Thud, thud, thud.
After the nuclear specialist and all squad members entered the cave, I blocked the entrance we had come through.
Because it would be problematic if the cave entrance were discovered from outside.
Though it had been dark outside as well, once the entrance was blocked, the cave became so dark that we couldn’t see an inch ahead.
Click! Click!
Lights turned on from all around.
The operatives had turned on their flashlights.
Thanks to that, we could see a little of what lay ahead, but the light was insufficient to walk through the rugged cave.
I thrust my spear tip forward and cast a spell.
[Light up.]
Crackle!
With a weak spark, the spear tip brightened.
It wasn’t light as bright as broad daylight, but it was enough to check our surroundings.
The rugged cave, invisible by flashlight, was now fully visible.
The operatives who had turned on their flashlights made awkward faces and turned them off one by one.
The squad leader, having turned off his flashlight, approached me and said,
“If it’s too bright, the enemy will find out.”
As he said, lighting a fire like this during a night operation was something one shouldn’t do.
But I hadn’t done it without thinking.
“This cave is too rugged to move through relying on flashlight beams.”
At my words, the squad leader looked around the cave once more.
Rock walls blocked half the path, and thick stones jutted out from the floor here and there.
Trying to pass through such a place by flashlight carried a high risk of accident.
“Moreover, there’s no need to worry about being detected. I can sense them before the enemy sees the light.”
At my words, the squad leader twitched his brow for a moment and finally spoke to me.
“So that we can prepare for the situation, please let us know before doing something from now on.”
Since he had seen me pinpointing people’s locations even from afar earlier, he knew my words weren’t wrong.
So he left only that remark and headed forward.
Unfortunately, it was difficult to grant his request.
Because I had no intention of telling them what I would do next time either.
Their goal was to remove the nuclear weapons, while mine was to seize them; our objectives were not the same.
The very top of the U.S. government was merely turning a blind eye to my plan.
They probably thought that if I succeeded, they’d pretend not to know, and if I failed, it wouldn’t matter; there was no way they would have told the special forces about my plan.
Since our goals differed, in the end, I had to move before them.
That the cave had become so rugged that I had to ignite light on my spear was also unavoidable.
Creating a cave without being noticed by the soldiers guarding the base was not an easy task.
The enemies on the surface mustn’t feel vibrations, and they mustn’t hear sounds.
To do that, I had to dig deep, and avoid stones and rocks as well.
Since this was a rocky area, it was no easy task.
In the end, the cave was made rugged, but even so, I had managed to create a cave leading to the underground base.
And so we advanced through the cave with the bright light I had created.
While walking through the rugged cave in that bright light, everyone kept glancing at me.
The special forces operatives who had looked at me with displeasure kept stealing glances at me with furrowed brows, and the squad leader also glanced sidelong at me with a serious expression.
They kept stealing glances like that, but no one approached me.
Because we were in the middle of an operation.
Of course, not everyone was like that.
The nuclear specialist we had rescued approached me and kept asking questions after seeing my earth magic.
“You’re a Dark Energy user, right? Can a Dark Energy user use abilities on Earth too?”
“The rocks and stones remain the same, and only the earth moves; seeing that, is it psychokinesis capable of moving weakly bound molecules, or an electromagnetic ability?”
“Earlier, when you made the entrance, did you make this entire cave?”
As he said, I was indeed a Dark Energy user who could use abilities on Earth, but it wasn’t that I couldn’t move rocks and stones, and the magic I used was neither psychokinesis nor electromagnetic ability.
This cave hadn’t been made all at once back then either.
Though there were several incorrect assumptions like that, the specialist knew more than I had thought.
He couldn’t know this much merely by knowing some high-ranking person in the Central Party.
Most likely, the person he knew seemed to be someone related to ruins or Dark Energy users.
Therefore, I couldn’t ignore all his questions.
“Since relics can also be used on Earth, there are naturally Energy users who can use abilities on Earth as well. And this cave is still being made even now.”
I told him things to the extent that others knew—things that were acceptable for him to know.
