Chapter 509: Civilization!
Upon noting the successful insertion of the movie into the USB drive, Chen Chen told Little X, “X, send them in.”
Following Chen Chen’s notice, ten Black Knights came in through the teleporter. Not only were they fitted with the GS Combat Suits but they also had an additional layer of PK Armor above the combat suit.
Although the PK Armor offered more than enough firepower on its own, the Black Knights still carried a pulse rifle each and had a GS Blade strapped to their waists. Furthermore, they had a mini drone mounted to their shoulders.
This team of cold-blooded killing machines was armed to the teeth.
Even among the Black Knights, such display was a rare sight. Most of the time, the Black Knights were only equipped with the GS Combat Suit which was more than enough. Currently, there was no way to manufacture the PK Armor and they had to be manually instantiated.
It was only on the rare occasion when Chen Chen needed to delve into an alternate dimension when he would make a big show of arming the Black Knights this way.
“Chances are this trip to the alternate dimension will be an uphill battle.”
Even with the Black Knights armed to the teeth, Chen Chen’s expression was still grave. Judging by the consistent pattern displayed by the USB drive so far, the associated dimension should be one where mankind was utterly wiped out as well. In the case of the movie DOOM, Resident Evil, and Alien, the cause of the destruction could be easily determined based on the plot of the movie.
It should go without saying that the cause of the destruction of civilization in the plane of Doom was the pack of monsters infected with the twenty-fourth chromosome. Inside the movie, a large-scale infection of the twenty-fourth chromosomes had led to a string of disaster. Crisis was averted when the protagonist successfully killed the source of infection and prevented any further spread of the infection to the outside world. The protagonist may be able to stop the infection, but could he ultimately stop the greed of those in positions of power?
It was not surprising that the twenty-fourth chromosomes would inevitably cause the destruction of mankind.
With that in mind, Chen Chen went ahead and played the movie. He then dragged the process bar to the opening sequence where the protagonist was about to lead his team of special troops in the Ark secret base.
Based on the events of the movie, a total of seven members were in the protagonist’s troop including the protagonist himself. The team of special troops had received an order from their superiors to venture to Mars to prevent the infection from spreading further into the outside world. The main characters of the movie did not head to Mars using conventional methods such as taking a spaceship. Instead, they used the teleportation device known as the “Ark”. It was a device left behind by an ancient civilization that could take them directly to Mars.
Chen Chen gunned straight for the entrance to the base. This way, he could obtain whatever insider information about the “Ark” that could prove useful.
This was a relatively risky approach because there was already an active outbreak of the twenty-fourth chromosomes and the location he had the Black Knights heading to was the center of the outbreak. However, he also had to consider that the timeline selected by the USB drive tended to be random.
There was a chance that upon the activation of the portal, the timeline would be set to only a short duration after the destruction of human civilization. It was also just as likely that they would arrive at a timeline long after mankind had perished and that there would be nothing resembling a monster left in the secret base.
With that said, even if there were monsters, the Black Knights should manage to dismantle the monsters as effortlessly as slicing a cabbage in half with a sharp blade. Even the protagonist in the movie was able to wreak havoc among the pack of monsters after receiving the enhancement of the twenty-fourth chromosome. The same should be expected of a team of fully-armored Black Knights.
Judging by what was seen in the movie, the compatible hosts of the twenty-fourth chromosome should be of equal strength as the Black Knights. However, the Black Knights had the luxury of access to equipment such as the PK Armor that easily took their strength to the next level. The protagonist of DOOM would not stand a chance even if he had an extra life.
With this in mind, Chen Chen opened [Doom.avi] without any further hesitation. The display immediately turned dark. It seemed as if all the light was drained from the world inside the display!
At this point, Chen Chen was already familiar with the workings of the passage opening. Within a second, an ominous, black spot appeared on the computer display.
It was the Schwarzschild Throat that swallowed all the light in the world. What was located on the other end of it was none other than the world of DOOM...
Upon seeing the appearance of the passage, Chen Chen immediately took a step back. Of the troop of ten Black Knights, he had five of them stepped forward and charged into the portal in a single line. The remaining five Black Knights remained in position beside the computer, ready to respond to whatever spontaneous situations that may occur.
