Volume 1: The Coming Shock Chapter 21: Explosions
"This is the morning news of Toccan City, and here are a few newsletters."
Munch stayed in the secret room last night, fiddling with the mechanical heart and Black's behavior prediction model, and unknowingly fell asleep on the workbench. When I woke up, it was eight o'clock in the morning, and there were already many pedestrians on the star ring track in front of the City Security Bureau on the screen wall.
He opened the FM operation panel, and since the last time he accidentally listened to the fairy tale of the mysterious radio station, turning on the radio equipment every day has become his new habit.
"At twelve o'clock last night, the Cyber Center located in the southwest of Toshi City, due to improper operation by the porters, the discarded energy blocks stacked in the ninth district exploded, and the fire caused by the explosion was extinguished at 2:03 this morning. A total of 16 workers were injured in the accident, and two workers died of serious injuries due to being too close to the explosion site.
The cause of the accident is still under further investigation, and in addition, the second ruler who previously proposed to set up a research and development department in the Cyber Center and cooperated with the Urban Safety Bureau, Kaspu Van is jointly and severally responsible for the management of the accidental explosion, and will be suspended indefinitely from this day, please pay attention to the latest official news......"
Cyber Center, explosion, died of serious injuries......
When these words were linked, Munch became anxious and immediately turned on the communication device in the implant in his arm and called Tyrese.
The connection called several times, but no one answered. Sleepy, Munch picks up his clothes and prepares to go out, but Bobo reminds him to turn on the implant's positioning device before making a decision, because Munch has been paired with Tyrese's body and has permission to see each other's real-time location.
"I can't get the other party's location, please try again."
"I can't get the other party's location, please try again."
"I can't get the other party's location, please try again."
"He must have been affected by the explosion that damaged his implant...... No, I have to go to the Cyber Center right away. ”
Munch opened the door, lowered his head and rushed out, slamming into the person at the door, a strong smell of engine oil mixed with smoke rushing into Munch's nostrils.
Munch looked up: "Tyrese! How are you here! He cried out excitedly, and gave Tyrese a bear hug, "I thought you were dead!" What's going on with your positioning system? ”
"I thought it wasn't useful, so I stopped the positioning function." Tyrese said lightly.
The two entered the house.
Tyrese was out of sight and sat down on the edge of Munch's bed, and when Bane saw Tyrese, he wagged his tail frantically and circled around him. "Why is it so dirty?" Looking at Bane, who was covered in dirt, Tyrese complained, "You're too lazy, so you might as well give it a bath." He reached out and touched Bane's head, leaving a light gray mark, "But it's fine for now, I'm not afraid I'll touch you dirty." ”
Munch noticed that Tyrese's fingernails were covered in black dirt and that there were smoke stains from the burns.
"Why are you here, what the hell is going on?"
Tyrese gestured to the backpack behind him, "The parts you wanted, I found some of them for you." ”
He placed his backpack on the ground, twisted his aching neck and made a clicking sound, pulled out a cigarette and tucked it between his fingers.
"Actually, I arrived late last night, and I've been sleeping in the stairwell for fear of disturbing you. You know, I like the humidity, I'm used to being in the garbage heap in the Cyber Center, and I can't sleep without smelling a little sour. Fortunately, the stairwell of Watson Building, it tastes good, I like it very much. ”
Bane let out a slight growl at the cigarette in Tyres' hand. "Don't worry, I don't smoke, just put my nose and smell it."
Munch took a glass of water from the robotic arm, kicked the backpack aside, sat down next to Tyris, and handed it over. "Is the cause of the explosion as the news says true?"
"I haven't watched the news yet. I guess it's an operation error, right? Tyrese took a sip and put the cigarette in his nostrils.
Munch nodded.
"The skills of these people to lie need to be improved, and these are the reasons every time. However, if you want me to say, you have to thank last night for the accident, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get these things out of you. ”
Through Tyrese's storytelling, Munch learns everything that happened last night.
……
At nine o'clock last night, the Cyber Center concentrated in the residential area. There were still three hours before the explosion.
The dwelling units, which are made up of low-quality containers, are neatly arranged in an open space less than 30 meters from the garbage dump in the 6th Division. A ten-meter-high high-pressure fence was erected between the residential area and the storage yard, and searchlights around the area illuminated the entire area as if it were daylight.
Since Munch's departure, Tyrese has used his connections in the Cyber Center to get into the 10th Exclusion Zone, and as soon as the special airship lands, the people who organize the labor force will find him and lead him into the team.
Tyrese watched through the window as he watched the changes over the yard as he waited, waiting for the arrival of the special airship. According to the information he received from the dispatch center, a jetship on a special mission will enter the port tonight.
At half past nine, all the searchlights in the living area went out, and the doors and windows of the containers turned into black opaque patterns. As agreed, Tyrese waited quietly in the room, in the darkness of the environment, and only the sound of his own heartbeat could be heard. A few minutes later, a glimmer of light appeared in the doorway, and he was put on a metal mask and, with the procession, got into a transport van......
By the time the metal mask was removed, Tyrese was already in the Sector 10 yard.
Unlike other stockpiles, Section 10 is divided into smaller organizational units, almost ten meters square, each covered with a small transparent dome, which is a portable explosion-proof membrane.
The yards are subdivided according to the initials of the equipment, and between each division, three to five city guards on duty stand in unison, and they uniformly remove the epaulettes embroidered with the unit numbers, deliberately hiding their identities.
