Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 153: The Place Where the Furnace Fell
After Xie Liu finished speaking, Chen Jian was stunned.

Two Ares, two aerospace aircraft of unidentified models, and a larger aircraft, which is most likely a large transport aircraft of some type.

And they all crashed in Tongling City.
-
No, it shouldn't have crashed.

If it was a crash, Xie Liu would not be able to find any wreckage of the plane. He would only see a pile of scrap steel and a big hole caused by the explosion.

This should be an emergency landing, but why did they make an emergency landing here?

This formation was obviously not a regular transport escort formation. After all, no one had ever seen four bombers escorting a transport plane.

In contrast, Chen Jian felt that these five planes were performing some kind of transfer maneuver.

But where are they going and why are they making an emergency landing here?
Just a simple message brought countless mysteries to Chen Jian. At this time, Xie Liu and Ji Xing standing aside were completely unaware of the seriousness of the problem.

“So, is this information important?”

"We saw so many planes in the Anqing ruins. According to what you said, they could appear anywhere. So it doesn't seem strange that they crashed here, right?"

Ji Xing spoke with some doubt, while Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

"No, on the contrary, it's a little too strange."

"It's hard for me to explain to you how fighter planes fight and the rules of their formations, but I can give you a simple example."

"For example, Xie Liu's Holy Blood Squad is composed of rangers, shield guards, scouts, and doctors like Xie Liu. This is a fully functional team that can handle most sudden battles."

"The combat operations of fighter jets also roughly follow these rules. Although they may be adjusted according to the nature of the mission, they are still essentially the same."

"And now, what Xie Liu saw was equivalent to four shield guards dying in the same place, with no trace of other team members around."

"Don't you think this situation is weird enough?"

".I see."

Ji Xing let out a long sigh and said:
"So what's strange is not the planes themselves, but the reason why they are here."

"Yes."

Chen Jian gently rubbed the trigger of the rifle on the table, thought for a moment and said:
"The largest airport nearby is the 10th Air Division's airport, and that's the only airport that's qualified to station aerospace aircraft."

"This means that these planes may have taken off from the 10th Air Division base, and the transport planes they escorted may have been carrying important cargo from the 10th Air Division base."

"Could the missing thing be here?"

"That's right. The reason why those pilots chose to make an emergency landing was probably because of the special nature of the cargo they were transporting."

"Some kind of accident must have happened, so they couldn't even reach their destination and had to make an emergency landing midway."

"The four bombers escorting the bombs were damaged during the forced landing, causing the nuclear bomb to explode, creating a dirty bomb effect, and this is the source of the radiation."

"But if this is the logic, new problems arise."

"Transport planes can make forced landings, but why do bombers make forced landings?"

"I don't understand. We must go to the forbidden area to take a look!"

Chen Jian made a decisive decision, then turned to Xie Liu and asked:
"Have you ever noticed the highest radiation level? What's the highest?"

"The highest was 640, but that was only for a moment. Most of the time the value hovered between 200 and 300."

Xie Liu answered immediately. It was obvious that she did not just pay attention to the alarm sound as Chen Jian said, but also keenly recorded the numerical value.

Chen Jian didn't have time to praise Xie Liu for his initiative. His mind was quickly calculating the safe range of radiation values.

640 means 640msv per hour.

This number is still too high. Although not all areas can reach such radiation levels, considering the time it takes for the team to enter and exit, which is about 5 hours at most, the radiation they are exposed to will exceed the safe dose.

Once the radiation damage reaches moderate levels, no one can save them in this apocalypse without modern medical treatment.

Otherwise, the exposure time must be shortened.

Otherwise, the radiation exposure must be reduced.

The former was very difficult, because even Xie Liu's round trip took nearly 6 hours, and for ordinary people like us with relatively weak mobility, it would probably take even longer.

And the latter.
Do I have to carry the lead sheet in?

This is a dilemma: the protection must be high but the speed must be slow.

The slower the speed, the more radiation you will be exposed to.

There is no way out unless you can find new equipment.
Seeing the worry on Chen Jian's face, Xie Liu asked tentatively:
"Captain, how about I go again?"

“Or, let Ji Xing go once?”

"You can give us a list of the information you need to collect, and we will report back immediately after we get the information."

"No, the situation there is too complicated. We have to see it with our own eyes before we can draw any conclusions."

Chen Jian shook his head and said:
"We don't even know what many of these things are. Only when we get to the scene can we make some guesses."

"Let's think of another way. If that doesn't work, we can avoid going deep into the forbidden area and find a high point on the periphery to observe from a distance. Maybe we can get some information."

"clear."

Xie Liu said no more, and Chen Jian passed the information he had just obtained to Shen Yue and others.

On the radio, the people on the other end were also silent for a long time.

They all knew the importance of this information, and it was definitely not just about a few planes.

It is even possible that what is transported on the plane can immediately solve the mystery of the Fuxi project.

They all knew that this clue should not be given up, but the problem was that they didn't seem to be qualified to enter the forbidden area.

Information is important, but if it costs the health or even the lives of several people, it doesn't seem that important.
After discussing for a long time, the few people still couldn't come up with a practical plan.

By this time, it was already midnight.

".The biggest difficulty with this problem is that if we want to get in, we only have one chance anyway."

"If we don't seize this opportunity, we won't be able to go a second time in a short time."

"The radiation dose is too high. Continuous exposure in a short period of time can kill people."

"It will take at least a few months for the radiation damage in the body to heal before you can enter again."

"Time is a big issue. We can't wait that long and there aren't that many people."

On the radio, He Shuo's tone was a little low.

After he finished speaking, Chen Jian had to overturn the latest plan he had just thought of.