Chen Chen was not in any particular rush and started to wait patiently. He was already familiar with the exploration process of these alternate dimensions and knew that if there were any notable dangers, the Black Knights would retreat in the shortest window possible. If they were unable to return due to whatever disaster that came upon them on the other end, they would dispatch a drone and send word back to the real world.
Meanwhile, if there was nothing particularly treacherous on the other end, the Black Knights were instructed to dispatch a drone a minute after entering to relay to Chen Chen the situation inside.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Time slowly ticked away and yet there was still no news from the alternate dimension.
A somber look slowly came to Chen Chen’s expression.
After three minutes passed, a drone finally emerged from the passage. Its shell was charred black as if it was just recently scorched by flame. As soon as it appeared, it projected a beam through its frontal lens and cast a virtual 3D projection.
The 3D projection showed the interior of the secret “Ark” laboratory shown in the movie. Chen Chen shot right up from the chair and looked at this scene that appeared before him with utter disbelief!
The secret laboratory inside the projection was completely intact. It looked as if the outbreak had never happened!
Before accessing this dimension, Chen Chen had pictured several possibilities of the state of the laboratory. The laboratory could be left in ruins, perhaps with decapitated body parts strewn all over the place. Never in his wildest dreams could he ever imagine the laboratory to be in such a well-maintained state!
“Could it be...”
Chen Chen murmured. His stream of thoughts was interrupted when the projection displayed holographic footage of a group of armed security forces charging out of nowhere with their weapons aimed at the team of Black Knights.
The sound of hectic gunshots rang across the air within a second, signaling the start of a deadly exchange...
There were humans in the alternate dimension!
This was no time to hesitate any longer, Chen Chen immediately dispatched the remaining five Black Knights into the passage. Before all the Black Knights even managed to shuffle into the passage, Chen Chen turned around and shouted, “X, mobilize all available Black Knights, hurry!”
“Understood, two thousand three hundred Black Knights are currently heading toward the teleportation rooms. All nuclear reactors are activated, allocating all available power systems to the Gantz teleportation devices...”
Little X quickly advised, “Sir Godfather, to ensure your safety, I recommend that you evacuate from here and wait for updates.”
“No, I’m not leaving.”
Chen Chen quickly shook his head. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the intense battle between the two factions shown in the projection. His eyes shone with wonderment. “Would you believe it, the USB drive led us to a world where humans are still living. The only time that this has ever happened was when we entered the world of Gantz, how could I ever miss out on something like this?”
“There are two possibilities.”
Seeing that Chen Chen was already insistent on staying, Little X figured there was no use in trying to change his mind. Besides, Chen Chen was more than capable enough of keeping himself safe.
Little X started. “The first possibility is that mankind has already faced extinction. However, the secluded nature of this base has allowed a small number of people to use it as a shelter. This is similar to what we saw in the Gantz dimension.
“There’s another possibility, being that the world that the USB drive has led us to is one where humans haven’t yet been wiped out!
Chen Chen nodded ruminatively as he listened to Little X’s deduction. “X, which one do you think is the more likely possibility?”
“I believe it’s the former.”
Little X said, “After all, the USB drive seems to only lead to worlds where civilization has faced its end. There’s nothing that indicates this as a rule, but it’s a consistent pattern we’ve seen based on our track history so far. I believe that the USB drive wouldn’t suddenly establish an outlier out of nowhere.”
“No, I’m willing to bet that you’ve had it wrong this time.”
Chen Chen broke out into laughter as he listened to Little X’s deductions. “Haven’t you noticed? From this footage, we can see a large number of security forces confronting the Black Knights. You can also see their team of scientists retreating in the background. All of these observations suggest that the secret base is operating as normal. Is this common for a civilization that should be on its last legs?”
“Ah...”
Little X gasped when Chen Chen mentioned this. It was just as Chen Chen described.
“I’ve noticed the expression of these people in the footage.”
Chen Chen continued formulating his theory. “I’m sure you’re aware that I’ve studied psychology. Based on what I’ve read from their expressions, I can see mild hints of fear and panic but it’s nowhere more than the usual threshold. Their collective behavior is otherwise regular for a situation like this. None of these points toward a crumbling civilization where the survivors should be constantly suffocating from fear and agitation...”
“I see...”
Little X saw some sense in this analysis.
