Chapter 194 Nuclear War! Dead Silence! Suspicious Heat Source!
"Hi……!"

"The code name for this operation is so strange. If you don't know, you might think we are going to have a firefight with some ghosts and monsters."

After a brief moment of surprise, Jack Wells chuckled foolishly.

Since no one knows the specific information of this Netherworld Operation, they might as well just take it easy. After all, no matter how ferocious the alien monsters are, they will not be afraid.

It's not like we're fighting against ghosts or monsters, there's nothing to worry about.

Li De on the side also agreed with Jack's words. He nodded and said, "Maybe this so-called Netherworld is just a simple code name."

"After all, the combat styles of our ace vanguard members are similar to Netherworld's, agile, flexible and deadly."

Reed's guess was not unreasonable, and this was exactly what V thought. He and Jack also did not believe that there would be any netherworld enemy units.

"Anyway, we're going to that mysterious new alien battlefield tomorrow. Are you all ready?"

V looked at the people in front of him and said in a deep voice.

Although V doesn't know what kind of world he is about to go to.

But he was very clear that the members of the Astartes Legion's ace vanguard would be transported to that alien world through a large teleportation device called "Star Gate"!

Such a novel way of transmission was something V had never imagined.

"Ready at all the time!"

Jack and others responded immediately.

"The opening time of the star gate has been set to 12 noon tomorrow. I hope there won't be any accidents or mistakes in this operation!"

V's tone was very serious.

This action plan is different from the previous Avatar plan, with so many fleets and soldiers fighting synchronously.

Instead, a small group of elite combat units, under the cover of a small number of fighter planes and cruisers, were deployed to the new battlefield.

Of course, Leon is also ready to prepare the Infinity ship and a large number of giant corporate soldiers for the members of V's advance team to rescue them.

But the best outcome would be if these sufficient backup plans were never used.

"My gang and I have been eager to get to the Netherworld as soon as possible. Once the door opens, we will take over the territory there!"

Jack smiled fearlessly.

His advance team is equipped with the most sophisticated weapons, equipment, and communication support forces of the giant company.

Even if a soldier is injured, there is the most advanced and professional medical team ready, so there is no need to worry about no one taking care of the injury.

"Ah."

Seeing Jack, Reed and others all responded that they were ready, so V didn't say anything more.

Immediately, he took the three of them to the base of the Astartes Legion to prepare for the final mobilization meeting for this Operation Netherworld.

A new battle has begun!

……

……

"Underworld" The heavens and the alien world, the earth!

The haze, as gray as toner, shrouded the gloomy sky like a ghost. The land, which had not seen the sun for many days, was particularly desolate and quiet.

The biting cold wind howled in the deserted city, quickly passing through every street and alley.

Abandoned vehicles, closed shops, and a large number of human corpses scattered throughout the city center all indicate the dead state of the city.

It is obvious that this place has suffered from some unknown war.

And just outside this long-dead city, somewhere in the deep woods, a "door" that distorted space suddenly appeared!
This huge gate, 20 meters long and wide, is like a silver-coated mirror, and this is the "Star Gate" opened by Li Ang.

The starting point of the star gate is a highly confidential Astartes base in Ideal City.

This military base has been officially renamed "Wanjie Base" under Li Ang's official name.

From now on, all future operations in other worlds will start from here.

Moreover, every new and updated alien world will be classified as highly confidential information by the intelligence department of the giant company.

The "Netherworld" world that appeared this time has been listed by Li Ang as [001 Universe - Netherworld].

As for the previous planet Pandora, since it is in the [000 Universe - Cyber ​​World], it was not specifically included by Leon.

Looking at the alien world that opened through the star gate, it was indeed the Earth in his impression. Leon's slightly nervous mood finally relaxed a little.

But whether this is the netherworld he imagined, Leon doesn't know for the time being, and he needs to conduct more careful reconnaissance.

“Let the drone pass.”

Following the order given by Li Ang, who was sitting at the central control console of the Wanjie Base, the front-line technicians immediately issued reconnaissance instructions to the AI ​​drone.

Whizzing--! !

Immediately, a swarm of drones controlled by intelligent AI and equipped with real-time cameras quickly shuttled from one end of the base to the other.

