Chapter 1288: Chapter 496: The Darkest Hour (Part 2)

The flying motorcycle skillfully shuttled through the twisted streets, finally rushing into an inconspicuous abandoned garage. Inside the garage, it was spacious, covered in dust and crimson moss. After the team stopped, Liszt closed the garage’s shutter door, operated something on the action computer, and immediately said to Lin Xian: "Watch your step."

Bang bang!

At this moment, Lin Xian instinctively pushed open the ground, emitting a muffled metallic scraping sound. A heavy armor plate slowly slid open, revealing a spacious elevator. Lin Xian was somewhat surprised to see that this shady place had a bunker underground.

Moreover, the bunker looked quite new.

Soon, everyone entered, the elevator door closed, and it descended steadily and quickly.

After quite a long descending journey, the elevator door opened again.

The view before them opened up suddenly, and Lin Xian discovered that this bunker was quite sizable. After the elevator stabilized, everyone walked into a spacious decontamination room. KIKI gave Lin Xian a signal with his eyes; everyone stood separately, and soon, countless automatic nozzles appeared on the walls, spraying mist like torrential rain, cleaning the bloodstains off their power armor. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Lin Xian noticed that besides the dark energy Tongshi frequency, this bunker isolation room included at least three forms of energy creating an isolation net. KIKI sensed Lin Xian’s curiosity and immediately whispered to him in the communication frequency channel.

"Crimson, radiation, erosion, and some hazardous substances discovered by the Phoenix Society—they all need cleansing and isolation."

Lin Xian exhaled and consoled himself: "It’s better than having no solution."

Soon, after leaving the isolation room, everyone started removing their power armor. Outside, the cold metallic walls reflected the neatly arranged white tube lamps overhead, emitting stable brightness. The air was filled with the unique mixed scent of disinfectant, engine oil, and human habitation. Lin Xian’s sight followed the pipes winding on the ceiling and walls, emergency indicator lights flashing dim green. In the spacious main hall, shadows flickered, rough count suggesting seventy or eighty people, some maintaining weapons, others handling unusual instruments.

As they walked forward in the corridor, Raymond pointed to this busy and vigilant underground world and introduced to Lin Xian: "This is the Phoenix Society’s Crimson Outpost, a makeshift base constructed after the Crimson outbreak. We call it the ’Safe House’.

"Safe House?" Lin Xian looked curiously at KIKI, then turned to Raymond: "What’s it used for?"

"Experimentation, reconnaissance, and outpost support." Unzipping her power armor was Song Wei, a short-haired, capable woman who looked in her thirties, saying: "The Crimson is spreading too fast. We have a lot of supplies to rescue, while our Nightwalkers must quickly understand this disaster so that the headquarters can provide timely response plans!"

Shhh~

At this moment, the automatic door at the end of the corridor opened first, and a group of people came out briskly walking toward them. Leading was a middle-aged man, tall and thin, looking like he had been drained of blood by the Crimson giant wall ten times, yet he had deep, sharp eyes, bright and expressive.

All stepped aside for Raymond and others as the group approached. Raymond immediately introduced to Lin Xian:

"Introducing, Group Leader Shi Weidong, Hakko 374 Safe House in charge!"

Shi Weidong had already spotted the young man from afar and now, with a look of disbelief, quickly approached. He stopped before Lin Xian, continuously sizing him up, and finally looked at Lin Xian’s face, exclaimed in a dialect-accented tone:

"Oh my, it’s unbelievable! The Commander asked me to find your corpse at all costs, and yet you’re still alive, like a god!"

"We are also very surprised." Raymond remarked sentimentally while looking at Lin Xian: "He looks like he’s perfectly fine."

Lin Xian reached out to shake hands with Shi Weidong and promptly said: "I woke up from the hibernation pod yesterday, unaware of how much time had passed outside and all that happened."

"Yesterday?" Shi Weidong was astonished, looking at Raymond then back at Lin Xian: "The Crimson hasn’t affected you?"

