Chapter 195 - 194: Closing the Net
After a brief pause, Winter answered Gibson’s question in a low voice. "According to the think tank’s analysis, our probability of winning this battle inside the Shelter is only 32.7%."
"Of course, our objective isn’t to win this war, but to inflict sufficiently severe damage on the Shelter."
"As long as the damage to the Shelter’s functional facilities exceeds 50%, we’ll have achieved our objective. Building on that, if the armed forces you dispatched, Young Master, can destroy the Geothermal Energy Extractor, the Shelter will inevitably grind to a halt."
"At that point, if they don’t want the hundred thousand-plus people inside the Shelter to starve to death, their only option will be to bow to us. After all, only we can provide the resources needed for them to rebuild in such a short time."
Winter didn’t say any more. At that point, the Star Shield Shelter would be like fish on a chopping block for them.
They could install their own people inside the Shelter at will, bringing the entire Star Shield Shelter truly under their control.
"Then according to the think tank’s analysis, can we succeed in destroying the Shelter’s facilities this time?" Gibson asked.
"Based on the known variables, there’s an eighty percent chance we’ll achieve our objective. However, any war is full of uncertainties."
"Besides, the outer defense line is about to fall. Young Master, we should leave now," Winter said respectfully.
Gibson watched the artillery fire in the distance creeping closer. He nodded. "Alright, let’s go!"
Everything that needed to be arranged had already been taken care of. With the think tank in command, his presence wasn’t important.
Besides, victory or defeat in this war mattered less than his own life. Even if Winter hadn’t urged him, he had no intention of staying here and gambling with his life.
The two of them quickly descended to the first floor, but instead of leaving through the main entrance, they went to a hidden door to the side.
Opening the hidden door led directly into a secluded alley.
Guarded by an elite squad, the two of them quickly traversed the alley, arriving at a metal wall on the Shelter’s periphery.
During wartime, all elevator shafts to the surface were controlled by the military. Naturally, they couldn’t leave through normal channels at a time like this.
But the Morgan Conglomerate had been operating here for seven or eight years; how could they not have a contingency plan?
Winter pressed a spot in a seemingly unremarkable corner of the wall, and a light screen immediately appeared.
He quickly entered a long passcode, passed an iris scan, and the entire wall began to make a CREAKING sound. Then, the Alloy wall, over two meters thick, slowly opened to reveal a passable walkway.
Beyond the passage was a space of over ten square meters, where a small drill was parked.
With this drill, they could leave the Shelter, which was located more than 500 meters underground. And since it wasn’t a fixed tunnel, it was far more secure and discreet.
The group quickly boarded the drill, started it up, and departed.
Gibson and his men believed their actions were completely covert, but they never imagined that on the metal ceiling above them, an invisible, composite micro-camera was tracking their every move.
The camera had been secretly installed there eight years ago, back when the Morgan Conglomerate first entered the Shelter and was assigned its office space.
For all eight of those years, the custom composite camera had been continuously consuming energy to maintain its stealth mode, regardless of the cost.
And for that very reason, the Morgan Conglomerate’s personnel had never noticed anything amiss.
This was one of Elder Wei’s contingency plans.
At that moment, in an office on the top floor of the administration building, Elder Wei watched Gibson and his men depart with perfect clarity on a display screen.
After watching them enter the tunnel, he slowly turned to a staff officer behind him. "Tell the special forces unit the prey has left its cage. Follow them, find their secret nest outside, and wipe it out. Then capture him and bring him back."
Elder Wei paused, then added with grave importance, "Remember, whatever you do, don’t kill him. Our post-disaster reparations depend on him."
"Yes, sir!" The staff officer saluted, then hurried out to the temporary command office next door to relay the order.
"Elder Wei, according to the latest intel, one of our important departments has already suffered a devastating blow. When are we going to make our move and wipe out the Morgan Conglomerate’s armed forces?" an officer on the other side of the room couldn’t help but ask.
The insignia of a Major General was on the officer’s epaulets. After Lin Zhengyang, the head of the Military Department, led his troops out, this officer had become the temporary military commander, specifically left behind to assist Elder Wei with the eradication operation.
"I understand how you feel, but it’s not time to close the net. For every Morgan Conglomerate pawn we miss now, the threat they pose in the future will be more than ten times greater than it is today." After speaking, Elder Wei fell silent, gazing at the projector before him. The screen displayed a 3D holographic map of the entire Star Shield Shelter.
On the map were numerous red dots, each representing a Morgan Conglomerate member they had previously identified. But in addition to these red dots, black dots were continuously appearing.
These black dots represented personnel they hadn’t previously identified. Now that a full-scale battle was underway, these assets were finally revealing themselves.
For now, Elder Wei could only maintain the tense stalemate. Only by giving the Morgan Conglomerate a glimmer of hope would they continue to play their hidden cards and commit all available personnel.
Otherwise, if they closed the net now, the Morgan Conglomerate would see that the situation was hopeless and would surely order those people to remain hidden.
He waited for a full ten minutes, until the black dots finally stopped appearing.
"Close the net," Elder Wei commanded.
Although the Morgan Conglomerate might still have hidden assets who hadn’t revealed themselves, over ten percent of the Shelter’s critical facilities and departments had already suffered devastating damage. Elder Wei couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
...
The Lower Level District was the most densely populated area. Public safety there was poor even on a normal day, so it naturally became the most chaotic part of the Shelter today.
In a tiny home, only five or six square meters in size, a little girl cowered in the corner. She peered through a narrow, sheet-metal window at the scene outside, her big, bright eyes filled with confusion and terror.
Beside her, her haggard-looking mother held the little girl tightly in her arms. Her expression was relatively calm, but her eyes were filled with despair.
Just three minutes ago, the house across from them had been hit by a Grenade Cannon and was now engulfed in flames. Things like this were happening every minute on their street. Perhaps their own home would be next.
"Mommy, look! Up in the sky! What is that?" the little girl suddenly cried out.
