Chapter 1328: Sealing the underwater lab (1)
“We are going to clear this place.”
The others could do nothing but nod. Whatever was in that room needed to be studied.
“There is a lot to do, though.”
“I know.” Erik examined so of the debris. “We need to drain this place first, then seal the breaches.”
Erik raised his hands and channeled mana into telekinesis’s neural links. The surrounding water shuddered, then moved. He directed the flow toward the entrance they ca from.
Water rushed out of the laboratory in a torrent, revealing ruined equipnt, collapsed sections, and layers of silt, most of which got carried with the water.
The water level dropped. “How are you not exhausted doing this?” Martha asked.
There was tons and tons of water in that structure, after all, and anyone would be tired even moving an inch of all that filth. Yet Erik just cleared a whole building.
“I have a lot of mana,” Erik said.
With the water gone, Erik gave a loot around. The laboratory was on display now—it was completely different from what it had been 2 minutes earlier. Broken consoles, damaged walls, and corroded tal were everywhere, and without all that silt and water, the damage could be clearly seen.
“Now for the cleanup.”
Erik used telekinesis once more, this ti gathering the debris that had been too heavy or large to not be carried by the waters, or that simply Erik didn’t need.
Fragnts of ceiling panels, pieces of equipnt, and layers of silt lifted into the air, forming a flowing mass he guided out of the facility and into the lake’s waters.
“The clones will continue clearing the smaller debris,” Erik said. “I need to focus on the breaches.”
[The structural integrity is compromised in seventeen locations,] the system said.
The system did, and one by one, Erik started closing the breaches, making the building safer.
Erik called upon his Verdant Architect brain crystal power. Energy flowed from his body as vines and roots sprang through the laboratory.
The plants grew, stretching to the ceiling and walls, seeking the breaches. Within minutes, the tendrils covered each missing wall, weaving to build the missing parts.
“That won’t hold against water pressure for long,” Amber said.
“Don’t worry,” Erik said.
He changed the composition of the plants, transmuting their organic matter into solid tal. The green faded from the vines, replaced by a silvery sheen that spread until each breach was sealed with a tal patch.
“Are you sure this will hold?” Allan asked.
“It will, don’t worry.”
[We still need to do two more tasks,] the system said. [You need an oxygen supply and external access.]
He paused.
[Follow the corridor to your right. Forty ters ahead you will find the right spot.]
Erik walked down the corridor. The path led them to a large, rectangular room with reinforced walls. A shattered containnt tank dominated the center, surrounded by monitoring equipnt. There was also a terrible breach in the walls, one that Erik hadn’t dealt with yet since the system didn’t show it to him.
[Indeed.]
“What was in here?” Amber asked, stepping around the broken glass. The oxygen was still being brought in by Erik, but that problem was soon going to be solved.
To answer Amber’s question and his own, Erik ntally turned to the biological supercomputer.
[I cannot confirm with absolute certainty, but the evidence suggests this was indeed a containnt room for so kind of creature. The reinforcent and restraint chanisms are consistent with threat containnt protocols, and I doubt even an elephant can get out sothing like that.]
He nodded, then turned to Amber.
“The system thinks this is where the azure thaid was kept,” Erik said. “The room has the right containnt features.”
Allan examined the broken tank. “Whatever was in here broke out. So, if the azure thaid was really created here, then it makes sense.”
Erik reached for the wall and gestured. “We’ll create our entrance here.”
He placed his hand against the wall’s surface and used his Verdant Architect brain crystal power again. Thick roots burst from his palm, spreading across the wall in spiraling patterns. The plants pushed through the tal, extending outward toward the lakeshore.
“What are you making exactly?” Gwen asked.
“A tunnel,” Erik said. “It will give us both access and oxygen.”
“You know what this reminds of?” Benedict said. “Those secret submarine bases in spy movies where they have hidden underwater entrances.”
“Yeah,” Floyd grinned. “Though usually those having the submarine bases are rich, we are broke as hell instead.”
“You are for sure the last one who can talk about money!”
The plants grew, forming a tube that stretched from the laboratory wall all the way to the lakeshore. Erik kept his focus as the tunnel took shape, but without the Hydra’s head, it would have taken him much more ti.
The system also helped, telling Erik when and how to create the tunnel’s supports and making sure it remained watertight and structurally sound.
“How far to the shore?”
“About two hundred ters.”
When the tunnel reached the surface, Erik changed the plant matter into tal, creating a permanent passageway. Light filtered down from the opening, illuminating the newly created tunnel, but only up to a certain point.
“That solves our access problem,” Allan said. “We can co and go without swimming.”
“Four hundred ters is quite a walk.” Benedict couldn’t help himself but laugh. “Maybe we should’ve installed one of those moving walkways like they have in airports.”
“At least we won’t get wet,” Mickey said. “I’ll take a long walk over swimming any day.”
Erik lowered his hand, examining his work. “Now for the power.”
[I will walk you through the restoration of the electrical systems,] the biological supercomputer stated.
[The brain crystal reactor is still working. It’s just that the power distribution network is severely damaged, and unless we want to break sothing, we can’t force our way in.]
The room was too small. If Erik brought the door down, it would destroy the equipnt. Besides, if the room was still operational, who knew what the Silverline corporation used as a safe asure? They could even delete the data, which was what Erik wanted to avoid at all costs, and so did the system.
The best way was still to restore the power within the lab, and then connect to the system to open the doors. Of course, Erik needed to fix so things here and there, but it was nothing too complicated.
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