The Elite Squad

"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."

Groundwater flowed down from the cracks in the rocks above, dripping onto the ground along the stalactites. A team of about 30 people was carefully advancing through this Underground Cavern passage. One or two tactical flashlights were attached to the sides of their helmets, and dozens of beams of light illuminated the dark underground passage, creating an eerie and terrifying atmosphere, combined with the shadows cast by the various stone pillars.

However, this group consisted of the elite of the elite, so they were naturally unaffected by the environment.

"Captain, do you know what we're looking for?" a Guard Team in heavy protective gear asked.

The squad Captain was none other than Hasmu, whom we are familiar with. He was ordered to lead his squad to investigate the suspicious underground cavity cave.

"Search all suspicious targets," Hasmu said succinctly, but perhaps that was just his personality; he wasn't truly cold-hearted, otherwise he wouldn't have answered his subordinates' questions at all.

"Captain, tell me what's going on. Your information is definitely more up-to-date. We've been searching on land for seven or eight years and found nothing. Everyone thought we could finally rest, but then we had to start searching underground."

"Yeah, Captain, how long are we going to have to search?"

When can I go home?

"Did the Captain sign a confidentiality agreement?"

The communicator crackled with questions from the team members. Hasmu, feeling a bit overwhelmed, interrupted them irritably, saying, "It's not that there's anything that needs to be kept secret. After all, we're all so far from home now. Even if there are spies or something among you, until we get back, we're all in the same Grasshopper. Even if we get the information, without the captain's authorization to use the interstellar communication device, the message can't be transmitted back."

Hasmu was also holding it in, otherwise he definitely wouldn't have been able to say so much.

"As for what exactly we're looking for, I really don't know. Even the captain and the others aren't sure. Maybe it's some underground civilization or some kind of monster."

"Monster?"

"I do know about civilization; that's what we came from. How come it's been replaced by monsters now?"

"Could the nuclear radiation have been caused by a monster?" Some of the more astute Guard Team had already formed a guess.

"Wow, aren't those things only seen in movies?"

"The fact that I can join this program, even as a guard, means I've received higher education. Captain, you're not joking, are you?"

Unable to bear the noise from the communicator any longer, Hasmu yelled, "Alright, shut up! In short, everyone, don't let your guard down just because things went smoothly before. This planet hides dangers far more bizarre than we imagine."

Although they couldn't see the Captain's expression through the helmet, they could tell from his voice that things weren't good, and everyone finally stopped talking. However, their previously relaxed attitude returned, and they became much more serious about their various cover-and-forth movements.

Hasmu nodded secretly. After searching for so many years, everyone was initially very vigilant, but later they discovered that this was a primitive planet. The wild animals that lived there could not pose a threat to them, so their mentality inevitably became somewhat relaxed.

His reminder was not only for his teammates, but also for himself. If anything unexpected were to happen, only his teammates and the weapons in their hands could be trusted.

"Captain, we've spotted a downward passage ahead. Should we continue?" After a long silence on the communication channel, a team member operating equipment in the middle of the group suddenly spoke up.

Hasmu quickly walked to his side and looked at the instrument. It was an instrument that mapped closed terrain based on sound, somewhat similar to Echolocation System. It showed that there was a passage leading directly underground, hundreds of meters deep.

He waved to the side and then gestured. A team member nodded, put down his large backpack, and opened it. The backpack folded up to form a makeshift work platform with some joysticks and a screen.

Under the control of this team member, several Mechanical Spider crawled out from under the work platform, stretched their limbs, and then quickly crawled towards the passage ahead.

The underground conditions are unclear, Drone face greater limitations in this environment. In contrast, Mechanical Spider that can only crawl are more suitable for this location.

Although the Mechanical Spider is several times more technologically advanced than the Drone, the Riken not only created it, but also miniaturized it.

The Mechanical Spider uses a camera on its back to continuously transmit real-time images to the work platform. The downward passage in front is only about five or six meters in diameter, and the inner walls are extra slippery due to water flowing down year-round.

Fortunately Riken's technology was indeed quite good; the Mechanical Spider steadily crawled along the smooth stone wall, continuing to descend.

After descending for over 500 meters, the straight passage turned into a slope. The Mechanical Spider continued along the slope for another 100 meters before the transmitted images were gradually replaced by static.

"What happened?" Hasmu asked.

"Captain, the terrain here is too complicated, with too many obstacles. This is the furthest we can go. Any further and the Mechanical Spider will lose contact," the team member explained.

"Captain, what should we do? Should we go down?"

Hasmu's expression was somewhat uncertain. To get down, they would have to lower everyone down one by one using ropes, which would be extremely time-consuming. Moreover, the situation below was unclear, and if any unexpected event occurred, a quick retreat would be almost impossible, making it extremely dangerous.

After thinking it over for a long time, Hasmu still couldn't make up his mind, and finally decided to ask his superiors for instructions.

"Kones, can you contact the spaceship?" Hasmu asked.

"No, we're already 300 meters underground. Our equipment isn't powerful enough to transmit the signal," replied the communications soldier named Kones.

With no other option, Hasmu ordered his squad to remain on guard while he, along with the communications officer and two other team members, made their way out of the cave.

Half an hour later, Hasmu returned, and the team members quickly replenished their food supplies. After waiting for nearly two more hours, the other 20 members who had stayed outside arrived, and the entire 50-person reinforced team was complete.

The 50 men silently checked their weapons and equipment, counted their ammunition, and then the logistics soldier took out two coils of rope and lowered them down into the pit.

The ropes had limited load-bearing capacity, and such long ropes were not prepared in advance; these two 500-meter-long ropes were made by splicing together multiple ropes.

Therefore, they have limited load-bearing capacity; each Riken soldier, including his equipment, weighs approximately 150 kilograms. Each rope on this 500-meter cableway can only support the weight of two soldiers.

Fortunately, everything turned out alright. After nearly two hours of descent, the entire team finally reached the bottom of the pit.

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