Arrived safely in this desolate suburb of the city.

Under the instructions of the technicians, the drone array first stayed where it was, patrolled the surrounding area, and fed back the information to the base.

After receiving the next instructions, the drone swarm conducted another careful reconnaissance within a radius of 100 meters with the star gate as the axis.

Caution is the boat.

In order to determine whether there are any dangerous factors in the vicinity, it is quite necessary to do more careful investigation and search.

After half an hour of careful reconnaissance and confirming that there was no threat on the other side of the star gate, the drone swarm gathered again near the star gate and stayed there on standby.

"start to act."

Following V's command, the Astartes vanguard members, all equipped with the latest MarkX power armor, immediately arrived at the suburban area.

Then, everyone distanced themselves, took tactical positions, and looked around vigilantly at the situation.

Through the images and video information transmitted by the drone swarm, Li Ang saw the Earth in "The Underworld" which was gloomy and desolate, as if the world was about to end.

'The scene here looks like the Earth in the movie that has been hit by a nuclear attack!'

Li Ang said thoughtfully.

He felt that he should have come to the right place, but whether it was true or not would require further data survey and more detailed investigation.

……

At this moment, David Martinez, wearing a heavy and sturdy power armor, looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar scene of the earth in front of him, and always had an indescribable strange feeling.

I don’t know if it’s because he was on Pandora or he had stayed in Utopia for too long, but when David saw the suburbs of the city, he couldn’t remember for a moment that this was Earth.

"Is this the Earth in the parallel universe? I almost didn't recognize it!"

Jack Wells, captain of the Ace Advance Team, couldn't help but shout out loud.

Based on the data displayed on the helmet screen, Jack's analysis result was that they were in a world that was exactly the same as the Earth.

Looking at the surrounding environment which was a little too quiet, Li De, who had rich combat experience, couldn't help but frown slightly.

He remained absolutely vigilant throughout the whole process. Li De knew very well that the quieter the area, the more likely it was that dangerous situations with fatal consequences would occur.

He had to be on high alert.

"Is this the Earth of Netherworld? I don't know why, but I always feel like there's a large-scale war going on here."

As a witness who had personally experienced nuclear war, Li De felt familiar with the bleak scene before him.

He muttered to himself in the team's internal communication voice.

"Maybe it's what you think. I also think it's a bit too quiet here, like a no-man's land after the extinction of all species."

Jack Wells, who had the same feeling as Reed, also echoed him.

"Stop talking nonsense and see if there are any other people around." Johnny Silverhand responded.

Soon, all the members of the Astartes' ace advance team crossed the star gate and arrived at this desolate suburban area.

It was not until then that the area near the star gate began to have some signs of life, and it no longer seemed so dead and desolate.

After seeing that the advance team members and the construction team had almost gathered, V began to issue new instructions.

Ask the engineering team to build a wired base station nearby and select a suitable open space as the future front-line base center.

Afterwards, V ordered the technicians to release an AI drone to investigate road conditions and the surrounding environment.

[Li De, Johnny, lead the team to explore the east side of the star gate, and report to the base immediately if there is any situation.]

[Jack, you are responsible for leading the team to the west. Pay attention to safety and report any situation first.]

After instructing the construction team staff, V issued a new reconnaissance mission to the members of the Ace Advance Team.

"Yes!"

Jack and others responded in unison.

Immediately, accompanied by a swarm of drones, Jack and Reed were divided into two teams, east and west, and carried out missions in their respective reconnaissance directions.

Of course, this was just a simple preliminary reconnaissance mission, and they would not be too far away from the star gate, only about three kilometers in radius.

Not long after, the members of the ace advance team led by Jack Wells arrived at an area three kilometers to the west, and the star gate behind him disappeared.

"Huhu...!"

David Martinez, equipped with a brand new MarkX power armor, felt his heartbeat as surging as the last time he landed on Pandora.

It was just that last time he was nervous and a little uncomfortable, but this time, David was excited and excited. David had a strong premonition that after this action plan was completed, he might be promoted to the next level and start the next organ transformation operation!
While David was daydreaming, he and the advance team soldiers beside him had been filtering, collecting and testing the nearby air with each breath.

