Chapter 191 The Mystery of the Energy Core
A row of indicator lights in the main control room were still flashing, and the time was just past six o'clock.
Su Wanqing tapped her fingers on the table, thinking as she slowly flipped through the analysis document that R had left in the jade bracelet's projection last night.
"The Dark Guardian of the Heart of Energy..." She spoke in a low voice, fearing that people outside the corridor would hear her.
Lu Zhao moved his notebook and quietly sat closer, and a distribution map of the fortress facilities appeared on the screen.
"I checked the information. The main controller of the energy room did have a special capacitor core embedded in it," Lu Zhao pushed the blueprint and whispered, "Last year, the base was renovated and the main control module was upgraded. The manual specifically wrote 'the core is shaped like a heart and is covered with a titanium blue shell'. But that part is surrounded by a strict firewall, and any maintenance requires two passwords and a physical key."
Su Wanqing glanced at the jade bracelet and said, "R left a clue for us to try to dismantle that thing?"
Lu Zhao nodded and replied softly, "It's difficult to keep the mission secret. At least four people are needed to work together on the core stage. Xiao Ran and Lin Che are still cleaning up the mess. We need to plan the investigation plan first."
The door was pushed open and Xiao Ran hurried in, throwing his tactical vest on the chair.
He first grasped the shortwave radio, then said, "The inspection of the medicine warehouse yielded no results. Ding Zhiqiang guarded all night but saw no one coming in or out. We cannot rule out the possibility that the thieves are hiding in the pipeline area. Have you made any progress?"
Su Wanqing raised her chin and said straightforwardly, "The core in the energy room must be taken down. The clues given by R don't match other places. The heart shape only appears in the energy main control module. The difficulty lies in the firewall permissions. Normal channels will definitely not allow access."
After listening, Xiao Ran rubbed the back of his neck and lowered his voice unconsciously: "Usually only the three main controllers in the energy room have keys, but the head technician happened to be helping in the warehouse last night and only came back this morning. We'd better take advantage of the opportunity to try it while no one is paying attention."
Lu Zhao lowered his head and checked the distribution and path of the energy room door lock. "I calculated the path. The last time the password was changed was last week, and it was operated by Wang Kun. To open the door, two keys must be inserted at the same time, and then the permission card must be swiped again. In theory, Wang Kun and Li Lin each have one."
Su Wanqing half-closed her eyes and tapped her fingers faster. She said slowly, "Then I'll borrow the key from Wang Kun first. He said he needs to check the voltage fluctuations and temporarily retest the emergency power supply. Lu Zhao and Lin Che will go with them, and Xiao Ran will cover them outside. I'll register the technicians for record, and divide the work between inside and outside."
After the three of them agreed, they took action separately. Xiao Ran first called Wang Kun to the small meeting room.
He said the circuit was suspected to have been interfered with by signals last night and the main control needed to be completely shut down for inspection.
As Wang Kun listened, he suddenly threw the keys on the table and complained that he had just finished repairing the water pipe and was now checking the energy box.
He patted his pocket and said, "I have the authority card. I just need to cooperate with you for half an hour. If there is a problem with the power supply, zombies can break in and cause trouble."
Lu Zhao and Su Wanqing looked at each other, said nothing, and just nodded to Wang Kun.
Lin Che pretended to suddenly break into the patrol team, took the opportunity to pick up a registration form, and carried it into the energy room entrance in a pretentious manner.
The energy channel is deep and narrow. Behind the heavy metal door is a winding corridor of more than 20 meters, at the end of which is the main control room.
While Wang Kun was operating the door lock, Lu Zhao quietly slipped to the maintenance box, took out a set of special key-changing signal devices from the secret compartment and hung them around his waist.
The door swiped open, and Su Wanqing was the first to step in, scanning the various instruments and the main control terminal one by one.
In the old-fashioned metal cabinet in the center, a device with a green shell was embedded at an angle, and its outline really looked like an irregular heart.
Lu Zhao pretended to measure leakage with a portable meter and removed the cover in front of the firewall bit by bit. A blue light was faintly visible inside.
Next to him, Lin Che was guarding the backup power supply, sometimes answering the intercom to buy time, and sometimes diverting Wang Kun's attention.
Xiao Ran stood guard in the corridor outside the energy room and instructed through the headset: "If you can delay it for a few minutes, do it. There are people outside to join in the fun, so don't arouse suspicion."
Su Wanqing entered three sets of unlock codes in the shortest time possible, and then used a key-changing signal device to block the main control alarm.
Lu Zhao reminded Lin Che in a low voice: "Use the hook screwdriver. It's located three centimeters to the left of the lower right corner. Don't use too much force. It's very brittle inside."
