Andy looked at the stagnant pool in front of him, a small pool that seemed to be some kind of microcosm of Burnham Spring.

I don't know what the black and green sewage is mixed with the underground, a thick oil film floats on it, the oil film is burning, the sewage is boiling, gurgling bubbles gushing out from under the water, pushing the oil film open, the foul smell seeps into the ash air of Burnham Spring and merges with it, the ash flows out with the hot air from the burning crevices and the burning mine, the new lifts into the air, and the old falls to the ground.

Long before the explosion of Burnham Springs, it may have been originally a pool of clear water, corresponding to the name of Burnham Springs.

Despite all the harshness, the stagnant water inexplicably formed a distorted mirror on the surface, and Andy could see his appearance changing inside with the gushing of toxic gases.

There was a sound of footsteps, and Andy looked back to see Frank wearing a scuba car.

"Bad news."

He slowly removed his diving equipment, and strangely colored dirty water continued to drip from his ugly folded skin.

"Although the water hole didn't collapse completely, it was difficult to get into it, and those bastard bombs still worked... I've confirmed, and I'm only going to be able to get a certain distance at the moment, and the deeper places are blocked by falling rocks. ”

Andy turned, and his mighty body wrapped in power armor was reflected in the backwater pool next to him.

"Oh? So what to do? Are there any other entrances? ”

Frank also had a difficult look on his face.

"There is also an entrance, in the fire cave, and in the fire cave there is a passage connected to the water hole... But it's also more dangerous there, and though I'm not afraid of radiant sewage, the flames can still bake me, and of course, there's much more to the horror down there than just fire. Well... The first problem to solve is that we don't have a map, and the map of the Fire Cave is now in Phil's hands, and as long as we get it, we can consider the next step. ”

Andy asked a little strangely.

"Isn't that what you can get by telling him?"

Frank shrugged.

"It's not that simple, I said that those maps are exchanged for human lives little by little, so Phil will not be so simple to hand over the map in his hand, and Phil has been busy taking care of Sparky lately, since I activated the explosives in order to scare away those tin cans, Sparky has been sick, and he was scared again when the water hole was blown up, and now the symptoms are so strong that he can barely take care of himself..."

Andy pondered for a moment, asked where Frank Fell was, and then walked over and knocked on the door.

It took a while for Phil to push the door open with a tired face.

"You should be quiet, I finally managed to make him quiet."

"I'm sorry, but I think I have an offer to tell you."

"What?"

"Sparky's mental problems are getting worse, right?"

“.... Be. ”

"You should know that no amount of placation will help him."

"I know, but I will never give up on him, we have been dependent on each other for many years, he trusts me, I trust him, don't try to persuade me to make any changes, he is not a burden to me."

Andy was silent for a moment, because Phil's sincere feelings were a little touched in his heart.

"I'm not trying to say that, I'm trying to say... Mental illness is difficult to treat with ordinary methods, however, there is a better way, there was a pre-war technology called codE that could adjust the thinking of the human brain, and if Sparky could be treated, he could really return to normal in a short period of time. ”

Phil gave Andy a few looks in disbelief, as if to make sure he wasn't joking.

"Really?"

Frank listened to Andy's words and looked at him a few times, and then couldn't help but talk about the negative effects.

"I know codE, the most widespread use of that thing is to turn a good human head into a robot part, I've heard that on that horrible assembly line there are always heads that are completely broken, vegetative or brain dead, or even crazier... You're saying you want to 'treat' Sparky with some of those devices? It doesn't seem to me to work. ”

Andy immediately explained to the two.

"To the northeast there was a pre-war scientific research center called the Great Dome, which was located on the hill north of the pre-war city of Boulder. The codE equipment inside is very advanced, by no means the wet parts assembly line you said, and there are also a group of very powerful scientists who can help adjust, and if you send Sparky there, there is a high probability that he will return to normal. ”

Frank was thoughtful, and Phil looked confused.

"What... Boulder City.... How far away? How long will it take? ”

Andy glanced to the east.

"Just outside Burnham Springs on the railroad, the NcR train is running, and if I put you in touch, I can borrow their train to get to Arrashedburg in the south and then from the northeast... When I get the thing I want, I'm going to take a trip to the Great Dome, and then we'll stop by and go together. ”

"Now we need something, a map of the fire hole."

