Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 227: Tunnel Under the Construction Site

"Taklamakan sandworm? What is that?" Sun Hang asked.

"As the name suggests, it is a Type C monster that lives deep in the Taklimakan Desert. Locals call it the 'Death Worm'. It is a giant worm that is over 100 meters long and 5 to 8 meters in diameter. Its most notable feature is its five-petal lip-shaped mouthparts, each of which is full of sharp teeth... It is like a living tunnel boring machine, able to easily travel through the hard rock layers under the desert. In the early years, there were records of it attacking oil drilling teams... But after the Taklimakan Desert was designated as an occupied area, there have been no more sightings of this monster..."

After Yang Qi finished speaking, he paused again and continued: "The most crucial point is that this kind of weird creature... lives in groups."

"I don't think it's the 'death worms'." A voice came from above, and with a slight sound, Zhulong also fell to the bottom of the pit. "If there were a group of death worms living underground in Tianfu City, the city would have sunk into the ground long ago. In my opinion, we might as well go down along these tunnels and see where they lead to."

"That's also a solution..." Yang Qi turned to look at Yang Lian, "Ah Lian, are the results of the comparison of the meme clips out?"

"It's out... There is nothing in the existing database that can match the memetic fragments remaining in the tunnel... In other words, this is most likely a new and unknown monster." Yang Lian shook his head and said solemnly.

"When Yongye appeared, all kinds of monsters and demons appeared." Sun Hang complained, "I'm used to it anyway."

"Me too." Wang Xiyi said with a smile, standing next to Sun Hang, "I'll leave the back to you."

"I don't know why I suddenly thought of a very old lyric." Sun Hang tilted his head, "'Sister, go forward boldly...'"

"Based on our age, you should probably call me sister." Wang Xiyi nudged him lightly with her elbow.

"It's simple, just a matter of changing two words." Sun Hang shrugged.

"Why do I feel that the relationship between you two..." Yang Qi glanced at Sun Hang and Wang Xiyi, "When did you become so close?"

"We have always had a good relationship." Wang Xiyi put her arm on Sun Hang's shoulder.

"How can it be bad when we've been friends for life?" Sun Hang also echoed.

"Then you two will be the vanguard, and as for the rear guard, I'll leave it to Zhulong." Yang Qi assigned the tasks, "Zhong Ling, A Lian and Ye Xuan, we will be responsible for collecting data and taking samples, is that okay?"

"No problem." Zhulong replied.

"Hey guys... are you really planning to just walk in without any preparation?" the guy in the white hat who came down with them said in astonishment.

"Preparations? What preparations?" Sun Hang looked back at him and asked.

"For example... sending drones to conduct preliminary surveys, using large equipment to conduct all-terrain scans, etc..." said the white hat.

"Yeah, if we just go in like this... wouldn't that be too reckless?" another technician following the white hat said.

"Reckless? I usually call this efficient." Sun Hang said.

"At the very least, we have to notify all departments and mobilize enough manpower..." the white hat murmured.

He could never have imagined that only half an hour after he sent the message, these hunters arrived at the scene and planned to go deep into the tunnel that was suspected to be the nest of the monster without any preparation...

The worst thing is that this group of people seemed to have extremely high authority. The young man who always had a smiling face just swiped his identity code, and the highest command authority on the scene was directly transferred to his hands.

"All departments? Haven't you already notified them?" Sun Hang said with a smile, "As for manpower, I'm sorry, at this moment, I'm afraid that more than 80% of Tianfu City's combat power has been assembled on the scene."

Sun Hang thought about it and thought that he might be too conservative, so he changed his words and said, "Oh, it could be 90%."

The man in white hat was about to cry - as the person in charge of the construction site, if something uncontrollable happened, even though the young man in front of him would bear most of the responsibility, he would most likely lose his job.

It's not a big deal if I can't keep my job. After all, the architecture department of the school I graduated from is one of the best in the Xiazhou Federation. Even if I can't be a project manager, I can always find a job as a plasterer to make a living... I'm afraid that not only will I lose my job, but I'll also lose my life...

