Chapter 122 Looting the Flooded Armory and Obtaining a Large Quantity of Explosives*
Huo Yuan immediately retrieved a set of coordinates from the intelligence database he had brought back from the Dark Web.
It was an abandoned underground arsenal located deep in the mountains of a neighboring province, now completely submerged by the floodwaters.
Inside the dock.
The yacht's engine was rumbling in a low hum.
“Chug, chug, chug—”
Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe.
The air was thick with the smell of unburnt, low-grade diesel, making everyone cough.
Lu Dachui was lying flat on the stern.
He wore a dirty tank top with three holes in it, reeking of sour sweat.
He wiped his face with his grease-covered hands, smearing it until he looked like a painted canvas.
“Boss, Sister-in-law, the water is deep this trip.”
He spat out a mouthful of sandy saliva and patted the newly welded propeller guard.
“I added three anti-entanglement steel blades beneath the propeller.”
“No matter if it's motherfucking water weeds or rotten fishing nets, they'll be shredded in an instant. It'll never jam!”
Lu Ting stood nearby.
He picked at the sole of his foot with his fingernail, casually flicking the dead skin into the water.
“Seriously, Lu, what else is inside that hammerhead brain of yours besides scrap metal?”
“Your granddaddy!”
Lu Dachui glared and waved the large wrench in his hand.
“I am an engineer! This is called professionalism!”
Huo Yuan leaned against the doorframe of the cockpit.
He held an unlit cigarette butt between his fingers, biting down on it.
“Did you bring enough fuel?”
“More than enough!”
Lu Dachui patted the large fuel tank at the stern, making a dull thudding sound.
“A full two thousand liters! All premium stuff scavenged from the drilling platform, enough for a round trip!”
Lin Xingwan had changed into a black lightweight wetsuit.
The suit clung stickily to her body.
She rolled her wrists to loosen up.
“Dachui, can that Sonic Gun you installed fire underwater?”
“It can!”
Lu Dachui grinned proudly, revealing a row of yellow teeth.
“I tested it on a big grass carp underwater last night.”
“With just one shot, the fish's guts were blasted right out, and it floated belly up immediately.”
“Great, that'll save Chef Li the trouble of mincing it later.”
Lu Ting chimed in from the side.
“Alright, stop chattering.”
Lin Xingwan interrupted them.
She carried her 'po feng' Tang Dao and leaped nimbly onto the deck.
“Huo Yuan, set sail.”
“Hold on tight.”
Huo Yuan stepped on the gas.
The yacht let out a wild, furious roar.
The oversized manganese steel crash barrier on the bow sent water spraying in all directions.
The white hull shot into the torrential rain outside like a launched torpedo.
The rain was pouring heavily.
The world was a sheet of white, with visibility under three meters.
All kinds of garbage floated on the water's surface, emitting a sickening stench of dead fish and rotting meat.
Lin Xingwan sat inside the cabin.
She held a stainless steel teacup in her hands.
There was a layer of stubborn blackish-yellow tea stains around the rim.
She took a sip of the warm water, which had a faint metallic taste of rust.
Huo Yuan stared at the fuzzy radar screen.
The red scanning line on it spun in circles.
“That arsenal was converted from a mountain air-raid shelter.”
He pointed to a blurry red dot on the radar.
“The water flooded the entire valley. Right now, that place should be fifteen meters underwater.”
“Is the watertight chamber locked tight?”
Lin Xingwan set down her teacup.
“The place is military-grade, and the floodgates are made of thick steel plates.”
Huo Yuan exhaled a puff of smoke.
“As long as it wasn't blown open from the inside, it should still be dry.”
Three hours later.
The yacht gradually slowed down.
An open expanse of water appeared ahead, surrounded by collapsed, dead branches that poked out of the water like black spikes.
“We're here.”
Huo Yuan turned off the engine.
The yacht spun slightly on the water before coming to a steady halt.
Lin Xingwan put on her diving helmet.
The heavy glass visor lowered, completely covering her face.
Only the heavy, monotonous sound of breathing could be heard inside the helmet.
“Inhale... Exhale...”
Huo Yuan was also fully geared up. Holding a large pair of hydraulic shears, he gestured to her.
“Let's go.”
“Splash! Splash!”
Two black figures leaped one after another into the cold, murky floodwaters.
The water was freezing.
A bone-chilling cold seeped in through the gaps of their wetsuits, making them shiver.
Visibility was extremely poor.
As the beams of their flashlights swept across, they saw nothing but floating black mud and water weeds.
The two of them dived all the way down along the steep mountain slope.
The water pressure grew heavier and heavier.
Their eardrums felt bloated, buzzing with a low hum.
A few minutes later.
At the end of the flashlight beam, a massive black shadow appeared.
It was a military-grade blast door weighing several tons, firmly embedded in the mountain rock.
Lin Xingwan swam over.
She touched the cold steel plate.
A thick layer of green rust had formed on the steel plate.
Near the lock, there were obvious signs of tampering with crowbars and explosives.
A large section of the steel plate was dented, exposing the black carbon fiber inside.
“Water Rats have been here.”
Huo Yuan's voice crackled through the underwater intercom.
“They tried to blow it open with homemade explosives but failed. This door is too tough.”
“Step back.”
Lin Xingwan spoke coldly into the earpiece.
She swam directly in front of the blast door.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly pressed her hands against the cold, rough steel plate.
Inside her mind.
The will of her Space instantly erupted!
She didn't slash with her sword.
Instead, she closed her eyes, transforming her Mental Power into an invisible drill that bored directly into the mechanical lock gears inside the blast door.
