Chapter 16: A Soul-Stirring Beauty
The ear-piercing alarms grew louder by the second, and an atmosphere of panic spread throughout the tower. A core meltdown meant that the pressure within the reactor could no longer be regulated, and the energy generated by the combustion could not be exported. Once the pressure breached the maximum threshold and the thermal energy surpassed its limit, there would be only one consequence: an explosion.
If the reactor exploded, radioactive material would leak, and the base would be leveled in an instant. Everyone present would perish, and the entire city-state would lose its defensive shield, leaving it exposed to immense risks.
Upon hearing the warning, everyone ran toward the main control room at their maximum speed. Dressed in heavy protective suits, their movements were exceptionally clumsy, yet no one dared to slacken. They pushed themselves to their limits. Bai Muâs physical strength was severely depleted, and he soon fell behind the others. Waves of dizziness washed over him, forcing him to lean against the wall and slow his pace. Just then, a powerful force suddenly grabbed his arm.
Bai Mu turned his head in a hurry, meeting a cold, handsome profile. Han Naijin held his wrist firmly and said in a deep voice, “Follow me!”
It was Han Naijin again. In such a moment of crisis, Han Naijin still spared a thought for him. Bai Mu couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart as he allowed Han Naijin to pull him back to the control room.
The moment they stepped through the doors, everyoneâwith surprising synchronicityâripped off their protective helmets first. Then they collapsed, sprawling across the floor in every direction, gasping for air in huge, ragged gulps.
When Bai Mu entered, although he didn’t collapse like the others, he wasn’t much better off. Han Naijin led him to a chair. Bai Mu immediately removed his helmet as well. Fresh air flooded his nose and mouth, and his mind went blank, leaving only the primal instinct to breathe and gasp.
After helping Bai Mu into the chair, Han Naijin immediately walked to the massive monitoring screen. A group of maintenance officers was engaged in a heated discussion, lowering their voices only when they saw Han Naijin return. Han Naijin looked at Wei Bichen and asked, “How do we handle a core meltdown?”
Wei Bichen looked troubled, his brows knitted together. His already lean frame seemed to have shrunk even further in an instant. He deliberated for a long time before saying, “This situation is truly rare. This base underwent a comprehensive overhaul thirty years ago, and everything has run smoothly since then. We have no practical experience in dealing with a core meltdown.”
Han Naijin scanned the crowd. “Have you discussed a contingency plan?”
Han Naijinâs voice was hard and low, carrying the inviolable aura and majesty of the Consul.
The usual tension on Wei Bichenâs face gave way to a rare moment of embarrassment. He said, “The operating system is severely damaged; automatic operation is no longer possible. There is only one way left: send someone into the reactor to manually replace the cores.”
“Manual replacement?” Han Naijin asked.
“In the current situation, this is the only potentially feasible method. We must send a maintenance officer through the emergency hatch into the core chamber inside the reactor with the new cores to perform the replacement. At that time, we will forcibly lower the reactorâs combustion temperature to a minimum of 800 degrees. However, this state can only be maintained for 15 to 20 minutes. To ensure safety, the officer must complete the entry, exit, and all core replacements within 15 minutes. Otherwise, the temperature will climb rapidly in an extremely short period…”
Wei Bichen didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood. If the temperature suddenly surged, any maintenance officer who hadn’t evacuated in time would face certain death.
Wei Bichen paused, his words seemingly becoming even more difficult to utter. “However, no one has entered the interior of the reactor for thirty years. To replace the cores, one must pass security validation. With the operating system so heavily damaged, we cannot be certain if the security locks can still be opened via password.”
Han Naijinâs expression darkened further. He thought for a moment and summarized, “So, within 15 minutes, one must not only enter a reactor at 800 degrees but also break through an unknown security lock program?”
Wei Bichen nodded and added, “The officer entering the reactor will wear a protective suit made of special materials, filled with liquid nitrogen. It can withstand 1000 degrees for 30 minutes.”
However, no matter how high-performance the protective suit was, entering the reactor alone was an extremely dangerous undertaking.
This mission had only two outcomes: success or death.
Given the current circumstances, the probability of death far outweighed the probability of success.
Other maintenance officers were still frantically working on their control panels, attempting to repair the operating system, but it seemed to be of no use. Faced with a reactor that could explode at any moment, manual core replacement remained the only option.
Wei Bichen announced this sole option to everyone. Once everyone understood, the matter returned to the inevitable questionâ
Who would go?
The answer was equally obvious: no one wanted to go.
The Mecha Masters and officers who had just survived a brush with death naturally didn’t volunteer. As for the other maintenance officers in the control room, they seemed to have been struck by a contagious case of deafness and muteness.
