Chapter 237: Trapped In Escape Pipe


    I ordered decisively, "Everyone, get ready forbat. Have theborers stay behind us. Soldiers, enter the tube. We''ll gather a little ahead of the entrance."


    With my order, everyone moved to their positions. The soldiers entered abat formation, and Sarje even covered Temo''s mouth to prevent him from shouting for help. I also approached the venttion cover to observe the situation outside.


    Two giant paw worms that seemed to be patrolling the area had reached Temo''s workce. They were curious about Temo''s absence. At that moment, all of us were holding our breath in the venttion duct. As we were quite far away from the registration counter, the giant paw worms had yet to notice any clues about Temo''s disappearance.


    The two worms crawled around for a bit before deciding that Temo was probably temporarily away since they couldn''t find anything suspicious. They looked like they were about to leave. Seeing that, I heaved a long breath in relief, as though the crisis was over. Suddenly, one of the worms stopped moving and turned around to look at something.


    ''Shit! Did someone leave something behind? Zhang Bao''er must have dropped something while sneaking up on Temo earlier!'' I thought anxiously.


    Even from far away, I could hear the worm''s cooing as itmunicated with itspanion. Shortly after, it picked up a weapon from the ground with its giant paw. It was Temo''s raygun, which I had kicked aside earlier.


    ''I was the careless one here!'' I thought as guilt welled within me. I was bing so nervous that my entire body was soaked with sweat.


    Unsurprisingly, Zhang Bao''er immediately and eagerly questioned me, "Canyue, why didn''t you take the gun with you?"


    I did not reply. I couldn''t even muster a proper excuse. That was a mistake, and there was nothing to say about it. Far away, the two giant paw worms sank into a discussion. Suddenly, one of them made a shrill sound while facing the deeper parts of the workshop. The sound was ear-piercing, as though it were a sound attack assaulting our eardrums. All of our eardrums ached.


    "That fellow seems to have sounded the rm to ask for reinforcements. This beast''s voice is too terrible to listen to," said Zhang Bao''er.


    Zhang Bao''er was right. Before long, a group of beasts and droids appeared before us.


    Apart from about a dozen giant paw worms, there were also tworge spider beasts among them. The maintenance droids we saw working in the workshop earlier had also appeared. There were about five of them, all flying in the air. They seemed to be in charge of scanning the area. Even more terrifying was the sight of over a hundred small beetle-like beasts on the ground. The small beetles scattered all around as they searched the area.


    "Canyue, we need to think of a way to leave. There is only a wall between us and them. It won''t be enough to keep us hidden. Either we fight or we run. We need to decide immediately," said Old Du.


    "Anxashe, go look for Dodo and ask theborers who had helped us if there is any other way out of this ce," I ordered. Anxashe rushed off with the order.


    At that moment, some of the beetles were already starting to search the corner containing piled ores. A few wereing closer and closer to the venttion duct we were hiding in. The five droids were constantly flying back and forth, getting dangerously near us a few times. If this continued, we would be exposed in only a few minutes.


    "Bao''er, Old Du, ready our methrowers. If the beetlese in, burn them to death," I ordered softly.


    "Roger. From my observations, these beetles have extremely sharp mandibles. Don''t be bitten by them," warned Old Du.


    At that moment, several beetles reached the foot of the wall. They looked like they were going to climb into the venttion duct soon. I felt abnormally nervous, as though all my previousbat experience had been rendered irrelevant.


    "Deputy Commander, we found an escape path. Lead our people ande with me," Dodo finally brought a piece of good news.


    I did not hesitate to give the group the order to retreat. The soldiers on standby forbat retreated from the pipe into the room we had found earlier. The chainlessborer was opening a hole near the room''s corner. I could see that the hole led to another pipe.


    "Canyue, let''s retreat with theborers," said Anxashe excitedly.


