"Let's do it."
Qin Yu thumped the briefcase onto the table.
"How do we handle this?"
Elena took a deep breath, drawing the already chipped dagger from the sheath on her outer thigh, then pulled out a set of precision screwdrivers—still sealed in their packaging—from her tactical vest.
She had swiped them along the way.
"This thing has a gravity sensor."
She pointed at the red light on the bottom of the case.
"If the case is lifted more than one centimeter off its base, five seconds later, we'll be meeting God."
"So,"
Elena crouched down, her gaze as focused as a surgeon's.
"I won't move the case."
"I'll just dismantle its outer shell and extract the core explosive charge inside."
"That's like pulling a tooth from a lion's mouth."
Qin Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Keep your hands steady."
"I haven't saved enough for a wife yet—I don't want to be blown into fireworks this early."
Elena shot him a glare.
"Shut up."
"Hold the light for me."
Qin Yu switched on the flashlight, its beam fixed tightly on the black briefcase.
Elena's fingers were slender, trembling slightly from the physical exertion she had just endured.
But the moment her fingertips touched the screwdriver,
they became as steady as a rock.
Click.
The first screw hit the floor.
Click.
The second.
The entire armory was terrifyingly quiet.
Only the sound of their heavily suppressed breathing and the occasional whistle of wind from distant ventilation ducts could be heard.
Sweat trickled down Elena's temple.
It slid across her face, smudged with dust and grease, and dripped onto the black shell of the briefcase.
Qin Yu didn't dare move.
He stared fixedly at the red light,
terrified it might suddenly change color and end everything.
Ten minutes.
Those ten minutes felt longer than the half-hour they had spent in the cooling chamber earlier.
Finally,
with one last soft click,
Elena carefully pried open the black outer shell.
Inside lay intricate circuitry and a fist-sized sphere glowing with an eerie blue light at its center.
Beautiful.
And deadly.
"This is the five-thousand-ton equivalent of death?"
Qin Yu swallowed hard.
"It's also the key we need."
Elena pulled wire cutters from her waist pouch.
Without a moment's hesitation.
Snip!
The red wire severed.
No alarm sounded.
The red sensor light flickered twice and went dark.
"Phew…"
Elena slumped to the floor as if all her strength had drained away.
"Done."
"The gravity lock is disengaged."
She reached in and pulled out the blue core, as if extracting a heart.
"Take it."
She tossed the core to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu fumbled to catch it.
Cold.
Heavy.
"If this thing drops…"
"It won't detonate."
Elena stood up, brushing the dust off her pants.
"This thing requires a specific detonation sequence."
"But we don't need a nuclear blast."
"We just need to treat it as a massive block of TNT."
"Mix it with the conventional explosives here."
"And create a shaped charge demolition."
Qin Yu tucked the core into his pocket.
It felt like he was holding a hot potato.
"Let's go."
"Blow that door open."
The two began moving explosives.
There were just too many good things in this place.
C4, plastic explosives, even several crates of specialized detonators.
As he moved them, Qin Yu's eyes gleamed with greed.
"This place is practically heaven."
He casually picked up a brick-like block of C4.
[Item: High-Energy C4 Explosive (Military Grade)]
[Purity: 99.9%]
[Description: One block of this could level half a residential district.]
"If only we could take it all with us."
Qin Yu looked at the rows of shelves, his heart aching.
His system space was limited.
Even after several upgrades, it couldn't hold an entire arsenal.
"Boss."
Elena called from ahead.
"Stop dawdling."
"Do you want to stay here and be the gatekeeper?"
"Coming!"
Qin Yu sighed.
Just as he was about to turn around.
The corner of his eye caught something in the corner.
There was a pile of messy crates stacked there.
They looked like discarded junk.
But one long metal case wasn't properly sealed.
A thick, black barrel peeked out.
The metallic texture.
Was definitely not ordinary.
"Wait."
Qin Yu was drawn like a magnet.
He slipped and slid.
Dashing straight to that corner.
"What are you doing?"
Elena turned back, looking puzzled.
"There's something good here."
Qin Yu yanked off the tattered cloth covering it.
Dust flew up.
Ignoring the choking dust, he grabbed the lid of the case with both hands.
"Open for me!!"
"Creak—"
The case opened.
What was inside made Qin Yu's breath catch.
It wasn't a gun.
It was a cannon.
To be precise, a handheld six-barrel rotary autocannon.
Completely black, with dark red patterns engraved on the barrels.
Beside it was a massive ammunition backpack.
"Holy shit…"
Qin Yu couldn't help but curse.
His hands were trembling.
This was a man's romance.
This was the aesthetics of violence.
[Ding! Rare weapon detected!]
[Name: Inferno Storm Ripper (Prototype)]
[Rating: SS (Firepower Suppression Type)]
[Weight: 45KG (Empty)]
[Trait 1: Metal Storm. After three seconds of firing, the barrels complete preheating, doubling the rate of fire and adding a "high-temperature penetration" effect.]
[Trait 2: Endless Ammo Belt. This weapon is equipped with a spatial folding drum magazine, with a maximum ammunition capacity: 10,000 rounds.]
[Negative Effect: Extreme recoil. Anyone with strength below A-grade who forces its use will suffer comminuted fractures in both arms.]
"Now this is what I call a gun!"
Qin Yu's eyes lit up.
This was a Gatling gun!
The kind that spews blue flames!
"Like it?"
Elena had walked over at some point.
Looking at the massive thing in the case, she whistled.
"This is a good piece."
"The pinnacle of individual heavy firepower from the last era."
"Only genetically modified heavy brutes could use it back then."
