Chapter 227

"Look... look at the way those two died! This is the price you pay for disregarding human life and issuing orders so easily!"

"Enough! As an engineer, your job is to ensure the project proceeds smoothly. My men risking their lives to gather intelligence is none of your business, outsiders, having the right to interfere..."

"Then, what about completely ignoring the Rhine Labs' quarantine measures...? Your Excellency Boris, if you don't trust us, you can simply prevent us from getting involved in the first place. I've seen many politicians in Columbia attempt to interfere with research institutions, and the consequences haven't been optimistic."

"The 'Pollution' of the Sarcophagus was quite deadly. I hope the lives of these two people will teach you a lesson: every rule in the laboratory is a lesson learned from human lives and accidents... And because of your reckless actions, the corpses that were moved out today have greatly shaken the workers."

"Because of the strike by your workers, the project cannot proceed, and our efforts to appease them have been largely ineffective... That's why we've come to you. As for Weedy's complaints, please consider them carefully... You know where to find us; you can let us know when the project can resume."

Watching Saria and Weedy berate him before leaving on their own, Boris slammed his fist on the table again... Was he angry about the loss of face for his noble family? Or was he angry about his failed attempt to bypass Rhodes Island to investigate the truth behind the Sarcophagus...?

"They're right, you were indeed hasty this time."

Accompanied by a rhythmic mechanical hissing sound, a black voice emerged from the shadows.

Boris remained expressionless; the two grotesque corpses in the corner turned Boris office into a morgue.

"To be hasty... intelligence work inevitably involves risks... this is something my men all understand."

"As I said, because of that Feline, Rhine Lab and Rhodes Island's understanding of 'Pollution' may be comparable to ours... You should trust them in this regard."

"Trust? How can I trust an organization that brought the Core City to a standstill the day it arrived, and Rhodes Island, which possesses Inner Guards capabilities and even made you yield to it time and again..."

Boris returned to his seat, rubbed his temples, and sighed repeatedly.

"Have the engineering drawings they provided been confirmed by Saint Petersburg?"

"The engineers from the construction team that contracted the royal project have reviewed the blueprints, and there are no problems. You also prepared the materials and manpower yourself, and there are no problems with those as well."

"As for Rhodes Island's movements that you asked me to keep an eye on, they are indeed hiding from your agents' operations, but I still think it's because your 'opening remarks' were too direct in trying to control them..."

"After all, I've reviewed both the initial prisoners and the rebel prisoners captured during the subsequent station raids, and there are no issues with them."

Faced with the Inner Guards's seemingly nonchalant statement, Boris pursed his lips and stared at him for a moment, then silently stirred the air in front of him with his hand, as if pointing at himself repeatedly would reveal the truth of the matter:

"So, Rhine Lab is fine, Rhodes Island is fine, then the problem lies with me?"

Although the Inner Guards didn't say anything, for some reason, Boris seemed to have indeed seen the other man's slightly disdainful look.

Suppressing the urge to slam his fist on the table again, Boris sighed, took a cigar from his cigarette case, and asked while making a cut with a slightly dull cigar cutter:

"Have you found anything about the cause of that gentleman's death?"

"... All the evidence points to that previously non-existent relic machine... the device that suppresses the 'The Dominion,' it's highly likely to be a creation of Previous Civilization..."

"So you said that sir was killed by machines from Previous Civilization? You might as well say that it was that Feline who did it... At least the latter can be dragged to jail, while the former will only become a stain on that sir's reputation."

After sighing and groaning for a while, Boris took a puff of his cigar by the candlestick and glanced at his watch.

"... It's been two weeks... If this continues, even if the city defense force has spare batteries, they'll probably be completely depleted... Even with some manual operation, the city defense cannons... Sigh... Are you really sure it's okay to go and repair them with those people who said it would be fine?"

"That's the key to the investigation. We'll find out if there are any problems there when we go there."

After the Inner Guards finished speaking and turned to leave, Boris's expression remained unchanged.

On July 10, 1095, Ursus local time, Nana received a communication from Boris that the workers were in place and the outer construction was complete; only the final construction in the Pollution remained.

"... Saying that the workers have been appeased is more like saying they've replaced them all."

Looking at the group of soldiers dressed in rudimentary protective gear, who resembled soldiers more than workers, Nana offered no comment, and simply continued inspecting Amiya's protective gear...

While the deeper the group goes and the closer they get to the Tactical Unit, the greater the protection provided by the Collapse Paradigm in terms of Collapse Pollution... the full-body protective suits are not just for wearing during Collapse Pollution.

After glancing at the Inner Guards present, Nana checked that her breathing mask was working properly, gave them a professional smile, and then looked at Weedy:

"Has the division of labor in the engineering sequence been arranged?"

