Inside The Black Mist

Unconsciously, he followed Adam into a corridor. This corridor sloped downward, and as they went deeper, the boy noticed the temperature around them gradually increasing.

Snapping back to reality, Tianyang realized that they were surrounded by gridded barriers. Beyond the grids laid a world of pipes.

Various pipes, large and small, crisscrossed in a complex network, creating a geometric beauty.

"What is this place?" Tianyang asked, voicing his curiosity.

Adam laughed heartily. "I\'m taking you to meet the engineer. He’s deep within the underground piping area. Without me to guide you, you could wander around here for a day and still not find him."

Tianyang agreed wholeheartedly. After descending the sloping corridor and stepping onto the ground, they found themselves in a maze of interconnected passageways. Occasionally, there were maintenance doors for repair workers to enter and exit.

Although Adam hadn\'t mentioned it, Tianyang roughly guessed that these pipes were probably part of the base\'s transmission systems. However, from the looks of it, these pipes, like the base\'s facilities above, were quite old.

Some pipes even had patches, which made Tianyang break into a cold sweat. If there was an energy leak and an explosion occurred, what would happen to the base?

Clearly, this wasn’t something he needed to worry about. Adam, who was walking through the area with big strides, showed no concern at all.

It seemed that the personnel at the base were already used to the aging facilities.

This made Tianyang even more impressed with the engineer who lived here. What kind of person would dare to live in a place where accidents and disasters could happen at any moment?

How big must his heart be?

"Uncle Tie is our best engineer, but he used to be a developer in the Fortress Weapon Development Department."

Walking through the labyrinth-like passageways, Adam\'s steps were heavy, and the echoes of his boots almost drowned out his words.

"But he has a terrible temper and doesn\'t get along with people. Once, he clashed with his superior and was demoted. Uncle Tie was so angry that he quit and came to our base to work as an engineer, specializing in repairing and maintaining these underground pipes."

Adam suddenly stopped, and Tianyang almost bumped into him.

The Western man stood still for a moment before saying, "I remember now; it’s this way."

He turned into a side passage.

Tianyang\'s mouth twitched. Wasn\'t this the person who claimed to know the place well? It turned out even he didn’t recognize the way!

This doesn\'t inspire much confidence, Captain Adam.

Fortunately, Adam didn’t get lost. When he finally stopped, they were in front of a large, rust-covered, dark-red metal door.

Adam knocked hard on the door.

After a short while, the intercom by the doorframe crackled to life. "Who is it?"

"It\'s me, Adam."

There was no response from the intercom, but a moment later, the iron door creaked open. A middle-aged man with grayish-yellow hair poked his head out from behind the door. His eyes were sunken, and his skin was dry.

Deep lines framed his mouth, and his lips were tightly pursed in a look of displeasure.

"What are you doing here?"

The middle-aged man inside didn’t seem inclined to let anyone into his room.

Adam blinked and said, "Earlier, Minister Shen gave me some tobacco. But you know, I don\'t smoke, so I thought of you, Uncle Tie. I just got back from a mission and came to see you."

Only then did Uncle Tie grunt and open the door wider. "Smooth talker. You want me to fix something again? I\'ll tell you now, if it\'s junk metal, don\'t waste my time."

When Tianyang stepped into the room, he almost backed out. If not for that dark-red, rusted iron door that Uncle Tie had closed behind them, he might have turned around and left.

The space inside wasn\'t large, roughly the size of the dormitory that Tianyang had been assigned to. But even in this small space, there were metal shelves, several boxes filled with parts, and a workbench.

There wasn’t even a bed in the room. Judging by the blanket rolled up in a corner, it seemed that this middle-aged man slept on the floor every night.

However, it wasn\'t the cramped space that made Tianyang uncomfortable, but the choking smell of smoke in the air.

It seemed Uncle Tie had just been smoking, and not just one cigarette. The room was filled with a hazy cloud of smoke, and the cheap tobacco smell made Tianyang cough, his ears turning red.

Uncle Tie gave Tianyang a brief glance, then walked over to the workbench and picked up a part to continue working on it. "When did you get yourself a follower?"

Adam pulled out an aluminum box from his pocket, opened it, and revealed neatly packed tobacco inside.

He placed the tobacco on the table, and Uncle Tie took it, sniffing it deeply. "Not bad. So, what do you want me to do?"

Adam then pushed Tianyang forward. "It’s not me who needs your help, Uncle Tie, but my friend here. His gun is broken, and he’d like you to take a look."

Without a word, Uncle Tie extended his hand.

Tianyang didn’t hesitate and placed his gun, the Death Knell, into Uncle Tie\'s hand.

Uncle Tie, who had been focused on the machine tool, suddenly felt the weight in his hand and looked over.

When his gaze fell on the Death Knell’s body, his pupils dilated, and his expression grew excited. "It\'s this? How did you get your hands on it?!"