In the middle of their exchange, the black sphere behind Chen Chen suddenly erupted with a blue glow as dozens of Black Knights swarmed out of the projected blue light. The newly arrived Black Knights did not have the PK Armor on and were only fitted with the regular GS Combat Suit and a pulse rifle. They dashed into the black hole inside the computer display as soon as they arrived.
As soon as the Black Knights appeared, they dove into the Schwarzschild!
This was followed by a second batch, then a third...
The black sphere could only transport ten organic beings at a time. After the fourth batch of Black Knight entered the Schwarzschild, Chen Chen held his hand up and signaled for the rest of the arriving Black Knights to stand in formation near the display with their weapons aimed at the passage.
Fifty Black Knights should be more than enough to occupy the laboratory. If this attempt still proved unsuccessful, that would suggest that the opponents had some form of advanced technology. In that case, this was not something that could be solved just by throwing more Black Knights at them.
The most important task now was to guard the passage and ensure that the opponents do not make it into the real world.
Fortunately, Chen Chen’s extreme caution turned out to be unnecessary because after another ten minutes had passed, a Black Knight drenched in blood with a bullet wound in one arm emerged from the passage.
Upon returning from the passage, the Black Knight was carefully carried away by two other Black Knights to be thoroughly inspected.
Meanwhile, Little X had received the transmission of everything the Black Knight encountered while inside the other dimension.
“Sir Godfather, your speculation is correct...”
Little X noted as there was a faint hint of excitement in her voice as she spoke, “Human society in the alternate dimension is still completely intact. The time now is the twenty-fifth of May, 2145, which is somewhere near the timeline of the movie. What’s odd is that this timeline is set before the events portrayed in the movie took place. The passage had led us to an earlier point in time!”
“An earlier timeline?”
Chen Chen was shocked to hear this as well. He was only speculating that mankind had somehow survived the outbreak. He had never expected to arrive at an earlier timeline.
Millions of possibilities rushed to Chen Chen in an instant.
“Our Black Knights had taken over the laboratory but unfortunately, news of this mysterious force arriving has been relayed to the outside world.”
Little X continued. “Which means that the Northern American Continent of the opposite world has caught wind of this mysterious invasion as well. I suspect we’re going to face the full offensive charge of a continent from the future!”
Chen Chen seemed rather unfazed by this piece of information. He proceeded to ask, “Have we thoroughly inspected the returning Black Knight?”
“The inspection is complete. We didn’t detect any signs of infection and have confirmed that the existing microorganism in the other dimension is identical to the ones in our world. There are no signs of the ‘twenty-fourth chromosome’ infection either.”
Little X answered.
“Excellent.”
Chen Chen snapped his fingers upon receiving this confirmation. He approached the computer display without a second thought. “X, time to use your X-111 copy. I want to hack into the internal system of this base and find out everything there’s to know about the ‘Ark’ teleportation device’.”
“Got it!”
By the time Little X gave a response, Chen Chen had arrived in front of the display. He proceeded to step into it!
Chen Chen’s vision turned dark in a split instant. The familiar heavy sensation invaded him!
“Tap!”
Chen Chen opened his eyes again when he felt his foot clacking against the hard ground. He found himself in a futuristic hall. The walls and ceilings were a combination of glossy silver and white texture.
The hall was moderately sized and not very well lit. What was once a well taken care of hall was now ridden with bullet holes on every single surface. The corpse of dozens of security forces was scattered all over the floor.
Their bodies were completely dismembered. There was not a single body insight that was left fully intact. This could not have been anything other than the work of the pulse rifles.
Some may find it suspicious as to how the world of DOOM that was set more than a century in the future could hardly put up a fight against the Black Knights. The truth was that this occurrence was completely expected since the movie had shown the protagonist’s troop wielding nothing more than a class of guns that could melt steel beams. There was no other display of high-tech weapons shown in the movie.
Of all the other high-tech equipment presented in the movie, the only notable one apart from the “Ark” was an implementation known as the “Nano-wall”.
There was a range of potential explanations for this, it could be that the future civilization had faced a bottleneck in terms of technology development and was not able to achieve a breakthrough.
Minus the mass of dead bodies, the scene in the great hall was one that Chen Chen was familiar with. It was the replica of the hall shown in the movie DOOM. When Chen Chen turned to look behind him, he saw a dark, sinister vortex suspended in the air. It was the portal opened by the USB drive.