Chapter 70.2 – Atsha (2)
The ship’s hull began to descend noticeably, the light in the room getting darker, and then suddenly brightening again.
The control room automatically turned on all the lights, instantly brightening the room. Standing by the window and looking outside, it was obvious to see the water covering the ship, and fish swimming in it were also clearly visible.
The ship seemed to be sinking into the water slowly, but in reality, there was still a faint distance between the seawater and the ship’s hull. The glass remained clean, without any splashes of water.
Zero indeed loved hiding underground, both the branch and the headquarters. The only difference was that one hid beneath the ground, and the other hid beneath the sea, with the latter’s entrance being more elaborate. In such a suppressed working environment, it was fortunate that these employees had good stress resistance and didn’t suffer from depression.
As they went deeper, they could see the dark currents and whirlpools at the bottom of the sea. Fish were being swept over, clapping against the glass, and just before hitting it, they were carried away by invisible surges.
Outside, it became completely dark.
*
The massive mutant encountered on the sea surface was dealt with, and the other four people’s boat was overturned, shattered by the waves. Chen Jing and the three didn’t pay much attention to the four people jumping into the sea. After searching the sea surface for a long time without finding anything, they dived into the water.
Approaching the depths of the sea, various dark currents surged, and light was almost completely absent. The only light source was the lamps they had prepared in advance.
To reach the seabed, they had to pass through the layer of dark currents, where hardly any creatures were visible. It took some effort for them to get through this layer.
Beyond the dark current layer, a stronger suction force came. Before being swept away, Xiao Pang didn’t have time to think and grabbed onto anything he could. It seemed like something had loosened, his heart skipped a beat, but then he realized that he hadn’t been swept away, or everything around him had come to a halt.
A passage appeared, but before the passage, a keypad floated up.
In the silence, Xiao Pang took out the password unlocking device he had hesitated to bring before leaving. Eventually, he decided to bring it along.
Zhang Xin gave him a thumbs up.
In this situation, it was challenging to use iris recognition, and fingerprint recognition was not feasible. Therefore, Zero had to set a very complex password. After a long time of unlocking, just when Xiao Pang thought the device was about to be rendered useless, a “beep” sounded, and the screen displayed green.
They were through.
To some extent, Zero had already entered the realm of intelligence. After entering the correct password, the immensely thick glass blocking the passage opened. As they entered, the water in the passage began to recede.
Standing inside the passage looking out, they realized that the incredibly thick glass from before was one-way. From the outside, one couldn’t see the inside, but people inside could clearly see anything outside.
If someone had been in the passage just now, they should have been noticed even before entering the headquarters.
After confirming that there were no surveillance cameras in the passage, Chen Jing was the first to remove his oxygen mask. They took out towels from the waterproof bags they carried, roughly wiped their quick-drying clothes, put on regular clothes to cover their wetsuits, and walked down the passage.
This place seemed like another world, unlike being underwater. It was warm and dry, with oxygen that shouldn’t exist at the seabed.
After walking a distance further down, faint voices and the sound of guns colliding could be heard. They retraced their steps and created their own path in the right places.
Chen Jing’s ability proved quite effective when used correctly, clearing the way quietly and swiftly.
At the end of the path was a dimly lit alley.
Indeed, it was an alley surrounded by buildings. The alley had accumulated trash and fallen garbage bins, with rats roaming around. Outside the alley, there was brightness, very bright, like sunlight. Standing here, they surprisingly felt like they were on the ground.
Blocking the opened passage, several people walked out of the alley. The moment they saw the outside scene, they suddenly understood what Atsha truly meant.
Under the enormous white dome, skyscrapers rose from the ground, green trees extended along the roadsides, and there were children on the sidewalks. Cars passed by on the road.
This was a city, or rather, a country, existing underwater in what should have been a vanished nation.
Xiao Pang wiped away the water droplets that continued to drip from his hair and asked, “Where to?”
Looking up at the tallest silver building among the skyscrapers, Chen Jing said, “There.”
*
After a slight bump, the scenery outside the ship’s window changed from darkness to gradual brightness. Eventually, the shadow of towering skyscrapers could be vaguely seen.
