Translator: _Min_ Editor: Rainystars
“West Coast Meteorological Observation Center? What the fu*k is this?”
Blood Axe’s beating heart gradually calmed down. With the light of the flare rod, the moment when he made out the rusty characters clearly, an unspeakable amount of disappointment arose in his heart.
After half a month’s time, countless brothers’ lives, he traversed through half of the Nevada desert on foot, and finally arrived here after he had risked everything. However, what was in front of him was not a NATO nuclear arsenal, but rather a meteorological observation center.
The backpack full of iodine was useless…
“Fu*k…”
The fist holding the flare rod shook, and after he squeezed out the sentence between his chapped lips, Blood Axe spat against the ground in anger and extinguished the flare rod. He found a place nearby and sat down slowly against the rocky cliff.
“It’s impossible… This can’t be wrong, the delivery address is clearly here.” Blood Axe turned on the EP on his left arm, stared at the fluorescent screen, and focused the map coordinate.
Could it be…
The name of the “West Coast Meteorological Observation Center” is just a cover? In fact, it is filled with different types of nuclear warheads?
It was certainly a possibility.
Not satisfied that his own efforts were just in vain.
After he rested for a while, he stood up, took out the lighter from his pocket, and reignited the flare rod in his hand. After his eyes had adapted to the orange-red fire, he walked to the underground observation center.
The door was open, which saved him a lot of trouble.
The empty hall was littered with pieces of paper and rubbish, and the dry ground was covered with a thick layer of dust. Just like most buildings on the wasteland that have been abandoned for many years, it was obvious that no one has been here for a long time.
Not even a mutant cockroach could be seen in the silent corridor, which was quite rare even for an underground cave that is more than a hundred meters deep.
“The ventilation system should still be normal, probably because the energy-saving mode has been activated. The power system should be intact, but I don’t know how long that will last…” Blood Axe glanced at the still brightly lit flare rod in his hand, then stopped in front of an electronic door and took out a brown graphene card from his pocket.
This kind of card was sold in many places with different viruses downloaded inside to crack electronic locks like this. Many pre-war facilities that have been in disrepair could be cracked by this card. All scavengers and predators always kept one handy with them.
Blood Axe swiped the card at the infrared scanner, then took two steps back.
However, to his surprise, the electronic door did not open right away. Instead, there was a soft click from the crack of the door, which sounded like it was locked from behind.
This soft sound caught Blood Axe by surprise. He had lived for so long, and it was the first time this card failed.
However, this failure did not make him feel frustrated, but rather, it made him feel a little excited. If this place truly was the West Coast Meteorological Observation Center, there was no reason for the security level to be higher than that of the California Bank. He once used this card to open the vault of the California Bank safe.
He tossed his backpack on the ground and took out some thermite with excitement. He roughly estimated the thickness of the lower door panel and the required amount of thermite, then he glued it to the lock position. He grabbed his backpack and ran for more than ten meters before he stopped and pressed the detonator in his hand.
With a loud boom, the white light directly melted the thick metal door and left sparks everywhere.
Blood Axe stepped forward and kicked the half-covered door, then rushed inside with his rifle.
Under normal circumstances, this violent demolition method usually triggered the security system in the building. But perhaps because of disrepair, the security system was not maintained for a long time. After he kicked down the door, Blood Axe did not encounter any resistance, so he blasted his way through into the depths of the facility.
Fortunately, he had enough thermite in his backpack. Just after the fourth electronic door was melted through, he knocked open the iron door that was hanging on the door frame with his shoulder and rushed into a hexagonal hall.
The dry air blew into his face, along with the sound of the servers running.
The hall was quite empty, with only a suspended walkway extending from the main entrance to the center. There were bottomless abysses on both sides of the aisle, and it appeared the same above. A behemoth made of steel rose from the unfathomable abyss with countless spirals of interlaced cables that moved towards the unreachable ceiling. The signal lights arranged on the steel surface flashed in an orderly manner and ran smoothly following the command of the program.
“What is this…”
Blood Axe stared at the behemoth blankly, then slowly lowered the muzzle in his hand.
He didn’t find any nuclear warheads, but he found a behemoth.
Intuition told him that this thing should be a supercomputer, and it was a gigantic one. He just didn’t know why NATO would smuggle nuclear weapons here, load them into containers full of toys, and contract a civilian company to deliver them…
Forget it, forget it.
Blood Axe shook his head vigorously and left all his confusions behind him.
He vaguely remembered that NAC was buying these types of novel equipment, including spacecraft or other interesting high-tech instruments. Although he did not find a nuclear arsenal, this discovery would be considered a great achievement, at least his effort was not in vain.
He had to find the way out now.
The elevator in front of the main entrance was broken, and now he could only hope that there is an emergency evacuation passage in other places.
When he thought about this, he glanced at the behemoth behind him for the last time before he turned around.
However, as soon as he turned around, his whole body seemed to be stunned, his feet frozen in place.
A drop of cold sweat dripped from his forehead, and the rifle in his hand began to tremble.
He didn’t know when his retreat had been blocked by a group of soldiers.
Soldiers wearing NATO-standard kinetic skeleton were like black ghosts standing there, as they lined up neatly in four rows at the entrance of the hall. Their tactical eyepieces were gleaming with pale blue light. The streamlined-looking rifle, as well as the deadly vibe, dissipated any courage Blood Axe had to fight.
He had no suspension that if he showed any hostility, he would turn into a corpse in less than 0.1 seconds.
At this time, a man in a military uniform stepped out of the crowd.
In his eagle-like eyes, there was an indescribable amount of shock and excitement when he looked up at the behemoth.
As if he hadn’t seen Blood Axe standing there, he walked forward and stood still under the behemoth. As if he was looking at some miracle left by God, he sighed with emotion.
“Twenty years, I finally found it…”
“Who are you…” Blood Axe could not resist his urge to ask the question that bothered him.
The officer finally noticed Blood Axe, turned around, and examined him with an eagle-like gaze. The gaze made Blood Axe feel uneasy.
Without any warning, the pressure on Blood Axe suddenly disappeared.
“McCarthy, you can call me Colonel McCarthy, or General McCarthy.” The majestic man extended his right hand, and the aura of the superior exuded from him; his tone made no secret of the superiority and indisputability in his bone. “First of all, on behalf of the American government, I would like to thank you for your contribution to the great cause of rejuvenation. When everything is over, I’ll award you the Medal of Excellence for Citizen.”
Blood Axe was stunned.
American…?
If his memory from before the war was correct, it was a word that dated back to the middle of the 21st century, before NATO turned from a military alliance to a political alliance. Now that Blood Axe heard someone say it seriously, other than the oddness, he didn’t know how he should feel…
