Ch.202Another Brick in the Wall! (5)

#202

Several police officers were standing at the entrance to a sewer connected to the outskirts of Las Vegas.

A curious citizen approached and asked one of the officers directly.

“What’s going on? Why are you guarding the sewer?”

“A gas pipe inside the sewer has ruptured, so access is prohibited. Please step back.”

Other sewer entrances were in similar situations, with some officers even forcibly evicting homeless people to guard the entrances.

“Come on, I’ve lived here for three years! Three years! What gas pipe rupture are you talking about?!”

A homeless person who had been living near the sewer entrance sat under the shade of an old parasol, complaining after being evicted.

Regardless, the Clark County deputy sheriffs stood at the sewer entrance wearing sunglasses, avoiding the sunlight while staring off into the distance.

“Is there really a gas pipe rupture?”

“How would I know? I’m just following orders from above.”

A junior deputy asked his senior, but even the senior deputy didn’t know everything.

However, since these kinds of situations were common, the senior deputy responded indifferently.

Other sewers were in similar situations, with entrances thoroughly blocked to prepare for any unexpected incidents.

To reach the most suspicious space on the 13th underground level of the sewer shown on the blueprints, they needed to go through the sewer near the OSA.

The OSA agents guarding the sewer entrance were fascinated by the appearance of Dexter’s group, equipped with modified hand cannons, jet packs covering their entire backs, night vision goggles attached to their helmets, and various other gear.

“Looks like something out of a movie, doesn’t it?”

When one of the agents guarding the entrance said this with a grin, Himena, who was closest, turned her head away as if embarrassed.

She thought their outfits, including her own, were drawing too much attention with excessive armament.

As Himena kept fidgeting and looking like she wanted to hide somewhere, Dexter, who was checking his equipment, tapped her helmet and said:

“Himena, let’s focus.”

“But this is kind of embarrassing…”

This happened because dozens of people were all staring at Dexter’s group.

The original plan was for Dexter and Himena to explore the sewer with the rapid response team.

However, thanks to Dexter’s women who absolutely refused to be separated from him, one rapid response team was also waiting near the entrance.

While working with inexperienced people was concerning, it wasn’t all bad to have people willing to help with whatever he was doing.

Yet the responsibility was heavy, so Dexter just took a deep breath, reviewed the plan, and began warming up.

He moved around slightly while holding the modified hand cannon, checking his movements.

‘With this level of mobility, I should be fine unless a nuclear bomb suddenly drops.’

After jumping up and down and twisting his body in various directions, Dexter looked at the tense Jesse and asked:

“Ready?”

Jesse nodded without answering, and Dexter nodded back before turning to Judy.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“…I can’t just let Dexter go alone. And I can’t be the only one to stay behind.”

Judy, who was warming up by rotating her arms, replied with a light smile. Feeling someone’s gaze, Dexter turned his head.

“Why aren’t you asking me?”

At Emily’s bold question, Dexter chuckled.

“As if I wouldn’t have asked. No problems, right?”

“No, none.”

Hearing their emotionless conversation, some of the watching agents expressed concern about how coldly they were talking to each other.

Of course, to agents who didn’t know Emily, it would seem cold, but seeing her swallow nervously with slightly trembling eyes, Dexter gently patted her arm to reassure her.

It was time to move forward.

Dexter spoke to the deputy director who was watching from a distance with a displeased expression:

“Ready to enter. I’ll report any issues via radio. Today’s objective is to find Howard Hughes’ secret bunker.”

The deputy director still didn’t like Dexter, but given how much Dexter had accomplished and his current position, it was difficult to openly oppose him.

‘How does this guy know so many people?’

He even felt that his own authority as deputy director was insufficient in comparison.

But not wanting to show his wounded pride, Deputy Director Feinstein just cleared his throat and said:

“Make sure you return safely.”

Seeing the deputy director’s uncomfortable yet encouraging demeanor, Dexter smirked and replied:

“Yes, thank you.”

With that, Dexter’s group activated their jet packs simultaneously at the sewer entrance.

-Whooooosh…

Engines protruded from both sides of the jet packs on their backs, and blue flames shot out from the nozzles.