The ship came to a stop. There was a knock on the door outside, saying they had reached their destination, and it was time to disembark.
Bodyguard Jiang opened the door first.
It was the same people he had seen at the port before. Shi Bu, who had been quiet all the way because they were not in the same room, spoke up again. Before he could make a sound, Jiang Yujin glanced at him.
Shi Bu stopped speaking, but his body continued to move, instinctively standing behind his big brother.
There were people waiting below, a group of them. At the forefront was a middle-aged man with already gray hair, still with both legs but leaning on a cane. The attention of the group was mainly on Lu Dongcheng.
Jiang Yujin wasn’t particularly interested in the polite and insincere exchanges in the business world, so he turned his head to look at the surrounding scenery.
Despite the considerable changes, it was indeed Atsha he had visited before. Several iconic buildings were still there, but the artificial nature of the place was evident at a glance. The towering buildings, water features, and greenery, combined with artificial lighting, made the headquarters look quite pleasant.
He withdrew from the small talk. The living conditions at the headquarters seemed much better than at the branch. It turned out not everyone in the organization could tolerate darkness and dampness.
Looking at the person still observing their surroundings, Lu Dongcheng said, “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t a scolding tone, just a simple reminder, as if they had done this many times before.
Others looked over, especially the members of Zero. Someone quietly asked Shi Bu, who was standing on the side, “Excuse me, who is this?”
He asked the question that the people who had been on the ship since morning had been wanting to ask. For a moment, everyone around looked at him.
Before Shi Bu could quickly and thoughtlessly say “my brother,” Jiang Yujin took the initiative to introduce himself, “Bodyguard.”
A concise and direct introduction. The person who asked was momentarily stunned, and then didn’t know what to say. He finally managed, “Hello, bodyguard.”
Jiang Yujin nodded politely, “Hello.”
The whole conversation was quite peculiar.
Not far from where they disembarked was a silver building, very tall. When they approached, they noticed the unique metallic coating on the walls.
Jiang Yujin pulled Shi Bu back, who wanted to closely examine the wall.
Unlike the branches that looked like typical underworld organizations, the headquarters was clean and tidy. Ignoring its unique geographical location, if one considered it as an ordinary modern civilized city, it worked perfectly.
From disembarking to entering the building, there were smiles and lively conversations along the way. After entering the building, the group walked and stopped, passing through numerous doors and corridors before reaching the front of an office.
The office door opened. Inside, it was evident that some modifications had been made. There was a round table in the center, surrounded by several chairs. Lu Dongcheng pulled out a chair for the person behind him, saying, “Have a seat.”
Bodyguard Jiang sat down, and Shi Bu handed over a water cup, saying, “Brother, have some water.”
“…”
The expressions of the people opposite involuntarily twitched.
Who was the real boss here?
The crucial point was that the other party sat confidently, leisurely sipping water, even more imposing than the big boss.
Fortunately, Boss Jiang didn’t stay here for too long. After some superficial conversation, everyone except Lu Dongcheng and the middle-aged man with gray hair left the office.
Zero arranged resting rooms and recreational areas for them, but it was limited to this area.
No one wanted to be in the recreational area, and everyone chose to return to their rooms. After checking the surveillance in the hallway and in front of the room, Jiang Yujin followed the person leading the way and entered the room.
Once inside, he sent a message and then casually opened his game of Xiaoxiaole.
When one round of the game was over, there was a knock on the room door. He got up to open it, and Stone entered the room.
Before Jiang Yujin could ask, Shi Bu said, “The surveillance has been taken care of.”
“We passed a total of thirteen doors just now, including five with password locks, five guarded by people, and the final three with iris unlocking.”
“The elevator has sixteen floors. When reaching this floor, fingerprints are required. Besides, there’s also the seventh floor. The fingerprint panel lights up when the elevator reaches the seventh floor.”
Putting down the laptop he was holding, Shi Bu took a notepad and began sketching a floor plan of the route they had taken. Looking up, he asked, “Brother, what do you need to know all this for?”
Jiang Yujin squatted down, emitting a sigh similar to an old father.
