Chapter 124: underground labyrinth

The Mediterranean Sea, being one of the largest and deepest seas in the world has several sources where it gets its large supply of water. Its most important channels and primary inflows are the Atlantic Ocean, the Sea of Marmara, the Nile, Ebro, Rhone, Chelif, and Po.

With a surface area of 2,500,000km2, its area is also outrageously wide and boundless. With an average depth of 1,500m, it is also one of the deepest water bodies in the world.

It has a large water volume of 3,750,000km3 and being a sea that has been in existence for over 200 years ago, it housed some of the oldest and most dangerous predators of the sea.

Though the advancing groups of soldiers were not afraid to have an encounter with a sea predator, an exobeast sea predator was a different matter entirely. They preferred it more if their exploration was without any other complications.

Clark kept silent, as the darkness of the sea started hindering their vision a bit. Blue glows started appearing all over the formation of soldiers, as their armors employed means for them to see better in the darkness.

[Ding!! Master just crossed the 1,400m depth range. Water pressure is gradually taking an upwards trajectory.]

He soon received a notification from his implant, indicating how deep they’ve already gone below the sea surface. They’ve been diving for over 15 minutes already. With the different special boots, the soldiers wore, their advance was very fast.

Under the leadership of the General, their advance looked extremely intimidating, just like the advance of a shiver of sharks. Though sharks normally move alone, there are some social ones like the whitetip reef shark.

Imagine the sight of a bunch of them moving together, it was the right description for their current formation.

As the darkness surrounding them deepened, the bright silhouette of something like a huge house, built under the sea gradually appeared in their sight. They finally started seeing the sea bed for the first time.

They reacted fast on the sight, as all the soldiers brought out their guns swiftly, in case any force came out to attack them. This did not stop their advance, but they entered a state of high alert, as they watched out for any sudden attack.

After getting close enough to the slightly glowing structure below the sea, its real appearance started becoming more and more prominent. It lay dormant on the sea bed, with the only light coming from something like a door.

A structure like a huge energy shield surrounded and covered the ground, spreading for as far as their eyes could see. It was hard to notice it clearly from above, as it was camouflaged, taking the dark color of the seawater.

The one thing indicating that this place was not some kind of ruin was the slightly glowing lid that pulsed brightly from time to time. From its structure, they knew immediately that it was the door to an underground structure.

The soldiers finally landed on the huge shield structure, as the technical ones in their midst immediately started searching around for bombs or any other counter-measures used against invaders.

For a vault as valuable as the one they were targeting, the owners would definitely be mischievous and plant some surprise packages for any invaders.

Clark also worked diligently under the orders of his Captain, as he led the other soldiers to search around their perimeter for any unwanted equipment, planted against them in the surroundings.

They were right to do so, as they found some holes and gadgets left behind, that previously housed various dangerous bombs, artillery turrets, and a bunch of other military equipment.

What baffled them was that all the holes and gadgets they found were empty vessels. All the previously planted counter-measures against invaders seemed like they were stripped off by the owners.

“I already predicted this outcome, let’s move inside quickly before the Nadan republic secures all the loot”. The General finally spoke up, after reports of the search came back.

He already predicted this, but he still ordered the search to get a form of assurance. After the Seafarers alliance discovered the secret base here, the owners no longer had any option but to abandon their hard work and escape.

Them being allowed to escape was already benevolent in the sights of the tyrant of the sea. Throughout all these years, news of the Seafarers alliance wiping out fleets that kept secret bases and vaults from them was now like a seasonal occurrence.

As they were allowed to escape, if the owners of the vault remained greedy and tried to take back their resources here. Then, that would be crossing the line set by this huge tyrant.

If they wanted, the Seafarers alliance can decide to directly teleport 1 of their fleets here to this base. With that 1 fleet, they can wipe out any opposition trying to challenge their authority here in the sea.

After assigning roles, the General ordered 5 random Captains to go closer and sort out the door hindering their advance. The chosen Captains did not complain, as they went closer with their hacking devices.

Click!! After tinkering with the programmed code protecting the door for 2 minutes, they finally cracked it as it opened with a click sound. As soon as the door opened, a force field appeared at the entrance, preventing water from entering the underground vault.

The General finally took the lead again, as he went down first into the vault through the now opened door. The hundreds of soldiers surrounding him followed shortly after, as no one volunteered to remain back as the scout for them.

On entering, they climbed down further into the vault through a ladder that was attached to the wall. The group of soldiers remained alert, as they finally reached the bottom of the ladder.

