Chapter 1225, The Second Beacon

“Beacon,” Zhou Qi said calmly.

“The beacon is ready,” the soldier replied.

Only to see the soldier erect a one-person-high signal tower next to the drilling platform, which had alternating red and blue lights flashing, just like the lighthouse that once guided the way home in the airbase.

But this is not an ordinary signal tower, but underwater sound propagation equipment equipped with HFG-091 electroacoustic conversion and signal processors.

The base array, electronic cabinets and auxiliary equipment were all integrated within this signal tower.

At the same time, when Zhou Qi entered the underground river, he would also carry a suitcase-sized active sonar device as a way to receive the coordinates of the signal tower.

The propagation efficiency of electromagnetic waves underwater was very low, so when Qing was thinking about how to transmit information underwater, the sonar device became the most crucial tool.

Its most important significance lay in the fact that it would be used to find the way back when Zhou Qi completed his mission.

That huge labyrinth of underground waterways was intricate and complex, and humans would get lost without realizing it as they cruised through it.

Zhou Qi also needed such a reference to determine his own orientation.

Zhou Qi was a Water Transcendent yes, he could even breathe through his skin underwater, just like a real frogman.

But he also had his limits, when the spiritual will dried up, Zhou Qi had to go back to surviving in a normal human way, and at that time, he needed to re-use his mouth and nose to take in oxygen.

In the past, Zhou Qi rarely ventured into underground river basins where the terrain was unclear because it was too dangerous.

According to Zhou Qi’s own estimation, the amount of time his own mental power could support him to stay underwater was only two hours.

Therefore, he had to have a way out, or else he might stay in the underground river forever.

“Raise the level of martial law,” Zhou Qi said, “Everyone, guard this place, my retreat is in your hands. Check the time, if I’m not back within two hours, you guys don’t have to wait for me.”

Saying that, Zhou Qi turned on the countdown of his waterproof electronic watch, counting down to 120 minutes.

The soldier would also turn on the countdown.

When everything was ready, Zhou Qi no longer hesitated as he picked up the active sonar equipment and sat on the edge of the pipe leading to the underground abyss.

At this time, Zhou Qi actually asked the soldier in front of him all of a sudden, “Why do you think that someone would be willing to lay down their life to save you?”

The soldier was stunned for a moment, “Because of trust?”

Zhou Qi laughed and scolded, “It’s good to be young, daring to trust anything.”

Seeing that Zhou Qi was in a good mood, the soldier asked one more question, “Sir, don’t you believe?”

“Me?” Zhou Qi smiled, “I don’t know if I believe it or not.”

With that, he turned his back and dug into the water, quickly disappearing.

Immediately after, the soldiers dropped the signal tower with the safety rope attached into the pipe as well, and the red and blue lights were like twinkling stars on the distant shore as they sank bit by bit into the bottom of the pipe.

This underwater acoustic signal tower would be fixed in the underground river by the safety rope, lighting up Zhou Qi’s way home.

……

At this moment, Luo Lan and the others’ convoy had already resumed their journey, and although Wang Run knew that there was definitely a problem with the mess he had just made, he was unable to determine where the problem lay.

Time was running out, and there was no way for him to continue to tangle with Luo Lan on the road.

“Do you think Zhou Qi will follow the plan,” Xu Concealment said, “He said himself before that entering the underground river would be dangerous right, and if he can’t find a retreat route, he might die. He’s the kind of person who loves money as much as he does, he’s made so much money from Officer Qing Zhen over the years, how could he want to die in a place like this?”

Luo Lan laughed, “If you think he only has money in his eyes, then you’ve misjudged him, otherwise why do you think he’s willing to make this trip to the Central Plains?”

“You believe him?” Xu concealed, “He is the most important part of this plan, if something happens to him there ……”

“Don’t worry,” Luo Lan shook his head, “I trust him.”

As they spoke, the convoy had already arrived at the AI building in Barrier 61.

On the top floor of the building, there was only a lone black signboard with the word “Zero” on it, as if it was afraid that people wouldn’t know what the AI was called.

Only a huge number of Wang’s troops were stationed around the building, and Luo Lan muttered in a low voice, “Do you have the feeling that this thing looks like soldier ants and worker ants guarding the queen, it really makes people’s scalp numb.”

“It’s kind of like that,” Xu Conceal nodded.

“It looks like old boy Wang Shengzhi is really going to be gone, and this is all that’s needed to prevent a mutiny in general,” Luo Lan said with a grimace, “But I haven’t heard of anyone within the Wang Clan who can start a mutiny, isn’t the power all firmly in Wang Shengzhi’s hands?”

“Perhaps there’s an inside story that we don’t know about,” Xu Concealment said.

Inside Barrier 61, with the building at the center, black armored vehicles were parked at almost every intersection within a one-kilometer radius, and makeshift machine gun positions had been set up.

When the convoy drove by, all Wang’s soldiers gazed at them coldly, without the slightest expression on their faces.

At the entrance of the building, there were already people waiting there early.

