In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.
At noon, outside Shambala Town, on the mountain of the No. 13 Mine.
The sun shines on the land, and the mountain top is calm, with only the faint shadows of people running around.
It is Didak who is running, even though it is November’s Cold Moon, at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, the noon temperature is not very high, but he is still drenched in sweat.
Didak’s expression is extrely serious, quickly running past one explosive point after another where large alchemy tools have been placed, carefully checking for any errors.
He runs down a pre-detonation line that stretches hundreds of ters, with sweat pouring into his eyes.
"Pant, pant..."
Didak runs to the end behind a low wall of cover, exhales deeply, wipes a hand over the sweat, but still feels uneasy. He lifts his head, looking to one side, at the team mbers behind several covers not far away, and shouts: "Each group, recheck the situation, report to when done!"
"Yes, Vice Captain Didak!"
Upon hearing the words, many people imdiately erge from behind the low cover walls, running to the explosive points, checking them. After checking, they signal their group leader.
Group leaders report to Didak in order:
"Group One is safe!"
"Group Two is safe!"
"Group Three is safe!"
"..."
"Group Nine is safe!"
"Group Ten is safe!"
All groups have reported, and Didak has the numbers clear in his mind. He turns to look at the steward of the whole team behind him—the Chief Captain Shawn.
"Captain Shawn, all three inspections have passed; do you think we should proceed according to the procedure?" Didak asks.
Shawn, in his forties, listens and nods with satisfaction. He has witnessed all of Didak’s actions, and says aloud: "Didak, you’ve done very well, even better than I expected.
Before you ca, I was quite fond of Barry for this position, but in the end, I promoted you. Now, with your actual performance, you’ve shown I didn’t make a mistake.
So, let’s not dwell on anything else; just follow what I taught you, proceed according to the procedure. I trust you won’t make mistakes."
"Yes!"
Didak’s expression turns solemn, he turns to look at the ready team mbers and yells:
"Prepare for Level 1 demolition! All groups, gather your mbers. Outer groups, check if there are unrelated personnel in the range!"
"Group One is gathered!"
"Group Two is gathered!"
"..."
"Group Ten is gathered!"
"Outer group checked, no unrelated personnel, can proceed to next level preparation."
...
"Good!" Didak takes a deep breath, "Prepare for Level 2 demolition, outer group evacuate, working groups distribute fire sticks!"
"Outer group is starting to evacuate, no further response."
A dozen or so lookout people shout, running quickly to the distance, disappearing shortly after.
Then, group leaders behind various low cover walls open an iron box, distributing the so-called "fire sticks" to each Ignition Hand. After distribution, they quickly report.
"Group One distributed fire sticks successfully."
"Group Two distributed fire sticks successfully."
"..."
"Group Ten distributed fire sticks successfully."
...
"Good!" Didak’s expression becos extrely stern, "Prepare for Third Level demolition, all Ignition Hands leave cover and head to designated positions to report."
mbers of each group skillfully climb over the low walls, running to their designated positions.
"Group One reporting complete."
"Group Two..."
"..."
"Group Ten reporting complete."
...
"Whew!" Didak takes a deep breath, "Prepare for the final level of demolition, open the fire sticks, listen to my command. After my command is given, the ignition must be completed within two seconds, and after that, regardless of success or failure, leave the ignition position and retreat behind the low cover wall. Understand?"
"Understood!"
With the response, dozens of Ignition Hands open the cover of the fire sticks, faint flas erging.
"Three! Two! One! Ignite!" Didak shouts.
Dozens of Ignition Hands swiftly advance the flas erging from the fire sticks towards the leads of the placed alchemy tools, quickly igniting them, and then swiftly retreating to the cover low walls behind them. They are no rookies, having experienced the sa scenario many tis before, they clearly know that for survival, hesitation is not an option.
At this mont, Didak keeps shouting: "Retreat, run quickly! Run quickly!"
"Get down! Hide behind the cover! Don’t lift your head!"
"Right, rember, don’t stick your body completely to the ground! Use your arms and legs to suspend your body, do what Mr. Waltz said about the plank exercise, so you don’t get shaken injured."
Monts later, only Didak’s voice echoes over the mountain, everyone is nervously crouched in a strange posture behind the low cover wall, waiting quietly for sothing.
Gradually, even Didak’s voice disappears, everyone waiting together for sothing.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
After a completely silent three seconds, the world suddenly becos noisy.
No, not noisy, but roaring!
"Boom!"
First cos the sound of an explosion, followed by continuous, countless explosion sounds.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."
The explosion sounds rge, almost indistinguishable from each other, the ground enters a rapid vibration mode, trembling furiously.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds continuously rise, nurous rock fragnts pounding behind the low cover wall, so fragnts even flying over the wall, landing around.
This situation lasts for only a brief mont, just a few seconds, but feels eternal, for those behind the cover, it’s as if they’ve lingered for a century at the mouth of a terrifying beast.
Finally, the roaring sound fades away, the world returns to quietness.
Soon, however, Didak’s shout rings out again, he crouches behind the cover, bellowing: "Groups, tally the number of Spell Tools activated in your segnts."
After a brief murmur, group leaders start reporting the information:
"Group One installed seven alchemy tools, confird with seven booms, all activated!"
"Group Two installed eight alchemy tools, confird with eight booms, all activated!"
"..."
"Group Ten installed six alchemy tools, confird with six booms, all activated!"
Fortunately this ti, the number of booms reported by each group matches the installed quantity. But even then, Didak waits over a minute before he stands up from behind the cover wall.
Upon standing, Didak looks ahead, and sees the originally expansive stone wall now completely shattered, transforming into various colored ores, the landscape changed dramatically.
Although he’s experienced it many tis, seeing it now still makes his blood surge with excitent, and he exclaims: "Incredible!"
After exclaiming, he turns to shout at all the team mbers: "Alright, our job is done, everyone begin to evacuate and rest, notify the Danger Removal Team to co for inspection."
After speaking, Didak waves his hand, leading everyone to retreat to the distance.
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