“Creak... Creak...”
It was the sound of a brass deadbolt weighing hundreds of pounds slowly turning underwater.
A thin layer of sweat broke out on Lin Xingwan's forehead.
She gave a sharp twist of her mind.
“Click!”
A dull metallic pop echoed underwater.
The military blast door, which even explosives couldn't breach, slowly slid inward, revealing a gap without anyone operating it.
The surrounding water rushed in through the gap.
Lin Xingwan and Huo Yuan turned sideways, slipping inside like two slick black fish.
The moment they entered.
“Bang!”
The watertight hatch behind them locked automatically, keeping the raging floodwaters out.
Surprisingly, the underground drainage pumps were still working, and the water inside the watertight chamber began to recede at a rapid pace.
“Phew!”
Huo Yuan took off his helmet, panting heavily.
His face was covered in red marks.
“Incredible, the watertight valves in this place are actually still running.”
He wiped the sweat from his face with his hand.
“It's still dry inside.”
Lin Xingwan also took off her helmet, shaking her hair out with a look of distaste.
Before them lay a deep underground passage.
Faint red emergency lights glowed on the walls, and the air reeked of a sour stench of engine oil, grease, and rotting cardboard.
The two walked all the way down the passage.
There were no living people here.
Only a few skeletons wearing old military uniforms, long decayed into bare bones, leaned against the corners.
They were covered in black mold.
Pushing open the heavy watertight door at the end.
The sight before them made Lin Xingwan's breath hitch for half a second.
It was a massive underground warehouse, easily the size of half a football field.
Inside, hundreds of military-green wooden crates were stacked in neat, orderly rows.
The wooden crates were printed with black skulls and top-secret military serial numbers.
“We've hit the jackpot.”
Lin Xingwan sniffed the air.
The desiccant in this warehouse hadn't expired yet. Although the air was sour, the wooden crates were dry.
She rushed over and kicked open one of the crates.
Inside, neat black blocks were stacked orderly.
They were labeled in English: [C4-PLASTIC].
High-energy plastic explosives!
Dozens of tons of it!
Beside them, tens of thousands of detonators and anti-tank mines were also piled up.
Deep inside the warehouse, there were even two fully intact automated bullet production lines!
Even their plastic dust covers hadn't been removed.
“Take it all!”
An extremely excited light flared in Lin Xingwan's eyes.
She strode through the wooden crates, and wherever her hands passed...
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Hundreds of heavy wooden crates, along with those two massive bullet production lines...
Vanished without a trace in an instant, completely sucked into her Infinite Space!
The underground warehouse, which had been packed to the brim...
In less than five minutes...
Was completely stripped bare by Lin Xingwan, leaving not even a single fallen screw on the ground.
The armory of Xingchen Base...
At this moment, had achieved a complete closed loop!
From now on, not only would they have guns, but they could also manufacture their own ammunition!
In this wasteland, no one would ever be able to hold them by the throat again!
“Let's get out of here.”
Lin Xingwan clapped her hands clean.
Her face was slightly pale; storing so much heavy cargo all at once had pushed her Mental Power to the brink of exhaustion.
Huo Yuan walked over, wrapping one arm around her waist to hold her half-embraced in his arms.
“Wife, let's go. This place is starting to leak.”
Deep within the underground facility.
A dull sound of metal snapping had already begun to echo.
Under the crushing force of hundreds of thousands of tons of water pressure, the ceiling of the air-raid shelter finally gave way and began to collapse.
The two put on their deep-sea diving suits and returned to the decompression chamber.
Following the current, they returned once more to the murky floodwaters.
The yacht was parked right above.
Looking like a silent white ghost.
Lin Xingwan and Huo Yuan swam upward with all their might.
With a splash...
The two broke through the surface and scrambled somewhat disheveledly onto the yacht's deck.
Lin Xingwan took off the heavy helmet and slammed it onto the deck.
She gasped for the humid, muggy air of the rainy day.
“I'm exhausted to death...”
Huo Yuan got up as well.
Just as he was about to pull Lin Xingwan up...
Suddenly...
His ears twitched.
Amidst the noisy patter of the rain, he caught an unnaturally sharp, metallic whistling sound.
It was the whistle of heavy machine gun bullets tearing through the air!
“Get down!”
Huo Yuan's blood-red pupils suddenly contracted.
Without even a moment to speak, he lunged like a tiger charging down a mountain, throwing himself over Lin Xingwan.
Pinning her firmly beneath his broad chest.
“Bang—!”
The heavy, muffled boom of a sniper rifle exploded from the distant curtain of rain.
A large-caliber armor-piercing bullet, half a palm in length...
Whistled past, grazing the edge of Huo Yuan's helmet!
The bullet's immense kinetic energy...
Instantly shattered the yacht's five-centimeter-thick bulletproof windshield into pieces!
Countless tiny glass shards, like hidden weapons...
Rained down on their backs, crackling and popping furiously.
“Damn it, there's an ambush!”
Holding Lin Xingwan, Huo Yuan rolled half a turn across the deck, taking cover behind the manganese steel crash barrier.
He shielded Lin Xingwan beneath him, his face as grim and cold as a malevolent ghost from hell.
Yet, the corner of his mouth curled into an extremely cruel arc.
The Tang Dao in his hand...
Slipped out of its scabbard with a sharp 'clang'.
“Wanwan, hold on tight.”
Huo Yuan stared intently into the distant curtain of rain.
The faint outlines of several speedboats were emerging. His voice was so low only the two of them could hear.
“These Water Rats really picked a fucking perfect time to die.”