After looking around for a moment, Han Naijin paused and said to Wei Bichen, “Have the cores prepared. I’ll go.”
Everyone wore expressions of shock. No one expected the Consul to personally take such a risk. Several government officials who had accompanied him tried to persuade him to choose a suitable candidate instead of venturing into danger himself.
Han Naijin turned a deaf ear to them. He looked at the crowd again. “Who is confident enough to crack the security locks? Who will enter the reactor with me?”
No one responded.
Stepping forward at this moment required immense courage. No one could guarantee they would crack the security locks. Once you stepped forward, two livesâthe Consul’s and your ownâwould be in your hands. The responsibility was far too heavy.
Han Naijinâs gaze swept over everyone except those who had just come from the site, but he received no response.
The scene became awkward and unbearable.
Bai Mu took another deep breath of hard-won fresh air. He was still reeling from his recent brush with death. It was human instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm. He didn’t belong here and had no affection for this city-state. He was merely a bird with broken wings, staying here briefly. He had helped them repair the coordinate positioning system and had done his best at the North Tower base. Even if he did nothing now, he had nothing to feel guilty about. The safety of this city-state, and that man, should no longer have anything to do with him. Except…
He saw the bloodshot eyes of Han Naijin. The man looked extremely anxious and helpless. In Han Naijinâs eyes, he saw a resolute yet suppressed emotion. He wanted to save this base; he wanted to protect everyone in Laea City.
But right now, he was isolated and without help. And he had just saved Bai Muâs life.
Bai Mu let out a long breath. After an infinite silence, he stood up from the chair, once again making a sound that astonished everyone. “I’ll go with you.”
Han Naijin looked over at Bai Mu, a light flashing through his eyes. No one knew that his tense back immediately relaxed because of those words.
Once the candidates were finally decided, Wei Bichen ordered two suits capable of withstanding 1000 degrees to be brought out. He then divided the ten replacement cores into two sets and gave them to the pair.
The baseâs doctors injected them each with an energy supplement.
The two donned the protective suits and, carrying the cores, entered the transmission tower once more. The alarms were still shrill and piercing, each blast striking precisely at the nerve called “fear,” making one feel an inexplicable panic.
Time was tight. Both had cold, resolute expressions and didn’t speak much. They directly found the emergency passage leading to the core chamber.
Han Naijin spoke into the comms: “We have reached the designated location.”
Wei Bichenâs voice came from the other side: “The Extreme Crisis Response procedure is about to start. The reactor temperature will drop to 800 degrees within 60 seconds.”
In the control room, every maintenance officer was working on the control panels. On the monitoring screens, the pressure and heat values of the energy reactor were steadily dropping. As soon as the 60-second timer finished, all values fell to the minimum stability state.
At that moment, another timer beganâ
[Time Remaining: 15:00]
Han Naijin pulled back the hydraulic door of the emergency passage with all his might. The heavy iron door slowly swung open, revealing a narrow tunnel. A wave of oppressive heat rushed out at them. Even through the protective suits, they could feel the pressure of the heatwave. The passage was too cramped; they could only enter by crawling. Han Naijin went first, with Bai Mu following behind him.
The two moved very slowly. With every step, waves of heat continuously rolled over them, scorching them. Fortunately, the passage wasn’t long. They soon arrived at the core chamber door. Han Naijin once again used all his strength to pull the door open. They squeezed into the small, suffocating square space. The liquid nitrogen coolant in their suits was being consumed at an extreme rate. Their bodies grew hotter and hotter, and Bai Mu found it difficult to breathe.
The device holding the cores was on the wall directly in front of them. There were nine circular holes in total. Some were already empty, meaning the cores had melted away. Only two or three were barely holding on. To replace the cores, they still needed to input the validation program.
Han Naijin entered the initial password provided by Wei Bichen, but as expected, the screen showed a password error. Han Naijin struggled to move aside, leaving the spot for Bai Mu. Facing a screen full of red garbled code, Bai Mu began to operate.
It could be said that Bai Mu used every ounce of his skill to crack this security lock. Time ticked away, second by second. Bai Mu typed incessantly on the control panel. Characters and strings of code that would make anyoneâs eyes dizzy covered the entire screen. Bai Mu struck the last character, then stopped his hands, waiting quietly.
Bai Muâs heart was in his throat. He stared unblinkingly at the progress bar showing the unlocking status:
[Unlocking 32% complete…]
[47% complete…]
[65% complete…]
[88% complete…]
The progress bar was still loading slowly. The red bar had no perception of how desperate the two people before it were, but the timers on their suits reminded them every second that they didn’t have much time left.
