Chapter 446

Chapter 446: Countdown

With the protection of the Dragon Guard, bullets striking their bodies had no lethal power and could not penetrate the defensive layers. However, the momentum of the bullets was not easily dissipated, and those hit by the bullets felt as if they had been struck hard, affecting their charging and shooting actions, thus lowering combat efficiency.

The assault team members from Night, positioned at the front, remained calm despite the urgency from Squadron Leader Chen Renkai’s voice urging them on. Instead, they focused even harder on finding opportunities to push forward.

An RPG rocket bomb shot straight into the hole created by the recently blown-open steel isolation door.

The hole served as the perfect cover; amid loud explosions and screams, the makeshift barricade of sofas and wooden tables nearby was blasted to pieces, clearing the final obstacle to the core area.

At that moment, a barrage of 7.62mm AK-47 bullets burst out from inside. The Night warriors did not recklessly charge in; although they were not afraid of bullets, the exposed equipment on their helmets was vulnerable to damage, which could impact their fighting capability.

In their hurried counterattack, the North Koreans struggled to use their AK-47s effectively, completely overwhelmed and suffering a one-sided massacre.

The high-tech equipped Night warriors advanced as if entering an empty space.

A miniature cloud explosive bomb, the size of a beer bottle, was thrown inside. Upon hitting the ground, it erupted a massive plume of gray high-explosive burning agent, followed by a flash of red light, filling the entire passage with fireballs, even spilling out from the blasted steel door.

This was not even the full power of the cloud explosive bomb; it was merely the remnants ignited by the earlier RPG rocket blast, significantly weakening the explosive effect but not diminishing the burning intensity.

The intense fire consumption of oxygen left the North Koreans hiding inside feeling dizzy, their faces reddening from oxygen deprivation. Breathing difficulties severely affected their combat effectiveness; normally, combat already required vast amounts of oxygen, and now it was exacerbated, leaving them weak, nearly unable to hold their firearms.

However, the individuals equipped with the Dragon Guard personal armor had a small oxygen replacement device that switched to internal oxygen supply when external levels were low. Everyone’s vision displayed a percentage and countdown in the upper right corner.

With a 30-minute oxygen supply countdown starting, it wasn’t long, but for the Night warriors, who were not aiming for total domination of the Underground Base, it was adequate; their opponents were not so fortunate.

Utilizing over a dozen disposable incendiary grenade launchers, they ignited sparks that further intensified oxygen consumption, with the base’s ventilation system severely damaged by the ongoing combat, nearly failing.

The lead soldiers, with bulletproof shields as if rehearsed beforehand, rolled into the opening, spraying a rain of bullets in the process, followed closely by the Machine Gunner, whose fierce firepower led the charge.

The remaining soldiers quickly streamed in one after another, further expanding their gains and solidifying their victories.

Amid the screams of the North Koreans, the last defensive line was breached, and the Night warriors surged forward into a secret base of North Koreans in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

It seemed the fierce attack had exhausted the last remnants of resistance in the base; upon entering the core area, the gunfire in the entire Underground Base weakened drastically, and the explosions ceased, leaving only sporadic gunfire, mostly from the Night warriors executing mercy shots on each body.

Their superiors did not plan to capture any prisoners; rather than bringing back troublesome captives, it was more efficient to eradicate all threats completely, preventing any survivors or pretending corpses from causing complications, resulting in point-blank executions.

The 9mm Type 92 military pistol possessed excellent stopping power; a shot to the forehead resulted in obliteration, similar to smashing a watermelon.

“‘Cabbage,’ you need to take your team and dismantle all the data storage devices. I need to take everything with me. Everyone needs to hurry up and search for all valuable items; we only have an hour at most. After an hour, the Russians’ missiles will destroy this place.”

Upon seeing dozens of computers and large machinery within the computer hall, Squadron Leader Chen Renkai commanded two squads of tech-savvy soldiers to salvage the data from the base.

Warriors with code names like "Potato" and "Cabbage," primarily trained in electronics and information technology, could fight when necessary, but the squad placed more emphasis on their professional skills.

The Night’s advance was so rapid that the North Koreans could not destroy vital documents in the base, let alone manage to destroy all the computers.

This manual data clearance method, even if the data memory area was written over a hundred times, could still potentially be restored; the Night Base had experts and equipment specifically trained for data recovery work.