Even while talking with him like that, my earth magic continued to extend the cave.
Until it reached the existing underground base, my magic quietly dug the cave deeper.
***
Underground nuclear missile base in Liaoning Province, China.
It was a nuclear base storing mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles to strike America and Russia.
Of course, this wasn’t the only nuclear base in China, but among the bases seized by the Northern Theater Command, this was the most dangerous.
That was because the commander of the Northern Theater Command held launch authority over the missiles at this base.
There were various backstories as to how it came to this, like the relationship between the Rocket Force commander and the Northern Theater Command commander, but in conclusion, the missiles at this nuclear base could be launched by the Northern Theater Command commander.
For the first time, enemies had infiltrated such a nuclear base.
Though the base itself was underground surrounded by rock walls, and multiple layers of security systems were installed at the base entrance, the intruders had slipped inside undetected.
Rumble.
One wall of the warehouse filled with scrap materials collapsed, and soldiers entered through the created hole.
The people who entered the base were me and the squad members.
I moved the wind to scatter the dust, then asked the nuclear specialist who followed.
“Is this the right place?”
“Yes. It’s the scrap warehouse people don’t visit. I never thought we could get here this easily.”
This warehouse was located about the third underground floor.
A place quite far down from the base entrance.
We had come roughly one-third of the way to our destination.
Following us, the soldiers entered the warehouse.
Operatives checking their weapons and keeping watch on their surroundings as they entered.
“We came here easily enough so far; is this where it starts?”
There were operatives whose eyes lit up at the thought of combat, and those who regretted that the easy stretch had ended.
“Couldn’t we have dug down a bit more?”
“There must be a reason.”
But the operative who had voiced regret came to his senses at another operative’s words.
There was a reason they couldn’t dig deeper.
Digging earth on Earth was taxing on energy, but it was also because of the base’s security.
“If we had dug the cave near the warehouse storing the nuclear missiles, we would have been caught by surveillance devices. They even have highly sensitive seismometers there for the safety of the nuclear weapons.”
There was no need to jump into unnecessary danger.
So I made a hole in this warehouse, which people visited the least.
Blocked by a thick concrete wall, piercing a hole with earth magic was impossible, but earth magic wasn’t the only thing I could use.
After the concrete wall, cut by the spear wrapped in Dark Energy, collapsed, the operatives who emerged from the wall moved swiftly.
The operatives who crossed the warehouse pressed against the wall beside the door, looked at the squad leader, and the squad leader looked at me.
He was asking me to tell him if anyone was outside again.
Had I earned trust as a human radar on the way here?
I gave them the answer they wanted.
“Two guards in the corridor outside the warehouse.”
I raised my hand and indicated where the guards were standing and the direction they were facing.
Though we had descended far from the entrance, perhaps because it was a nuclear base, security was tight even inside.
But human guards were useless against me.
As soon as I revealed the guards’ positions, the operatives moved.
The moment the warehouse door opened, operatives wielding greatswords moved swiftly and ended the guards’ lives.
Watching their movements, they were indeed special forces operators that America boasted of.
If it had been before I obtained Dark Energy, their movements would have been difficult for me to handle as well.
Now, I could face them without difficulty, but that was thanks to Dark Energy and magic.
Even after eliminating the soldiers guarding the corridor and stuffing them into the warehouse, the operatives headed underground without hesitation.
The process in which the nuclear specialist indicated the direction, I identified unseen enemies’ positions, and the operatives soundlessly eliminated guards as they advanced.
The display the special forces operators showed during that movement was excellent enough to impress not only me but Sof as well.
[Just how much training must they have gone through to move like that with ordinary bodies unlearned in magic... They’re far more amazing than I thought.]
Sof and I admired the operators, but the special forces operatives were bewildered by the current situation.
“This is too easy. Is it supposed to be this easy infiltrating a nuclear base?”
“Right? In other operations, it was common to take dozens of minutes just to advance a few meters, but now we’re moving without rest.”
Hearing two operatives whispering like that, another operative who seemed seasoned looked at me and scolded them.