The five people slowly rose into the air, but not too high.

Designed for indoor use, they hovered just a hand’s width above the ground.

“Entering now.”

With those words, Dexter’s group slowly entered the sewer entrance.

The five jet packs, modified by Jesse, the senior mechanic, and engineers working together, proved much more efficient than walking.

Rather than being controlled by joysticks, the helmets and jet packs were connected to each other, controlled by brain wave recognition, leaving both hands free to hold the modified hand cannons.

“These jet packs are really convenient, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Without Jesse and Emily, we would’ve been trudging through all this muck.”

Dexter’s group advanced quickly, scanning their surroundings with the night vision goggles attached to their helmets.

Although the sewer was divided into levels, there were no elevators or stairs to move between them. Instead, many sections were roughly connected by rickety ladders in the sewer tunnels.

The greatest advantage was being able to fly over the filth without getting it on their legs, but as time passed, everyone in Dexter’s group looked increasingly distressed.

“…Himena, doesn’t the OSA have something like a visor? You know, like the function in those spacesuits we wore last time. Ugh.”

Jesse pinched his nose and spoke in a nasal voice, to which Himena replied with puffed cheeks:

“…No, we don’t.”

“The smell is fucking awful, seriously…”

The tunnel carried sewage not only from the OSA but also from North Las Vegas.

The water supply facilities were in a completely different location, and only 100% pure sewage passed through this tunnel, causing everyone to look like they were dying.

Judy was already half-unconscious, while Emily had slight wrinkles between her eyebrows.

Dexter also kept his mouth shut, speaking only when absolutely necessary.

“What’s the next route?”

“After 300 yards, take the left fork.”

After proceeding quietly for about 10 minutes, the overwhelming sewer stench finally caused Judy to stop and retch.

Jesse, who had been holding it in, finally burst out:

“…Is your great-grandfather crazy? Who the hell decides to build a bunker in a sewer like this?”

Despite Jesse’s harsh words, Dexter calmly agreed:

“I don’t want a great-grandfather like this either. Instead of helping, he made his great-grandson travel through a sewer full of floating shit.”

“Honestly, he probably didn’t even know he had a son and grandson. If he did, he might have left some inheritance.”

“Ah, there can’t be an ancestor less helpful to his descendants.”

Since talking required breathing, Dexter closed his mouth again and continued toward the 13th underground level.

“Currently at level 11. Soon entering level 13.”

Himena, not wanting to smell the stench, conveyed this in short words, and Dexter nodded before signaling them to stop.

“Wait, stop.”

-Shwaaaaa…

Hearing what sounded like a waterfall, Dexter asked Himena in a low voice:

“Is there a cavity ahead?”

“Huh? No, just a small vertical passage connecting the levels.”

“That sound seems too loud for that. Let’s all slow down and proceed carefully.”

Sensing something unusual, Dexter’s group moved forward slowly.

“……”

“Are you sure there’s no waterfall or anything?”

“Of course not. How could there be something like that in a sewer?”

Himena showed Jesse the blueprint displayed on her phone.

As Dexter’s group continued forward, the sound of water falling to the ground became deafeningly loud.

And then.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before them.

“…What is this?”

-Shwaaaaa…!

Where the tunnel should have continued, there was a deep and wide cavity that seemed bottomless.

Sewage from each level was flowing into the cavity, creating the waterfall-like sound as it fell.

“The shittiest waterfall in the world.”

Jesse made a nauseated face as he watched the sewage rapidly falling from above.

Dexter looked at the sewer tunnel wall right beside them.

There were traces of broken concrete as if someone had deliberately destroyed it, with debris scattered messily.

‘Looks like it was intentionally broken.’

Some exposed steel beams were broken, but others showed signs of being cut, confirming that someone had deliberately destroyed it.

As Dexter just looked around without doing anything, Himena asked in a small voice:

“Dexy, what should we do?”

“…Is there a way.”

Dexter pointed to what appeared to be the passage to the 13th underground level on the cavity wall.

“We need to go there.”

“Ah, what if we get hit by falling shit?”