Tianyang was startled. Could it be that this man knew Su Lie? Otherwise, why would he be so excited to see the Death Knell?

The middle-aged man examined the Death Knell carefully for a moment before calming down. "Oh, I was mistaken. I thought it was a gun I had designed, but this one isn’t bad either. It has a fierce design, unlike today’s guns, which are so light and small, like a woman’s."

Adam chuckled. "Isn\'t that the truth? So, Uncle Tie, can you fix it?"

Uncle Tie rolled his eyes. "In this base, if I can\'t fix it, no one can. But it’ll take some time since this is an outdated model."

He casually placed the Death Knell on the workbench and said no more, resuming his work on the parts.

Tianyang wasn’t sure what to make of this and looked at Adam.

Adam smiled. "We\'ll leave it to you, Uncle Tie."

He tugged at Tianyang, signaling for the boy to follow. The two of them walked out of the iron door, and after it closed, Tianyang actually felt that the air in the piping area was fresher than in Uncle Tie\'s small room.

"Uh, what about Uncle Tie?" Tianyang asked.

"Don\'t worry. Since he didn’t refuse, he’ll definitely fix your gun." Adam patted the boy\'s shoulder, indicating that there was no need to worry.

They returned to the surface, and Adam went to his dormitory to lend his card reader to Tianyang.

After thanking him, Tianyang returned to his dormitory alone, eager to find out the contents of the data chip.

After closing the door, Tianyang took out the chip and inserted it into the slot of the card reader.

Information quickly appeared on the device\'s screen as it began to analyze the chip\'s contents. The entire process took only a few seconds.

But for Tianyang, every second felt excruciatingly long.

When the words "Analysis Complete" appeared, Tianyang didn\'t want to waste another moment and immediately clicked on the read icon.

After a blur of light appeared on the screen, a voice came through. "Can you see clearly, Weiyang?"

"Yes, Lie, it\'s clear."

The image then sharpened, revealing the interior of a building. Tianyang could see a window in the distance and a floor cluttered with miscellaneous items.

The camera shifted, and a man appeared in the frame. He looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes.

A circle of blue stubble covered his chin, suggesting it had been days since he last groomed.

He was wearing a Night Walker uniform, but the uniform was dark red, and the insignia on it was different from Tianyang\'s.

It also had a silver crescent moon, but instead of the silhouette of a traveler beneath it, there was a figure holding a sword.

Finally, Tianyang\'s gaze fell to the man\'s waist, where a gun was hanging.

Death Knell!

Tianyang\'s breath caught in his throat. He had finally seen Su Lie! This man, who could be his biological father, was appearing before him for the first time as a vivid image.

In the footage, Su Lie nodded and said, "Let’s rest for a bit before we head down."

The camera moved, and a few more people appeared in the frame.

Among them was even a woman with black hair cascading like a waterfall and a mole at the corner of her mouth.

The person filming then asked, "Lie, why did you want me to record this?"

Su Lie was standing by the window with a cigarette between his lips, which he lit and took a drag from. "The higher-ups said this mission wouldn’t be documented. But I think it’s better to have a record, just in case it becomes useful someday..."

The person filming chuckled, "Lie, you’re overthinking it. Our missions as Breakers are always top secret, and they’re never recorded in the archives."

"This time is different," Su Lie said, shaking his head. "Trust me, I have a feeling this mission won’t be as simple as it seems..."

The image blurred, and when it cleared again, the screen was pitch black. A swath of green light swept across the screen, revealing a rugged terrain. The surroundings seemed to be an open space with no visible reference points.

If it weren’t for the occasional shadow of a person passing through the green light, Tianyang would have thought the camera equipment had malfunctioned.

The footage had jumped from the interior of a building to some dark, open space, indicating that the video had been edited.

At that moment, Su Lie\'s voice was heard on the screen: "Stop; Yin Qi seems to have found something."

Footsteps echoed from the screen, and the slender figure of the black-haired woman appeared in the frame.

She pointed ahead, her voice low. "I’ve detected Mad Dogs, but their numbers are unknown. Those things\' eyes have degenerated. However, I suspect their sense of smell has become even more accurate."

As soon as she finished speaking, faint barking could be heard from the screen.

Su Lie chuckled. "No need to guess—they’re here!"

He grabbed the Death Knell hanging from his waist and pointed it into the darkness. The others quickly drew their weapons, and moments later, the loud shot of the Death Knell echoed from the screen.

After a brief pause in the footage, it resumed, showing that the battle was over.

Su Lie and the others seemed to be resting, and the person filming remarked, "I never would’ve thought there was such a large space beneath Hongni Town, and even underground dwellers. Lie, how big do you think this place is? It looks like it’s as big as a city..."

Tianyang shuddered.

Hongni Town!

An underground space!

Wasn’t that the place where Gu Gang and the others had gone? So, seventeen years ago, Su Lie had already been there!

What was he doing there?