Sky-cracking Rider

Chen Fei unexpectedly shook his head.

"No, not even a catfish, just a highly automated, ordinary breeding base."

Considering that a mere nine people were able to maintain the operation of the mutant artificial breeding ground, it should just be a basic mass production base, without even a decent research center, far from being a core stronghold.

No wonder the rescued database had so little valuable information.

Those who moved the manor main house along with so many people overestimated the situation; they probably thought about casually killing these two hundred or so individuals here. However, they didn't anticipate being countered and killed instead.

Even after the counter-kill, a Spiky Armored Beast mutant breeding ground was of little value, and the personnel loss was negligible.

A clever strategy indeed—no significant loss regardless of success or failure.

"What?"

"An ordinary breeding base?"

The fact that someone was covertly breeding mutants was shocking enough, but even more astonishing was that the mutants that nearly led their less than two hundred people to a group annihilation came from just an ordinary breeding base.

"Really?"

Hanna Gagar could hardly believe it.

Chen Fei spread his hands helplessly and said, "I've taken control of the entire breeding facility; there were only nine humans responsible for managing and operating it. Besides the three that I killed, the rest committed suicide."

Not capturing any live captives who could provide intelligence was probably his biggest regret.

"Only nine people? No wonder you said that."

Boss Hana nodded thoughtfully.

Merely nine individuals indeed did not account for a substantial breeding base, especially when they were all just underlings.

Artificially breeding mutants was almost akin to being an enemy of the entire human race; those guys must have been ready for such an outcome, preferring death to leaving any survivor that could become a potential threat. If not for such determination, the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee would have long since unearthed and eradicated these grievous offenders.

"Mr. Chen Fei, may I ask, how should we get out?"

It was Butler Thompson who was most concerned about this issue at the moment. If they couldn't get out, it meant that everyone would die trapped here.

This would become their burial ground.

Chen Fei spread his hands helplessly and said, "The exit passage has been destroyed and sealed tight; we need to clear a new way. If we had an Earth Element User, that would be good, but if not, we'll have to find someone who's familiar with civil engineering, or mine and tunnel work."

In the process of searching the entire mutant artificial breeding ground, he had found the exit, but it had been blocked by collapsed boulders. The facility's self-destruct sequence didn't wait until the last second before completely collapsing; instead, it followed a premeditated plan, sequentially destroying each crucial component.

During the countdown, most of the data archives, the mutants and their progenitors being bred, along with strange creatures called Flesh Mushrooms used as a food source, and most importantly, the exit passage, were destroyed.

If the exit passage had been filled with molten steel, Chen Fei wouldn't have worried; he would have just converted it into Energy Points. But he was completely helpless against the hard, heavy boulders.

Gigantic rocks weighing tens of tons aren't something humans can move, especially when they're jammed so tightly together.

"Understood. I'll take care of finding people!"

Butler Thompson nodded, called over a servant to bring a loudspeaker, and announced, "Anyone who is familiar with civil engineering and mine tunnels, we need your expertise."

After calling out a few times, from the lobby on the first floor to upstairs, several people stepped forward.

One of them, a fat man with a ferocious look on his face, turned out to be a big shot professor of civil engineering. A perfectly good teaching career abandoned, he tied his fate to the risky business of military contracting.

Men, women, fat, thin, old, young—about five people altogether—were brought before Chen Fei.

"Next, we'll need some people who know how to handle explosives."

As soon as Chen Fei's words finished, several arms shot up around him.

No need to be surprised; those involved in military contracting inevitably deal with explosions—planting mines, setting charges. Whether it's for construction or combat, these skills are a part of their routine. Not having worked with explosives would almost be a disgrace for anyone in the field.

Boss Hana volunteered, "I'll do it! I've learned a bit from Old Bai."

Old Bai was the Demolition Expert and Gunsmith who had dismantled the Apocalypse Defense Group building, belonging to Hanna Gagar's personal team, which excelled in sabotage. They were all very familiar with each other's skills through working together closely.

"That's settled then!"

Chen Fei clapped his hands together and turned to the manor butler, asking, "Mr. Thompson, do we have enough explosives in storage?"

Butler Thompson rubbed his hands together, grinning, and said, "Enough, definitely enough! We have about 20 tons in reserve."

Wow!

Turns out, buried in the underground bunker was enough explosives to send their small group of just over two hundred people to Heaven at least two hundred times—a one-way trip courtesy of blasting them into the sky.

"That should probably be enough!"

Boss Hana estimated the amount; that quantity could blow a small hill into rock fragments that would scatter far and wide, though where they'd land was not a detail to fuss over.

"Everyone, transport the explosives; let's start with five tons."

Chen Fei, unapologetically assuming command, took on the role of the boss.

This is a privilege of venturing into enemy territory on one's own and successfully turning the tide, one that everyone would acknowledge.

