..."

"They can’t get through!" The Wizard shook his head, his expression stern and cold. "Stop wasting time! Once the solid fuel burns out, we won’t be able to hold them back! Repel them? That’s impossible!

"Take me to see that place!

"Now!!"

Nearby, the Captain also stepped forward two paces. He said nothing but stood together with the Wizard.

Nolan nodded. "Alright! But just you two! Until the last moment, no one else can go down!"

"No. My people must come with me." The Captain immediately refused. "Anderson must come with me!"

The Wizard glanced at the Captain and nodded as well. "Correct! My people must also follow. Two of mine, two of the Captain’s—the four of us will go down with you!"

"...Alright!" Nolan conceded.