The towering main building of the Northern Ring Tower stood majestically in front of them. This glorious building, which once represented the highest scientific and technological achievements and the future of civilization, was now mottled and decayed. The cement walls were full of potholes and cracks caused by the wind and the sun. The once bright paint had faded to a dirty yellowish-brown color. Large patches of wall skin had peeled off, forming a disgusting soft soil layer around the ring tower. But its main body was still strong. The reinforced steel skeleton supported the old tower well. There was no need to worry about it collapsing.
"There is no trace of Nanomachine Swarm erosion." Nolan looked up and glanced at the nearly straight wall. "And there is no change compared to the last time I came. It seems that no other adventurers have been here this year."
Hao Ren was curious why Nolan came here a year ago, but now was not the time to ask. Ulyanov led them to find the entrance to the tower. After bypassing a circular wall, they saw a broken door. Judging from the traces around the door, it was blown open.
"More than one group of people have come to this place in the past sixty-five years. The attraction of the pre-war technology is not something that only exists now." Nolan turned to the mercenaries who came here for the first time. "Fools who wanted to dig out treasures from here came wave after wave, and most of them didn't come back alive. So if you want to go back alive, listen to my instructions and don't touch anything you don't recognize."
"Isn't there no Nanomachine Swarm here?" Hao Ren asked casually.
"Do you think the Nanomachine Swarm is the only danger here?" Nolan raised his gun. "We don't bring guns to deal with the Nanomachine Swarm. There are security robots here. They were originally used to guard the underground container. They have a theoretical lifespan of a hundred years. God knows how damaged their programs are now. "
Ulyanov nodded slightly, confirming Nolan's statement.
Hao Ren looked down at the weapon in his hand. It was a light assault rifle. A laser projection showed the remaining ammunition, current user, and the status of the parts. There was also a Gray Fox logo. This weapon was given to him by Nolan. Although Hao Ren had not joined them yet, Nolan could not let his companion go to the battlefield empty-handed.
Before entering the building, Ulyanov touched Hao Ren's arm. "How's your marksmanship?"
Hao Ren replied vaguely, "It's similar to martial arts."
"Alright, you'll walk with me later. We'll clear a path for the kids behind us."
The mercenaries protected the two researchers from the White River Chamber of Commerce as they carefully stepped through the door. The abandoned and collapsed interior corridor appeared before everyone's eyes. The paint on the walls and cement debris were scattered all over the floor, and the signs hanging on the roof were rusted. The building that had been abandoned for decades was filled with a desolate and strange atmosphere. Some mercenaries swallowed nervously under the pressure of this atmosphere, and their gulping sounds could be heard clearly in the silent corridor.
The surroundings were quiet. Only the sound of everyone's careful footsteps and breathing could be heard. Nolan walked in front of the team, while Hao Ren and Ulyanov stood on the left and right, keeping an eye on the surroundings. The further they went, the darker the corridor became. The limited windows on the outer wall of the ring tower could no longer provide sufficient light into the depths of the building. Several mercenaries who had not undergone visual modification had put on night vision devices. In the pale green night vision, the place was even more strange.
Hao Ren looked around. He could still see clearly in this place, but considering his' natural 'identity, he still put on night vision goggles like the others.
"Do you know where you want to go?" Nolan stopped slightly and asked the researcher from the White River Chamber of Commerce who was not far behind her.
"The main control room, the master computer control terminal number one," the skinny researcher replied calmly. Although he was just a civilian, he was as calm as a soldier in this environment. Hao Ren could not help but look at him again.
When he heard the words' main control room ', Ulyanov could not help but hold his breath. He took a step forward and said, "I know the shortest route."
Nolan nodded. "Okay, lead the way."
The team continued to walk into the depths of the building and found a spiral staircase that spiraled upward. The top of the staircase was where the main control room was located. Hao Ren and Ulyanov went to check if the staircase was still solid. But halfway there, he suddenly saw a skeleton lying on the staircase.
Ulyanov immediately squatted down to check the condition of the skeleton. From the fragments of the skeleton's clothes, he determined the identity of the person. "… It's a staff member of the ring tower. He seems to have fallen to his death."
After the Nanomachine Swarm went out of control, it did not attack the Northern Ring Tower. So the people in this building survived longer than the others in the disaster. But their fate was not much better than those who were dissolved outside. In that disaster, the building was completely sealed into an island. There was no supply, no rescue, and no hope. They were trapped in this place. As the researchers and controllers of the Nanomachine Swarm, they knew that it was impossible for anyone to break through the raging Nanomachine Swarm and come to their rescue. No one knew how the people in the ring tower spent the last days of their lives. In the twenty years after the outbreak of the disaster, the situation inside the ruins of the north was completely unknown to the world. Finally, when a group of fearless soldiers paid a heavy price to break into this place, they only found corpses.
According to the soldiers who survived, the people in the ring tower had various causes of death. Most of them died of starvation, a small number of people committed suicide, and the rest were basically killed in the fight. Perhaps there was a riot in order to grab the last bit of food. There were even more horrifying stories. For example, someone saw cooking utensils filled with human bones in the kitchen of the ring tower, and a large number of dismembered corpses in a room.
Every one of them was hair-raising.
Hao Ren looked down at Ulyanov, who was examining the bones. He did not know if the man recalled the dark rumors about the Northern Ring Tower. To save time, he patted Ulyanov on the shoulder. "Let's go. The people behind us are waiting."
Ulyanov slowly got to his feet.
They went up the stairs to the second floor. After bypassing a narrow passage, a wide corridor appeared in front of them. Ulyanov pointed to a door not far away. "That is the control room you are looking for."
"The door is intact." Nolan looked at the door in surprise. "I thought the guy who came here before had smashed every door."
"The door is probably connected to the alarm device of the security robot." A White River Consortium researcher came up to check the condition of the door. "Incredible. The locking device is electrified! The power in this place has not been cut off! "
Nolan gave the researcher a meaningful look. It seemed that this person knew a lot about the ring tower.
Ulyanov turned his head and looked at the dark end of the corridor. He seemed to have seen something that caught his attention. "You guys stay here. I will go and have a look."
After saying this, he walked forward. Nolan saw him and said to the mercenary beside him, "Carl, you go with him."
The tall mercenary Carl nodded silently and quickly caught up with Ulyanov. The two figures soon disappeared at the dark end of the corridor.
Hao Ren did not care too much. He thought that Ulyanov should have taken the opportunity to look for clues about his wife. As an outsider, it was not appropriate for him to join in the fun. He turned his head and continued to watch the White River Consortium researcher fiddling with the locking device on the door. It was incredible that some of the electronic devices on the door were still working.
At this moment, a shrill gunshot suddenly broke the silence in the building.
Hao Ren immediately looked up at the direction where the gunshot came from. It was the direction where Ulyanov and Carl had gone!
Nolan's voice sounded at the same time as the last gunshot. "Team two, go and have a look."
Hao Ren did not know which team he belonged to, but he did not think too much. When Nolan spoke, he had already rushed to the other end of the corridor.
He did not know if it was an illusion, but as he lifted his leg, he suddenly saw the surrounding corridor walls rippled like water. Although it was only a short moment, it was particularly noticeable.
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