"We've already distributed them to everyone according to difficulty... Those without relevant experience will be given instruction manuals and assigned the simplest tasks; those from engineering backgrounds will be given better protective suits and will go with us into the Pollution... And the deepest part of the Pollution will be handled by us, with the highest level of protection..."

As she spoke, Weedy glanced at Amiya was following behind Nana:

"Speaking of which, although everything has been arranged for this operation, isn't it too dangerous to have Amiya come along?"

After all, Nana had already explained to everyone that she was going to target Ursus's Inner Guards again... And Nana didn't care about Boris, who was not far from her group, and said bluntly:

"It's more dangerous to leave her at the mansion... and if she becomes a burden to the company, that would be the worst possible time... so it's better for her to come with us."

Boris had clearly overheard Nana's implication that "keeping Amiya on the ground would definitely lead to her being taken hostage." After all, Boris's desire for control had never been strictly concealed. However, few people Boris had encountered before had reacted as violently as Medic, which made him very uncomfortable.

But in front of the soldiers and the engineers brought in from the City Defense Force, Boris still had to maintain his amiable persona. As mayor, this time Boris wasn't wearing his usual Victoria suit, a symbol of progress and civilization, but instead a military uniform with a breathing mask hanging from his waist.

"Everyone, I know that you have been wondering why the Core City has been facing a power outage recently... This is an accident, an accident involving confidential matters... Fortunately, after two weeks of efforts by His Majesty's special envoy, the municipal government, local businesses, and foreign aid, it has been confirmed that the Pollution spread from the accident is not serious."

"The protection we provided was indeed effective. All we need to do now is enter and install the new equipment according to the blueprints, Chernobog will return to normal... Huh?"

Before Boris could finish speaking, Nana pushed him off the podium... Partly because she couldn't stand his concealment, and partly because Nana was beginning her pre-exit performance:

"Everyone, I am Medic, an operator from Rhodes Island, and the second person in charge of handling this Pollution incident. The first is that the Blade, whom none of us really want to see... Most of what the mayor says is nonsense, so I'll say something useful here."

"First of all, the claim of effective protection is nonsense. Currently, there is no direct and effective Pollution defense strategy on this land other than the person Sharp Blade himself. The physical isolation protective suits we are wearing can only slow down the erosion of Pollution, but cannot achieve effective isolation. Therefore, all team members are required to take turns working according to the instructions they received."

"In the Pollution, each person at each post will install and operate according to the blueprints. Every forty seconds, a person will be rotated to the non- Pollution to rest. Once the installation is completed, they will be evacuated immediately until the time is up, at which point the Sarcophagus will be sealed... The Rhodes Island Special Operations Team will treat this Pollution leak as if it were Catastrophes. We will work with the person in charge to be responsible for the deepest part and the most severely Pollution area."

"Everyone... if you want to discuss, if you want to exclaim, you can speak your mind. Although you are soldiers, you are still human beings, and it is normal for humans to be afraid of death. The manpower that the mayor has gathered is sufficient, and if possible, I hope that the right people will act strictly in accordance with the instructions and regulations, because in this way we can make the best use of every life and ensure that everyone returns safely."

"If the Pollution isn't dealt with, it could spread to the city center and even other urban areas. That's why we're here as members of the Contingency Contract. Stay alert, we're fighting something like Catastrophes... This isn't the first time I've been in charge of something like this, but I don't know what you guys think."

"I just hope no one will hold us back during the operation, otherwise the energy won't be restored and the Pollution will spread... then the whole city won't survive, everyone will die."

"Now, those who are afraid of death and want to leave can leave directly... But as soldiers, as local troops who are not degenerate elements like rebels, and whose mission is to protect the people and their families, I think you all have something you want to protect."

"That's all I have to say... As long as we follow our plan, there's nothing to fear. We, the Rhodes Island forces, will lead the way to the deepest Sarcophagus. After that, everyone will line up according to their assigned floors... Let's go."

Boris was initially quite displeased with Nana's overbearing behavior. While she was recounting the truth, Boris was still thinking about how to handle the situation after the soldiers turned against her... He figured that once the situation was resolved, the team would be more obedient to his orders...

To Boris's surprise, although there was some chaos, as Nana spoke methodically and the Inner Guards stepped forward to stand beside Nana, the garrison and engineers below, perhaps out of fear of the Inner Guards, or perhaps for some Ursus reason, did not show too much resistance.

To everyone, Feline, dressed in an unfamiliar uniform, only left a glimpse of her back before putting on a mask and donning a blue-black uniform, and the Rhodes Island members entered the building that claimed to be extremely dangerous.

Next came the slightly older local engineers, assigned to the deeper quarters, who had children and even grandchildren in Chernobog. Then came the middle-aged and upper-middle-aged, and finally, the recently enlisted local engineers who treated the city defense as a civil service job, but had also been living in Chernobog for a long time...

