Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 85 Bring the Nuclear Bomb!

A cave, a cave?
These kinds of things are actually quite common on the moon.

In the early stages of its formation, the Moon's core was also extremely hot, and coupled with intense and frequent asteroid impacts, it also experienced active geological activity.

It's not surprising that some caves were created.

But the cave I'm seeing right now doesn't seem to be naturally formed!
It has a square shape, with a height and width of about four meters. It is square and upright, and the interior is dark, flat and deep.

How could such a cave be naturally formed?
At that moment, Zhao Jianguo instinctively shouted, "Comrades, there's something going on!"

But no one responded to him. He looked up abruptly and saw his comrades still advancing on their own, heads down, carefully searching for anything unusual on the lunar surface.

They cannot hear their own voices, nor can the people on Earth hear their own voices, and they themselves cannot hear their own voices.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Jianguo did not make any rash moves, but instead continued to hop towards the nearest comrade with steady steps.

During the journey, he had already opened his easel and drawn a circle on it.

According to the previously agreed-upon code word, a circle signifies a gathering in order to facilitate rapid communication.

Patting his comrade on the shoulder and showing him the circle, Zhao Jianguo pointed to a flat area a few dozen meters away and then circled his arms around it.

This means to notify all comrades to assemble there.

The comrade stretched out his arm, gave an OK sign, and then turned and left. Zhao Jianguo immediately went to notify the next comrade.

A dozen minutes later, all the astronauts who had been searching separately arrived at the open space. At that moment, a new pattern had appeared on Zhao Jianguo's arm.

An arrow pointing inwards, followed by a vertical bar.

←丨.

This means that everyone is there, and we are all retreating together.

Although they didn't understand why, their comrades still obeyed Zhao Jianguo's will—even if it wasn't Zhao Jianguo, the team leader, but one of their other comrades, the astronauts would still have obeyed.

Since a comrade has expressed this opinion, there must be a reason behind it. And on the battlefield at this moment, trusting the judgment of a comrade is a principle that must be followed.

Since there was no search mission and they were already familiar with the terrain, the people retreated quickly, taking only about half an hour to evacuate the special area.

The familiar buzzing sound came to my ears again.

Communication has been restored.

Zhao Jianguo immediately said, "Number One is calling Earth, calling Earth."

His voice not only reached Earth via radio, but also reached the ears of his comrades.

"Earth received, please proceed."

"During the previous search, I discovered a cave, this cave..."

After detailing the unusual features of the cave, Zhao Jianguo concluded: "I believe it is highly likely to be the passage leading to that underground chamber!"

At that moment, he clearly sensed a hint of excitement in the voice of the Earth base commander: "Earth received."

I will report this discovery to the commander. Please immediately carry out resupply and rest operations and await further instructions.

"Yes."

After communicating with Earth, his comrades' voices finally reached his ears: "The cave? It's right there?"

"Yes, it's a very large cave, and very deep."

"Finally, a discovery!"

"Everyone has it, disband!"

"Yes!"

Nine astronauts, exhausted, headed toward their respective spacecraft.

After quickly eating and drinking water, Zhao Jianguo, still wearing his bulky spacesuit, lay down at the bottom of the spacecraft and closed his eyes.

A few seconds later, his breathing began to become long and deep.

He appears to have fallen asleep.

No matter what environment you are in or how much psychological and mental pressure you are under, you must fall asleep quickly during your limited and fragmented rest time.

At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that one can wake up immediately if there is any movement in the outside world.

This is difficult to do, but it is a quality that every soldier must possess. Earth's response came a dozen minutes later.

As soon as the sound rang out, Zhao Jianguo immediately opened his eyes.

He jumped up in a flash, showing no trace of fatigue or exhaustion.

"Earth Command has decided to explore that cave! Bring nuclear weapons!"

"Received, guaranteed to complete the task!"

Zhao Jianguo agreed, put on his helmet, and opened the hatch after the cabin was evacuated again.

Eight comrades-in-arms have also appeared.

Upon arriving at the nuclear weapons storage site, Zhao Jianguo inspected the weapons and confirmed that they were usable. He then pulled the handle and dragged the cart forward.

Fortunately, gravity is low on the moon; otherwise, it would have been very difficult for one person to pull a 300-kilogram nuclear bomb across the dusty lunar surface.

Even so, it is still an extremely physically demanding activity.

But that's okay, you have your teammates, you can take turns dragging. In complex terrain, multiple people can work together.

The astronauts headed straight for their target, and more than half an hour later, they arrived at the entrance of the cave again.

Pressing the chemical packets located in different parts of the body will slowly reveal a cool, clear light.

At this moment, the nine astronauts are like nine lamps.

One person was dragging a nuclear bomb cart, while the remaining eight had their submachine guns in hand.

The safety is off, and the bullet is chambered.

Without any hesitation, the nine of them stepped forward together, heading into the dark and deep passage that seemed to lead to hell.

This scene, captured by a relay-shot lunar probe satellite, was clearly presented to the command center and witnessed by Sun Changhe, Jiang Yang, and others.

As the nine figures disappeared, Jiang Yang's heart began to race.

That certainly didn't look like a natural cave; it was very likely leading to that underground chamber. And that underground chamber was almost certainly left behind by aliens.

If that's the case... then what's inside the cave? What will the astronauts encounter?
Looking at the time, Jiang Yang saw that it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.

There are 11 hours left until the end of the world.

If the underground chamber cannot be destroyed within these 11 hours, the end of the world will come again.

Countless eyes were glued to the live broadcast, not daring to miss a single moment.

About 15 minutes later, an astronaut appeared at the entrance of the cave.

He traced patterns on the thick moon dust with his arm, then got up again and hurriedly entered the cave.

Those words were clearly visible to people through lunar satellites.

"500 meters, no abnormalities."

Clearly, he came out specifically to report the results.

People began to wait patiently once again.

This time, it took a full thirty minutes before the astronauts appeared.

"1000 meters, no abnormalities."

Then, that number changed to 1500 meters, 2000 meters, and finally to 4000 meters at this moment.

The duration of each astronaut's appearance is getting longer.

Clearly, the deeper the exploration goes, the longer the round trip will take.

Next time, barring any unforeseen circumstances, that number should be 4500 meters.

Based on previous timelines, this data update should take place in about two hours.

The clock slowly struck 7:45 p.m.

There are 4 hours and 15 minutes left until the end of the world. At this point, one of the astronauts should come out to report the situation.

Jiang Yang waited until 8 p.m., but no astronauts appeared at the cave entrance.

(End of this chapter)