A Blind Telegraph Message from Outside the Signal-Jamming Zone, the Watchmaker Sacrifices His Vehicle to Cover His Retreat
The telegram coming from the external speaker was urgent.
The ticking sound had an irregular mechanical rhythm, with varying intervals, carrying the characteristic finger-force pauses of an old-fashioned hand-cranked telegraph machine.
On the tactical terminal screen in Gwen Stacy's hand, the waveform graph showed jagged peaks.
"The backup frequency directly bypassed the area's shielding network."
Gwen Stacy's fingers tapped rapidly on the edge of the keyboard, attempting to lock down the reverse channel.
The source of the information is not underground.
"The frequency is a high-frequency skywave refracted from abandoned broadcasting tower number thirty-two on the Earth's surface."
The Black Crow Honor Guard, lying on the ice, trembled all over.
He recognized this telegraph rhythm.
Each accented strike corresponds to a specific mechanical spring oscillation cycle.
"He's Watchmaker..."
The guard's lips were chapped, and his voice was barely audible.
He's cleaning the springboard.
Lynn stood still, his gaze fixed on the heat dissipation vents on the side of the black box.
The telegraph code repeated three sets of hexadecimal characters in succession for the first twelve seconds: 7F-A9-00.
This is not a standard military code, but rather a short-delay sequence number commonly used in old-style mine blasting operations.
"00 means the primer is powered on."
Lynn's eyes remained expressionless, and he spoke extremely quickly.
"He's not trying to erase the black box."
"He's issuing commands to the power supply circuit of the Xian-094 Troop Carrier parked outside."
Gwen Stacy's movements suddenly froze.
The Xian-094 Troop Carrier was parked at the Cold Storage storage.
The Heavy Armor was equipped with two 800-liter high-pressure diesel auxiliary fuel tanks, and the chassis was also fitted with large-caliber aerosol fire extinguishing bombs for riot control.
Once detonated, the entire underground freight corridor will be engulfed in flames.
The hydraulic shears outside the door were making a dull, metallic squeezing sound.
The hinges of the lead-steel gate made a cracking sound, as if about to snap.
The Military Police Special Service Battalion outside the door thought they had victory in their grasp.
They had no idea that there was an iron coffin right behind them, ready to explode at any moment.
"Take the box."
Lynn reached out and grabbed the buckle of Gwen Stacy's tactical vest.
"Go through the sewage inspection well."
Gwen Stacy pulled the portable terminal off with one hand and picked up the lead box containing the special card core with the other.
The Black Crow Honor Guard on the ground let out a desperate growl.
"Take me away!"
"Director Lynn! I know the coordinates of the Watchmaker's backup relay station at the broadcast tower!"
The guard twisted his body desperately, and blood seeped from his jaw again.
"He even silenced his own people! Take me out of here, and I'll be your witness!"
Lynn glanced down at him.
The Obsidian sword twirled in Lynn's palm, its blade resting flat against the Silk bindings on the guard's body.
With a flick of the wrist, the Silk snapped.
Whether you can climb out on your own depends on how fast your legs are.
Lynn didn't look at him for another second, turned around and rushed towards the defrost drain at the deepest part of the cold Cold Storage.
The moment Konoe escaped, he scrambled towards the gas mask in the corner.
The blind telegram broadcast from the loudspeaker abruptly ended at that moment.
With a final, short "beep," a plume of bluish-black smoke billowed from the circuit board inside the black box, and the plastic indicator light on the outer casing melted into a pool of sticky glue.
In the corridor outside, the diesel engine booster pump suddenly emitted a sharp self-test whistle.
That's the noise from the fuel pump being forcibly short-circuited, injecting excessive amounts of fuel into the cylinders and exhaust pipe under full load.
At this moment, the lead-steel door of the Cold Storage was forcibly torn open with a half-meter-wide gash by hydraulic shears from the outside.
Two heavy riot control alloy shields were the first to squeeze in.
The military police company commander, behind his riot helmet, held up his rifle, about to shout slogans.
His gaze passed over the frozen meat rack and landed on Lynn's figure, who had already stepped halfway into the inspection well.
Before the military police could even pull the trigger...
A blinding White Light suddenly burst forth from the outside of the corridor.
A special fuse mounted on the chassis of the Xian-094 Troop Carrier ignited all the fuel in the tank.
Boom!
A muffled explosion echoed through the enclosed underground passage.
The Impact, mixed with scorching diesel exhaust, instantly tore through the double-layered bulletproof steel plates of the troop carrier.
The heavy machine gun turret on the top of the carriage was blown off and crashed through the concrete Load-Bearing Beam outside the Cold Storage.
