153: Chapter 153 Underwater Port

"Yan Wei-geng, you came too?"

Valerian was quite surprised to see the man. He then happily stepped forward and put an arm around his shoulder; the two of them had gotten along quite well back in the PDA.

Yan Wei-geng, who was also soaked, gave a bitter smile. "I'm trying another possibility. What we couldn't do, they might be able to."

"True. Before this, I never imagined such a force was hidden in the world. It's a crazy organization too. I can already imagine their expressions when they find out we've disappeared this morning."

At the thought, Valerian gave a feigned sigh:

"I hope that one day, my country can rescue me."

—

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhou Hui stole a quick glance at the speech he had written overnight before walking to the very front of the dock.

His sonorous voice pierced through the pitter-patter of the rain, reaching everyone's ears clearly:

"Professors, distinguished representatives of human wisdom!"

Zhou Hui spread his arms wide. The rain lashing against him only seemed to add a touch of tragic heroism to his aura.

"I know that right now, your hearts are filled with doubt, anxiety, and even fear of the future. You have left your familiar surroundings to stand on this dock on a stormy night, heading toward a completely unknown future."

"But I want to ask you a question. Why have you spent your entire lives tirelessly pursuing knowledge and exploring the truth? Is it merely to publish papers in top-tier journals? To gain recognition through some award?"

Zhou Hui's voice suddenly rose, carrying a soul-stirring power:

"No! I believe it is not! Just as you entered the PDA to save the world, it's not just about that asteroid. Our world is standing on the edge of an invisible abyss! Resource depletion, environmental degradation, geopolitical conflicts... the old order is like a lonely boat in this storm, teetering on the brink! Human civilization appears prosperous, but in reality, internal strife is severe, and our progress is slowing down—it might even be regressing!"

"Can the PDA you served, or those institutions entangled in national interests and short-term goals, bring a true future to humanity? Can they apply your wisdom to a great cause truly concerning the survival of civilization?"

Zhou Hui paused to give them time to think before continuing:

"They cannot."

"But Third-Party Technology can!"

"This is the company you are joining," Zhou Hui said decisively. "The purpose of our existence is not to fight for power or accumulate wealth."

"We gather geniuses from around the globe; we integrate technology far beyond this era. Everything we do is to break through bottlenecks and forge a new path for humanity! From eradicating diseases to developing infinite energy and venturing into deep space! We are not destroyers; we are unsung guardians, road-builders in the dark!"

"We are the light!"

"..."

Zhou Hui felt a bit awkward.

This impressively evocative speech didn't have much of an effect. After all, these people whose heads were filled with data didn't buy into that sort of thing; they cared more about substance.

Seeing this, Zhou Hui prepared to lead them back to the base.

Someone in the crowd asked, "Mr. Zhou, how are we leaving?"

Zhou Hui pointed to the surging sea behind him, which had appeared empty amidst the storm and darkness.

But in a daze, several black silhouettes so massive they could stop a heart broke through the churning surface, rising slowly and inexorably.

A chorus of suppressed exclamations and gasps rose from the crowd.

They weren't military experts, but basic common sense told them that the capability required to silently deploy submarines of such volume near a Pacific Ocean island base was unimaginable.

Moreover, the place they were in was certainly not the high seas!

A faint smile flitted across Zhou Hui's face, as if he had been waiting for this moment. He spread his hands and said:

"Don't worry, everyone. As guardians, it's perfectly reasonable for us to have a few nuclear submarines."

...

The storm receded.

When dawn broke, Thompson, the Chairman of the PDA Alliance, woke up leisurely from his bed, still reminiscing about his dream from the night before. He seemed to have dreamed of drinking fine wine with the First Lady.

While the President was waiting outside the door.

It was truly a good dream. Thompson smacked his lips with a bit of an aftertaste, though unfortunately, that dream could never become reality.

Thompson felt a bit of pain in his neck. Did he have a stiff neck?

Beep, beep, beep—

The rapid, piercing sound of the alarm snapped Thompson awake instantly. This alarm had never sounded since the base was built. What happened?

Before Thompson could even get dressed, his door was practically burst open. His assistant rushed in, face pale. "Mr. Chairman! Something has happened! A major security incident!"

"Calm down. What happened?"

Thompson's heart sank, but he didn't panic too much. He felt he could handle this; it would demonstrate his worth as Chairman.

"Last night... sixty-eight core scientists went missing!"

"What!!"

Thompson's obese frame scrambled out. The cold floor stung the soles of his feet, but it was not even a ten-thousandth of the chill in his heart.

The PDA Alliance descended into unprecedented chaos.

Thompson sent men to search every inch of the island, digging three feet deep, but they couldn't find a single hair of the missing scientists.

Even after reviewing all the surveillance footage, they couldn't find a single trace.

Corridors, dormitory entrances, laboratory entrances... the surveillance footage played smoothly, showing security personnel on scheduled patrols.

Everything was normal,

but strangely, those sixty-eight people had vanished into thin air.

—

Regardless of the outside world, after traveling through the freezing seabed for most of the day, Valerian and his group finally arrived at the Molo Zone.

Inside an underwater mountain, a camouflaged sluice gate slowly opened. This was the underwater tunnel leading into the Black Watch Base, and the entire passage was a full 1.3 kilometers long.

The tunnel's operation principle was similar to a reservoir's spillway, designed with three sluice gates operated in stages; only when one gate was completely closed and sealed would the gate ahead open.

This design ensured that at any time, at least two gates completely isolated the base's interior from the violent deep-sea environment outside. Even if the outermost gate suffered extreme damage, the surging seawater would be blocked in the buffer chamber by the subsequent gates, unable to rush in and threaten the base's core.

When the sixty-eight people climbed out of their respective submarines, what met their eyes was no longer a tunnel, but a massive underground port that left them jaw-dropped.

Someone exclaimed in wonder:

"My Jesus, is this real?"