Wang Run got out of the car and said to Qing Laosan, “Mr. Qing Zhen, this time, you can only have three of you, Luo Lan, and Xu Concealment to enter the building, and the rest of the soldiers should please wait on the periphery.”

Qing Laosan nodded his head gently, this was all a situation they had long anticipated, his current identity was Qing Zhen, naturally everything was at his will.

Wang Run continued, “Moreover, before the three of you go in, you will need to undergo a security check and change your clothes to enter. Of course, it’s not that you are suspected of carrying weapons, but rather, Wang Shengzhi is aware that the officer is physically weak and has a low immune system, so in order to prevent you from carrying allergens and bacteria, this check is in place.”

“It’s not just that you’re afraid that we’re carrying weapons in, you’re talking in such a grandiose manner,” Luo Lan muttered in a low voice.

Wang Run on the side heard this and acted as if he didn’t hear it.

This time, when Wang invited Qing Zhen to come to the Central Plains, in the final analysis, it was done with mutual respect.

Wang Shengzhi hoped that Qing Zhen would be able to take over the entire Barrier Alliance in the future, so naturally, he had to give Qing Zhen the same amount of respect.

After entering Barrier 61, although Wang Run had received orders to forcefully bring them here, it was also because Wang Shengzhi didn’t have much time.

But during the bringing period, even if Luo Lan and their convoy made a big mess, Wang Run didn’t have a single bad word to say to them, and this was all because Wang Shengzhi had explained it.

So now, even if they wanted to search and check, the building’s security personnel had to find a decent excuse.

The security personnel began to take all sorts of detecting instruments to give the three of them, Qing Laosan, Luo Lan, and Xu Concealer, a rigorous check to ensure that they were not carrying any dangerous items into the underground.

At the same time, the three of them also entered the arranged rooms separately and changed into dustless suits.

Under this level of inspection, it was as hard as hell to bring dangerous goods into the underground, but Qing Zhen had already thought of this in his plan, which was why this plan required Zhou Qi to cooperate.

Wang Run waited outside the door of the room, he looked at Luo Lan, Qing Laosan, and Xu Concealment and said, “Please hand over the belongings of the three of you to me for safekeeping, and when you all leave the underground, I will return them to you in their original packaging.”

Luo Lan shrugged, “I just brought a satellite phone, nothing else.”

Wang Run said seriously, “The satellite phone must also be given to me.”

Luo Lan raised his eyebrows, “What, is this how Wang Clan treats its guests, our No.1 and No.2 figures of the Qing Clan have come to your Wang Clan’s turf, but you even want to take away the satellite phone, what are you being vain about? Or is it that you have no intention of negotiating with the Qing Clan?”

But even though Luo Lan said this, Wang Run did not intend to back down in the slightest, “The satellite signals in the underground have all been blocked, Boss Luo, even if you bring this satellite phone down there, it won’t be of any use. I don’t know what security a satellite phone can give you, or is there another mystery in this satellite phone?”

Luo Lan hemmed and hawed and said, “If you don’t bring it, then don’t bring it.”

Saying that, Luo Lan actually threw the satellite phone in his hand into Wang Run’s arms, and then walked towards the elevator that led straight to the ground.

Behind him, Wang Run had the satellite phone tested with technology, but did not find any abnormalities.

This made Wang Run a little puzzled, he obviously felt that Qing Zhen, Luo Lan and the others came to Central Plains for another purpose, but he couldn’t figure out where the problem lay.

In fact, there were two key points in Zhou Qi’s operation, one was how to return after the mission was completed, which required an underwater acoustic system to act as a beacon.

The second point was even more critical, and that was how Zhou Qi could find the location of the server unit underground, and he needed someone to enter the location of the server unit underground to guide him.

The equipment could not be brought underground, the AI building’s security procedures were now rigorous and complex to the point of terror, however, Qing Zhen had never wanted to rely on the equipment to do this, he relied on people.

Xu Concealment.

Transcendents basically exist independently of each other in terms of their abilities.

It was difficult for them to collaborate with each other, unless they were as lucky as Ren Xiaosu, who had been able to get Wang Yun and P5092 and Xun Nightfeather together.

And now, the means that Qing Zhen used to ensure that Zhou Qi and Xu Zou collaborated with each other was science.

Before this, no one other than Qing Zhen knew that Xu Concealment had also become a Transcendent.

As Qing Zhen had once said, if you wanted to deal a heavy blow to an AI, then you had to come up with something that even the AI hadn’t calculated in.

During this two-year period, Qing Zhen seemed to have figured out how to destroy the server unit underneath this 61st Barrier Ground early on, and from then on, this plan was born.

During this period of time, Qing Zhen had always maintained a mysterious whereabouts and rarely communicated with the outside world, just so that the AI would not be able to obtain enough information from him.

Xu Concealment had awakened during the subsequent war with Yang, but after Qing Zhen’s explanation, he rarely revealed his ability in front of the outside world, and what’s more, his ability was even more hidden: the control of sound.

This ability had been somewhat of a chicken scratch in the past.

Because Xu Concealment could only emit ultrasound waves of around 20,300 Hz, he wasn’t able to directly cause damage to the human body, which was a bit different from other Transcendents.