He originally planned to determine a route with the lowest radiation dose through high-density peripheral reconnaissance.

But now it seems that even with this plan, he does not have enough manpower to step on the mines -
However, when He Shuo mentioned the "manpower issue", Ji Xing's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Xie Liu said that the radiation in the forbidden area is not uniform. In most areas, the radiation values are very low."

"In this case, we can hire someone to survey the route first, so that we can shorten the time we are exposed to radiation as much as possible."

"The reason why the forbidden area is so dangerous is because the people in Tongling City do not have any equipment that can monitor the 'curse', which makes their exploration completely blind."

"But you have this kind of instrument in your hands."

"So why not give the instrument to someone else and let them explore the way with it?"

"It will kill people." Chen Jian said helplessly.

"If you don't tell me, who knows you will die?"

Ji Xing blinked and continued:
"You just need to tell him that this device can monitor the intensity of the curse in real time and protect his safety."

"The temptation of the forbidden land has always been great, otherwise there wouldn't be people in Tongling City trying to enter the forbidden land to explore."

"Believe me, if you throw out this kind of 'artifact', there will definitely be people who are willing to work for you."

"If you are worried about the so-called 'moral dilemma', I happen to know a group of people who are not worth dying for and are the best people to do this."

The group of people Ji Xing found were actually no different from those found in Huadu.

They are collectively called "Hunters", but in fact they are a group of mercenaries who value money more than their lives.

These people have quite complicated backgrounds and have no unified organization.

They are active in various large settlements, relying on their own force to complete all tasks assigned by their employers in exchange for corresponding rewards.

And precisely because there is no unified organization, their abilities vary, which results in their mission not being so clean.

It was quite a coincidence that the person Ji Xing found this time had just received the task of attacking Huangshi City issued by Huadu not long ago.

When meeting with Chen Jian and others, the leading man brought up this matter as something worth bragging about.

"Boss, don't worry."

"The capabilities of the team I lead are among the best in Tongling, and even in the entire South."

"Except for the regular army of the Holy Blood Temple and the Mechanicus, almost no one can fight us head-on."

"Just a few days ago, we received a mission from Huadu to attack the base camp of a newly established new force."

"They say it's called the Chinese Army, but they are quite powerful."

"It is said that they wiped out the entire Templar Guard Brigade of the Mechanicus."

"However, they are still too young in front of us."

"But unfortunately, when we received the mission and were ready to set off, Huadu had already cancelled the mission."

"I heard that it was another group of hunters who messed up. Huadu felt that there was no need to continue to retaliate."

"I even feel sorry for them. If they had found us first, the outcome would have been much better."

After the man finished speaking, Chen Jian and the others looked at each other calmly, with a hint of hidden smile in their expressions.

However, Chen Jian did not intend to introduce himself at this time.

He just nodded slightly, and then said:

"It seems that you are indeed very strong - then let's get straight to the point."

"The task we are going to give you this time is very simple."

"Take our instruments into the forbidden area of Tongling City, and then plan the best route to the core area according to the values displayed on the instruments."

"You guys are going to the forbidden area?"

The man looked at Chen Jian in astonishment, and then asked:
"What are you doing there? There's nothing worth exploring there anymore!"

"No, that's not quite right."

"What I mean is, even if there are valuable items in the forbidden area, you can't bring them out!"

"The curse in the forbidden area is very strong. Ordinary people simply cannot survive in it for a long time."

"If you go deep into the forbidden area, the intruder will die from the curse in two or three days at most."

"Even if you're lucky enough not to be cursed too much, you won't be able to survive more than three years."

"It's been a long time since anyone has entered the forbidden area. There's no point!"

"There are still many places in this world waiting to be explored. Why should we give up our lives here?"

“You just didn’t find the right method.”

Chen Jian shook his head and gave Ji Xing a look.

The latter picked up the simple Geiger counter and described its function in an exaggerated way.

The man looked at Ji Xing doubtfully, then asked:
"How can you prove that this thing really works?"

Ji Xing pointed at Xie Liu and replied:

"She just went in. Do you think she looks like she has problems?"

".Not like that. But since you're all already inside, why do you need us?"

“Because we are short of staff.”

Chen Jian took over the conversation and described the dilemma the team was facing using standard nine truths and one lie tactics. After listening to his words, the man let out a long sigh and finally nodded slowly.

"We can try."

"What we lack the least is people. If it is really as you said, we can take on this mission."

"But first, you have to tell me what you are looking for there!"

"Does this have anything to do with you?"

Ji Xing frowned and asked back. The man nodded firmly and replied:

"Of course it does."

"The restricted area of Tongling City is not as simple as outsiders think. It is the legendary 'place where the furnace fell'."

"The treasure of the forge is buried deep in the forbidden area. Everyone wants to get it, but no one has ever really got it."

"Since you are already prepared to enter, I think you must have some clues."

"You're going to use the lives of my people to pave the way for clues, so it's actually quite reasonable for me to ask for a higher reward, right?"

".Reasonable."

Chen Jian nodded slowly, then asked:
"what do you want?"

"In addition to the basic compensation, I want half of whatever you find."

"one third."

Chen Jian made a bargaining gesture. The man was silent for a moment, then said:
"Forty percent. We split forty percent."

"can."

Chen Jian nodded decisively, and then continued:
"But in exchange, you have to tell us everything you know about the restricted area."

"You seem to know a lot about restricted areas, don't you?"

".No, no one can say they know the restricted area well."

The man sighed and then said:
"But I do know a few things about restricted areas."

"Legend has it that a giant beast once perished there, and the furnace in the beast's belly has been burning in the restricted area for decades."

(End of this chapter)