Just as everyone was searching for remaining enemies and checking crucial items, a soldier ran over to report to Squadron Leader Chen Renkai, “Report! I’ve found a timed bomb with only ten minutes left on the countdown!”

“What?”

“A timed bomb?”

Squadron Leader Chen Renkai and Squadron Leader Zhang Zhenyu exclaimed in unison, understanding the gravity of the situation as they quickly followed the soldier to the bomb’s location.

It appeared to be on the wall of the officers’ dormitory, where a portrait of Kim Il-sung was previously hanging, revealing a B5 sized digital display with a small keyboard, glowing and counting down the time, backed by a thick wall.

Behind that wall lay explosives powerful enough to destroy the entire Underground Base; the North Koreans had activated the self-destruct mechanism upon realizing they could not hold the base.

The North Koreans were ruthless, knowing there wasn’t enough time to destroy critical information in the base—they activated a timed bomb capable of annihilating the entire location, positioned right next to the room housing large computers and the computer hall.

If it weren’t for the careful search conducted by the Night warriors, they might have faced serious danger and even perished alongside the North Koreans.

“Damn! That was close!” Squadron Leader Chen Renkai rubbed his head but only felt the textured surface of his helmet.

The detailed search orders issued by the two squad leaders had fortunately saved everyone.

A few soldiers skilled in bomb disposal began their work without recklessly damaging the walls. Since such a large amount of explosives was buried behind those walls, there must be intricate mechanisms in place to prevent destruction by force.

Lin Mo was astounded by the efficiency of Squadron Three and the fourth squad; they managed to breach this Underground Base in under five minutes and eliminate everyone inside.

Inside the helmet of the Dragon General, urgent tactical orders from the two squad leaders mixed with the shouting of the soldiers resonated. The computer system filtered out gunfire and explosions to ensure voice clarity.

Just moments ago, a deafening explosion annihilated numerous North Koreans with a hidden high-explosive C4 bomb, and even those who survived likely couldn’t escape the minefields and sniper fire outside.

Moreover, without adequate warm clothing, transportation, and food, being in the desolate Ural Mountains was no different from waiting to die.

However, the North Koreans could not afford to think too much and followed their survival instincts, seeking to live another second.

Once safety was confirmed, Lin Mo, shouldering his SVD sniper rifle, entered the Underground Base.

A small number of soldiers remained on guard at the passage checkpoints, while most were rummaging through the area for valuable intelligence. The bodies of the North Koreans piled up in an empty room, and soldiers frequently carried out boxes filled with various spoils, which contained documents and computer hard drives or tapes.

From a distance, Lin Mo could hear Squadron Leader Chen Renkai’s loud voice.

“Do you have a solution? There are seven minutes left. If you can’t fix it in three minutes, we have to retreat.”

“Squad Leader, this thing was made in Japan. The Japanese are experts at creating precise devices, and it’s tricky! If we press the wrong button or cut the wrong wire, we’re all finished.”

As Lin Mo approached, he heard Squadron Leader Zhang Zhenyu quietly instructing, “Be careful. Notify the others to evacuate first, just in case.”

“Yes!”

Following their voices, Lin Mo found the two squad leaders, seeing them sweating as they watched several soldiers gathered around the wall, seemingly examining something.

“What are you two doing?” Lin Mo asked, puzzled about what there was to study in a wall. Was there treasure hidden behind it?

Squadron Leader Chen Renkai turned and waved his hand upon seeing Lin Mo. “Dragon Knight, get back up! It’s too dangerous here. Once you’re out, you need to retreat at least five hundred meters.”

“What’s wrong? Didn’t we eliminate them all?” Lin Mo asked, curious.

Squadron Leader Chen Renkai quickly explained, “We did eliminate them but haven’t you seen there’s a bomb here? Hurry up and go! It’s very dangerous, and if we can’t disarm it, we have to evacuate in three minutes.”

“A timed bomb?”

Lin Mo moved closer for a better look and indeed saw a panel counting down on the wall. The bomb expert had removed it, and several soldiers seemed to be connecting wires to analyze signals.

Several LED flashlights pointed carefully at the opened area revealing a large circuit board, whose function was uncertain.

“Get out now!” Both Squadron Leader Chen Renkai and Squadron Leader Zhang Zhenyu urged Lin Mo to return to safety.

With only three minutes left, and having not yet fully explored, it would be such a shame to leave.

Lin Mo took off his watch from his left wrist and confidently announced, “Let me try!”

He had a powerful weapon that a few didn’t know about.