Wang Kun pretended to be polite and said, "Are you sure it was just a power leak? I wonder if the troublemakers last night sneaked in here and made the whole fortress panic."
Su Wanqing pretended to be calm: "The fluctuation of the lines in the entire base is related to energy. No one can be careless."
At this moment, Xiao Ran's voice was heard in the headset: "Two people went to the supply area pretending to be maintenance personnel, and Li Lin has also disappeared."
Su Wanqing quickly glanced at Wang Kun and brought the topic back to the test. "Please check the current data again. If there is no abnormality, please sign it."
Lu Zhao suddenly took out the heart-shaped core capacitor and quickly put it into the insulating box.
A row of red lights lit up on the main console, and he quickly skipped the test and shouted, "The backup capacitor has been shut down. Main control can only be restored in three minutes."
There was an inexplicable tension in the air. Wang Kun suddenly moved closer to the equipment box and reached into his pocket.
Lu Zhao whispered to Su Wanqing: "Now that we have the things, we have to change the exit."
Su Wanqing raised her hand to give instructions and quietly pressed the communication button on her wrist: "Plan B, see you at the back door."
Just as I went back to the corridor of the energy room, I heard hurried footsteps coming from the back passage. The steel door was pushed open with a bang, and two men in maintenance vests rushed in, blocking the exit of the passage on the left and right.
Xiao Ran reacted quickly, immediately pulling out the short stick he carried with him, and shouted, "Who asked you to come? The energy zone is now closed for inspection, get out of here!"
A man in a vest refused to back down and instead waved his sleeves, revealing a small stun gun.
Lin Che stood in front of Su Wanqing and lowered his voice very low: "Don't mess around. There are surveillance cameras outside the energy room. If you do something, something bad will happen."
The other person had quickly approached Wang Kun, his face full of calmness as if facing an enemy.
Su Wanqing moved sideways to block Lu Zhao and protected the core in her arms. Seeing this, Wang Kun suddenly took a half step back with no expression on his face.
Xiao Ran shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Wang Kun, come out quickly!" As soon as he said this, the man in the vest raised his hand and pointed the sedative gun at Lu Zhao. Su Wanqing didn't even think about it, and pulled Lu Zhao away, knocking over the first aid tool box beside him with his elbow.
Lin Che took the opportunity to stop the other person who was approaching and took out the riot spray from the first aid kit with his right hand.
"Don't move. If you come any closer, I'll activate the alarm."
The air was frozen for a few seconds, and the sound of more footsteps slowly gathered from the other end of the passage.
At this moment, Wang Kun suddenly turned around and sprinted into the passage, and the communicator on his sleeve slipped to the ground.
He had just taken two steps when Xiao Ran, who had been lying in ambush, twisted his arm.
The temporary members of the patrol team rushed in and pinned Wang Kun to the ground.
The stun gun fell to the energy floor with a bang.
While holding the insulation box steadily, Lu Zhao lowered his head and glanced at Wang Kun.
Wang Kun panted, his mouth twitched, and he said nothing. Xiao Ran asked, "Wang Kun, who are you?"
Su Wanqing locked the main control terminal and pulled Lu Zhao and Lin Che back a few steps, while the patrol team subdued the other two maintenance personnel who had sneaked in.
The only sounds in the air were heavy breathing and the sound of alarms.
Wang Kun was dragged out of the energy room. Lu Zhao hid the core. Su Wanqing patted the corner of his clothes and said, "The energy core is in our hands. Wang Kun is exposed. He is Liming's man."
No one said a word, and the team members outside the energy room returned to the team one after another to check their equipment.
Lin Che asked softly, "Is the core not broken?"
Lu Zhao wiped his forehead with his sleeve, picked up the insulation box and said, "It's okay, the shell is not scratched."
The patrolman escorted Wang Kun from the energy channel to the small conference room of the fortress.
Su Wanqing clutched the insulation box tightly and turned to Xiao Ran at the other end of the underground passage and said, "We must dig out Wang Kun's details tonight. He must know more."
The conference room was silent for a few seconds. Lu Zhao exhaled and said, "The energy core has been obtained. How should we activate it later? Should we try it now?"
Su Wanqing took the jade bracelet, turned the protection lock and said, "Hide it first. Wang Kun's identity has not been clarified yet, so no one else can act rashly."
Lin Che rubbed his wrists and said, "The energy core is too important right now, so don't make it public yet. Wang Kun still has accomplices who haven't shown up yet, so we have to be on guard."
At the conference table, everyone was thinking with their heads down. Some people in the corridor were discussing how Wang Kun was subdued.
Someone outside the door suddenly slapped the table and said that Wang Kun's behavior tonight was too strange, and he might have stepped on the point in advance.
Su Wanqing ignored all this and just held the energy core tightly in her arms, staring at Wang Kun's back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
