The Mithril base of the West Pacific Squadron was built on an island in the middle of the ocean. Aside from a cleared training ground, nearly the entire base was actually constructed underground, concealed beneath thick camouflage and vegetation.
There were quite a few personnel living within the base, and countless rooms as well. For this reason, the base's ventilation system had been made extremely complex, providing El-Elf with an excellent infiltration route.
Although Mithril had installed plenty of devices in the ventilation ducts to prevent enemy intrusion or animals on the island from accidentally crawling inside, such simple infrared detection equipment posed no difficulty for him. Before the infiltration operation had even begun, El-Elf had already memorized the entire layout of the Mithril base.
He did not need to think about what was in each section of the ducts or which direction to take at every turn; he could make the correct judgment immediately. Passing the infrared devices was merely a little troublesome. El-Elf and Sousuke Sagara moved silently, one in front of the other, through the half-man-high ducts.
When they finally crawled to an air vent, El-Elf stopped and made a hand signal to Sousuke Sagara. He lowered himself slightly and began observing the environment outside through the vent, only beckoning to Sousuke Sagara after two minutes had passed.
Sousuke Sagara took a deep breath, nodded, and crawled past the space El-Elf had vacated. After simply opening the vent grille, he lightly jumped down. Once Sousuke Sagara had left, El-Elf restored the grille and continued onward.
After jumping out of the vent, Sousuke Sagara rolled with the motion, shedding his momentum while keeping the noise to an absolute minimum. He looked down both sides of the corridor with a complicated expression, then took out his pistol and placed