182: Demon Gate

No one knew the answer to this question.

But the question itself hung over everyone's heart like a cold, dark cloud.

Stone ordered his subordinates to check the entire artillery position. The result was even more alarming—all the cannons were in optimal combat readiness, their barrels spotless, and the ammunition boxes filled with brand-new armor-piercing and high-explosive shells.

These deadly weapons had not fired a single shot.

Their existence seemed to be nothing more than a deterrent, a declaration.

"Search the entire area!" Stone's voice carried an unprecedented gravity. "They built an airfield and anti-air positions here, so the main base must be nearby!"

The SAS Team Members immediately spread out in combat formation and began a thorough search of the ring-shaped mountains.

Lin Feng remained still.

His gaze swept past the artillery position before him, focusing on the very center guarded by the ring-shaped mountains.

It was the largest and deepest of the several meteorite craters.

Geographically, it was the lowest point in the entire area, the most hidden and safest location. If he were designing this base, he would put the most important entrance there.

"Fatty, the drone," Lin Feng said into the comms.

"Copy that, Brother Feng!" Wang Dalong immediately replied from down the mountain.

Soon, a small drone buzzed into the sky, flying straight toward the largest crater Lin Feng was watching, like an agile hummingbird.

The drone's real-time high-definition footage clearly appeared on the military tablet screen.

The interior of the crater was covered in jagged rocks and black volcanic Stones, looking no different from any surrounding valley.

"Lower the altitude, fly close to the ground," Lin Feng commanded.

The drone's camera dipped, skimming almost right over the surface of the rocks.

The image flashed rapidly.

Suddenly!

Lin Feng's pupils contracted.

"Stop! Zoom in!"

The image froze.

In a massive, naturally formed rock depression at the bottom of the crater, a "rock wall" whose color was subtly different from the surrounding rocks appeared on the screen.

The surface of that rock wall was too smooth.

It was so smooth it looked as if... it had been drawn with a ruler. Moreover, where it connected to the surrounding rock, there was a faint, extremely fine seam!

"Found it," Lin Feng uttered three words.

Stone immediately took two men and slid down the steep rock face.

Only when they stood before that "rock wall" did they truly feel its oppressive presence.

This wasn't a rock wall at all.

It was a door. A massive door, made of heavy steel plates disguised with the color and texture of rock!

An SAS Team Member stepped forward and forcefully scraped the door with the tip of his tactical dagger!

Ssscratch—!

After a grating sound of friction, the camouflage coating was scraped away, revealing the underlying steel plate, several tens of centimeters thick, gleaming with metallic coldness!

"My god..." the team member gasped.

In an inconspicuous corner on the upper right of the massive door, a symbol, eroded by wind and sand until it was almost illegible, was carved.

A snake swallowing its own tail.

An infinity symbol twisted into an "∞".

Ouroboros!

It was like the Devil's emblem, branded onto this Gate of Hell.

"Demolitions team!" Stone didn't hesitate for a second. "Prepare the C4!"

A demolitions expert immediately stepped forward. He took a professional detection instrument from his backpack, meticulously checked the door, and then knocked on it with his knuckles.

A few minutes later, he straightened up and shook his head helplessly at Stone.

"Captain, it's no use."

His voice was filled with frustration.

"I estimate this door is at least fifty centimeters thick, and it likely has internal reinforcing ribs and energy-absorbing layers. This... this is a blast door rated for a submarine's command center."

He pointed to the powerful plastic explosives in his backpack.

"Even if we used all our explosives, at most... we'd only chip off a layer of paint."

At these words, everyone fell silent.

The atmosphere instantly became heavy and oppressive.

They had endured countless hardships, crossed a deadly minefield, and located this secret base sealed by history for eighty years.

Yet, in the end, their path was blocked by a door they couldn't open.

Wang Dalong saw everything via the drone and was frantically pacing, shouting into the radio: "No way?! Is that it? We ran halfway across the globe just to look at a broken door? Brother Feng! Think of something!"

Everyone's eyes involuntarily converged on Lin Feng.

In their minds, this seemingly frail Eastern youth always managed to find a solution to any problem.

However, this time, Lin Feng simply stared silently at the door, his brows tightly furrowed.

He was not a god.

Faced with this pure, absolute physical barrier, his intellect and knowledge seemed to be useless.

Despair began to spread like a virus in everyone's hearts.

Were they truly going to stop here?

Just when everyone was about to give up, Lin Feng suddenly spoke.

His voice was calm, yet it was like a Stone dropped into stagnant water, instantly stirring up everyone's hope.

"Just because conventional methods won't work doesn't mean there isn't another way."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the steep walls of the crater.

"Any underground base of this scale must have one thing to maintain internal air circulation."

"—An emergency ventilation shaft."

Meanwhile, he was rapidly communicating with an interface only he could see.

[Karma Value Balance: 225,000]

His gaze stopped on an expensive golden skill in the System Mall.