372: Dive into the abyss

As the two assault ships silently pierced the dim sky of Three-Body Star, Morning Light stared intently at the navigation screen in the cockpit.

They were still three hundred kilometers from the target underground city, and everything seemed eerily calm, but this tranquility was unsettling.

"Captain, all systems are operating normally," the pilot Li Rui's voice came through the comms. "No defense systems or patrol units detected."

Morning Light frowned, looking at the sensor readings. It seemed the enemy had committed almost all its forces to the siege of the Nova People.

This indeed created conditions for their infiltration, but such a defenseless state was still unexpected.

"Stay vigilant," Morning Light ordered. "The calmer the surface, the stronger the undercurrents might be beneath."

"Don't capsize in a ditch."

"Yes."

When the distance shortened to two hundred and fifty kilometers, co-captain Lin Tao suddenly reported, "Captain, I feel a bit dizzy, a strange sense of drowsiness."

Soon, other team members also reported similar symptoms. This discomfort didn't come from the body, but directly affected the mental level, as if countless fine threads were gently tugging at their consciousness.

Morning Light himself didn't feel anything obvious; he estimated it was because he had been hijacked once and had developed some resistance.

He lowered his head to check the timer, calculated the action window and redundancy, and found everything within range. According to the plan, they would arrive at the designated landing point in five minutes.

"All units, attention! Immediately activate the shielding devices!"

The twelve team members quickly turned a knob on the side of their helmets. The helmets' protective fields activated, and the mental discomfort immediately vanished, replaced by a peculiar sense of clarity.

"The protective field is operating normally, and power consumption is slower than expected. At the current rate, it can be maintained for at least eighteen hours."

"It seems the doctors' predictions were correct. Our bodies, reinforced by the serum, consume less from the device."

This news greatly boosted the team's morale. Morning Light encouraged them, "The advantage has begun to shift in our favor. Now, proceed according to the original plan!"

"Understood!"

Five minutes later, the assault ship quietly landed at the predetermined coordinates. This was a barren rocky area, only three kilometers from the hidden entrance of the Trisolarans' main underground city.

"Team A is responsible for vigilance, Team B for equipment check." Morning Light was the first to jump out of the hatch, his pulse rifle ready to fire.

The surroundings were dead silent, not even a breeze. Under the gray sky, only jagged rocks cast distorted shadows.

Lin Tao led the scouts forward for reconnaissance and quickly discovered the camouflage device of the hidden entrance.

"The entrance is intact, and the security system is in a dormant state," Lin Tao reported. "It seems the Trisolarans haven't discovered it all these years."

Morning Light nodded, but his vigilance remained undiminished. He subconsciously touched the hair tie Pexito had given him in his tactical vest, feeling much more at ease.

He gently pressed an inconspicuous indentation on the rock surface, and with an almost inaudible mechanical whirring sound, a seemingly natural rock wall slowly slid open, revealing a metallic-looking passage entrance behind it.

"The biometric lock is in standby mode, and the emergency power is still working. The data identification matches; these passages are indeed the 'backdoors' we left behind back then."

These passages were extra routes the Company had left for maintenance and modifications when it supervised and assisted the Trisolarans in building the underground city. However, for certain inconvenient reasons, information about these passages was not included in the architectural blueprints provided by the Company to the Trisolarans or in subsequent acceptance documents.

"According to the original plan, Team A will go first, and Team B will cover the rear," Morning Light ordered. "Wang Lin, you are responsible for real-time monitoring of environmental changes. Lin Tao, set up a retreat beacon every five hundred meters."

The team members entered the passage in an orderly fashion. The interior of the passage was wider than expected, enough to accommodate three people abreast.

The unique Company markings were faintly visible on the walls, indicating the direction of different areas. The air was filled with the dusty scent of ages, but the life support system readings showed the environment was perfectly suitable for human activity.

When the squad had penetrated about one kilometer into the passage, Wang Lin suddenly raised her hand, signaling to stop.

"Abnormal energy fluctuations detected ahead. Although weak, they match the characteristics of the barrier we detected earlier."

All team members immediately assumed combat stances, the charging sound of pulse rifles exceptionally clear in the silent passage. Morning Light carefully observed the front through his helmet's enhanced vision system; a faint golden light seemed to flicker at the end of the passage.

"It seems we are about to enter the range of that consciousness's materialized power," Morning Light said in a deep voice. "From this moment on, we officially enter the dangerous zone. Everyone maintain the highest level of alert!"

"Yes!"

The squad continued to advance, but their steps were more cautious.

As Morning Light's squad continued to push deeper into the passage, in Honeycomb Experimental City, Xia Er was discussing something with Leighton and Anderson.

"I'm thinking, if we can send the technical data for the shielding helmets to the orbital space station," Xia Er said, pointing to the sky, "then when the Company's reinforcements arrive, they'll at least have one more way to break through this barrier."

Leighton nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea. I'll arrange personnel immediately; they'll depart with the data after the new batch of shielding helmets is produced."

But Anderson smiled wryly and shook his head, "Old Xia, Old Lei, I'm afraid this plan isn't very feasible. Even if we could transmit the technical data now, it wouldn't be of much use to the Company."

Seeing their confused expressions, he moved his fingers, brought up the material list for the shielding helmets, and highlighted one item: "One of the core materials for the helmet is high-concentration life milk. According to the message attached to the last delivery from the Construction Materials Logistics Department, their inventory is completely depleted."

Xia Er frowned, "How much production can our current inventory support?"

"There isn't much left. It was mostly used up, about eighty to ninety percent, for Pexito's evolution earlier."

"As for the remaining amount, although not a small quantity, it can at most produce five thousand units. And even if all production lines are adjusted and run at full capacity, it would take at least five days."

"The concentration step cannot be accelerated by a printer."

Leighton's expression became solemn, "Five days... According to the data from the front line, the Nova People's defense line might..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood his meaning.

"But it still has to be done," Xia Er finally broke the silence. "Produce as many as we can. This is the only preparation we can make now."