Many of these engineers had already retired, and more than two-thirds were personnel urgently summoned by Boris.

But Boris, the person who convened them, couldn't understand why Rhodes Island's bombshell announcement of the incident hadn't caused any stir among these people. In fact, many of them were chatting casually as they followed the group, speculating about what the 'Pollution' was...

Do their own city guards have such high levels of obedience?

Boris couldn't understand it, but the soldiers would glare at him fiercely before they set off... He would definitely hold Rhodes Island responsible for this grudge.

Deep within, Nana had already led her people on what was described as an 'expedition' without a single exaggeration.

PS: Waaaaaaah!

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6th Patriot's Gun: Cost 252

Before setting off, Nana said that this was an operation that could be described as fighting against Catastrophes.

This statement is neither an excuse nor an exaggeration.

Although the reason the Sarcophagus was covered in Collapse Pollution was because Nana ruthlessly killed the Inner Guards who came to check the situation, it was also Nana's sincere wish not to let the impact of the Collapse Pollution spread.

The control of the four Tactical Unit barely maintained the Pollution state inside the Sarcophagus, proving quite effective against the Non-Entropic Applications systems operating during the Warp Collapse. Perhaps it was precisely because the Pollution was so stable that Boris felt things were still under control.

The only thing that surprised Nana was that the Inner Guards was clearly supporting Boris would stand up for her before the match.

Considering her own plans for him and the current source of the Chernobog Sarcophagus Pollution, Nana felt a little ashamed of his sense of responsibility.

Rhodes Island possesses knowledge of how to use artifacts created by Previous Civilization, and this intelligence cannot... or at least cannot be exposed to Ursus, whose mind is currently complex. Kal'tsit's experience already clearly illustrates Ursus's extremely dangerous tendency to act when facing artifacts created by Previous Civilization.

But...

I felt hundreds of people forming a line and running into the Sarcophagus without hesitation.

Listening to the commands over the earpiece, which were relayed via radio, directing the various teams to their positions.

Just as Nana realized on the first day they entered the city that Ursus was not the terrifying race with blue faces and fangs that the rumors made it out to be, Ursus soldiers were not all worms who only cared about fighting for power and profit.

From the moment they stepped into the Sarcophagus, the Inner Guards kept repeating the precautions and mobilization slogans in hoarse voices.

As the group descended the massive spiral staircase, each time they reached a floor and a group of people lit lanterns and entered the misty, black space, a loud and clear cry of "For the motherland Ursus!" would resound.

Replacing professional stabilization devices with the Fire Department suits or simple laboratory isolation suits, soldiers, almost without protection, entered the Collapse Pollution under the guidance of older workers. In the cramped space of the Sarcophagus where engineering vehicles could not be used, the people of Ursus rebuilt the city's lifeline with their blood and flesh.

From the first to the third level, it was still just a hazy black mist. But from the fourth level onwards, the tangible Pollution became visible to the naked eye, like black flames. Black droplets condensed on everyone's bodies, dripping down the various protective gear, evaporating, and disappearing.

The deeper we go, the fewer 'safe zones' there are; right now, we're marching right through Pollution... and this is only the fourth level?!

The location of Chernobog's Sarcophagus was right next to the walking device, in the core area of Mobile City, which spanned hundreds of meters across the surface and was surrounded by countless chambers. To ensure that as many people as possible reached their designated positions, the Inner Guards roared their commands, stretching out the lines and ensuring that as many people as possible walked along the narrow, Pollution paths.

But as the group reached the sixth floor, they could still hear trembling voices from other groups through their earpieces.

[Fire... the Sarcophagus is on fire!]

[What the hell is this fire? It's all frozen solid! Just be careful not to slip, and keep going!]

... I

The groans and occasional gasps and screams coming from the earphones made Amiya droop her ears in pain, while feeling the girl tugging at her clothes, Nana looked at the Inner Guards: X

"They've started hallucinating. Notify all conscious members of the construction teams to report their condition, and have those affected rest in a safe area..." - Mio

"... This could delay the final sealing of the Sarcophagus..."

"But it can greatly improve the survival rate of the participants... Moreover, we are the most likely to encounter accidents during this operation; no one knows what will happen when we carry out the deepest power supply modification work."

"If the squads along the way don't keep up... causing the upper and lower routes to be incompletely connected..."

"Then we'll take over and work downwards along the way...wasn't that Boris's original plan?" Qi

To Nana's matter-of-fact answer, the Inner Guards continued forward, silently turning his head away.

Yes, Boris originally planned to entrust the entire renovation of the Sarcophagus to Rhodes Island. However, Weedy argued that even with child laborers like Amiya, twelve people wouldn't be able to safely complete the construction of Sarcophagus with over a hundred layers of walls within the allotted time.

The decision to recruit workers was also made after that heated debate... Judging from the timeline, it was made when Nana and the others were figuring out how to capture the Light Rail Station 52.