"Well...why don't you wait for a moment?" The white hat said again, "I'll go evacuate the construction workers first...in case a fight breaks out..."

"Evacuate the construction workers...what were you doing so far?" Sun Hang asked puzzledly.

The white hat felt extremely wronged and said with a bitter face: "Before the professionals and the military take over the site, we have to keep an eye on this pit... Besides, those expensive construction equipment have to be dismantled and transported away one by one. In addition to the safety of personnel, it is also my responsibility to ensure the safety of property..."

"How long will it take?" Yang Qi asked.

"The most valuable equipment has been loaded onto the truck. All that's left is to dismantle the large drilling rig. It will take at most two hours... no, an hour and a half, and we'll be able to clear the site!" said the white hat.

"I'll give you ten minutes." Yang Qi said, "Just leave all the equipment on the construction site. You just need to ensure that all non-combatants evacuate."

"But, but..."

"There's nothing to worry about. Even if a fight really breaks out, the resulting property losses will not be charged to you." Sun Hang said, "Twenty seconds have passed. You have nine minutes and forty seconds left. I suggest you hurry up."

"I-I'll go evacuate people now!" The man in the white hat hurriedly adjusted the white hat on his head and took the elevator back to the ground with everyone.

Apart from Sun Hang and his companions, there were only a dozen fully armed soldiers left at the bottom of the pit.

These are soldiers responsible for construction site security. Theoretically, they are not "non-combat personnel" and it is understandable that they stay.

But in Sun Hang's eyes, if these people followed him, it would only cause unnecessary casualties. "You guys go up as well," Sun Hang said to the leading officer, "Set up a cordon with a radius of five kilometers around the construction area, and prohibit any outsiders from entering."

"Yes!" the leading officer responded immediately.

It has to be said that communicating with soldiers whose duty is to obey orders is more straightforward than dealing with people from other units. After a standard military salute, the officer immediately evacuated the pit with his subordinates.

Eight minutes later, the White Hats also sent a message that all non-combat personnel in the construction area had been evacuated and a cordon had been set up outside the construction area. At the same time, all the surveillance drones responsible for security and protection work had been launched, putting the airspace completely under control.

"We have obtained permission for action from the research institute and the countermeasures committee." Yang Qi said to the others - in fact, with Sun Hang's authority, he could have given orders to the two units and submitted permission for action. He just did it while waiting for the personnel to evacuate.

It has more symbolic meaning than practical significance...or to put it in a more overbearing way: it is just notifying them, not asking for their permission.

"Let's go." Wang Xiyi glanced at Sun Hang, the dragon wings behind her spread slightly, and a faint blue flame rose from the tip of her tail, illuminating the dark tunnel into a dreamlike blue world.

"Yeah." Sun Hang took out his pistol and loaded it.

"You are still using a gun..." Yang Lian couldn't help but complain when he saw Sun Hang's actions.

"Guns are very useful. To deal with those weird creatures that can be killed by bullets, or targets such as human criminals and wild beasts, you only need to gently pull the trigger." Sun Hang said, "Such a useful tool, why shouldn't I use it if I can use it."

"A Lian, focus on your own business." Yang Qi said seriously. She took out a device similar to a temperature gun and aimed it at the tunnel wall. A light green light shot out from the launch port and focused on the rock wall.

"These meme fragments seem to have been there for a long time..." Yang Qi muttered as he looked at the data displayed on the device screen. "According to the preliminary test results, they have been left on these rock walls for at least several decades."

"Decades? Isn't it said that after the meme leaves the weird object, it will be inactivated in a short period of time?" Sun Hang was slightly startled. "Is there anything wrong with the equipment?"

"No... Although most memes cannot exist alone in nature, there are still a very small number of special individuals." Yang Qi explained, "They are like ancient bacteria preserved in the Antarctic ice, and can even survive for tens of thousands of years."