Using the probability and detection functions of the power armor helmet, the soldiers of the advance team can see the corresponding air analysis report results on the helmet screen.

"The nitrogen content is 78%, air 21%, and other gases 1%, which is exactly the same as the Earth we are familiar with."

"Except that the temperature here is a little lower, nothing else is different."

Looking at the data displayed on the helmet screen, Jack Wells immediately made a conclusion in the team's voice communication.

Thinking of this, Jack, who was originally very happy that the old Earth had completely disappeared and only the new ideal city was left, couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

This means that from now on, they will be able to obtain another identical Earth from other worlds in the heavens!

My goodness, what else is there to say? Just keep creating!

[Jack, according to the analysis of the base technicians, the air here contains trace elements produced by nuclear explosions. You have to be careful.]

At this moment, V, who was stationed in the Wanjie Base behind the star gate, promptly sent a reminder voice to the advance team members in front.

"A nuclear explosion? That's a bit surprising."

Jack shook his head and smiled. To the warriors of the Iron Hands Astartes Chapter, a little nuclear radiation was not worth mentioning at all.

Their power armor shell can block all damage from radiation and poisonous fog, and they are not afraid of even jumping into a volcano.

Before Jack could continue speaking, V had already given them new instructions:
[The drone ahead has sent the latest real-time images. There is an open area directly ahead of you. What you need to do now is to occupy it and wait for new instructions.]

"Yes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jack Wells immediately led his advance team members to the open space that V asked them to occupy.

The clearing is a small hillside with no major obstacles and extremely high visibility, from which most of the terrain of the dense forest can be observed.

Soon, Jack, David and others climbed to the top of the hill and began to look around.

Through the AI ​​drone above their heads, Jack can see the star gate deep in the jungle, the abandoned city not far away, and the endless ocean!

"Haha! We haven't seen the ocean for more than ten years...!"

Jack Wells, who was standing on a high place and looking out, couldn't help but let out a sigh of satisfaction.

……

At this moment, in the command center of the Wanjie Base, Li Ang, standing in front of the central console, was constantly analyzing the images and video data from the front line.

The desolate world after the nuclear war, the dead human cities... these signs are consistent with the background setting of the movie "Ghost".

And Li Ang increasingly felt that he had come to the right place.

The positioning of the star gate is most likely correct!
"Are you sure that there are no errors in the air analysis report sent from the front line?" Li Ang asked the technical director beside him.

"We are 100% sure!" said the technical director confidently.

"Ah."

Li Ang nodded thoughtfully.

If there are no errors in this analysis report, then at least it can be said that the world on the other side of the Star Gate is the Earth in a parallel universe.

As to whether it is the Earth in the "Underworld" universe, that remains to be considered.

At this time, the AI ​​drone group at the Stargate front line sent images and video footage of the abandoned city to the base headquarters.

Through this information, Leon could see that the city's buildings were basically well preserved.

Neither the airports, ports, densely populated industrial areas, nor the streets in the living areas suffered serious damage from military strikes.

Seeing this scene, Li Ang suddenly felt unsure whether this was still the Earth in the "Underworld" universe.

But he would not jump to conclusions easily before obtaining more accurate and detailed intelligence information.

After pondering for a moment and seriously thinking about the next decision-making direction, Li Ang spoke and issued a new command:

"Notify all members of the advance team to withdraw to the Wanjie base. The rest of the engineering team will continue to stay and build fortifications."

"Also, notify the people in the engineering department and ask them to dispatch more personnel to start the construction of the frontline base."

"The people from the War Preparation Bureau should also drive the RCS-class armored cruiser to the opposite side of the stargate as soon as possible."

Li Ang’s idea is very simple, that is, “If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.”

First build the front-line base, and send a cruiser that can control the air supremacy of this alien earth over there. When everything is almost ready, then make a concerted effort to attack.

This was almost identical to the tactical layout he had adopted on Pandora, where he first built communication base stations and front-line bases to ensure smooth communications and convenient logistics and reinforcements.

Then slowly arrange the subsequent battle plan.

"Yes, boss!"

After receiving the instructions from Li Ang, the commanders under him immediately issued corresponding instructions to the advance team members on the front line.

At this time, V, who was standing next to Leon, couldn't help but ask curiously: "Boss, do you think the nuclear war happened because the humans in this world killed each other?"

