MDT Chapter 171 Part 2 (Patreon)

Chapter 171 Part 2: Ten Seconds to Oblivion

The train continued forward.

Soon, it arrived at the second anomaly, located in the city center.

It was a deep pit.

The pit was about a hundred meters in diameter.

Chen Mang controlled the Stellar through the air, slowly descending into the pit. The walls of the pit were lined with incandescent lamps. It wasn't very deep, only about a hundred meters.

At the bottom of the pit, he saw a missile standing on the ground.

Seven meters long, three meters wide.

It didn't look like it had a very large yield. Next to the missile was a floating line of light.

[A nuclear bomb capable of destroying the entire city.] 

[Press the red button to begin a 10-second detonation countdown.] 

[Detonates after 10 seconds.]

Found it. This was the mission objective of this map.

But Chen Mang's face showed no happiness. Instead, he expressionlessly scanned his surroundings. It was empty. The plaza in the pit had nothing but this missile and a button on a pillar next to it.

Escape?

Escape where?

It didn't give him an escape route, and where could you even escape to in 10 seconds?

A moment later.

Chen Mang silently ordered Team One to stay and guard the plaza while he went to the third anomaly to see if there was an escape route. He was now very glad he had cleared the map at the beginning.

Otherwise, with such a great weapon just sitting here in the open.

If anyone pressed it, he'd be buried with them.

What a wrongful death that would be.

They could at least put a cover on that button. He was even a little worried that a monster might pop out from somewhere, fall on the button—how unlucky would that be? He left a team of members here to guard, to prevent any random things from coming and pressing the button.

He went to check the escape route.

The third anomaly was extremely far from the second, about thirty km in a straight line.

The Stellar slowly stopped in front of a tunnel.

The tunnel was made entirely of glass. It started on the ground and, at an angle of about thirty degrees, went straight into the top of the underground space.

This tunnel was the escape route.

From a high altitude, it was quite conspicuous in a patch of rubble behind the city.

[Super-High-Speed Train Tunnel.] 

[After inserting a Level 3 Energy Stone, the train will be suspended in the center of the tunnel by magnetic levitation and escape this city at super-high speed, breaking through to the surface.] 

[In a dilapidated state, only one train can pass through.]

This was the escape route in this encounter map, and it was also the escape route that had been built at the beginning of this city's construction.

In other words.

Whether he had chosen to clear the map at the beginning or not, in the end, only one train could pass through this map. Four trains were destined to die here.

In the future, he would have to try to avoid going to encounter maps with Erdan.

He didn't want to fight his friends, and Erdan probably hadn't experienced this type of encounter map either, or he wouldn't have been so carefree about going with him.

And—

This 'Super-High-Speed Train Tunnel' was located at the edge of the city, far from the nuclear bomb detonation point.

A full thirty km in a straight line.

The train couldn't possibly be at the tunnel entrance, ready to depart 10 seconds after the nuclear bomb was detonated.

There was only one solution.

That was to choose a sacrifice, have that sacrifice press the nuclear bomb, and then, the moment the countdown began, the train would enter the tunnel and prepare to escape.

Of course.

If you followed the principle of 'good things come in pairs,' you could also choose two sacrifices for good luck.

…..

"So big."

Chen Mang, having walked out of the train, stood on the open ground and looked at the underground city not far away, murmuring with a dazed expression. Although he didn't know how many meters underground this was, to be able to dig out such a large space and build a city in it.

This mechanical civilization's infrastructure capability was quite strong.

…..

"Shanmaozi, what are you trying to do?"

Sitting in his mech, Biaozi looked down at Shanmaozi with a dark expression. "It's not your turn to be a hero. What are you pretending to be a big shot for? Put the gun down!"

"I said, put the fucking gun down, you hear me?!"

Shanmaozi stood in the plaza, the barrel of his gun pressed to his head, his eyes red as he said in a hoarse voice.

"Brother Biao."

"We both know what the situation is now."

"This nuke detonates within ten seconds of being activated! It's powerful enough to flatten the entire city!"

"Ten seconds! How do we escape?"

"Where do we escape to?"

Shanmaozi's eyes were red, his voice raw as he spoke, each word deliberate. "The only escape route is that glass tunnel outside the city, where the train was flying. It has to be."

"The Iris Chip connection is down, which means Boss Mang is already there scouting."

"That place is at least thirty km away. The train can't possibly make it there after the nuke is activated."

"A Train Ticket's teleportation range is only ten thousand meters!"

"The only solution is for one person to stay behind, press the button, while everyone else heads to the tunnel to escape!"

He took a ragged breath, his body trembling.

"I made a promise to Boss Mang."

"He saved my wife's life. I told him that if the Stellar ever needed someone for a suicide mission, I, Shanmaozi, would be the first to step forward!"

"I wasn't joking!"

"I never joke!"

"Now it's my turn. Biaozi, take care of Meijia for me."

"Don't be a fool."

Biaozi leaped from his mech, his face grim. He strode over to Shanmaozi and stared him down. "Since when do you make decisions for the Stellar?"

"Huh?"

"Boss Mang hasn't said a word. Who gave you the authority to make this call? Where's your discipline?"

"Besides, even if someone has to be sacrificed, we have over 1,900 new survivors. Can't we just grab one of them? Why are you trying to be a hero?"

"That won't work." Shanmaozi shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. "This is a suicide mission. You think those survivors would do it? They know they're going to die. You think they wouldn't resent it, detonate the nuke early, and take the Stellar down with them?"

"Biaozi, besides me, who else on the Stellar is more suited for this?"

"..."

Biaozi opened his mouth to argue, but the words wouldn't come. It was true—Shanmaozi was probably the only one suited for this role. But still…

After a moment, he shook his head.

"You haven't even had your honeymoon yet. Put the gun down."

"Boss Mang might have another way."

"If it really comes down to it, I'll... Lao Zhu will do it."

Shanmaozi couldn't help but laugh. "Biaozi, Vice-Captain Zhu is terrified of dying. He'd never volunteer for this."

Just then—

With lightning speed, Biaozi lunged forward, tackling Shanmaozi to the ground. He snatched the Tidal Wave Gatling from his hands, then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and kicked him in frustration. "Are you fucking crazy? Can't you at least wait for Boss Mang's orders before you start playing the hero?"

"Biaozi," Shanmaozi said, lying on the ground, his eyes red as he stared up at him, enunciating each word. "Everyone on the train knows Boss Mang saved my wife. They know I made him a promise. If I'm not the one who dies in the end, if it's someone else..."

"I'll never be able to hold my head high on this train again. Meijia won't either."

"It's a matter of face."

"Face? Face? Face is that important?" Biaozi shot back. "It's the apocalypse! What's face worth?"

"To me, it's very important."

"Get up. If it comes to it, we'll let Zhang Yi die."

"Huh?"

Zhang Yi, who had just jumped down from his mech and was gnawing on a steamed bun, froze. "Candied sweet potatoes? Where?"

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