Ch.203Danger Zone!

#203

Unaware of what was happening on the surface, Dexter’s group confirmed they were on the 13th underground level and slowly began their exploration.

While Himena and Dexter stood at the front and back of the group guarding the passage, Jessie was carefully examining the tunnel by rolling a wheeled exploration device against the wall.

“With this equipment, we can easily see structures, rebar, or mechanical devices inside the walls.”

“So we don’t have to feel around with our hands like last time?”

“That’s only possible for someone with hyper-senses like Dex. I don’t have that kind of sensitivity.”

As Jessie was examining the screen attached to the exploration equipment, Dexter’s radio picked up a signal.

[Spec… situation, there…]

“Even in 2015, the signal is this weak?”

Dexter grumbled as he increased the radio output and spoke into it.

“Can’t hear you. Let’s increase the output.”

[…Any unusual findings?]

It was the voice of an agent he hadn’t heard before, but Dexter answered plainly.

“We’ve reached the 13th level of the sewer system and are currently searching the surroundings with exploration equipment. But there are some differences from the initial blueprints.”

[What differences are you referring to?]

“Around the 11th level, there’s something like a large cavity. The width is… at least 60 yards (about 54m), and the depth is unknown. It looks like someone deliberately dismantled it.”

While Dexter was talking about the cavity they had discovered, Jessie called him over.

“Dexter, just a moment. Can you come here?”

“I’ll radio back later. What is it?”

As Dexter approached, Jessie pointed to the screen of the exploration equipment and said:

“It shows there’s an empty space behind the wall from here on. I think there might be an entrance or passage nearby.”

“That’s right. The sewage smell is gone now, but it feels like there’s wind coming from somewhere.”

At Judy’s comment, Dexter thought carefully while maintaining his vigilance.

‘Wind, huh.’

Come to think of it, there had been a place emitting cold air that made his hands numb in the previous secret bunker.

‘There was cold air coming out, but the bunker itself was just a bit cool. Why was there such cold air coming from there?’

Thinking it might be related to the bunker his great-grandfather built, Dexter set aside his questions and carefully looked around for anything that might be an entrance.

“We’ll need to explore this area thoroughly.”

“Was there anything special around the entrance to the previous bunker?”

“Not particularly.”

If there had been such signs, Dexter wouldn’t have had to use his fingertip sensitivity to find the bunker entrance.

Although Jessie had found an empty space, their exploration method hadn’t changed much from before.

As they continued to maintain vigilance while searching with the exploration equipment, a weak signal sound came from the device.

[Beep, beep, beep….]

As the signal sounded at one-second intervals, Jessie turned the dial to lower the volume and said:

“It’s a signal that there’s an operating machine near the wall.”

“This sewer was built over 40 years ago, and machines are still working?”

“The hologram and robot at George Hayward’s villa that Dex and Himena visited were still operating, weren’t they? It’s entirely possible.”

With those words, Jessie continued forward.

The short beeping from the exploration equipment gradually became more frequent, and at some point, it changed to a continuous long tone.

“Here it is!”

Jessie looked carefully at the screen of the exploration equipment, then pointed to an oddly shaped crack in the wall and said:

“It’s not just a simple machine, but one capable of some kind of input and output. I’m not sure how it operates, but it’s definitely related to this crack… Dex?”

Dexter didn’t even properly listen to Jessie’s excited explanation. As soon as he saw the crack, he removed the protective gloves he was wearing.

The crack started as a single line from the bottom and split into five branches at some point, resembling the shape of a right hand.

Instinctively, Dexter reached out his right hand toward the crack.

“Wait, Dex!”

“Jessie, just a moment. Look at that.”

A soft green light leaked from the crack Himena pointed to, and the green light enveloped Dexter’s hand.

After a brief moment, the green light quickly disappeared, and only Dexter heard a soft woman’s voice.

[Welcome, Mr. Hughes.]

With that, the tunnel wall next to the crack slowly opened from the top.

“The door… opened.”

Judy was the first to react, but Dexter was the quickest to move.