At the entrance to the field, there stood a man with a scar on his face, and judging by the attitude of the other guards, he should be the captain in charge of the operation.
All the workers in the subdivision were forbidden to speak, and after the work that needed to be carried was processed, they stood on the boundary line, waiting for a new round of arrangements.
The area where Tyrese was located was the letter "B", and the things he was carrying were placed in a boxy metal box, and while the officers on duty were not looking, he tore open the plastic tape, which was full of well-made bearings. A special mark printed on the package indicates that it is a special consumable for the military.
"There are people patrolling back and forth in each sub-district, and there is probably no blind spot between them. Even if you are lucky and sneak to the partition next to it, how can you collect all the parts on the list in a short period of time? Tyrese was absent-mindedly carrying, secretly contemplating the daunting task.
Minutes and seconds passed.
Eleven. There was still an hour before the explosion.
The handling work has been completed. All the workers stood in horizontal rows, forming countless slender lines. Tyrese kept an eye on the group gathering in front of him, taking advantage of the gap to sneak behind the piled up of goods.
From the moment Tyrese stepped into District 10, heavy walls were raised around it to withstand nuclear explosions, preventing workers from escaping during the operation.
The open space in front of the yard was densely packed with people wearing metal masks. Under the watchful eye of the scar man, the personnel inventory is underway. The queue with the correct number of people is moved to a specific area to wait for the transport trucks, and only if the total number of workers accurately corresponds, the transport convoys are allowed to evacuate from the special exits.
Gradually, only the queue where Tyrese was left in the clearing. Not far away, neatly parked transport trucks are filled with workers wearing metal masks.
"Report, one less." The men of the City Watch ran up to Scar Man and reported loudly.
"Hurry up and search!" Scarman's voice was low and hoarse.
The flying scanner quickly lifted into the air and spread out in all directions, and in less than a few seconds, the thermal image of Area 10 was drawn, and Tyrese had nowhere to hide.
"In Zone B, where the bearings are stacked!" Several of the guards raised their guns and moved quickly towards the area where Tyrese was.
Tyrese found himself exposed, and struggled to run deeper into Sector 10 along the gaps in the blast membrane around the yard.
"Zone D, Hazardous Chemical Additive Dumping."
"Zone F, where the friction adjustment shaft is stacked."
"Area M, where the magnetic field generating unit is stacked."
The guards gathered more and more, forcing Tyrese into the corner of the 10th Sector where the weapons were stacked. He had nowhere to run but to close his eyes and wait to be caught.
Suddenly, a hoarse and hurried order came from the intercom devices of all the guards: "Everyone stop searching and evacuate the tenth district immediately!" ”
The scar man stood in front of the clearing, on the military miniature radar implanted in his arm, more than a dozen red flashes representing armed airships were approaching the sky above the tenth district, and at the bottom of the radar display, the danger assessment column read: 100% attack probability, arrival time 15 minutes later.
Scar Man issues a command to the console to open the door to Sector 10, and several attempts in a row show that the opening fails. At the same time, the explosion-proof membrane over each organizational unit is automatically retracted and sunk to the ground.
An ominous premonition enveloped him, and he looked at the armed airship that was getting closer and closer, and ordered several guards in front of him to shoot at the heavy walls around him, except for the shallow bullet marks and bullet casings all over the ground, the walls remained unmoved.
At 11:48 a.m., twelve minutes before the explosion.
Hearing the chaotic gunfire in the distance, Tyrese cautiously poked his head out, seeing the strange behavior of the guards and the angry expression of the scar man, he didn't know what was happening, only that no one had the energy to care about him now, and he could complete the task assigned by Munch.
Casually from Area E, he found a portable equipment bag and straddled it diagonally on his body, Tyrese flexibly moved around the various organizational units of Area 10, without the obstruction of blast film, he found things more quickly.
At 11:58 a.m., two minutes before the explosion.
The bag in front of Tyrese was full, and all but the obsidian energy reactor had been found. He decided to leave the quarantine area first, and then find a way to find another way.
At the parking lot of the transport truck, a worker wearing a metal mask noticed something unusual and became agitated on the truck. A few of the brave ones took off their masks and rushed down from the transport truck, and the scar man's fear was nowhere to vent, so he grabbed the machine gun of the guards next to him and fired at the crowd, and immediately blood flowed and wailed all over the field.
Tyrese, who was hiding behind the cargo, was shocked and angry when he saw the scene in front of him.
Suddenly, all the searchlights in the Cyber Center went out, leaving only District 10 still brightly lit, like a lighthouse in the sea in the middle of the night, but I didn't know who to point the way to.
A minute later, a huge black shadow was projected from the sky, and Tyrese looked up, and the black shadow was just imprinted on his face. It was an armed airship, and then the second, the third, the fourth...... In just a few tens of seconds, dozens of armed airships gathered in the sky over the 10th District.
A sneer flashed at the corner of Scar Man's mouth, as if he understood something, and together with the guards, he raised his gun to the sky, shooting wildly, making fearless resistance.
When the first shell fell, it hit the chemical additives in the D sector, and the serial explosion produced a large amount of toxic gases. Immediately afterward, shells rained down on the 10th district. A wave of scorching air tossed Tyrese over, and he clutched his backpack tightly in his arms, using his body as the last protective barrier.
Another shell exploded not far from him, and he flew into the air and lost consciousness.