Chapter 62: Mission Accomplished

The group rushed down to the ninth floor with their weapons at the ready. The ninth floor was relatively clean, with no live bugs, only sand beetles carrying bodies. However, as they reached the ninth floor, they could hear the commotion from the lowest level.

The bugs were screeching and banging on steel, and the rhythm was getting faster, like a drumbeat. Soon, they arrived at the tenth floor, which was the last level of the Number One Research Center.

"Dak! Dak! Dak!" As soon as they entered the tenth floor, Zhou Yuan pulled the trigger of his pineapple machine gun. There were many bugs in this floor, and there were dozens of them just in front of the stairs. They were wreaking havoc and destroying all the equipment and instruments, even tearing the walls into curtains.

"Damn, so many bugs!" Storm and Recycle Station were also shocked, quickly suppressing the bugs with their firepower. The space at the stairwell was not large, but the three machine guns were enough to hold it down. Although there were nearly a hundred bugs, they couldn't even touch a hair on their heads and just looked exaggerated in the room.

With the support of the fire behind them, the bugs they could see quickly turned into corpses. The group did not pause and left the stairwell through the gaps between the bug corpses.

"Full firepower!" Behind the stairwell was the real workshop, which was much larger and had more bugs hidden within. Before they entered the workshop, the bugs had already sensed them with their heat vision and were now rushing towards the stairwell.

Buck waved his hand, indicating that they should just push forward. After all, it was indoors, and no matter how big the space was, it was not that big. They only faced about ten bugs in each round, which they could easily solve.

The bugs inside the floor were the most numerous, so the nine of them kept pushing forward.

"Captain, there's something going on up ahead!"

"The bugs are attacking a security door, which should be the safe room!"

As they fought and walked through 200 meters, sharp-eyed Zhou Yuan noticed something odd about the bugs. Before they attacked, they were fiercely digging into a large circular door one meter in height as if something inside was attracting them.

That circular door was not an ordinary one. The big claws of the bugs could even tear through space alloy, but that door was only poked with a few holes and was still far from being punctured. That door should be the main gate of the safe room, made of more than one meter thick mixed safety door, which emphasized hardness and thickness.

"Guys, crush these stinky bugs."

"Bring the scientists back home, our liquor and cigars are already waiting for us!"

Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words, Buck was energized and waved his hand forward. The team members were also excited, holding their guns and pressing forward without stopping.

The bugs were attacking the safe room, so there must be people inside. They would quickly complete their mission and leave this planet, which was being bombarded with strategic nuclear weapons.

One minute later.

All the bugs inside the Number One Research Center were annihilated.

During the process, there was a small accident. A cream puff was scratched by a dying bug and left a mark on her space suit. Fortunately, the bug was severely injured and its attack wasn't precise, so it only left a trace on her suit.

"Alright, it's time to reap the rewards!"

After the bug died, Buck quickly walked to the security door, trying to open it. However, he found that it wasn't as simple as he had hoped.

The bug had destroyed the controller outside the door and torn apart all the surveillance around it. Not a single device or instrument was functioning properly. Given the security of the door, the people inside probably had no idea what was happening outside and might even think it was all infested with bugs.

"Darn it!" Buck cursed under his breath and kicked the security door, then stepped back to let the engineering team take over, as only they would be able to fix these things. If they couldn't let the people inside know they were here, it would be a big problem.

"Gasoline, Steak, it's up to you now."

"Ok!"

Gasoline and Steak accepted and began to try to repair the security door's controller.

"The wiring is completely destroyed. We don't have any backup wiring, and even if we could find some here, it would take at least half an hour. We need to find another way."

After checking for a while, they shook their heads at Buck.

"Why not try to fix the surveillance?" suggested Zhou Yuan. "Connect our tactical device to it, so the people inside can see us and we can communicate with them."

"Good idea!" Gasoline and Steak exchanged a glance and gave Zhou Yuan a thumbs-up. They were professional engineers and naturally knew about this method. When they said "find another way", this was what they meant. They just hadn't expected that Zhou Yuan, a young demolition expert, would also understand communication systems.

Thinking about it now, this guy really was a jack-of-all-trades. He was called "terrifyingly strong" by the captain in hand-to-hand combat, and the sharpshooter Falcon said, "He's qualified to join the Hunters based on his marksmanship alone." Now he understood engineering as well. Damn unfair world!

Three minutes later, Gasoline and Steak had it sorted out. They used the tactical device to replace the surveillance cameras.

*Click!*

Shortly after the tactical device started, the security door shuddered and slowly opened outward, indicating that the people inside had seen what was happening outside.

"Thank goodness you've finally arrived!"

"Damn it, the bugs have destroyed our lab!"

After the security door was fully open, twenty-eight people walked out from inside. They were all wearing full-body protective suits, and fifteen of them were armed, likely the defense force of the research center, while the others were probably research personnel. Their spirits were low, and several of them were injured, pale as paper.

"Gentlemen, now is not the time to talk."

"Pluto is currently being bombarded by the starfleet, and although this area isn't being bombed, there might be bugs seeking shelter here. I need all of you to retrieve all the research data from the research center as quickly as possible, then follow us to evacuate."

Buck saluted and spoke solemnly.

"Everyone's here!" 

At that moment, an elderly voice spoke up. A scientist stepped forward, his helmet stained with blood, making it impossible to see his face. He handed a protective case to Buck and held Buck's hand tightly, saying:

"Take this. It may give humanity the power to fight against the bugs, allowing paralyzed patients to stand again."

"Protect it, and if necessary, you can abandon all of us."

"I am Anderson Morgan. Remember what I've said, Captain!"