This was immediately followed by a second explosion.
The aerosol fire extinguishing bombs and spare ammunition boxes were detonated in a chain reaction at temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Orange-red flames surged along the main passage at a speed of hundreds of meters per second.
The military police squad that had just squeezed through the Cold Storage door didn't even have time to finish their screams before they were thrown back by the scorching blast of air that rushed in.
The heavy lead-steel door was completely torn off the frame by the enormous force and spun as it crashed into the refrigerated shelves.
Rows of steel channel columns, covered in frost, collapsed with a deafening roar.
Dozens of tons of frozen meat and ice poured down, completely burying the Black Crow Honor Guard, who had just gotten up, in the rising dust and flames.
Inside the inspection well.
Lynn gripped the horizontal bar of the iron ladder with one hand, and with the other hand pressed hard on Gwen Stacy's Negasonic Teenage Warhead, forcing her head against his chest.
Hot air rushed in through the gaps in the manhole cover.
The dark-colored secret agent uniform on Lynn's back smelled burnt from the high temperature.
Large pieces of debris fell from the cement pipe walls surrounding the shaft during the tremors.
Gwen Stacy held her breath, clutching the heavy lead box tightly with both hands.
"The troop transport vehicle is destroyed."
Gwen Stacy spoke amidst the deafening aftershocks, her voice muffled by the gas filter valve.
"Watchmaker would rather blow up a main battle tank in the defense zone than fail to clean up the scene."
He's not afraid of these eight card cores.
Lynn looked up in the darkness, feeling the heat emanating from above through his narrow airway.
"What he feared was the woman's voice coming from the black box."
Two minutes later.
The roar above the pipes gradually subsided, leaving only the crackling of burning diesel fuel and the sharp whistling of the ventilation system.
Lynn braced himself against the manhole cover with one hand and suddenly exerted force upwards.
The cast iron manhole cover was pushed open a crack.
The once neat and deserted underground freight platform has now been transformed into a scorched inferno.
The Xian-094 Troop Carrier is now just a twisted black skeleton, still emitting thick smoke.
The Military Police Special Service Battalion in the defense zone suffered heavy casualties.
A dozen soldiers, stunned by the blast wave, lay groaning amidst the rubble and debris; riot shields were twisted and deformed, scattered all over the ground.
The military police company commander leading the team had half his body burned and was lying on the ground coughing desperately, his face completely blackened.
Lynn flipped over and jumped out of the well, reaching out to pull Gwen Stacy up.
The lead box in his hand was intact.
The radiation-proof lead seal on the side of the enclosure wasn't even blackened by sparks.
"Lin... Lynn..."
The military police company commander on the ground struggled to raise his head, his finger trembling as he pointed at Lynn, trying to grab the pistol beside him.
Lynn stepped forward, his military boot pressing down slightly on the other man's wrist joint.
Click.
Lynn kicked the pistol away with his toe, and it slid into the depths of the burning wreckage.
"The Seventh Defense Zone Military Police Special Service Battalion illegally transported heavy armored vehicles into an unreported Cold Storage."
Lynn looked down at the company commander, his tone calm and devoid of any warmth.
"Improper handling caused a secondary explosion of a munition, damaging public defense zone facilities."
"Your statement will be collected from you by the Inspection Office."
The company commander's eyes were bloodshot, and his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
The facts speak for themselves.
The vehicle belongs to the defense zone.
The bomb was detonated under the car.
They surrounded the area under the pretext of riot control, but ended up blowing the entire cold chain passage into ruins.
Gwen Stacy quickly checked the card core inside the lead box and looked up at the end of the passage.
The explosion traveled upwards along the central exhaust duct.
Gwen Stacy raised her hand and glanced at the pressure sensor on the tactical terminal, which was turning bright red.
"The pressure relief valves on the seventh underground level were all destroyed."
The Impact shot straight to the ground.
Before he could finish speaking...
The air raid sirens throughout the entire underground building suddenly went off continuously.
The piercing alarm ripped through the deathly silence surrounding the Cold Storage, and one after another, Scarlet emergency warning lights illuminated the overhead corridor.
The cold, urgent, synthesized voice of the central control center blared from the broadcast system:
"Warning! The Seventh Gate has been subjected to a high-risk explosive attack!"
"The explosion-proof security door is being forcibly locked!"
"The stationed troops are immediately placed on Level 1 alert!"
The piercing alarm blared straight up into the sky through the ventilation shaft.
On the plains surrounding the Seventh Gate, a violent blast of air forced open several heavy steel exhaust valves, sending thick columns of black smoke soaring into the leaden-gray sky.