    I nodded at everyone. One by one, we followed theborers into the pipe. Sarje also entered the tunnel, pushing Temo in front of him. Anxashe, the chainlessborer, and I were thest to enter. After the chainlessborer entered, theborer covered the entrance with the steel b they had pried off earlier. The moment the entrance was covered, I heard the same ear-piercing sounding from outside. The beetles had probably discovered the venttion duct.


    "We need to move away as quickly as possible. I reckon this pipe will be found before long," said Anxashe.


    Everyone retreated through the pipe. The pipe was cylindrical and wasn''t exactly big; we needed to bend as we moved. The pipe was long and winding, but our surroundings werepletely sealed. It seemed to be part of a sewage system.


    We could still hear the loud soundsing from the room behind us. The beasts had evidently found our previous hiding spot and were currently searching the room. Upon hearing the noise, we all moved faster.


    Before long, we reached an exit. The area near the exit wasparatively more spacious, but I had not expected to see an electronic door standing ahead of us. The two parts of the door met in the middle in the shape of a sawtooth. The door was so tightly shut that it was impossible to see what was on the other side.


    "How do we open this door? And what''s on the other side? Dodo, ask theborers," I ordered.


    Dodo did as told and asked theborer who had been leading the way. But due to thenguage barrier, not a single one of us understood what the gurgling noise and their gestures meant.


    "I don''t think even gods can understand anguage like this. Every spoken word sounds like a rumble. This idiot probably brought us to a dead end," said Zhang Bao''er, ever theiner.


    "Anxashe, lead five Wargod soldiers toy some motion sensor bombs in the pipe and form a defensive perimeter. Zhang Bao''er will go with you. I''ll stay here and try to think of a way to open the door," I said, throwing the grumbling Zhang Bao''er over to guard duty.


    Zhang Bao''er was clearly unhappy with his assignment, but he still followed the order and left.


    "Deputy Commander Canyue, we have no way of tranting their aliennguage, but from their gestures, I understand that this door should have been left open," said Dodo.


    "A door that is supposed to be open is suddenly shut. Clearly, someone other than us has been here. We don''t have any other choice. We must open this door if we want to escape," I said, emphasizing the importance of our current task.


    "I''ve already studied the door. There are no interfaces or ports, so I believe the switch to the door is on the other side," said Dodo.


    "Canyue, if we really can''t open it, do we consider bombing it?" asked Old Du.


    "No. This ce is too small. Using too few explosives will result in a weak explosion, but using too many will create shockwaves that could harm us," I said as I gestured at the people around us.


    "In that case, we can only hope to hack the door to open it. Dodo, we''re counting on you," said Old Du.


    Dodo was in deep thought. I was also studying the door with all my focus. The door was tightly shut, and no traces of any sort of power circuit could be seen on or around the door. The door''s surface was seamless and sleek, and not a single nut could be seen.


    "This door looks like two bs of steel brought together. It must be an extremely sturdy door. Also, its craftmanship is rather exquisite," said Old Du.


    "A door with such exquisite craftsmanship must have a ratherplicated internal structure. This is an extremely high level of technology," Dodo muttered.


    "Dodo, if this facility is filled with high-level technology, it means that every separate part of the superweapon ys an extremely important role, right?" I asked.


    "Naturally. Consider a Star-ss battleship. It isrge, but the absence of any part of the ship will trigger the ship''s rm. Without a speedy restoration, it might bring unwanted consequences," said Dodo.


    "If this door is not actually a single b of steel and is instead a structure formed from two frames, we can conclude from the exquisiteness of the seam between them that this door is an extremelyplicated feat of engineering. In that case, what if we damage only a part of the door? Would we be able to ruin its integrity and cause a malfunction?" I asked.


    "Theoretically, that is possible. But you should take into consideration the system''s safety protocols. If you use a timed bomb, we can''t urately pinpoint the st to a single spot. And if the explosion spreads too far, the system might initiate aplete lockdown. At that time, we would have triggered a defensive response instead of causing a malfunction," said Dodo.


    "You''re right, and that''s why I never intended to use explosives," I said, dispelling Dodo''s misgivings.