Chapter 411 - 187: Underground Shelter

Chapter 411: Chapter 187: Underground Shelter

"These doors are all blast-proof," Li Rui explained as they walked. "Every one of them can withstand a bombardment from heavy weaponry. If someone found my shelter and wanted to break in, just getting through these doors would be a massive headache for them.

Xu Mo nodded. ’It would be a massive headache for me, too.’

The last door was especially ridiculous. It was almost a meter thick, made of multiple layers of steel plates and composite materials. Li Rui tapped a few times on the control panel beside the door, then entered a password, scanned his face, pressed his fingerprint, and inserted a key. It took a good few minutes before the door slowly swung open.

Behind the door was the outside world. Sunlight streamed through the opening, a little blinding.

Xu Mo drove the car out and parked in the open space by the entrance.

He glanced back at the door. It was embedded in the side of a small hill, covered with soil and vegetation, looking completely integrated with the surrounding environment.

If you hadn’t seen it open with your own eyes, you would never guess that a meter-thick blast-proof door was hidden here, concealing a five-story-deep underground shelter.

At this thought, Xu Mo’s expression went blank. He was numb inside.

From the five-story underground shelter and mountains of supplies to the five modified vehicles and the list of other shelter addresses—and now, this meter-thick door—Xu Mo felt his capacity for shock was completely depleted.

At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised by anything else Li Rui said.

Li Rui walked out of the doorway and stood beside Xu Mo’s car. He looked sentimental, even a little reluctant to leave.

The two of them stood in silence for a few seconds. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Li Rui spoke up. "Oh, right. There’s something I think I should tell you."

"When I was building this shelter, I hired some workers and craftsmen," Li Rui said. "One of them was a veteran craftsman, a civil engineer. We had a chat once when the construction was about halfway done. He said something back then that left a deep impression on me."

"What did he say?" Xu Mo asked, curious.

"He asked me, ’Why are you copying Ming Pearl Port, building this kind of underground structure?’"

Xu Mo’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"I was curious, of course," Li Rui continued. "So I asked him, ’Ming Pearl Port is building underground structures too?’ He said yes, that he’d participated in the construction of an underground project for them before. According to him, it was a project that started before the apocalypse. It was massive in scale—over a hundred meters deep."

"Over a hundred meters."

Xu Mo’s heart skipped a beat. A five-story underground shelter was already absurd. ’A hundred meters deep... how many floors would that be?’

"He only took part in the initial phase," Li Rui said. "Digging the foundation, doing the preliminary civil engineering, that sort of thing. Later, a military engineering corps took over, and all the civilian workers like him were sent home. He doesn’t know what it looked like after it was finished. But he said the amount of work was greater than any project he’d ever seen. It was definitely a massive undertaking."

Xu Mo’s mind raced, connecting this new piece of information with what he already knew.

When Ming Pearl Port was on the verge of collapse, its leadership and combat units announced that they would live or die with the port. At the time, everyone thought it was a tragic farewell, a resolute decision to stand firm in the face of certain death. ’But thinking about it now...’

’What if there’s a massive, hundred-meter-deep shelter beneath Ming Pearl Port?’

’What if the leadership and combat units didn’t really intend to live or die with the port, but simply moved from the light into the shadows?’

’What if they staged a tragic drama on the surface to make everyone think they were destroyed along with Ming Pearl Port, while in reality, they continued to exist and operate underground?’

’If that’s the case...’

’Then I have no choice but to go to Ming Pearl Port.’

’Except I wouldn’t be looking for a fallen ruin, but for a hidden Ming Pearl Port that might still exist in the shadows.’

Although he didn’t know where the entrance was, it was at least a lead—a very important one.

Xu Mo pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and didn’t voice them. After hearing Li Rui out, he simply nodded and said, "Thanks. That information is very important."

Li Rui waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t mention it. I have no use for it anyway. It might be useful to you."

Xu Mo thought for a moment, then added, "If we get the chance to meet again in the future, how will we confirm our identities? We should have a code phrase."

Li Rui paused for a second, then smiled. "Good point. What do you suggest?"

Xu Mo considered it. "If I’m looking for you, I’ll say, ’A Barrett shoots straight.’ You reply, ’But a rocket launcher hits harder.’"

Li Rui laughed. "Deal!"

The two men looked at each other and both smiled.

Finally, the two of them shook hands, and Xu Mo started the engine and drove away.

In the rearview mirror, the meter-thick door slowly closed, once again blending into the surrounding hillside until no trace of it could be seen.

Xu Mo drove on, crossing the wasteland.

The information Li Rui had given him kept swirling in his mind.

’Ming Pearl Port’s underground project... a hundred meters deep... taken over by a military engineering corps...’

’If it’s really an underground shelter, an official base hidden in the shadows, then the fall of Ming Pearl Port might not have been a true fall at all.’

’Ming Pearl Port must still exist. They’re probably still operating deep underground, waiting for the right moment to reemerge.’

’That would explain so much!’

’Why was Ming Pearl Port’s leadership so determined to live or die with the port? Because they knew they weren’t going to die.’