Chapter 85 - 84: Jiutian’s Predicament
The site’s top leader had thought it would just be an ordinary member of the special security team, but he never expected Tao Xingzhi himself to arrive.
Seeing the two of them sitting there smoking without so much as a cup of tea, he quickly had his assistant go get some water and told the group of designers to halt their discussion.
Once the office quieted down, the potbellied leader introduced Tao Xingzhi to everyone.
"This is Special Envoy Tao, who is responsible for inspecting the new generation of civil defense projects. And this is Special Envoy Liu."
The leader’s surname was Li. Despite his large belly, Tao Xingzhi knew he was a capable man, not someone to be trifled with. Just securing the position of head of the Jia City construction site was no simple feat.
To Huang Jiutian and the other resident designers, this Leader Tao didn’t look at all like a high-ranking official should.
He was middle-aged, with a dark complexion, a sharp gaze, and a lean, powerful frame. He looked more like a soldier or a detective than an official.
"Leader Tao, these are the core members of the design team. We have the leads from nearly every discipline here. I’ve already sent someone to fetch those who haven’t arrived."
"That won’t be necessary."
Tao Xingzhi waved a hand, stopping the young man who was about to leave.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Tao Xingzhi."
"I’m here today mainly to check the progress at the Jia City site, one of the three major pilot projects, and to see if you’ve encountered any insurmountable difficulties. This project has been reviewed and approved by the organization—it has a full green light."
At this, Tao Xingzhi glanced toward the blueprints and the few people who had just been arguing.
"I overheard your discussion just now. In principle, just as this young comrade here said, the quality of the project must be ensured at all costs. However, we also need to accelerate the schedule. As long as quality is guaranteed, I need this done as fast as possible!"
"This is not a vanity project. When I say we need to speed things up, it’s not to uphold the so-called ’Hua Country Speed,’ but because of a genuine, practical need."
Liu Minhua looked like he wanted to say something upon hearing Tao Xingzhi’s words, but he held back. Tao Xingzhi, however, had no intention of stopping.
"You are all intelligent people, elites in your industry. You should have realized by now that this project is not simple. I can tell you all plainly that our country’s previous generation of similar facilities dates back to around the Cold War. They are no longer up to the task. As the saying goes, to forget war is to invite peril. The modernization of such projects is based on long-term strategic objectives, so you must guarantee both quality and completion."
The first reaction of most designers was that this was similar to the development of 5th-generation fighter jets and domestic aircraft carriers a few years back. Some, however, dismissed it as "official-speak" meant to pressure the design and construction teams.
A more imaginative few wondered if war was a possibility. Otherwise, why the sudden need to upgrade underground facilities like air defense shelters?
Huang Jiutian frowned, becoming even more certain of his initial assessment.
Tao Xingzhi hadn’t made a special trip just to say a few perfunctory words. After speaking, he took another blueprint from the bag he carried with him.
Some things are only introduced gradually during the process.
He walked over to the table and spread the blueprint in his hands out over the original set.
"I need these added inside Structure 1."
Hearing that there might be a mid-project change, all the designers were on edge. They crowded around to see what exactly was being altered.
The additions were diagrams for some kind of equipment. The blueprint didn’t specify what it was, but it noted parameters for volume, shape, and weight.
A realization dawned on many of them; they finally understood why the load-bearing design in some areas was so high. It was obviously meant for installing some kind of special equipment.
"Sir, what is this equipment?"
A structural designer asked the very question Huang Jiutian was hesitating to ask.
"Some pre-planned research equipment."
Tao Xingzhi’s simple answer was as good as saying nothing at all.
He immediately moved on to his own questions regarding the current problems facing the project, the impact of these new additions, and the estimated time for completion.
Huang Jiutian listened intently, all the while continuing to analyze the new drawings and the original blueprints to deduce the massive underground structure’s true purpose.
He had originally thought it might be a shelter, but the new additions made him start to doubt that guess.
Suddenly, a corner of the second page of the new blueprint caught his attention.
The edge had a diagram indicating the soil layers and quality, as well as a dashed line. The symbol where the line connected to the structure was very strange.
But Jiutian had many classmates from his architecture program, and he had seen these symbols before.
’A tunnel boring machine?’
’Underground transport? What else is this structure going to connect to?’
’The excavation for this structure is already nearly sixty meters deep, and they’ve even blasted out a huge space in the bedrock. Even a tunnel boring machine can’t operate on a rock shelf, can it?’
Jiutian really wanted to ask his classmates who had been assigned to similar projects, but under the current confidentiality rules and surveillance, he didn’t dare.
Just as he was pondering his questions, Huang Jiutian’s arm gradually grew warm.
’What’s happening?’
Hidden in his arm were the two streams of lifesaving Magic Power Qin Xiaoxia had given him.
’Holy crap! Don’t tell me there are Demons nearby!?’
Jiutian looked around suspiciously, but everything seemed perfectly normal.
No, something was wrong!
The purple Magic Power in his arm slowly spread, and a portion of it converged on Jiutian’s eyes.
Bugs!
Jiutian’s gaze instantly froze on the scene outside the prefab office.
A few gecko-like things were clinging to the wall outside, their bodies a translucent, dark green—that is, if geckos were the size of crocodiles.
Several construction workers walked past the door, apparently without seeing them.
’Holy hell!!! They’re here for me!!!! I’m screwed! What do I do?!’
For a moment, Huang Jiutian was thrown into a complete panic.
No matter how he looked at them, these creatures were clearly hostile. They were staring into the room, obviously targeting him. Yes, definitely him!
After all, he was the only member of Dawn present. The Demons must have discovered him and were now targeting him.
’Forget about whether I can escape... what about the ordinary people here?’
Our dear Jiutian was a man of fine character, and feeling a self-imposed duty to save others, his first thought was to protect this group of people.
His mind raced.
He suddenly remembered that the construction workers who passed by seemed to be fine. ’Maybe if the people in the office go outside, they’ll be okay too?’
"Hey! Hey! It’s already twelve o’clock! I have a bad stomach, it’s a problem if I don’t eat on time!"
The people in the office noticed Huang Jiutian suddenly shouting, a bit hysterically.
The leader, Li, frowned at the impolite designer, but it was indeed lunchtime. Besides, their discussion was more or less finished; all that remained was haggling over the construction schedule.
"Leader Tao, what do you say we have a simple meal here at the site? I’ve already had it prepared—four dishes and a soup!"
Tao Xingzhi glanced at the time, then at the designers, who, thanks to Jiutian’s outburst, all had "I’m hungry" written on their faces.
"Alright. Everyone, go get some lunch. I’ll head down to the site this afternoon for a look."
Huang Jiutian finally let out a sigh of relief. Whether or not he was exposed was no longer the priority. First, he had to get these people out safely, and then he could figure out a plan.
As the leader, Tao Xingzhi naturally went out first.
Huang Jiutian’s eyes suddenly bulged. The creatures outside the door had moved. One of them had even opened its mouth, revealing some kind of horrifying mouthparts.
A torrent of curses flooded Jiutian’s mind.
’Fuck! I thought they didn’t attack normal people!’
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