Boris appears to be a polite and courteous man, but in reality, he doesn't care about Rhodes Island or the lives of his subordinates. He is essentially just a typical Ursus Nobility, and the Inner Guards understands this.

They continued down in silence, and more and more people reported experiencing hallucinations in the communications.

Some people felt they were inside a volcano, others felt they were on an ice field... The accompanying personnel carrying basic medical supplies were horrified to discover that these hallucinations were inflicting burns or frostbite on the victims.

Those with lower resistance to Collapse even experienced spontaneous combustion and sensory impairment similar to that before freezing to death... Soldiers with sorcerer qualifications extinguished the flames on their bodies, while soldiers who were restrained by others and prevented from removing their clothes also stopped breathing amidst disordered gasps.

Amidst the chaos behind them, the Inner Guards temporarily halted, allowing Nana and the others to replenish their water and rest, while he went to the deceased's side... He used the gauntlet engraved with a special Collapse Paradigm to stroke the deceased's face, closing their eyes.

"The bodies are temporarily placed in the least Pollution area. Everyone should constantly confirm whether their floor is their work area. External command personnel should also remember to issue timely notifications... This Pollution is something that can disrupt human perception. If a single miscount is made, it will mean the failure of the city's energy system installation."

After a moment of silence, looking at all the gazes directed at him from the massive spiral staircase, the Inner Guards sighed:

"In fact, given the current situation, the citizens of the Core City should have started to evacuate long ago... But the rebels are right outside the city, and the mayor is already in a very difficult stalemate with them... The citizens have nowhere to retreat, and the threat of civil war is like a thorn in their side... Without electricity, the capacitors of the city defense cannons can only last for three weeks, and without the city defense cannons, those corrupt nobles and rebels will rush into the city in an instant."

"These victims are not the first to die from the Pollution of the Sarcophagus. As we continue downwards, more will surely fall... But there's nothing to fear. The deepest part will be handled by me and our Rhodes Island friends. Each unit, remember to collect any necessary supplies and equipment from the deceased and move on."

[Keep going!]

Military orders and instructions were relayed upwards through the whistles.

The command center, which had been observing the inside of the Sarcophagus, attempted to transport medicine via drones from the central atrium... mostly painkillers for the soldiers injured by the Collapse hallucinations.

But that was only a strategy that worked for the first ten levels... As they continued downwards, the operators of the drones on the ground began to exclaim that they were seeing hallucinations, and the quadcopter drones with storage boxes attached began to crash out of control. Even though they were just operating drones, and even though others had already removed their VR glasses, a few of the operators still showed symptoms of madness or even sudden death.

Only the mechanics who operated the equipment with magic performed slightly better. They carefully carried the dead, who were extremely sensitive to Pollution, and the wounded who were too badly injured to continue moving out of the courtyard using the heavier 'Artillery Harbinger'.

After discovering that using appropriate reality processing methods on hallucinations would cause them to revert to their original state of black mist or black water, the command team immediately dialed the fire department. As Fire Department hoses were connected and extended underground, soldiers and Fire Department carried the pipes forward and began spraying water jets at the fires they saw.

As the black flames were Collapse by 'reality', the engineers seemed to have found a trick and began to speed up the construction process.

After discovering that real-world actions could influence hallucinations, scientists, doctors, students, and even miners and merchants in the Core City of Chernobog learned about the Sarcophagus through various channels, in addition to the soldiers. People from all walks of life rushed over without stopping.

Fifteen levels below the Sarcophagus... The illusionary flames were extinguished, but the black mist still gave the soldiers an intense burning sensation.

Without any heavy machinery, only masks and protective suits, the Ursus soldiers took the picks and shovels that had been temporarily transported in from behind them and manually dug up and moved the 'Pollution' that had turned into black mud.

The 'Flame Mountain,' which was originally like a burning black flame, now had a passageway, and the working group did its best to create a safe zone of more than forty seconds for the engineering team.

Although they followed the 40-second safety rule, their watches and their own counting speeds were involuntarily slowing down... Even though the commander's voice was hoarse and pleading over the radio, by the time the soldiers realized what was happening, they had been in the Pollution for a full minute.

Some people who didn't even finish counting to forty seconds firmly believed they could still do something for the city behind them, completely unaware that their watches had become one with their arms.

The effects of Pollution on people are slow but relentless. Even with the presence of safety officers, the number of dead and injured steadily increases as the team ventures deeper into the region.

Soon, Boris's prepared medical supplies ran out, and the hospital, which was already struggling due to the power outage, dispatched all its ambulances with medications and professional medical staff to help.

As the whistle signaled the completion of the pipeline and equipment replacement work from the first basement level to the thirtieth basement level, Nana and her companions, who had just arrived at the sixtieth basement level, continued their arduous journey.