Phil hesitated for a moment, but still chose to believe Andy, he went into the house and searched for a while, took out a black and yellow old paper and handed it to Andy.

"Make good use of it, don't break it, there is only one copy in this world, and every mark on it is paid a heavy price."

Andy took it.

"Rest assured, and I won't forget my promise."

A scream came from inside the house, and Phil sighed and closed the door and turned back into the house.

......................

Frank walked out with a suitcase, wiped off the black dust on it, and opened the lock, which contained a set of silver-white protective suits, covered tightly from top to bottom, and a set of independent respiratory systems that were encased.

"This is what we used to go down to explore the fire cave in the past, to isolate the heat and toxic smoke... At first, everyone took turns using it, but then there were more clothes than people. ”

Andy glanced at it, and felt that this dress was similar to the one worn by Pierce's gang, but the kind Pierce was wearing was obviously a more advanced and novel version, and this kind of high-temperature protective suit was also the only choice for humans to explore Jedi such as the underground burning mine of Burnham Springs, but Andy was not afraid of the road ahead, after all, he had seen a more terrifying environment in the Grand Canyon before, and even metal armor could melt into the high temperature...

"I have no problem with this power armor to resist those flames, I don't need this clothes."

Frank glanced up and down at Andy's power armor and just nodded, but suddenly someone rushed over.

"Wait, take me!"

The two turned their heads to see Dante trotting all the way, followed by Luke and the hangman.

"I'm going down too! I'm going down too! I have to check it out! ”

Dante yelled and ran over like a madman, Andy frowned, this New Canaanite didn't see how strong he was, and he probably didn't have much combat power, and his spirit didn't seem to be quite right, what was the benefit of taking this guy to that dangerous place, Andy didn't think it was there, so why take him down? It's just a deadly nonsense.

Luke gasped helplessly on his knees.

"You... Ouch... You madman... Alas..."

The hangman walked not far from him, looking at Andy's power armor and then at the hazmat suit on the ground.

"Is this equipment of yours very good, can you get a set for me?"

Andy snorted coldly.

"You want to be beautiful."

The hangman spread his hands.

"Then I won't be able to go with you, I'll wait for you above, be careful, don't die, I'll have to find a way to find food at that time."

Andy didn't even bother to respond to him, and Frank walked up to Dante with some curiosity and asked.

"Don't you know how dangerous it is, young man? Why do you have to go down? ”

Dante had a beard and looked to be about forty years old, but for the ghouls, this age could really only be called a young man, although it is not known what year Frank was born, but judging from the details, he must be older than everyone present.

"I know! But I received a revelation from God, and He told me that I would go down to the Valley of Hinnon to witness and be a witness! ”

Luke straightened up a little helplessly, and it seemed that he had been trying hard again to no avail.

"Revelation? It's just a dream of yours, right? Not everyone has the power of a prophet! ”

Dante went on to assert the necessity of his own conclusion.

"God told me everything! I saw the undead wandering in the midst of hell, their souls burned by the flames, their tormented and tormented by every second, their flesh twisted and melted but unable to turn to ashes or decay, eternally trampled in boiling tar... Yes! O my God! Inspired by you, if I can't really go down and watch it, I will regret it for the rest of my life! ”

Frank listened to Dante's words with some surprise, and did not angrily rebuke him for his whims, nor mock him for daydreaming.

"Did you really see what you said?"

Dante looked up proudly.

"Of course! That's the revelation! Absolutely! ”

Frank then turned to look at Andy.

"Do you think we're going to take him?"

Andy looked at Dante's wistful eyes and was a little speechless.

"Whatever, but I'm not always capable of taking care of you."

Dante thanked him for a while, and Luke shook his head again and again.

......................

After packing the replacement parts for the pumps, Frank stood in front of the fire cave in his hazmat suit, and with Andy and Dante standing in front of the hole, the trio looked a little strange.

If it weren't for Sparky's illness, Phil, who was more familiar with the fire cave, would have led the team, but now he can't get out, and Andy can't wait for him indefinitely.

Andy uses voice control to let the beep-beep boy project the scanned fire hole map onto the helmet's monitor, with its route guidance allows Andy to grasp the situation inside, but the map can't replace experience, although Frank is relatively unfamiliar with the fire hole, he has also been down many times, and if he is there, he can be regarded as some confidence, as for Dante.... Hopefully those jumbled prayers he made before going in worked.