“What’s strange about that? If we couldn’t move like this when he’s telling us all the guards’ positions, we should quit.”
“I guess that’s true.”
All the operatives who heard his words nodded.
Passing through the corridors and stairs like that, we eventually arrived near the control room.
An intersection ahead.
The nuclear specialist pointed to the corridor straight ahead and said,
“If you go straight down this path, there’s the control room. Since it’s the place that controls the entire base, if you want to stop the base, it would be best to detonate an EMP bomb there.”
After checking the box carried by two operatives, the squad leader asked him again,
“The nuclear missiles aren’t far, are they? The concrete walls are thicker than expected. If the distance is too great, the EMP effect won’t reach the missiles.”
The nuclear specialist pointed to the right path.
“If you go down the right corridor, there’s a warehouse with the nuclear missiles and vehicles carrying them. Since both are important places, they’re located nearby.”
As the squad leader nodded in satisfaction at those words, I was looking at the left path that the nuclear specialist hadn’t mentioned.
Many soldiers were gathered in that corridor.
They seemed to be troops positioned to defend the control room and missile warehouse.
Just when I was about to tell that to the squad leader.
WEEEEEE!
An enormous siren sound began ringing throughout the corridor.
“It’s the alarm!”
The nuclear specialist shouted in surprise, and the operatives quickly surveyed their surroundings.
The squad members weren’t surprised.
“We’ve been found out after all.”
“But we really held out a long time this time.”
As they said, we had eliminated guards on our way down; there was no way we wouldn’t be discovered.
In fact, the reason we were only being discovered now was because I had cast concealment magic on the guard corpses.
“Mr. Hyeon! Where are the enemies now?”
At the squad leader’s question, I raised my hand and pointed to the left path and the way we had come.
“Soldiers are running from the direction we came... And enemies are swarming from the left path as well. They seem to be troops to defend the control room and nuclear missiles.”
The squad leader nodded and gave orders to the operatives.
“Split forces as planned. First squad will block the enemy’s approach here, the rest will seize the control room.”
“Yes, sir!”
Just as the operatives were about to move at his orders, I blocked their movement again.
“Wait. There’s no need to split the operatives.”
The squad leader furrowed his brow at my words.
This time, he seemed unable to restrain himself.
He approached me trying to burst into anger, but his words couldn’t continue to the end.
“This is our unit’s mission. Interfering to this extent is too much—”
Whooooong.
Because he saw a translucent membrane spreading across the intersection corridor.
“It’s a shield. It can block considerable firepower.”
As I said that, I fired at the translucent membrane with the pistol held in my opposite hand.
Bang! Bang! Ping! Ping!
The bullets ricocheted.
“You see? I’ll hold this place. Don’t let your subordinates die needlessly; all of you, head to the control room.”
In the middle of speaking, I returned the squad leader’s pistol that I had swiped.
The squad leader received the pistol back and looked at me and the shield stretched across the corridor with a flustered face.
Even after that, his expression changed several times, and eventually, he bit his lip and accepted my opinion.
“......Very well. If the higher-ups sent you for this reason, I must accept it.”
As expected, this squad leader was a rational soldier who cared for his subordinates.
He commanded his subordinates with a stiff expression.
“I’ll leave this place to Mr. Hyeon; all personnel, head to the control room!”
“Yes, sir!”
At his command, the operatives moved swiftly.
The operatives leaving for the control room signaled their gratitude to me, and the nuclear specialist looked at me several times.
As all the operatives disappeared into the central corridor, I stretched greatly.
“Well then, shall we get moving too?”
Finally separated from the people, it was time to take care of my own business.
After asking Sof for a spell, I walked down the right path.
Toward the nuclear missile warehouse.
[Burn!]
Sof’s spell resonated in my head, and flames surged up from the rear corridor.
The flames continued down the corridor we had come from and the left corridor.
Fwoooooosh!
The flames engulfed the corridor, and the signals of enemies charging this way rapidly disappeared.
Nuclear Base (3)