Chapter 261: the bean quadrant enhancer

>Main Research Target: Bean Quadrant Enhancer>

At the top of the large dome-like structure hanged a big whiteboard, and this was written on it in bold font. Reading it out loud made it seem so epic and important, Clark and Dickson were left breathless.

“We really found it!” Clark exclaimed for the 3rd time in disbelief.

Though a lot of evidence was pointing out that they came here first, it was only natural that they still had doubts.

Remember, they were not the most exceptional soldiers that came for this mission. Veteran 3rd rank high-grade soldiers also took on this mission, them getting here first was an astonishing achievement.

“It’s all thanks to the king of demolition”. Clark felt it unreal, what did the man see in them that made him help them so selflessly?

Despite his feelings, he was still nonetheless extremely excited by this discovery. After months staying in this extreme region, after going through a lot of hardships, after losing lots of subordinates and a friend, he was finally here.

The large dome structure was the most dominant architectural work in this hall, it completely overshadowed every other thing, especially now that both soldiers knew that their main target was stored in it.

Just below the big board that was on top of the dome structure sat the bean-sized substance with a slightly metallic appearance.

They didn’t know how they could see it so clearly from such a distance below, but it seemed that the scientists who originally worked here made it so that everyone who came here could see it.

This was the thing that made so many countries mobilize soldiers out to the great Himalayan ranges, this small piece of technology was what drew out so many high-grade soldiers to this treacherous region.

The next conundrum that presented itself before the soldiers was how they could access the dome structure, and how they could get access to the bean quadrant enhancer.

As strangers who were not even Aragan citizens, the dome structure would not just grant them access inside it, right?

One notable fact to both soldiers was that a few minutes after they entered this hall, the large door leading here slowly started contracting back. In a few minutes, it was closed shut again.

This did not fluster them much though. With the main mission target before them, they had no plans of leaving anytime soon till they get it.

They both quickly went to work, poking around for any clue on how to get access inside the dome structure. There was no door visible on it, and no secret tunnel also, so where was the entrance?

They both searched and searched all to no avail, it seems that the structure was laughing mockingly at their vain efforts to get access inside it.

After 30 minutes of this, they both finally stopped the brainless search, they decided to think deeper into it. Was there no way to access the bean quadrant enhancer? So how did the researchers access and experiment with it?

Who even said that what they were seeing was the real thing? They now felt lost, they sat at a chair that was placed before an observation chamber.

Unlike the previous rooms that they went into where it seemed that most of the researchers were caught off-guard, this hall was much more organized.

It seemed that the researchers here detected the danger on time and had enough time to escape. But where did they escape to? If they escaped, then the Aragan Empire would have known of this lost research base long before now.

What really happened here?

Thinking deeper but not getting any breakthrough, Clark slumped down on a chair in frustration. Is that it? He finally found the mission target but he could not get his hands on it.

As he gnashed his teeth in frustration, shaking his head in agitation, his eyes suddenly fell before a string of words written on the observation glass before him.

He suddenly sat up straighter, he squinted his eyes as he tried to make out the small written words that were barely visible.

“What is it?” Dickson noticed his shift in concentration immediately.

“I think I found something”. Clark stood up and went closer to the observation glass, his face was now directly before it. This was when he finally made out what was written on it.

>We succeeded in the end, but the experiment focus was flawed from the beginning. Sigh…, I feel like we just wasted years of previous experiment time. At this rate, we’ll lose the war…<

The words became broken a bit, probably already eroded due to the passage of time. Clark skipped a significant part because of this before he could finally make sense of the words again.

>It’s obvious, we didn’t succeed and now our enemies are before us. The bean quadrant enhancer is flawed, it is not compatible with any of our soldiers…>

A few more broken lines.

>I decided to make it accessible to anyone that comes in the future. If you’re a soldier and you saw this, place your hand on the orange orb, it will evaluate your strength to see if you’re worthy to enter the enhancement dome>

The words finally ended.

“Experiment flawed, what does that mean?” Dickson frowned after reading the message as he turned to face Clark.

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know, but it's good that they made the dome accessible to everyone. Let’s find the orange orb first, who knows if others are already on their way”.

They didn’t have to check extensively; the orange orb was attached glaringly to the dome at the front. They could not miss it even if they wanted.

Clark hesitated a bit before turning to look at Dickson, who smiled back at him. He nodded back, stiffened his face, and closed his eyes before placing his hand on the orb.

Whoosh!!

He felt a mysterious force sweep through his body immediately, giving him the sensation like an electric current just coursed through him.

