Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 448 - 320: Where There Is Life, There Is Hope

Chapter 448: Chapter 320: Where There Is Life, There Is Hope

The loud boom signaled that the largest power hub had been destroyed.

To be precise, the Pioneers probably planted the explosive beforehand and decisively detonated it once they noticed something amiss.

"How naive," a sinister voice sneered as an overwhelming spiritual suppression bore down.

"Supreme power," Pan Yifu murmured under his breath and then urgently exclaimed, "Found it, open it!"

It was an alloy cabinet. Qu Jianlei sensed it and released a current.

The cabinet opened, revealing three compartments. In the middle one was a squared box, about the size of a handheld device.

Qu Jianlei swiftly moved to the side as Pan Yifu stepped forward and began to fiddle with it.

Despite Old Pan usually dithering and being overly cautious, he remained remarkably composed and steady in critical moments.

The power at the hub had gone out, but clearly, the control center had a backup supply, allowing him to continue his work.

A cry of agony rang out the next moment; it was the A-level Pioneer who had been shouting earlier.

Immediately, the sinister voice sneered again, "There’s an A-level little rat here too?"

A sudden suppression bore down on Pan Yifu, "Won’t you stop?"

"Tch," Old Pan snorted dismissively, focusing intently on the Black Box.

He had felt the Supreme’s spiritual suppression before; it was terrifying indeed, but his will was resolute enough to withstand it for a while.

The crucial thing was to send out the information quickly. He even managed to say, "Buy me five minutes."

What a joke! Qu Jianlei was speechless. This was the Supreme!

For a few dozen seconds or a minute, he’d be willing to give it a try, but five minutes... you’re on your own.

He swiftly moved to the corner, crouched down, and curled up with his hands over his head.

The next moment, a Flaming Arrow pierced through the equipment room wall, targeting Pan Yifu at work.

Old Pan was indeed engrossed in his task, but at A-level, his brain could essentially multitask.

Sensing danger, he leaped to the side.

Yet, how could the Supreme’s Flaming Arrow be so easily dodged?

The next moment, the Flaming Arrow exploded, sparks flying, each spark releasing indescribable heat.

Qu Jianlei had chosen his hiding spot well—the other equipment in the room blocked the sparks.

But Pan Yifu wasn’t so lucky; seven or eight sparks splattered onto him.

He screamed in pain, rolling on the ground.

Even though Old Pan also had the Fire Attribute, how could he withstand the Supreme’s Fire Element?

Qu Jianlei crouched and sidled over a few paces, gesturing to Pan Yifu: How can I help you?

Despite writhing in agony, Old Pan, being a Warrior at heart, noticed him.

Through gritted teeth, he spoke, "Don’t worry, I won’t die... it’s a pity the Black Box is destroyed."

The Black Box... was it really that easy to destroy? Qu Jianlei was a bit surprised.

On his home planet, Blue Star, even plane crashes couldn’t destroy a Black Box.

Well, this Black Box wasn’t the same. "What else can I do?"

"Another Black Box..." Pan Yifu gritted his teeth, a low growl emanating from his throat.

"You’re probably out of luck too, so choose a good time to run. If you can, take me with you."

In critical moments, Old Pan did show some courage, making no demands that Qu Jianlei take him away.

But there was little hope for the Black Box; there were four sets in total, three in the equipment room, one in the main control room.

Entering the main control room was out of the question.

This set of Black Box was destroyed, and the other set in the equipment room occupied by the Pioneers was likely to be destroyed eventually too.

Qu Jianlei did know where the only untouched set was, but... he didn’t know how to operate it, did he?

He thought for a moment and asked a question he had long hypothesized, "Would destroying that tower be of any use?"

Old Pan, overwhelmed by pain and rolling on the ground, barely heard what he said, though it seemed to spark a thought.

He sucked in a cold breath, growled lowly through clenched teeth, and then asked, "What?"

Qu Jianlei had no choice but to repeat himself.

This time, Old Pan heard him clearly. After a moment’s thought, he replied, "Destroying it would help, but can you destroy it?"

What a joke; that tower was the building that truly housed the relay transmission equipment.

Not to mention B-level, even the Supreme would need some effort to bring it down.

Qu Jianlei furrowed his brow and asked, "No self-destruct mechanism?"

Old Pan answered succinctly, "There is a self-destruct code, but only the Imperial has it, and it’s a remote self-destruct."

If there’s a self-destruct mechanism, that’s manageable. Qu Jianlei nodded, "As long as there’s enough explosive energy, I’ll give it a try."

"Hey," Pan Yifu was about to call out to him but saw Black Heaven flicker and disappear.

Only then did he feel the intense pain shooting through him, causing him to roll several more times.

Feeling a bit lighter, he could only manage a bitter smile, "Energy... you need to find it first, and then have the skill to trigger it!"