Under normal circumstances, the most likely cause of a nuclear war is human infighting.

But the reason why V asked this seemingly simple question was because he was traumatized by the strange phenomena on Pandora.

Even the planetary conscious life forms on Pandora can capture alien civilizations by "luring and killing". It is hard to say whether there will be other alien life on this alien Earth.

"maybe."

Leon did not give V a clear answer, because even he did not know the true situation of this world.

However, if this is really the Earth in the "Underworld" universe, then the targets of the nuclear war that occurs here may not necessarily be human troops.

Maybe it will be something else.

For example... Netherworld Soldiers!
After seeing that V stopped talking, Leon continued to issue a series of detailed orders to the personnel of various units on the Star Gate front through the central console.

……

48 hours and 39 minutes later!
Opposite the star gate, in the operations meeting room of the front-line base.

At this moment, Morgan Blackhand, wearing a dark company military uniform, was standing at the front of the conference room and said with a serious look:

"Everyone!"

After he finished speaking, Morgan used holographic projection to demonstrate to the dozen or so elite ace advance team members in front of him, while explaining the latest situation in a deep voice:
"Our company's engineering department has established a military base at the front line of the Star Gate and can arrange troops to carry out combat missions at any time."

"However...your next mission is not to participate in a military strike, but to investigate a suspicious location!"

After he finished speaking, the dozen or so Astartes warriors below looked at each other. Among these warriors were V, Jack, Johnny and other senior officers of the regiment.

This time, the all-star investigation team was organized by Li Ang himself!
Therefore, they were very curious about what they were going to investigate next that would require so many Astartes core forces to fight.

"Morgan, stop beating around the bush and just get straight to the point."

Johnny Silverhand crossed his legs cynically, wearing sunglasses that looked very pretentious, and looked at Morgan in front of him with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll just tell you."

Morgan Blackhand nodded and continued, "We found a suspicious heat source."

"But before I tell you about this suspicious point, I need to first tell you the basic situation of this 'New Earth'."

When he said this, Morgan paused deliberately, and used the button in his hand to display the holographic image in front of everyone.

"Just yesterday, our RCS-class armored cruiser successfully took off and sent out a large number of flapping-wing aircraft to collect high-altitude imagery and video intelligence."

"The Earth seems to have experienced a nuclear war and has fallen into a state of death and silence with no life left."

Immediately, Morgan Blackhand manipulated the holographic image and released several maps marked with the names of large cities such as "Moscow", "London", "New York" and "Paris".

After hearing his detailed narration, everyone realized that these prosperous cities had all suffered brutal nuclear attacks and were completely razed to the ground!
Based on the professional survey results of technicians, they have successfully deduced the time of the outbreak of this nuclear war, which was about 10 years ago.

Moreover, the scope of this nuclear war is quite large, covering almost the entire world!
"You mean... all the humans in this world have been wiped out by nuclear war?"

Jack Wells asked in a stunned tone.

"Do not."

Morgan shook his head. Even if this was the case, there should be a large number of survivors in cities and regions that had not been hit by nuclear attacks, and they should come out to rebuild their homes.

Instead of the current situation where there is widespread silence.

Obviously, the cause of this abnormal and puzzling situation is definitely not a simple nuclear war.

There must be other unknown reasons!
"What on earth is that hot spot you mentioned?"

After learning the basic situation of the Earth in this parallel universe, V immediately picked out the information he most wanted to know and asked.

"After careful reconnaissance by the aircraft dispatched by our cruiser, we discovered that there were a large number of heat source reactions in the Sanaa area of ​​Yemen."

"But the weird thing is that they disappeared in just a few seconds!"

When Morgan Blackhand broke the news, the first reaction of the Astartes warriors present was to wonder if there was something wrong with the machine.

Or maybe there is some special reason such as magnetic field interference.

After all, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for the heat source to disappear completely without a trace in just a few seconds.

Even if it was a creature that died on the spot, it wouldn't be able to cool down so quickly.

Unless it's haunted!

Otherwise, the real reason for this situation is most likely that there is a problem with the aircraft's reconnaissance device, or there is magnetic field interference or something.

(End of this chapter)