Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 615 - 157: Sanity Remains_2

The third deepest layer of the bunker is the equipment layer—small nuclear reactor, power unit, main control room, devices controlling temperature and air circulation, etc. All large machinery used to keep the bunker operational is almost stored on this layer.

Besides the engineers responsible for maintaining the equipment, few people usually come here. For this reason, the passages for personnel are very narrow except for two cargo elevators, and those vertical shafts are just about as wide as manhole covers on the roads, barely enough for one person to pass through.

"The Phantom ran into the third underground floor on my end!" Crystal Princess's voice echoed through the communication channel, "My armor is too bulky; I can't get through those vertical shafts! Can I take destructive measures to widen the shafts?"

"No." Liu Li hurriedly said, "With the destructive power of your armor, it will probably cause the bunker to collapse; before you widen the shaft, you may get buried in it first."

"Then how can I get down there?"

"Use the elevator shaft." Liu Li said, "Although both elevators are stuck, you can directly cut the steel cable of the car, then cut through the cabin... The impact on the bunker structure is almost negligible."

"Okay, got it!"

While speaking, the heavily armored Crystal Princess had already successfully landed—despite having the cushioning of foam gel, the huge impact sound upon landing still made Liu Li's shoulders instinctively shrink a bit. He quickly removed the in-ear headphones plugged into his ears and switched the communication channel to speaker mode.

Throughout the landing process, Crystal Princess kept the communication channel open, and the thunderous sound was like a near-attendant roar, almost deafening Liu Li.

Even the surveillance footage sent back by robots located underground in the bunker showed slight vibrations, suggesting the terrifying impact force upon Crystal Princess's landing.

Liu Li wanted to tell Crystal Princess not to keep the mic open when not speaking, but the situation was urgent, and he didn't have the leisure to waste time on such meaningless dialogue. Rubbing his ears, he said, "You can't enter through the bunker's main entrance; move to the west side of the bunker. I've already opened the vehicle bay doors for you. Enter through there!"

"Okay!"

The heavy powered armor stomped through the mud and water nearly up to the ankle, taking big strides towards the west side of the bunker.

The vehicle bay doors rose slowly, but stopped halfway with a teeth-grinding "creak," seemingly caused by a mechanical component getting stuck, leaving the door obstructed.

The door only raised to about a meter high, which a human could pass through with a slight bend, but for Crystal Princess's powered armor, it was a bit of a squeeze.

"The door is stuck; don't worry, I'm diagnosing the issue... If necessary, I can have micro robots crawl inside the lift door to conduct repairs..."

Liu Li hadn't finished speaking before Crystal Princess interrupted him: "Don't worry, I'll handle it myself."

The heavy powered armor reached out, grabbed the bottom of the lift doors, and with a low growl from Crystal Princess, the over ten-ton alloy door was forcibly lifted!

The stuck mechanical part let out a cry of being overburdened and followed by a crisp snapping sound. The entire lifting device was immediately rendered inoperative, and the door slammed heavily to the ground.

However, by this time, Crystal Princess had already gone through, entering the interior of the vehicle bay.

"There are battle marks here." Crystal Princess scanned the surroundings and said solemnly, "Bloodstains on the wall and bullet holes, tsk... These scratches seem to be made by some close-combat weapon cutting into the wall?"

"In Bunker No. 1, the only weapon capable of creating such marks is the 'Silver Fang.'" Liu Li said, "Ya Baishuang once fought with the Phantom that invaded the bunker here."

"However, there's also a possibility that by that time, she had already turned into a Phantom." Liu Li added.

"But why would she cut the wall?" Sun Hang asked skeptically, "Was she knocked flying by the Phantom, and then, like those action movies, inserted the knife into the wall to stabilize herself?"

"If the force that hit her was so strong, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to insert Silver Fang into the wall... Her body would have burst apart the moment it was struck." Liu Li said, staring at the real-time footage sent by Crystal Princess.

Liu Li was certainly familiar with Ya Baishuang's physical data; as a fit target of Silver Fang, she received extremely strict training from a young age. However, no matter how much training she had, her body remained that of an ordinary human and could not surpass human limits.

The deep scratch on the wall, or rather, describing it as a "gully" was more accurate—its length was over twenty meters. Liu Li immediately collated various data in his mind, establishing several complex mathematical models, and the conclusion turned out to be a paradox: If Ya Baishuang needed to insert a dagger into the wall to resolve the force when struck, then the marks left on the wall wouldn't be so deep nor so long; Conversely, to counteract such deep and long marks, Ya Baishuang's body couldn't possibly endure the force.

Then there's only one possibility: Ya Baishuang left the marks while attacking the Phantom.

"Why the wall?" Liu Li's heart stirred with a feeling that he was unbelievably close to the correct answer, yet lacked that last step, "Could it be that the Phantom was moving closely along the wall?"

While Liu Li continued pondering, Crystal Princess had already stridden towards the freight elevator.

To facilitate quick transfer of incoming supplies to the warehouse, the freight elevator's entrance was set in the wall on one side of the vehicle bay.

"I get the feeling your current expression looks like constipation." Sun Hang commented, seeing Liu Li sunk in thought.

"I'm thinking, don't disturb me."

"The humanoid Phantom has already entered the central room, are you sure you want to contain it there?" Sun Hang asked, "If things go disasterously wrong, won't it blow up the entire bunker?"

The electricity sustaining the bunker comes from a small nuclear reactor on the third underground floor, about two-thirds of which is buried in the bunker's foundation, and the remaining third is located in the biggest room at the center of the third underground floor.

This small reactor allows the bunker to operate continuously for thirty years independently, but at the same time it significantly elevates its safety risks.

Under normal conditions, such small nuclear reactors are very safe... But if someone fights near the reactor core, that's another matter.

The most crucial point is that there is still power in the bunker, meaning the reactor is still operational.

"At an altitude of two thousand meters, it probably wouldn't reach us... As for Crystal, she may literally turn into a crystal." Sun Hang said, "Moreover, could Chimera 17 react if we detonate such a not-so-small firecracker here?"

"Chimera 17? Chimera 17!" Upon hearing Sun Hang mention this, Liu Li's eyes quickly brightened, directly switching the communication channel to another helicopter, "Aircraft No. 3, I remember you brought long-distance observation equipment with you, right? I'll assign you a new task. Temporarily ignore the bunker; immediately descend your altitude to observe Chimera 17. I need to know what changes have occurred to Chimera 17 during this time! Send me all observation data in real-time!"