"A normal person would wreck their shoulder with one shot."
She glanced at Qin Yu's muscles, which, while not exaggerated, held explosive power.
"But you should be fine."
"Of course I'm fine."
Qin Yu reached out and grabbed the carrying handle.
S-Class strength erupted.
"Up!"
The hundred-plus-pound behemoth was lifted with one hand.
Heavy.
Really heavy.
But the weighty feel was incredibly reassuring.
"But this thing is too big."
Elena frowned.
"Can your space still hold more?"
Qin Yu glanced at the system interface.
The space had been full for a long time.
It was filled with mineral water, instant noodles, and all sorts of construction materials he had stockpiled earlier.
"Can't fit?"
Qin Yu sneered.
"Not a chance."
With a thought from him.
[Clearing inventory...]
Clatter, clatter.
Hundreds of bottles of mineral water appeared out of thin air, falling to the ground and rolling everywhere.
Followed by dozens of boxes of expired bread.
There were even a few broken wooden chairs.
"You..."
Elena stared, dumbfounded.
"This is how you stockpile supplies?"
"Isn't this way too wasteful?"
Water was hard currency in the apocalypse!
"Out with the old, in with the new."
Qin Yu didn't care in the slightest.
Compared to this weapon of mass destruction.
What were a few bottles of water worth?
He directly stuffed the "Storm Sunderer" into the newly freed space.
But he wasn't done yet.
He looked at the crate beside it.
Since there was a gun.
There had to be ammunition.
"Open!"
Inside the crate next to it, neatly stacked were golden-yellow ammo belts.
Each bullet was as thick as a thumb.
[Item: 7.62mm Depleted Uranium Armor-Piercing Ammo Belt]
[Quantity: 5000 rounds/crate]
"Load!"
Qin Yu waved his hand grandly.
Hundreds more boxes of instant noodles were tossed out.
In their place.
Were three full crates of ammunition.
Fifteen thousand rounds!
Enough to turn that Floating Fortress into a sieve!
"Alright, alright!"
Elena couldn't bear to watch any longer.
"If you throw out any more, you'll block the path completely."
"Get to work!"
"That door isn't going to blow itself open."
Qin Yu clapped his hands.
Perfectly satisfied.
This trip was worth it!
Even if he died right now.
This gun could be buried with him.
"Let's go!"
Qin Yu hoisted the last two crates of C4.
His steps were as light as a child's on a picnic.
"Time to blow the door!"
...
At the end of Zone B-3.
Before the half-meter-thick depleted uranium armored door.
Elena was making the final preparations.
The nuclear bomb core was placed at the weakest point of the door seam.
Surrounded by C4.
Like a giant spider web.
"Directional blast."
Elena inserted the detonator into the C4.
Her fingers deftly connecting the blasting wires.
"Using the shockwave from the C4 to instantly compress the energy within the core."
"Although nuclear fission won't occur."
"The energy release from that."
"Is enough to tear this door apart like paper."
She took two steps back.
Checked the wiring once more.
"Only one chance."
"If it doesn't blow open."
"We'll be waiting here to become dried corpses."
Qin Yu had already taken cover behind a barrier fifty meters away.
Gripping the detonator tightly in his hand.
"Don't worry."
"My luck has always been good."
Elena ran over as well.
Pressing close to Qin Yu's side.
The two of them crouched behind an abandoned forklift.
"Ready?"
Qin Yu looked at Elena.
Her face was covered in black soot, but those blue eyes were still frighteningly bright.
"Blow it."
Elena was succinct.
Qin Yu took a deep breath.
His thumb pressed against the red button.
"3."
"2."
"1."
"Goodbye, baby."
Press.
"BOOM——!!"
Not the kind of deafening roar.
But a dull, thunderous sound that seemed to strike right at the heart.
Immediately after.
A blinding white light.
Even with his eyes closed.
Qin Yu could feel the light piercing through his eyelids, stinging his retinas.
The entire underground base was violently shaking.
Dust rained down from overhead.
A massive shockwave mixed with rubble slammed into the forklift.
Creating a chaotic clanging sound.
This tremor lasted a full five seconds.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Qin Yu coughed violently from the dust.
He waved his hand.
Trying to disperse the smoke before his eyes.
"Did it work?"
Elena peeked out from his embrace.
Her ears were still ringing.
"Don't know."
Qin Yu shook his head.
The two cautiously poked their heads out.
The dust slowly cleared.
The originally indestructible depleted uranium armored door.
Was now.
No longer there.
Only a two-meter-wide hole remained.
The edges of the metal showed a strange molten state.
Glowing red.
Still dripping with molten iron.
"Incredible."
Qin Yu couldn't help but give a thumbs up.
"This skill."
"What a waste not working in demolition."
"Let's go!"
Elena didn't waste words.
"While it's hot!"
"The high temperature makes this metal brittle."
"Hurry, get out!"
The two stepped over the still-smoking rubble.
And crawled through the large hole.
Behind the door.
Was an upward-sloping passage.
Though long.
Though dark.
However.
At the end of the passage.
There was a faint, yet incredibly real, glimmer of light.
It was sunlight.
Sunlight from the surface.
"That's the exit!"
Qin Yu shouted excitedly.
"We're out!!"
The two, as if injected with adrenaline.
Sprinted wildly along the passage.
Their injuries, their exhaustion.
All vanished in that moment.
Closer.
Even closer.
That salty, fishy smell of sea air.
Even before they were out.
Already filled their nostrils.
"Whoosh—"
The two burst out of the passage entrance.
And tumbled onto the sand.
Sunlight.
Blinding sunlight.
Blue sky.
And that endless expanse of sea.
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