"Then can we find out what type of strange creatures these memes come from?" Sun Hang asked.

Yang Qi shook her head. "There are only fragmented fragments, and the amount of information they carry is pitifully small... To be honest, I am also very curious about why these memes can survive in the form of fragments for so long..."

"We can't say that this tunnel itself is a strange thing, right?" Sun Hang walked forward while looking up at the surrounding rock walls, "Could it be another G-type strange thing?"

"My equipment didn't detect any strange aura. What about you?" Yang Qi looked at Sun Hang. "Your perception should be sharper than this portable equipment."

"Same." Sun Hang said, "Otherwise I would use a declarative sentence instead of a question."

The group walked forward along the tunnel for about a hundred meters, and the fork in the road mentioned by the man in white hat finally appeared in their sight.

These so-called branch roads are actually holes opened on the wall of the main tunnel. Compared with the main tunnel which is spacious enough for off-road vehicles, these branch roads can only accommodate one person, and the person has to bend over to pass through.

There were quite a few cave entrances like this. In a short distance of thirty meters, at least nineteen cave entrances were found. Yang Qi marked the number in front of each cave entrance with a paint pen, while Yang Lian and Ye Xuan were responsible for taking pictures and measuring the diameter of the cave entrances.

"The one with the largest diameter is hole No. 3, which is 109 centimeters; the one with the smallest diameter is hole No. 15, which is 97.5 centimeters..." Ye Xuan said as she recorded.

"So they are all about the same size?" Sun Hang walked to the entrance of a cave and shone the tactical flashlight mounted under his pistol into the cave - the beam of light extended less than ten meters before being blocked by a corner. If he wanted to know what was behind the corner, he could only crawl in to see it.

"I released all six snake-shaped drones I brought for archaeological purposes, and surveyed caves 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and 15," Yang Qi said. "Currently, all the drones are functioning normally. The drone that has penetrated the furthest into cave 1 has moved 84 meters, but has found nothing except bare rock walls."

“Sister, could this really be the lair of some weird creature?” Yang Lian rubbed his arms uncomfortably. “Do you think a bunch of weird creatures will pour out of these holes soon…?”

"Don't scare yourself." Yang Qi glared at her sister. "According to the test results, the memes left on the rock wall are more than 20 years old. Even if it is a nest, it is an abandoned nest."

"What if it's one of those strange creatures that has a long dormant period? Just like... a cicada pupa?" Yang Lian couldn't help but think of his speculation when he first learned the news.

"I feel that these main tunnels and branching caves... are like a main blood vessel and its branching blood vessels." Zhulong said faintly, "We are like being inside the body of an ancient giant beast. After a long time, the remains of the giant beast have turned into rock-like fossils, and these tunnels are the blood vessels of the giant beast..."

"Speaking of which, are there any mythological stories related to giant beasts handed down in the Shuzhou area?" Ye Xuan suddenly asked.

"This kind of mythical story exists in every region, and it is not unique." Yang Qi shook his head. "If we are now inside the blood vessels of a giant beast's remains, then the size of this giant beast must be larger than the entire Tianfu City, right?"

"I just wrote this out of inspiration." Zhulong smiled, "I recently read the Classic of Mountains and Seas again, and subconsciously thought of the ancient beasts described in the book."

"I hope it's not a giant beast." Yang Lian said, "There are memetic fragments left from decades ago... Doesn't that mean that this giant beast still had signs of life decades ago?"

"That's not necessarily true." Yang Qi shook her head. "It could also be other strange creatures that parasitize the giant beast, just like the bacteria that parasitize the human intestines."

"Can the bacteria in the intestines survive for so many years after a person dies?" Sun Hang complained.

"It's just a metaphor, a metaphor!"

"Stop using metaphors, come here, I have discovered something!" Sun Hang had entered Cave No. 13 without anyone noticing, and was squatting at the edge of the cave entrance, waving to the others.

(End of this chapter)