Although he had only listened to it for a while, Andy was sure that he had heard Dante say something after going down the cliff to the large woods that had been completely blackened by the explosion: Ah! This black forest is really difficult to describe! Compared with Heilin, even death will not be more sad, in order to retell the blessings that Heilin gave me, I will also recount the rest of the scenery one by one.

"Let's go, this trip won't be too easy."

Andy stepped into the face of the black smoke that filled his face with the marks of explosions, charred and cracked rocks, and combustibles that were still burning in the darkness...

There are some badly damaged rails on the ground, partially rolled and broken, and partly melted, which seem to be the minecart tracks used by miners in the past, when truckloads of ore were transported to the surface by minecarts, sorted and transported away in trucks, all the way to the smelter.

Andy stepped deeper and deeper, the stones under his feet crumbling, the scorched black stones that had been burned for years could not withstand the trampling of the power armor, and mixed with the glowing ashes, stirring up more poisonous smoke.

"You haven't seen how productive coal was back then, and now we can only dig out some residue in the shallows."

Frank said this, but Andy didn't know whether he was talking about the high production of Burnham Springs during its heyday or the high production of Eagle Rock before the war, and the place they were now in was the site of the Burnham Spring explosion six years ago: the Eagle Rock Mine.

A few stones suddenly slipped down from the roof of the cave, these charred rocks were almost some coking coal, which was no threat to the power armor helmet, but in order to protect Frank and Dante, who were only wearing soft heat-proof suits next to him, Andy still put on his fist gloves and waved his fist to block a few times, and the rocks that fell down were shattered by him, avoiding Frank and Dante behind him from being smashed all over the face.

Some of the pre-war mine ventilation pipes, pumping pipes, wiring pipes, etc. still remain, but they were all blown up in a mess, deformed, melted, and charred and scattered.

The flames suddenly rushed in with a hot wind, and Andy's vision was burned out as he could not be distinguished.

From the analysis of the map, there are six passages from the fire cave to the water hole, and there are two places closer to the entrance, given that they came down this time not to explore the fire cave to recover items, it is better to find a way down the water hole as soon as possible, so Andy took the lead and walked towards the nearest cave, Frank and Dante walked a little slower, after all, they had to be more careful with the fire and poisonous smoke.

"Tell me honestly, boy, did you bet with someone to come down to such a stubborn place? Like if you could come down and go back again you could win thousands of caps or something? ”

Frank jokes with Dante as he walks, but the New Canaanite replies, seemingly disgusted with gambling.

"A person who rejoices in his winnings will lose all his winnings when his fortune changes, and his grief will become depressed."

Frank burst out laughing.

"I can hear what you're talking about... I didn't expect that book to be lost until now, don't you think that's interesting? I can also play with you, to be honest, at least you really dare to come down and play with your life, but it is commendable for courage, but it is difficult to go back halfway, and then on the way you will see something a hundred times more terrifying than these flames and poisonous smoke, and you will be asked to pee your pants at a glance. ”

His hoarse ghoul voice rang out as he cleared his throat.

"For your sake, I think you'd better follow me, and let me be your guide, and take you through the endless darkness from here; You will hear the terrible screams, and see the agonized ghosts of the past, each mourning for its own second death. ”

Dante was surprised, but Frank's statement seemed to confirm his idea that he had been revealed.

He responded with enthusiasm.

"Please, O poet, even if you do not know God, please lead me to the place you have just mentioned, for his sake, that I may see with my own eyes the gate of St. Peter, and see the suffering of all beings that you have described!"

Andy, who was walking in front, broke off a section of burned and deformed iron sheets, and saw that many forks in the road began to appear here, and there was even a completely broken elevator shaft, connecting the upper and lower floors of the mine, and the area of this mine was amazingly large.

"Instead of continuing to talk nonsense, you two should take a look around."

Andy looked left and right a few times, and then swept it again with V mode, Hull said that there were several hostile and dangerous targets nearby, but V mode did not get anything, I don't know if it was because of the harsh environment around it that interfered with the enemy of V mode, after all, those gravel garbage, flames and poisonous smoke can indeed blind people's eyes, so that V mode may not be as powerful as in the past.

Compared to the mines of the Grand Canyon, the smoldering here is more severe, and although the temperature is slightly worse, the structure is much narrower and more complex.