"I found and replicated the dark energy frequency Tongshi device from the Chengying Ship." Lin Xian explained.

Shi Weidong paused, wanting to say something, then helplessly chuckled and said: "Although I’ve researched you quite a bit, they were right about how nothing strange should be surprising about you..."

"No more small talk. Let’s give you a full-body check first."

He then immediately called over a person in a white coat standing by.

"Not necessary for now." Lin Xian declined courteously, feeling somewhat urgent: "Frankly, I want to understand what has happened in these three months, and I have many questions..."

He said looking at KIKI: "Like the Sky Dome Ship, Director Ding, Teacher Chen, what about the others."

"I understand your feelings, but the life mutations caused by the Crimson have become very severe, not just Fallen mutations but also problems with life force and consciousness detachment." Shi Weidong solemnly said to Lin Xian: "You said you used the dark energy frequency device yesterday, but you lay in an unprotected hibernation pod on Hakko Coast for over a month; it’s a miracle. For your safety’s sake, it’d be best to let us examine you."

"Also, anything you want to know, I and the people here, including your companion, are ready to tell you anytime."

Lin Xian realized the gravity of the situation upon hearing his words. Actually, he wasn’t oblivious to his circumstances, having laid there in the sandy expanse for so long. In theory, that crimson giant wall, if sweeping daily, should’ve rendered him into a dried corpse of blood mist...

In a special room, Lin Xian was undressing in a precise apparatus for examination. Outside the isolation window, four or five experts were tensely monitoring all data generated by the instrument.

Shi Weidong and KIKI also observed from behind, Shi Weidong said with a touch of astonishment:

"It’s simply unfathomable; Hakko Coast’s sky scourging frequency is most severe in this region. Yet, he’s alive and well to this point..."

"I told you, he certainly wouldn’t die." KIKI said as he gazed at Lin Xian inside, a proud look in his eyes.

Shi Weidong looked at KIKI in amazement: "You’re surviving is miraculous, having been comatose for so long, just recovering enough to enter and leave Hakko more than a dozen times; it’s recklessness!"

KIKI didn’t speak, keeping his sight on Lin Xian.

Suddenly, several experts ahead began to stir, cries of astonishment abrupt, catching Shi Weidong’s attention.

"OH, MY, GOD, what’s happening with his spiritual power, wavering untraceably!"

"Yes, and his spirit vibration value is peculiar, initially detected as less than 15,000, yet recorded data shows he reached 18,000 in Dawn City..."

"And why does his body have cosmic radiation responses?"

"What’s going on?" Shi Weidong approached the group, asking, "Is there an issue?"

"Physically, Lin Xian is extremely healthy, even in incomparable condition!" An expert uttered speechlessly: "But concerning other aspects..."

Shi Weidong exhaled in relief upon hearing: "It’s fine. He’s a Sword Holder, a Mechanical Superpower User. As long as his health is confirmed, there’s no need to worry."

Soon after completing the check, Lin Xian followed Shi Weidong to a small conference room, KIKI accompanying him. Rescue team leader Raymond and reconnaissance member Song Wei, now out of their power armor, also joined. As Lin Xian settled, Shi Weidong activated a holographic image, expanding into a planet map engulfed in crimson before Lin Xian.

On the holographic map, Asia-Pacific Continent, Blue Ocean Continent, North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Arctic Continent, East Continent, Republic Continent, and the Pacific Ocean, Black Ocean, North Pole Ocean, Atlantic—nine continents and four oceans—all virtually covered by crimson. Blue Star had nearly become a "red star," with only the polar ice caps and a small area around South America’s Storm Coast Ushuaia remaining blue.

Lin Xian’s eyes immediately focused. From his perspective, the world seemed devoured by crimson, and the giant maw now surrounded the polar completely due to polar-day existence, making it the last refuge under the human apocalypse...

"As the Commander puts it..." Shi Weidong’s hoarse voice sounded at this point, gazing at Lin Xian while saying slowly:

"The survival of human civilization has reached its darkest hour!"