Chapter 197 Searching for the Second Core

The numbers on the main control screen were still decreasing. Su Wanqing closed the notebook in her hand, suppressed the distracting thoughts in her mind, and slowly took off the jade bracelet.

She took out the first energy core from the small protective box next to Lu Zhao and inserted it into the inlay of the jade bracelet.

As soon as the jade bracelet touched the core, a regular vibration was felt. She clenched the jade bracelet and felt a slight numbness in her wrist.

The light on the device interface suddenly brightened, the projection on the main control screen went from blurry to fine, and the three-dimensional structure of the fortress slowly emerged.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in the deepest part of the structure - it was the core of the hydroelectric generator set on the bottom floor.

Lu Zhao locked onto the image, lowered his head and quickly operated, calling up the fortress design blueprint and comparing the two one by one.

He frowned and began to quickly compare the cable routes and subsystem layouts. "This is it, the hydroelectric power generation area at the bottom. Coincidentally, this area has become the temporary command center of the military special forces."

He directly switched to the surveillance footage, and could see at least twenty soldiers patrolling along the passage and the generator room, their guns equipped with newly adjusted infrared identification modules. "They treat this place as a stronghold, and the entry and exit registration is very strict."

Xiao Ran walked closer and tapped the screen twice with his fingers, "It's unrealistic to break through directly, and firing a shot will cause a lot of noise.

We have to hide inside." He stared at the map, "This underground power generation area is connected to several independent maintenance passages and ventilation mains. How about using pipes?"

Lu Zhao gently stroked his forehead and did not reply immediately. He flipped through the line layout and looked at Xiao Ran, "Don't even think about going through the ventilation ducts. The military just installed life sign detectors at each ventilation vent a few days ago. Even if you can get in, two heat source signals will alarm for one minute. Unless you use a condensation suit to climb in with a rope, none of us can withstand that kind of extreme low temperature."

He paused, "Also, the narrowest part of the unit's ventilation duct is only 40 centimeters. One has to crawl in and out. Although a child like Xiaoling is small, it is not safe."

Xiao Ran paused and stretched his neck. He didn't say anything, but his eyes became deeper, "How do we get in? We can't fight head-on."

Su Wanqing held on to the console and thought for a while. "The military has a three-hour shift, and there is a shift change at 3 a.m., which usually takes less than 15 minutes. Have you found any pattern in the monitoring analysis?"

Lu Zhao clicked on the record. "The monitoring data in the system gives the precise frequency of entry and exit. There will be a gap at the gate during the shift change from 3:00 a.m. to 3:15 a.m. Under normal circumstances, this gap will last for a maximum of fifteen minutes. In addition, the monitoring sensors occasionally have delays, so there are short blind spots that can be used."

Xiao Ran flipped through the route table. "That is to say, we can only use those fifteen minutes to get in, get the second core as quickly as possible, and then exit along the original route."

Su Wanqing turned the jade bracelet while curling her fingers, and began to transmit the lines and energy signals on the main control screen in an interlaced manner.

A layer of light blue appeared on the energy distribution diagram on the screen, and she felt through the projection that the light spot was fluctuating like breathing.

She suddenly found that a strange sense of rhythm surged in her heart as she approached the jade bracelet, and she had an inexplicable grasp of which of the three routes was the most dangerous.

She looked up at the two of them. "I can feel the energy pulses at the core, vibrating every few minutes. I can also predict the displacement of military outposts and fluctuations in the security system - maybe the jade bracelet is helping me."

Lu Zhao typed the data into the terminal. "This is better. Since you can sense the core and potential crises, the action team must focus on you. If there are any sudden changes in the action, I will provide technical support and you will determine the breakthrough point."

Xiao Ran tapped the table subconsciously with his hands. "The shift change in the main control area requires extreme coordination for more than ten minutes. Once you enter the core area of ​​the generator set, there will be no extra trial and error opportunities."

He glanced at Su Wanqing again, "How many can you bring?"

Su Wanqing looked at the route assessment form and blinked twice. "We have to streamline it. One is for technical cover and one is for alert. The main force is exactly three people. One is for internal communication countermeasures, one is for on-site alarm processing, and you and I can respond to emergencies."

In the test area, everyone quickly set up the route for simulation on the modular sand table.

Lu Zhao carefully reproduced the timing of each step, from the inspection door in Area A to the bottom passage, then connected to the periphery of the hydraulic unit, and then to the target isolation room.

Xiao Ran set three possible responses for each temporary security node.

The three of them took turns to simulate how the surveillance system alarm would be transferred, the time difference between the soldiers' entrances and exits, and how to pass the cordon as quickly as possible.

Each simulation has a maximum time limit of fifteen minutes.

After several rounds of matching, Su Wanqing discovered that every time she put the jade bracelet into the palm of her hand, the changes of blue light balls and energy nodes would appear in her mind, as if the route and time gap were also within her perception.

Whenever she encountered a simulated alert, she was always able to call out to her teammates in advance to get out of the way.

The two gradually recognized her special abilities. Su Wanqing thought to herself that the resonance between the jade bracelet and the core was changing her, and perhaps it was this change that made her the key to action.

During the break, Lin Che sat alone in a corner, his eyes looking a little gloomy.

A few minutes later, he took out the amulet that he had been nurturing in his arms and closed his eyes silently.

His breathing slowed down, and he tried to touch the "night" within him again. But just as he calmed down, a tidal noise suddenly appeared in his consciousness.

Instead of the clear guidance of the past, "Night" has become fragmented - only a few vague warnings are heard intermittently.

"Don't let her get all the cores."

Lin Che suddenly opened his eyes, and veins popped on the back of his hand. He clenched his left arm, and felt that the connection between "night" and himself seemed to be pulled by an external force.

He suppressed his distracting thoughts and did not dare to speak out his intuition. He just kept remembering the sentence and kept it turning over in his mind.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

He didn't dare sit down and think again, for fear that when the next "night" appeared, he would have lost control.

In the experimental area, Xiaoling sat beside the whiteboard, her index finger constantly drawing star patterns on the notebook.

She was mumbling something softly, her eyes focused. "Ling, can you tell me more about what you just saw?" Su Wanqing came over and asked.

Without even looking up, Xiao Ling said, "It's not round, nor is it square. It's a blue transparent stone with a white line in the middle that glows all the time."

"How do you know?" Lu Zhao also asked.

Xiao Ling paused for two seconds, raised her head and waved her hands, "The stars told me. Last night I dreamed that the sky was full of stars, and they said there was a star below that looked like the one in the jade bracelet."

After hearing this, Xiao Ran stopped asking questions and just asked Xiao Ling to go back to the main control room to rest.

Xiaoling continued to draw stars without any suspicion. The details were so accurate that Lu Zhao, who was standing beside her, couldn't help but stare at her for two seconds.

Su Wanqing returned to the testing area and quickly sorted out all the known details with Lu Zhao and Xiao Ran.

She aligned the jade bracelet with the map and located the resonance coordinates again, and finally confirmed that the core infiltration operation must be completed in one go starting at three o'clock in the morning of the next day.

Lu Zhao finally checked the communication frequency band and called for technical support channels.

He continuously entered commands at the data terminal and compared the simulation parameters over and over again.

"We will check the security changes again tonight, and we must go through the process again before 3 a.m."

Xiao Ran put away the weapon kit and pursed his lips. "Once the barrier is stable, each of us will have a page of detailed information. You will distribute it."

Su Wanqing marked the last route and gently closed the interface of the jade bracelet.