As soon as they touched the floor of the vault, lights lit up, illuminating everywhere to unveil a very stunning sight.

The soldiers were dumbfounded, as they looked on with stunned expressions at the huge hall expanding for as far as their sights could see.

The hall took on the typical secret spy tone, as its metal walls didn’t have any defining nor bright features. The creators of the base didn’t even deem it necessary to paint it, its dull grey metal walls were an extreme pain to the eye.

Despite its seemingly unaesthetic appearance, the soldier’s faces remained solemn as the properties of these metals seemed like those of high-grade metals.

The countless empty slots on the wall where weapons are kept verified their prediction that the owners of this base already escaped.

“The General was right, something this big cannot just be a vault housing Arcanite metal. This is definitely the military base of an advanced country”. This was the thought on everyone’s mind, as they finally set their sights at the edge of the huge hall.

Dozens of passages appeared at all sides of the hall, painting this military base with a more mysterious tone. With this new sight before them, the thing they once thought was a vault, now looked like a labyrinth.

No one knew why, but they subconsciously started developing goosebumps, when they looked at the different passages leading to unknown destinations.

Despite them being temporarily obedient to the General now, it was only because they’ve not gotten what they came for here. After everyone got what they wanted, no one would care about the prestige of a General again.

But from the chill deepening in their bones, they could not help but dread what was awaiting them deep inside these different passages. For them to experience such a feeling when they were 3rd rank high-grade soldiers, they could not phantom what terror lay deep in the ends of these passages.

“Soldiers, we already reached the phase where we have to separate. I didn’t expect us to meet this so fast, but we have no choice but to separate to get our target faster before other forces arrive here”. The General finally spoke again, after analyzing their situation.

“I already choose the passage that I would take, decide among yourselves and follow the passage of your choice. Our temporary alliance ends here, I hope I can see your faces again in some hours’ time”.

After addressing the soldiers, he decisively left with his soldiers, going to one of the passages leading forward.

The other leaders quickly entered a state of dilemma to decide on which passage to follow, as the General and his soldiers disappeared from view. From how the General left, they already suspected that he knew a lot more than they did.

But no one had the guts to shamelessly follow or confront him. They didn’t know to what extent he knew about the underground base. If they followed him stubbornly, he could easily lead them to their death without them knowing.

As the leaders deliberated on which passage to follow, some finally made their decision as they also left to their chosen direction with their soldiers.

Both Captains of the Spartan/Dawn alliance did not have a choice, they randomly decided on a direction before also leaving. In less than 5 minutes, the hundreds of soldiers separated, as they took their different passages. The passages were numerous enough to accommodate all their choices.

Clark followed his Captain with the other soldiers, as they cautiously walked deeper through the dimly lit passage. As they walked, they could hear each other’s loud and deep breaths.

The sound from the soldier's breaths was the only noise in the passage, which only succeeded in making the atmosphere more tense and ominous. From how little knowledge they had on what they would experience, the 2 Captains had to shoulder a lot of pressure on behalf of the team.

Knowledge is power. The lack of knowledge made the atmosphere seem tenser and tenser, as the clock slowly ticked forward. The current mood was worse than that felt when watching a horror movie; they could only rub their hands on their weapons, to calm the tingling sensation on their skin.

Ta! Ta! Ta! They heaved a sigh of relief while their walking speed increased a bit, as they finally started seeing the end of the passage. Before their relief could settle down in their heart, a bold glowing line of test suddenly appeared on both walls surrounding them.

“DING!! INTRUDERS DETECTED: Initiating eradication procedures to wipe out all threats… Eradication procedures initiated, engaging red alert mode”.

“What the…,” before the soldiers could process what was happening, they suddenly felt a force fling them forward, as they immediately crossed the short distance remaining to the end of the passage.

Clang!! Before they could recover from the rough way at which they were thrown down, the door behind them closed with a bang, destroying their hopes of escaping back.

Thud!! Thud!! Thud!! As they hastily scrambled to get back up, loud heavy footsteps sounded from their front, moving directly to their position. Their eyes widened in horror, as they finally saw the culprit behind the loud thudding sounds.

Woom!! Before they could recover their wit, the monstrous entity before them activated its weapon as a bright red beam flew out, eradicating one of the 1st rank high-grade soldiers in an instant.

The unlucky soldier’s armor was just like paper before the firepower of this monstrous entity. It was at this moment, that the Spartan/Dawn alliance recognized that they probably bit more than they could chew.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it.]