Even Xun Nightfeather, this white and clean little fatty, had a strong practical application of his ability in war.

But what could Xu Concealer use this 20,300 Hz ultrasound for? Normally, the ultrasonic washing machines of the civilian industry had a hertz number that was several times this value.

However, another feature of ultrasonic waves was noticed by Qing Zhen: ultrasonic waves have extremely strong underwater propagation ability.

At this moment, Zhou Qi and Xu Zou reached the perfect collaboration because of the sonar equipment.

Xu Concealer was Zhou Qi’s other beacon.

There is no useless ability in this world, it only depends on whether you have found someone who can use it.

……

Underwater, Zhou Qi held the sonar device and moved forward quickly, he clearly didn’t even swing his legs, but he was as fast as a fish.

The screen on the sonar device was like an underwater radar, with a green scanning optical axis constantly rotating.

The screen showed that right behind Zhou Qi there was a red dot that was flashing, and he knew that it was the beacon for the direction of the sediment field.

And what he needed to do was to continue in the opposite direction, and then wait for Xu Concealment to enter the ground floor of the Artificial Intelligence Mansion and unleash another waypoint for him.

Zhou Qi glanced at the waterproof electronic watch on his hand, with 103 minutes left in the countdown.

He silently calculated in his mind that there was only 43 minutes left in the real effective time, as it would take some time for him to return to the surface, or else he would be trapped dead under the water if his spiritual power was depleted.

Therefore, if Zhou Qi still couldn’t receive the beacon from Xu Concealment after these 43 minutes had passed, then he would have no choice but to return to the surface.

On the sonar display device, the green dot represented by Zhou Qi himself was getting farther and farther away from the red dot behind him.

He closed his eyes and continued on with the current, trying to ensure that he could stay underwater for a little while longer with minimal mental exertion.

There was not a single source of outside light in the underground river, leaving only the sonar display device in his hand to flutter as if it were a firefly.

There was boundless darkness here, but Zhou Qi was not afraid at all. This dark and tranquil environment seemed to be very suitable for thinking.

Vaguely, Zhou Qi seemed to hear a song, like the ah friend goodbye that Luo Lan sang to everyone by that stream at the back of Ginkgo’s mountain.

This was Luo Lan’s favorite song, but Zhou Qi always despised it and said it was too obscure.

But Zhou Qi had not told Luo Lan and Qing Zhen and Qing Yi before, in fact, the days of stealing white fruits in Ginkgo Mountain was the happiest time in his life, and he almost believed in friendship at that time.

The next moment, a new red dot appeared on the sonar display in his arms, right in front of him.

The red dot then meant that the device had searched for the source of the signal, and according to the original plan, when the second red dot appeared, that was where the server unit was located.

Zhou Qi immediately opened his eyes, but he immediately realized that something was wrong, because the red dot in front of him was approaching him at an extremely fast speed.

He subconsciously glanced at his watch, counting down 89 minutes and 12 seconds.

……

When the elevator began to sink rapidly, Wang Run did not look away while Luo Lan, Qing Laosan, and Xu Concealment looked suddenly to a huge underground space coming into view.

Countless pieces of vacuum glass were set on the other side of the underground space, and it was as if Luo Lan and the others had come to an aquarium, except that what was on display in the aquarium was fish, while what was on display here was the AI’s massive server unit.

The high-speed flowing underground river naturally became a natural cooling externalization of the unit and ensured the normal operation of the server.

There is not a single redundant object here, no decoration, not much of a living thing, clean …… like the hall in Ginkgo Manor that was cleaned up by Qing Zhen.

And what is extremely similar is that both places have black lakes.

Ginkgo Manor’s black lake is that polished marble floor, and here, there is really a black underground river.

At a certain moment Luo Lan felt as if this black lake symbolized the other side’s thinking, pure and deep.

Qing Zhen and Wang Sheng Zhi also have certain things in common, which is probably the commonality of people who are good at scheming.

Many people will be accustomed to ignore the ability of Wang Shengzhi, but in fact, Wang Shengzhi in the fight against the opponent to show the means, than the means of attack of Qing Zhen is more diversified, the dimension is also broader: politics, economy, humanities, people’s hearts, and so on.

At this moment, Wang Shengzhi sat alone in his wheelchair, facing the server unit outside the underground space, not knowing what he was thinking.

When he heard the sound of the elevator, he pushed the wheelchair himself and turned around, smiling weakly, “Welcome to the three of you to visit Wang’s masterpiece, Artificial Intelligence Zero. I apologize for not letting you all take a short rest, it’s just that this body of mine can’t allow me to continue delaying.”

Qing Laosan said, “That’s fine, since we have all come to Wang’s, it doesn’t matter if we rest or not, what matters is what kind of agreement Mr. Wang Shengzhi wants to reach with Qing.”

Luo Lan carefully observed Wang Shengzhi, now he was very sure that Wang Run wasn’t lying, Wang Shengzhi probably really didn’t have much time left.

Probably there was still a trace of perseverance that was supporting the other party, so that he could hold on until “Qing Zhen” and Luo Lan arrived.