The next moment, he was startled again, "This guy is already B-level, the Fire Attribute Supreme is so arrogant, looking down on him?"

Little did he know, Qu Jianlei not only suppressed his own aura but also released the Blinding Technique.

Qu Jianlei, taking advantage of the cover of night, ghost-like, approached the high tower.

Then, he couldn’t help but grimace. Goodness, this tower is really something; the base’s diameter is probably not less than 150 meters.

Qu Jianlei thought that for such a massive structure, if a suitable detonation point couldn’t be found, even 180 tons of explosive wouldn’t bring it down.

So... how should he proceed? He began to think rapidly.

The Pioneer side was still resisting, but their momentum was clearly waning, leaving him very little time.

As he was racking his brains, he suddenly felt something was amiss, so he quietly performed a perception check.

About a hundred meters away, there was a sneaky figure, but this aura... seemed familiar?

He pulled out his handheld device and quietly called out to Spirit Fox. Sure enough, the figure looked around and also took out something.

"I’m a hundred meters to your southwest," Qu Jianlei spoke very straightforwardly, "Come over now, don’t attack me."

Spirit Fox, seeing the ghostly figure flash before him, said in astonishment, "Why are you here?"

"I want to find this tower’s self-destruct device," Qu Jianlei replied without hesitation, "Do you know where it is?"

"I do," Spirit Fox answered crisply, truly deserving of Qian Duoduo’s leader, his information wasn’t ordinarily up-to-date.

"I’m also here to try and blow up the tower, but that self-destruct device is well protected, I’m in a bind."

Truly, great minds think alike. Qu Jianlei nodded, "No time for anything else, point out the place!"

Can you do it? Spirit Fox couldn’t help but glance at him, "Two password locks, both five meters thick explosion-proof alloy... can you bust them open?"

Qu Jianlei nodded without hesitation, "I can give it a try."

"That’s good then," Spirit Fox said quickly, "Thirty tons of high explosive... do you have it?"

Qu Jianlei hesitated for a moment but still nodded, "Twenty tons of explosive, plus a hundred Energy Blocks... is that enough?"

What kind of background do you have? Spirit Fox marveled silently; carrying so many Energy Blocks around? "Are they large?"

Qu Jianlei nodded, "That’s right."

"Alright, leave the rest to me," Spirit Fox slipped away without hesitation, "Follow me!"

The two walked around the tower for thirty meters, and Spirit Fox bent down to fumble on the ground for a while.

Before long, there was a light noise, and a piece of alloy on the wall slid open, revealing a password keypad.

Spirit Fox clicked skillfully, his hand speed incredibly fast, tapping it a full 23 times.

Then there was another very slight tremor, and a small door appeared at the base of the tower, just over two meters high and less than a meter wide.

"Hurry in," Spirit Fox pulled Qu Jianlei inside, "The door stays open for only two seconds."

Inside it was pitch black, nothing could be seen.

Only after sensing the door behind them closing did Spirit Fox let out a long breath, "Finally a bit safer."

Then he raised his hand to feel around for a while, and suddenly, the space was filled with light.

Qu Jianlei glanced around and found it to be a space somewhat reminiscent of an elevator.

The space wasn’t big, about four square meters, with a height just over two meters.

This reminded him of the passageway from Central City to the Gorge, feeling like the same layout.

Opposite the door was another door, beside it was a keypad with ten buttons, nine for input, one for delete.

Qu Jianlei turned to Spirit Fox, speaking expressionlessly, "You’re not suggesting I break the password like this, are you?"

Spirit Fox paused, then gave a dry laugh, raising his hand to swipe twice under the keypad to pull out a brick-sized metal block.

Then he reached in to feel around, pulling out a cable.

The cable was damaged, with three wires protruding from it, though the outer layer was well wrapped.

Spirit Fox gave an awkward smile, "This was... just an experiment I wanted to try, no other intent."

"No time for this," Qu Jianlei paid no heed to his words, "Is it trinary?"

"Yes," Spirit Fox nodded without hesitation, "Use this to decrypt the password, but be careful with the current."

"Understood," Qu Jianlei flicked his hand and also took out a simple box.

On one side of the box were three clips, which perfectly held onto the three wires.

The other side had two handles, and a one-meter-long wire ending in a gourd-shaped metal piece.

Qu Jianlei placed the small gourd in his mouth, then held one handle in each hand, his eyelids drooping.

"Wow," Spirit Fox couldn’t help but click his tongue, "Looking at this equipment... you really are the professional."

"Don’t talk," Qu Jianlei said indistinctly with the gourd in his mouth, "We need to save time."

The other was absolutely right, he made this set of tools casually just to decode passwords in certain places.

However, if Spirit Fox hadn’t pulled out those three wires, it would have taken much more time.

(To be continued, summon monthly tickets, additional subscriptions, and recommendation votes.)