42: Chapter 42 Tianmen Project – A National Treasure

The staff officer immediately recorded it.

Tianmen Project —

This was a top-secret project urgently launched by the military region for the portal seven days ago, codenamed "Tianmen", meaning the gateway to the Otherworld.

The prototype of this project was a colossal air-raid shelter complex left over from the 1960s —

That was a deep underground bunker excavated with the nation's entire strength decades ago to cope with extreme warfare scenarios.

After the end of the Cold War, it had been sealed away for nearly half a century.

Now, this sleeping behemoth was unsealed once again, and after a few days of frantic modification, it was transformed into the core of the Tianmen Project.

The entire structure adopted a semi-underground layout:

The lower half was buried thirty meters deep underground, with a reinforced concrete thickness of over five meters, capable of withstanding direct hits from bunker-buster bombs.

The upper half was integrated into the entire barren mountain, equipped with heavy composite armor and multi-layer camouflage. Viewed from a satellite, it looked no different from an ordinary barren mountain.

The true behemoth was closely hidden deep within the mountain's belly.

Dozens of original air-raid shelters were all interconnected, forming a huge underground space with an area exceeding 200,000 square meters — equivalent to thirty football fields!

Surrounding it was the original high-density explosion-proof concrete, overlaid with a new titanium alloy composite protective layer, with a total thickness exceeding three meters.

Inside the mountain at the top, a giant armored dome gate capable of fully opening within three seconds was installed —

Usually hidden behind the rock layer, it could be fully opened in an emergency to allow large transport planes to directly airdrop supplies.

More crucially, once the gate was closed, not even a nuclear bomb could blast it open.

And all of this had only one purpose —

To house the portal.

To let it operate in an absolutely safe and absolutely controllable environment.

The modified semi-underground structure was outrageously spacious.

And the most crucial part was — it was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Once an emergency occurred on the other side of the portal, even if a hundred thousand zombies rushed out, the gate could be immediately closed and the passage sealed, locking the danger tightly inside.

With thirty meters of rock layer plus composite armor, not even a nuclear bomb could blast it open.

"How is the current progress of the Tianmen Project?"

Zhao Jianguo asked in a deep voice.

"Report to the commander!"

An engineering colonel covered in mud and oil stains stood up, his eyes bloodshot:

"The project is 92% completed!"

"The main structure has been completely finished!"

"Final equipment installation and System debugging are underway!"

"It is estimated —"

He looked at his watch:

"In eighteen hours, it can be fully completed and put into use!"

"Not enough."

Zhao Jianguo shook his head decisively:

"I give you twelve hours! Only twelve hours!"

"Twelve hours later — I want to see a complete Tianmen Project that can be put into use immediately!"

"Can you do it?!"

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

The engineering colonel saluted abruptly, fire burning in his eyes:

"I will immediately mobilize engineering teams across the province! Twenty thousand people will work without stopping!"

"Even if we work ourselves to death inside, it must be completed on time!"

"Good!"

Zhao Jianguo patted his shoulder hard:

"The country will not forget your contribution!"

Then, he turned and looked at the combat staff officer:

"Order immediately — the entire military region enters the highest combat readiness state!"

"Centered on the military region, within a radius of twenty kilometers."

"Implement Level-One military control! No non-military personnel are allowed to enter!"

"All roads are completely blocked! Armed police are on guard with live ammunition!"

"All villagers and residents in towns will be temporarily relocated to settlement points! The government is responsible for food and lodging, with a compensation of twenty thousand yuan per household!"

"Within a radius of one hundred kilometers."

"No foreign personnel are allowed to enter!"

"All foreign nationals, regardless of status or reason."

"Must be completely cleared and expelled from the country!"

"Violators —"

His eyes turned as cold as a knife:

"Dealt with according to wartime regulations, directly expelled from the country! Never allowed to re-enter!"

"Yes!"

The staff officers replied in unison, shaking the roof tiles with their voices.

"In addition —"

Zhao Jianguo continued to order, his voice like iron:

"The entire city of Southern Jiangsu — enters a wartime military control state!"

"All government departments — unconditionally cooperate with military operations!"

"All communications — enter level-one control! Mobile phone signals are comprehensively monitored!"

"All media — are prohibited from reporting any related information! Violators will be held criminally accountable!"

"All networks — initiate the highest level of monitoring! AI scans the entire network and deletes all sensitive information!"

"Any leakage behavior —"

He said word by word:

"Dealt with according to wartime regulations! The maximum penalty can be death!"

The entire Command Center fell into a solemn silence.

Everyone felt the oppressive feeling of a storm on the horizon.

This was not an exercise.

This was a real war.

A war concerning the fate of the country.

"Any factor that might affect project dawn —"

Zhao Jianguo looked around at everyone:

"Must be eliminated in advance! Not a single one left!"

"Do you understand?!"

"Understood!"

Everyone roared in unison.

Then, the deployment against the clock began.

Half an hour later, downtown Southern Jiangsu.

At all major intersections, fully armed soldiers suddenly appeared.

They set up three layers of roadblocks, holding Type 95 assault rifles, and checked every passing vehicle.

The laser spots of the infrared sights wandered on the road surface, giving people a strong sense of oppression.

"Sorry, the area ahead is a military control zone."

A second lieutenant stopped an Audi A8:

"Please turn around immediately and take an alternative route."

"What?"

The driver poked his head out, looking puzzled:

"I'm just going near the military region to handle some business, it won't take long!"

"Sorry, no."

The second lieutenant's attitude was polite and resolute, but his hand was already resting on the gun butt:

"This is a military order, and no one is allowed to disobey. Please turn around immediately."

The driver looked at the pitch-black muzzle, so frightened that cold sweat broke out.

"O-Okay... I'll leave right now..."

He hurriedly backed up, slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and left as if fleeing.

Similar scenes played out at every major intersection in downtown Southern Jiangsu.

Countless vehicles were stopped, and drivers looked at each other in dismay, discussing animatedly.

"What on earth is going on?"

"I've never seen such a strict martial law!"

"Look at those soldiers, their bullets are already chambered! This isn't an exercise!"

Within a twenty-kilometer radius around the military region, the control intensity was even more terrifying.

All villages and towns received urgent notices.

"Dear villagers and residents —"

The loudspeaker of the village committee resounded through the entire village:

"Upon receiving an urgent notice from superiors!"

"Due to the needs of major military operations, this area will implement Level-One military control!"

"All residents are requested to bring their ID cards and necessary items within two hours and head to the designated settlement point!"

"During the settlement period, food and lodging are completely free, with a cash compensation of twenty thousand yuan per household!"

"Please actively cooperate! This is an order!"

The villagers were all dumbfounded.

"What? Asking us to move away?"

"I still raise chickens at home!"

"This is the home I've lived in for decades!"

But soon, bus after bus plastered with military license plates drove into the village.

Soldiers knocked on doors from house to house, their attitudes polite but unquestionable:

"Uncle, aunt, please pack your things."

"This is temporary; you can come back in at most a week."

"The settlement point is a five-star hotel in the county town, and the conditions are much better than at home."

"Food and lodging are completely free, plus a twenty-thousand-yuan compensation."

"We will send people to help you look after the chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep at home."

"Please cooperate; this is a military order."

Under the persuasion and "escort" of the soldiers, the villagers boarded the buses one after another.

Although they were ten thousand times reluctant in their hearts, looking at those soldiers with live ammunition and the armored vehicles parked at the entrance of the village —

They didn't dare say much either.

Before getting on the bus, a white-haired old man turned back to look at the old house where he had lived for a lifetime, his eye sockets turning red:

"Sigh... What on earth has happened..."