I have an Apocalypse City
Chapter 1357 - Chapter 1357 Chapter 1359 Entering

Chapter 1357: Chapter 1359: Entering Chapter 1357: Chapter 1359: Entering Two hours later, a man and an eagle arrived in front of a mountain recess.

There was a very apparent crack in this recess, which looked as if a sharp blade had split the mountain open, leaving behind a long fissure on the ground as well.

Patsha pointed ahead and said, “It’s right there. The underground base Kebolan Company has built here must be at least twenty to thirty years old, otherwise it wouldn’t have formed such a scale!”

Song Jian squinted and looked forward, the entire recess had been constructed into a fortress-like structure using steel-reinforced concrete. On both sides of the mountain, one could also see the dark, ominous barrels of cannons. If a wall were to be erected in front of the recess, sealing off the entire area, then this place would completely resemble a small military town.

“Why didn’t they build a wall?” Song Jian asked, pointing ahead.

“Who knows?” Patsha groomed the feathers on his shoulder with his long beak and said indifferently, “It’s already strict enough as it is. If they built a wall as well, would they leave any room for others to survive?”

Song Jian furrowed his brow and shook his head slightly. Could it be that when Kebolan Company first built this place, they anticipated that decades later they would acquire meteorite fragments, and that a group of examinees would come here to snatch them? And to ensure their success in seizing them, they intentionally lowered the difficulty by not building a wall?

Impossible!

If he were the master of this base, even if he didn’t perfect the internal facilities, a defensive wall would still need to be built. As the master of a city, Song Jian knew all too well that walls were the most cost-effective defensive structures among all defenses.

“It seems there aren’t many people inside the base?” Song Jian suddenly realized it was very quiet around him, not a single sound emanating from the base. Could it be that the base had been equipped with soundproofing facilities as well?

“They’ve installed automatic defense mechanisms. Maybe their people are all inside the base, and the ground security forces are very weak?” Patsha shrugged and said, “When we first approached, we received warnings immediately and didn’t dare to continue further, retreating back. Even those at full level Stealth Skill could only get close to the buildings above ground. They found a passage that led straight down through the fissure, but as soon as they approached that passage, they were discovered. It seems the opponent has some high-tech scanning equipment!”

Song Jian nodded. The Stealth Skill was, after all, just about concealing one’s shape by manipulating light and deceiving other’s eyes. There are plenty of things like sound, scent, and temperature that can’t be hidden. In modern society, guarding against these is quite easy, let alone in this Assessment World where technology is obviously far superior. A simple infrared detection could render useless the Stealth Skill that thieves work so hard to master.

“So you mean to say, you couldn’t make it deep inside either?” Song Jian asked.

“No way…” Patsha shook his head and said, “But I only heard this from others; as you know, my status within the Alien Clan is not high. They wouldn’t tell me some particularly important information…”

Song Jian nodded and said to Patsha, “Wait here for me, I’ll go in and have a look.”

“You know the Stealth Skill?” Patsha asked, somewhat surprised.

You have to understand, the Stealth Skill is a core ability of thieves, while skills and potions like the lesser invisibility spells and invisibility potions can’t possibly match up to a thief’s max level Stealth Skill.

“I’ll give it a try, I’ll back out if it doesn’t work!” After saying so, Song Jian’s figure gradually faded away from Patsha’s view.

The Abyss Concealment Skill, in terms of invisibility, isn’t as effective as max-level Stealth Skill, but it operates on the principle of creating a mass of Abyssal energy to envelop the user completely. Not only does it deceive the eyes by affecting light, but it also deeply conceals scent and body temperature due to the presence of Abyssal energy.

However, the best place to use the Abyss Concealment Skill is the Abyssal Hell, which is permeated with Abyssal energy everywhere. Utilizing the Abyss Concealment Skill there is like a fish in water, leaving no trace to be found.

But in environments outside of Abyssal Hell, Abyssal energy can actually be detected by many professions. They don’t need the ability to see through invisibility; they just need to be able to sense the presence of Abyssal energy to pinpoint Song Jian’s position. This is the biggest flaw of the Abyss Concealment Skill!

Nevertheless, for a base constructed entirely of high-tech like the one before him, Song Jian believed that they would be unable to detect the presence of Abyssal energy.

Entering stealth mode, Song Jian easily approached the base. He noticed that there were no walls built around the perimeter of the base, but there were many materials that were clearly intended for wall construction laid out under the mountainsides on both sides. It seemed clear that there had been plans to build walls from the sides of the mountains, but for some reason, the construction had been delayed.

Beep beep beep~

Just then, Song Jian heard the sound of electronics starting up from inside the base. Soon after, a synthesized mechanical voice resonated around the entire perimeter of the base.

“This is Kebolan Company’s underground base. Any unauthorized intrusion will be met with an active counter-attack by Kebolan Company. According to Defense Law Article 367, this attack does not require a prior warning…”

Song Jian paused momentarily in his actions but quickly continued forward. Patsha had told him that such warnings were likely pre-set to automatically play at intervals and did not actually mean an intrusion had been detected.

Upon closer inspection, Song Jian observed several naturally formed stone pillars in a hollow of the mountains. These pillars were smooth and straight, with traces of carvings that had been intentionally erased, leaving only faint imprints that made it impossible to discern the original engravings.

Moving forward, beneath the rocky substance of the mountains, Song Jian saw an enormous artificial cave. The edges of the cave were very smooth, and its walls were made entirely of concrete blocks that looked both rough and sturdy.

The cave was at least five meters high and ten meters wide, easily allowing for a truck to move in and out. And on both sides of this artificial cave, very evident defense mechanisms were in place. Two machine guns were still in a state of readiness, and the electronic devices that operated them still twinkled, though covered with a thick layer of dust, suggesting they had not been maintained for quite some time. Even some rust could be seen on the barrelling.

Song Jian’s brow furrowed slightly, as if he had a bad premonition. After observing for a while, he continued walking towards the interior, advancing deeper into the mountain.

Soon, Song Jian reached a large hall that appeared vast, almost as if the mountain had been hollowed out completely. Beneath his feet was a solid metal floor, and numerous supply crates were scattered around-some open, others securely tied up.

Continuing forward, Song Jian saw a slope about five to six meters wide, leading straight down into greater depths. The hall was still lit by emergency lights, dim though they were, allowing him to see his surroundings. But the slope was devoid of any light, dark and unknowable about where it led to.

After a moment of thought, Song Jian kept moving forward. Just as he was about to step onto the slope, a sudden and sharp alarm sounded. At the same time, several defensive machine guns flipped out from the walls on both sides of the slope and red laser targeting beams shot out in Song Jian’s direction.

…