[Time Remaining: 10:57]
In the enclosed, suffocating space, a searing wave of heat assailed Bai Mu. He watched the program, which was still ticking slowly.
[95% complete…]
[96%]
[97%]
Inside the protective suit, Bai Muâs hands were clenched into tight fists. He couldn’t even feel the pain of his nails digging into his palms. Because of the tension, the veins in his neck were prominently visible, and his eyelashes trembled violently. At this moment, he was like a bowstring pulled to its limit.
[98%]
[99%]
Beep! Beep! Beep!
[Illegal program, system cannot identify, please stop immediately!]
Bai Muâs head buzzed, and all the blood in his body rushed to his head. Strangely, despite the scorching heat, he couldn’t feel any warmth now; instead, he felt chilled to the bone.
“What went wrong?” Han Naijin grabbed his hand and faced him. “Is it uncrackable?”
Bai Mu couldn’t help but shiver. It was as if the system had played a joke on him. If it had reported an error earlier, he would have had time to modify it. But for it to error out only after loading to 99%, he was beyond saving.
The time they had left was simply not enough for him to write another program, replace the cores, and then crawl back out of the safety passage.
Bai Mu looked at Han Naijin, his voice sounding exhausted. “We… we… failed…”
A flash of shock crossed Han Naijinâs face, but he regained his composure in an instant. He pressed his hands onto Bai Muâs shoulders and said solemnly, “Listen to me. Think of something else. Is there any other way? I believe in you!”
Han Naijin looked at the person inside the protective mask. Bai Muâs face and forehead were drenched in sweat, droplets rolling down from his temples. Bai Mu stared at the screen full of red warnings without blinking.
The red light from the screen reflected onto his transparent face shield. Through the red phantom, the contours of Bai Muâs profile became even clearer and more profound. His focused eyes and grave expression in this moment of life-and-death crisis possessed a soul-stirring beauty. Han Naijin felt his heart skip a beat.
Han Naijinâs voice drifted vaguely into Bai Muâs ears. Any other way?
[Time Remaining: 08:36]
“Iâve got itâreroute the circuits!”
Bai Mu suddenly pushed Han Naijin aside and rushed toward a circuit box on the opposite side. He pulled the box open, revealing a dense, tangled mess of wires insideâat least a hundred of them. Every wire was connected to a socket. His eyes flew over the circuits, finally finding the only purple connector among the hundreds of wires. He pulled the connector out.
[Time Remaining: 05:45]
Without hesitation, Bai Mu swapped that purple connector with the green one in the socket below.
After completing this, Bai Mu felt as though all his strength had been drained. Yet he forced himself to stay upright, staring at the screen, waiting for fate’s verdict.
Han Naijin also stared at the screen without blinking.
The progress bar that had been stuck finally began to load again after he swapped the circuits. All the red programs on the screen returned to green and began to run!
Beep! Beep! Beep!
[Unlocking 100% complete!]
[Validation passed, security door about to open.]
Immediately after, a burst of gas shot out, and the security door protecting the cores popped open. The melted cores inside had already been ejected. The two of them removed the ruined cores and inserted the new ones they had brought into the core pipes.
[Time Remaining: 03:23]
Bai Mu placed the third core into the pipe.
[Time Remaining: 02:30]
They still had four more to replace.
[Time Remaining: 00:25]
There was only one spot left.
Bai Mu handed the final core to Han Naijin, and Han Naijin slotted it into the pipe.
[Time Remaining: 00:11]
All cores were installed. The programs on the screen began to scroll rapidly.
“Get out of here!”
Han Naijin grabbed Bai Muâs shoulder and, without a word, shoved him forcefully into the narrow passage. Bai Mu struggled to crawl out. He used every ounce of his strength; every cell was mobilized to its limit. The hope of survival was right in front of him!
A blinding light appeared ahead!
Screams and cheers came through the comms, and there were even sounds of weeping, followed by ear-shattering applause. They finally stumbled out of the passage but no longer had the strength to move a single step.
Both their physical and mental energy were almost entirely exhausted. Their chests and lungs had been scorched by the heat, and every breath felt like a sharp, stabbing pain. They sat side-by-side, leaning against each other. Han Naijin looked at the droplets of moisture hanging from Bai Muâs eyelashes and his eyes that seemed lost in thought. For no particular reason, he asked, “Do you know what I was thinking just now?”
Bai Mu turned his head tiredly to look at him, his voice raspy. “What?”
Han Naijin paused for a moment, then smiled. “You… sometimes you look quite smart, so why are you a bit of a dummy sometimes?”
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