He shuddered from the sensation.

[Ding! Another test subject has been detected after over 80 years of wait, proceeding to test strength level immediately.]

A loud mechanical voice, probably that of an A. I suddenly reverberated across the whole hall.

[Ding! Test subject’s strength level has been identified.]

[2nd rank high-grade soldier: Pinnacle.]

[Test subject is eligible to accept the fusing of the quadrant, processing teleportation into the dome immediately.]

A small swirl in the air was suddenly detected, stirring and revolving a bit.

As soon as Clark heard this and noticed the swirl, his eyes sprang open as he turned his head to look at Dickson.

“I don’t know what will happen to me nor what I will encounter inside the dome structure. Whatever happens, if rivals come, I want you to leave immediately and protect your life”.

“And, this hall is a treasure trove. Scour through it before other rivals come, try…”

Clark could not finish his sentence; he was teleported away the next moment without his consent. It felt rude and at the same time tyrannical.

[Test subject has arrived inside the dome: Processing and implementing last highest authority order immediately. Destination adjustment in progress…, adjustment done.]

[Test subject has entered the virtual dairy domain.]

After that, the sound of the A. I died down, bringing absolute silence back to the hall immediately.

Dickson stood, mouth agape, looking astonishedly at the position where Clark stood a moment ago. His brain could not comprehend everything yet, it happened so fast and abrupt.

A moment ago, Clark just placed his hand on the orange orb, the next, an A. I starts spamming them shamelessly with various declarations.

Before he could voice out a curse, he grew astonished as the A. I said it was about to teleport Clark away. Before he could speak, Clark turned and hastily voiced out some instructions to him.

Clark didn’t even finish before he disappeared, now here he was, stranded alone in this luxurious hall without any idea about what just happened.

“Am I dreaming?”

“Clark!” “Clark!”

He softly called out a bit at Clark’s previous location. Getting no response, his brain hormones finally started registering in the fact that he was now alone.

“How can you teleport someone away without explaining what is happening to us? What type of messed up system is this?” Dickson blew up, panicking a bit after coming to the realization.

Unknowing to him, after spending so much time with Clark, he already started seeing him as a spiritual pillar of sorts who he turned to when he was clueless, powerless, or puzzled, as he was now.

After trying a few other methods that came to his mind, yelled Clark’s name repeatedly but getting no response, he finally sat down on the scientist’s chair to go through his situation.

He finally started going through Clark’s last instruction.

Well, he was not injured nor was he in any mortally dangerous situation at the moment. He deemed that looting this place was probably the best thing that he could do in this situation, as Clark suggested.

As Clark said, there was every tendency that enemies would arrive at this doorstep any moment from now, so getting all the benefits that he could was the priority here.

Though this hall was too big for him to loot completely, he would set his sight on only the most advanced and valuable loot.

He started poking around cautiously at first. Though no enemy was visibly before him, he had not forgotten the mechanical A. I voice that spoke a few minutes ago.

What if the A. I attacked him with the machines here on noticing that he was taking loot from this place? He had to be cautious, prevention was always better than cure.

After poking around for a few minutes and getting no reaction from the A.I, he became a little bolder and placed the first gadget that drew his attention inside his military bag.

He became tense immediately, cautiously watching his surroundings. A few seconds passed, a minute passed, a few minutes passed, he was still fine.

“That’s it? Is the A. I broken or it doesn’t care about me? Or does the A. I only have control over the large dome-shaped structure?”

“Damn! That’s great, I can loot all I want to my full satisfaction”.

He went to work immediately after confirming that his fears were unfounded, his enthusiasm was off the roof as he meticulously scanned for high-grade gadgets and research material.

Today, he was leaving a rich man.

…

Clark felt his eyes spinning, he felt like he was stranded in space and was being spun around at a rapid frequency.

The next moment, all the uncomfortable sensations disappeared. He was now in a completely white expanse of space.

He could not detect any floor beneath his feet, only the boundless sky, and tumbling clouds. He felt like he was standing in the atmosphere and the mist was carrying his weight, his heart tightened a bit on this discovery.

“Where is this? Where am I?”

Though he had a lot of questions in his mind, he kept quiet. He deduced that the A. I that transported him here would do something else, and he was right.

The next moment, the sky before him rippled a bit and an old man appeared before him. He had white flowing beards, he was in a white cloak, a scholarly vibe exuded abundantly from him.

Seeing this, Clark was stunned in place.

“Are you…, the great Gandalf?”

[I'm feeling nostalgic though I don't know why. After over 60 chapters, we're finally here.]