Dexter immediately aimed his modified hand cannon at the opened door, preparing for any potential threats from inside, while Himena also followed Dexter’s lead and guarded the front and back.

“…It seems like there’s no one there.”

As Emily said, there was no sound coming from the passage beyond the opened door.

‘What was that voice just now?’

It was similar to what the robot at George Hayward’s villa had said, but it seemed like only he had heard it. Dexter asked Himena:

“Didn’t you hear it?”

“…Hear what?”

Seeing Himena’s puzzled expression, Dexter shook his head and said:

“…Nothing, never mind.”

Convinced that only he had heard the guidance voice, Dexter was the first to enter through the door.

Fluorescent green lights attached to the ceiling dimly illuminated the surroundings, and it had a similar structure to the secret bunker where those Asian mafia members had been.

When Dexter nodded to indicate it was safe to enter, Judy, Jessie, and Emily went in, with Himena, who had been guarding all sides, entering last.

As soon as Himena entered, the door connecting the passage closed. Himena, who had been looking ahead and hadn’t heard any sound, was startled by the sudden closing of the door.

“Oh, when did it close?”

“If I’m right, there should be a device to open the door from the inside too, so don’t worry too much.”

“Mmm….”

Even though she was an OSA agent, Himena felt like she was the only one who got startled when no one else did, and she followed behind Dexter with a flushed expression.

Beyond the dimly lit fluorescent green passage was a pitch-dark room.

“Is there a switch?”

In response to Dexter’s question, Judy took out a small LED lantern and carefully searched the wall next to the doorframe, eventually finding a switch.

“It looks like a light switch. I’ll turn it on.”

-Click.

With the sound of old fluorescent lights flickering as they finally met electricity, the lights came on.

“Ugh, can’t see!”

With Jessie’s exclamation, Dexter’s group, who had momentarily closed their eyes due to the brightness, were dumbfounded by the sight that unfolded once their vision returned.

“This isn’t just a simple bunker… it’s like NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) or something.”

“Have you been there?”

“Well, OSA agents are dispatched to NORAD too, so I know about it. I’ve been there as well.”

As Himena said, the hidden bunker was incomparably larger than the small bunker they had discovered earlier.

Though smaller than the OSA headquarters, it was a vast space that could accommodate at least hundreds of people, filled with unknown equipment.

“It reminds me more of the Dust Devil.”

“Eliya’s personal spaceship?”

“That area seems to be the work zone, and this looks like the situation room. It feels like a bunker built not just for personal survival, but for company personnel or government officials to stay together.”

At the time this bunker was built, the United States and the Soviet Union were in the midst of their conflict, and Howard Hughes was likely under pressure from all directions in space.

“There must be a reason why the bunker was built so deep underground.”

Even if the B41 hydrogen bomb, one of the most powerful nuclear weapons developed by the United States, were to detonate directly above this bunker, it would likely suffer minimal damage due to being buried so deep.

Dexter looked around and noticed a map on the wall, realizing that this place was not the entire bunker but something close to a central hall.

“We can access all bunker spaces from here.”

Branching out from the large central hall were quarters, a dining hall, laboratories, and an infirmary.

Among them, what caught Dexter’s eye were areas labeled “Storage” and “Secondary Entrance.”

The reason the Secondary Entrance caught his attention was that he needed to know where the exits were in case of an emergency, while the Storage was a matter of personal curiosity.

‘It’s not labeled as a weapons storage or records storage, just “Storage”… I should take a look at what’s inside.’

“This is no joke…”

“Don’t touch anything. What if some killing machine comes out?”

“Judy, have you been watching too many movies? Why would there be a killing machine here?”

“…There could be.”

“Maybe not a killing machine, but there could be robots or machines for security and protection.”

Joining the conversation between Judy and Jessie, Himena also looked around and said:

“At the very least, there could be holograms like the ones at the villa.”

“You mean mass holograms?”

“Yes, those holograms are immune to attacks, so you’d have to target the hologram projector.”

“You’re talking as if we’ll definitely need to do that if something happens.”

