175: emergency exhaust vent

"Sir?"

Shitou followed Lin Feng's pointing finger, his face full of doubt and suspicion.

It was a smooth, steep, almost barren cliff face, illuminated brightly by the pale moonlight and searchlights. Forget hiding an entrance; even a gecko would struggle to find a foothold there.

"There's nothing there," Shitou's tone was firm, a professional judgment from his experience as a top-tier special forces soldier.

Lin Feng didn't look at him, still fixated on that spot, his voice devoid of any fluctuation.

"Send your best climber up."

An order, not a suggestion.

Shitou's lips twitched, but he ultimately swallowed his doubts. This seemingly frail Eastern youth had earned the right to issue commands through his previously unbelievable performance.

"Shanmao!" he growled into the walkie-talkie, "Gear up, target the location indicated by Mr. Lin!"

"Roger."

A lean and agile figure emerged from the team. He quickly pulled out climbing ropes, pitons, and ascenders from his gear bag, moving as fast as a magician. He glanced at the smooth cliff face, his Adam's apple bobbing, but said nothing, just giving Shitou a thumbs-up.

"Thud!"

A specialized piton gun emitted a muffled sound as the first piton was firmly driven into the rock wall.

Shanmao's figure, like a nimble cat in the night, slowly climbed up the steep cliff face.

Below, everyone held their breath.

Wang Dalong was so nervous his palms were sweating, his heart pounding. He whispered to Lin Feng, "Brother Feng, are you... sure? If he falls from there, it's straight to reincarnation."

Lin Feng ignored him, just holding up his binoculars, motionless.

Time passed minute by minute.

Ten minutes later, Shanmao's voice came through the walkie-talkie, panting and tinged with confusion.

"Captain, reached the designated position... there's... nothing here, just ordinary rock wall with some moss."

Shitou looked at Lin Feng, his eyes questioning.

"Scrape off the moss," Lin Feng's voice transmitted through the walkie-talkie to the cliff face. "Use your thermal imager to scan that rock."

"Understood."

Shanmao drew his tactical knife and began laboriously scraping off the surface attachments on the rock.

A few minutes later.

"My God..." came Shanmao's barely suppressed exclamation over the walkie-talkie! "Captain! Here... there's a seam! A very fine seam! It forms an irregular quadrilateral!"

The group below erupted in murmurs!

Wang Dalong's mouth hung open in an O shape, staring incredulously at Lin Feng's profile.

He could see that? Are those human eyes or eagle eyes? No, even eagle eyes aren't that absurd!

"Pry it open!" Shitou's voice also carried a hint of excitement.

From above the cliff face came the grating sound of a metal pry bar scraping against rock, accompanied by Shanmao's heavy breathing.

Suddenly, a "crack"!

Then, amid a series of teeth-grinding "creaks," that less-than-half-square-meter "rock" was forcibly pried open, revealing a gap!

A rush of cold, musty air, as if imprisoned for over seventy years, surged out from the gap!

"Report! It's a Vertical Shaft! A Vertical Shaft going straight down! Blocked by Metal Grates inside!"

Shanmao's voice was filled with awe.

Shitou looked at Lin Feng, his gaze shifting from scrutiny to reverence.

He decisively ordered, "Use the Small Plasma Cutter to cut through it!"

As the order was given, another technical soldier immediately hoisted a backpack-sized device up via rope.

A blinding blue arc light ignited on the hundred-meter-high cliff face, like ghostly fire blooming in the night. Sparks flew, illuminating Shanmao's face, filled with shock and excitement.

Ten minutes later.

"Grate cut through! Passage opened!"

"Well done!" Shitou growled, then turned to Lin Feng, "Sir, what next?"

"Me, you, Fatty, plus two technical soldiers, go down," Lin Feng said succinctly. "The rest, secure this area, maintain radio silence, erase all traces."

"Roger!"

Five ropes were secured and lowered down the pitch-black, bottomless Vertical Shaft.

Wang Dalong looked at the dark, gaping entrance, his legs trembling. "Brother Feng, are we... really going down? There won't be any zombies or mutants down there, will there?"

Lin Feng had already put on his helmet and tactical flashlight, grabbing the rope first. He glanced back at Wang Dalong and said calmly:

"After the founding of the nation, no spirits are allowed."

With that, he leaped without hesitation, his figure instantly swallowed by the darkness.

Wang Dalong: "..."

The five descended one by one, the metal carabiners rubbing against the ropes with a soft "rustling" sound. The shaft was dead silent, only the wind from the descent whistling in their ears.

After descending about fifty meters.

"Click."

Lin Feng's combat boots landed steadily on solid metal ground.

He looked up and turned on the powerful searchlight on his helmet.

A solid beam of light, like a sharp scalpel, instantly sliced through the thick, ink-like darkness ahead.

Wang Dalong and the others landed one after another, five beams of light simultaneously shining, converging forward.

When they saw the scene before them, even someone as imaginative as Wang Dalong instantly froze, losing the ability to speak.

They stood on a massive metal platform.

Ahead of the platform was an enormous underground space. Where the light beams reached, they could only see countless crisscrossing steel walkways, huge pipes, and some unknown mechanical structures, layered upon each other, extending into the endless dark depths.

Most striking was directly in front of them: a Giant Turbine Fan, over a dozen stories high, that had stopped operating.

The massive metal blades stood still, exuding an intimidating presence.

This wasn't a base.

This... was a Steel City buried within the mountain!