If not, then if you can do it, go ahead, if not, stop complaining and just do it!

Without a doubt, Boss Hana would definitely support her own employees. Those who work on civil engineering and tunnels are also rubbing their hands eagerly, picking up their long-abandoned professional skills, which seems quite interesting.

Not a single living mutant remained in the space where the Manor Main House is located.

However, for the sake of caution, over a hundred people continued to hold the Manor Main House, while another hundred carried 1 ton of explosives, following Mr. Chen Fei through the narrow passages into the adjacent breeding ground.

The air was filled with a foul stench, and the carcasses of mutants could be seen everywhere, those that had been contaminated with the pheromones of madness had long since killed each other off, posing no threat whatsoever.

The group quickly found the exit passage filled with rocks.

A military contractor with mining experience widened his eyes, scrutinizing the super-specification entrance and couldn't help but exclaim, "Hell! It's a vertical elevator!"

"It's an elevator shaft!"

Another person familiar with civil works gave a similar assessment.

Mr. Chen Fei scratched at the rock crevice that not even a knife blade could penetrate and asked, "How do we handle this?"

He didn't understand these professional issues at all, after all, studying economics didn't require knowledge of these matters.

Professional work should be left to the professionals; his job was to drill the holes, stuff the explosives, then light the fuse and run.

"Who knows how much thick rock is up there, it's all blocked now, and we don't have an Earth Element User."

The military contractor with mining experience shook his head. If the rocks blocking the elevator shaft extended all the way to the exit, not to mention whether the 20 tons of explosives stored in the Manor Main House's underground shelter would be enough, just the task of removing the shattered rocks was a significant workload. Moreover, continuing to clear upwards was risky; if a collapse of unknown thickness of rock occurred, the consequences would be unthinkable.

At this moment, everyone started to realize the value of an Earth Element Ability User.

If only there were a Human Order Elementary Level Earth Mage or an Earth Element User below grade D, that would do!

But among the military contractors who were invited to Mr. Xia Ji's salon gathering to prepare for a coalition of mid-size military contractors, Ability Users were few and far between. Companies like Jiu Defense, having two Ability Users along with a Magical Beast like the Pure Light Sparrow, were truly the only one of its kind, with no branches elsewhere.

"No matter if it works or not, let's try first and talk later!"

Hanna Gagel didn't have that much time to waste on making decisions.
Experience more tales on empire

If they did nothing, they certainly wouldn't be able to get out, without even the slightest chance. But if they tried, at least there would be a glimmer of hope.

So... the answer was quite obvious!

"I need a tape measure, magnifying glass, hammer, paper, pen, calculator, it'd be best to have a computer, I need to calculate blast points and the amount of explosives."

Demolition is a technical job, and professionals truly made a difference. Rather than wastefully expending the explosives, they aimed to make full use of every gram of explosive power, clearing a path for everyone before it's all spent.

Fortunately, the demands of these professionals could be met inside the artificial breeding ground, and if not, the Manor Main House could also provide.

Before long, the points for drilling were marked out, as well as diameter and depth data. What came next was left to the Metal Elemental Psychic Power User, Mr. Chen Fei, to act as a makeshift solution—a showdown of hardness between Metal and Earth elements.

Everyone was thankful that this supernatural power user was immune to the Supernatural Ability Suppressant; otherwise, the operation would have had to be delayed until a month later when the suppressant's effects would have been completely metabolized by the body.

Evolved high-hardness drill bits quickly bored the required holes into the rock surface, and then explosives and detonators were successively inserted.

Boom!~

The rubble at the bottom of the elevator shaft was blown to smithereens.

Mr. Chen Fei led from the front, being the first to move the largest and heaviest stones out of the way, throwing them to the furthest spot. The others followed suit, carrying the rocks out by hand, on their shoulders, or together, moving the debris bit by bit.

Periodically, more rocks fell down, and the scene became quite dangerous at times.

Then came the second blast, the third, the fourth... The initial 5 tons of explosives was quickly depleted as they cleared out at least a thousand tons of rock, forming a small mountain in a corner of the breeding ground.

"This digging isn't right!"

Someone soon raised an objection.

There were still 15 tons of explosives left, not too little, but also not a lot.

"This is the most optimized plan; what's your objection?"

The specialist military contractor argued fiercely with the person raising the objection, and they soon started pushing up their sleeves.

"I specialize in telecommunications cables; your approach will only waste the explosives!"

The person had not been able to help earlier due to being from a different specialty, but they couldn't stand idly by now and stood their ground.

"If you can do it, go ahead! Why don't you stick your hefty 200 pounds up there and see if you can knock out even a couple ounces?"

The engineer was professional indeed, getting straight to the point.

Everyone was holding their breath; these little explosives did indeed seem to be ready to blow up at the slightest spark.