“It’s always good to be prepared for the future, right?”

As Himena smiled sweetly, Jessie and Judy each made a comment.

“Shouldn’t we hope that such a situation doesn’t occur?”

“I wonder if this gun could hit the projector.”

Emily, who had been silent until now, poked Dexter’s side and pointed forward, indicating they should hurry up.

She was saying they were being delayed because of the three women.

Dexter glanced at Emily’s face and patted her shoulder as he moved forward, thinking:

‘I’m not sure if she’s actually thinking about others.’

With that doubt in mind, Dexter headed to the Storage first.

Unlike the other doors, this one was a large, thick metal door befitting the name of a bunker. Dexter looked at the nameplate attached above the door.

[Storage]

“What could be inside that requires such a door?”

“Maybe there’s like a nuclear bomb inside?”

“Come on, Howard Hughes lobbied extensively against nuclear testing in Nevada, didn’t he? There won’t be nuclear bombs.”

“I’m curious about what my great-grandfather might have done too, but who knows. There could be something even worse.”

True to its appearance of iron-clad security, there was a black glass panel in the shape of a palm print next to the security door.

Dexter immediately placed his hand on the black glass panel, and after a green light flashed once, the security door made a clicking sound and opened.

“Open sesame.”

Dexter grabbed the handle of the security door and slowly pulled it, opening the storage door that hadn’t been opened for decades.

Just as Jessie was hoping for hundreds of gold bars and Emily’s lips curled up slightly in anticipation of luxury cars that Howard Hughes might have owned…

The storage door fully opened, and lights came on inside.

The first thing visible in the storage was a massive structure too large to take in at a glance.

“What… is this?”

Seeing the structure that looked like an aircraft body without wings, Dexter wore a puzzled expression, and Himena immediately entered the storage.

“An enormous space shuttle?”

“But it doesn’t have wings.”

“It looks like something used in space.”

“I think so too, but what exactly is it?”

As everyone was making comments, Himena headed toward a metal shelf next to the security door and discovered a thick book on the shelf.

The cover of the book helpfully showed a first-edition print of the entire structure and its name.

[Negative-Loaded Tactical Orbital Bombardment Vessel Prototype: H-0 Jupiter]

“……!”

Himena froze with the book in her hands as she confirmed the unexpected contents, and Dexter approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

Dexter’s face also hardened when he saw the book cover.

“…This is not good.”

It described an orbital bombardment method capable of completely obliterating a planetary surface, with a negative charge that could deliver firepower stronger than a nuclear bomb.

This was a weapon strictly prohibited by Earth’s space treaties, but the mere existence of a bombardment vessel that could be used anywhere could break the neutrality treaty the moment it became known to the Galactic Alliance.

To use Earth as an example, it was like a small country that had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty developing nuclear weapons without permission.

“We should… report this, right?”

This was an issue too big to resist.

Facing this enormous problem that had completely left the hands of the special investigation team, Himena looked at Dexter with trembling eyes and said:

“Of course we have to report it. This is beyond what the OSA can handle.”

Just as Dexter was about to pick up the radio to tell the truth…

-Boom….

“What’s that sound?”

“Sounds like something exploding?”

-BOOM…!

The explosion sound that had been heard from a distance was getting louder.

Along with it, warning sirens went off throughout the storage, and a guidance voice played:

[This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. An attack has been detected outside the bunker. All personnel inside are requested to evacuate and respond immediately.]

As soon as the guidance voice finished, another explosion was heard nearby.

“Everyone out, now!”

After sending the four women out of the storage, Dexter closed the security door again and headed toward the source of the explosions.

“Dexy, where are you going!”

“I have to stop them!”

Coincidentally, the place where the explosion sounds were coming from closest was the Secondary Entrance.

‘It seems like they know the location of this place.’

As Dexter rushed forward anticipating combat, the nanobots in his body helped stimulate adrenaline secretion.

Instantly, Dexter’s body turned red as it transformed into an optimal state for battle.

‘Whoever they are, I’ll kill them.’