In response to Jesse’s sincere but lighthearted concern, Dexter chuckled:

“Then we get hit. What else can we do?”

“Ah, I really fucking hate this…”

Despite complaining, Jesse slowly moved forward and looked down at the seemingly bottomless floor:

“We should go at maximum speed, right?”

“If we don’t, we’ll fall into a sewage sea of unknown depth.”

“Ugh, I really, fucking, goddamn hate this!!”

“Everyone be careful not to fall to the bottom, and follow me.”

With those words, strong flames shot out from Dexter’s jet pack engine nozzles, and he leaped into the cavity.

With the sound of flames, Dexter descended slowly like falling petals and managed to reach the passage that appeared to be level 13.

‘It’s cleaner than the other sewers.’

There was no smell or visible sewage in the passage.

Instead, there was just some accumulated dust.

Dexter looked around once and raised both hands above his head in a circle to signal that it was safe.

At this signal, the four women increased their output and moved to the passage where Dexter was. Judy, who had looked like she was dying from the smell, now appeared much more comfortable.

“There’s not much smell here?”

“Probably because all the sewage that should come from the opposite side falls down… Let’s proceed with caution.”

And so, Dexter’s group began their search on the 13th underground level.

* * *

One of the deputy sheriffs standing in front of a drainage ditch entrance beside the highway saw a bus approaching.

“What’s that bus doing?”

The deputy sheriff wearing sunglasses next to him squinted and waved his hands, shouting:

“You can’t come this way! Stop!”

Regardless, the bus kept coming forward, and the frustrated deputy sheriff drew his pistol from his holster, aimed it at the approaching bus, and shouted:

“Move and I’ll shoot! Stop right now!”

At this action, the deputy sheriff with sunglasses also raised his riot shotgun, but the bus continued to approach, undeterred.

Because the dark tinting prevented them from seeing inside the bus, the deputy with the shotgun aimed at the bus’s tires and fired for safety.

-Bang!

With the gunshot, the sound of air escaping from the bus tire could be heard. The deputy with the shotgun slowly approached the driver’s side door and shouted:

“Get out of the vehicle now!”

But there was no response from the driver’s seat.

As the deputy with the shotgun finally aimed at the driver’s seat and was about to shout again, a sudden gunshot rang out.

-Bang!

“Ugh.”

The chest of the deputy with the shotgun was stained with a coin-sized dark red spot, and he collapsed.

“Jacob!”

With the sudden gunshot and his partner falling, the deputy aiming his pistol at the driver’s seat shouted his partner’s name and fired.

-Bang, bang, bang…!

With skilled hands, five or six shots were fired at the driver’s seat in an instant.

Through the glass shattered by bullets, someone bleeding could be seen briefly before a dull gunshot sounded from the bus.

-Bang!

“…!”

A dark red dot formed in the center of the chest of the deputy who had been firing his pistol, and he too collapsed.

Soon the bus door opened, and a rough-looking Latino man in a white tank top with a red bandana tied around his forehead stepped out holding a rifle. He spat on the ground.

“Should’ve just run away. Lost a man because of these fucking pigs.”

Speaking in a growling baritone, the man looked inside the bus and said:

“Everyone out!”

At his command, men dressed similarly to the rough-looking man disembarked one after another, gathering around the drainage ditch entrance with menacing expressions.

The gang members, with the typical image of a South American gang, focused their attention on the rough-looking man’s mouth.

“As I said earlier, our primary target is a tall man over 6 feet with short black hair. He must be killed.”

The gang members nodded silently, and the rough-looking man pointed to the luggage compartment under the bus:

“Everyone grab your weapons. We’re going in now.”

At the rough-looking man’s words, one of the gang members opened the bus’s luggage compartment.

It was filled with weapons difficult for ordinary gangs to obtain: military-grade rifles, grenades, shotguns, and more.

Except for a couple of gang members who stayed behind for cleanup and security, each took a weapon and a grenade before entering the drainage ditch with determined strides.

Finally, the rough-looking man entered the drainage ditch, muttering quietly:

“No matter how good he is, can he really win against thirty men?”

The rough-looking man chuckled as he went in.