Chapter 177: Damage Assessment

-'Charge Pillars' will now be known as 'Charge Pylons'-

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Late Evening - Mid Summer : Deep Ocean (West of Central Sirathian Mountains)

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-I should probably explore the rest of the structure before I risk blowing it apart trying to power this room, shouldn't I...- Wanting to check out the rest of the building even if the power was off, I thought about what to do before making my way up to the door. -How should I try and open this?-

Figuring I should just cut open a hole, I set my hand on the door but quickly noticed a very serious problem. -Uhhhh… Why is the hallway full of water?-

Unable to think of a better plan, I cleanly cut open the door and carefully held the water back with a vacuum barrier.

*Clank-Thunk* As I pulled away and set the heavy door to the side, I looked out into the water-filled hallway.

-Well... That is a problem...- Walking through the doorway, I steadily pushed the water back and resealed the control room, making sure it could handle the water pressure. -That should be good enough...-

Continuing down the hallway, I passed several massive ruptures leading into the research display rooms. -The water pressure really did a number on this place...- 

Trying to resist the urge to go and explore the rooms now accessible through the ruptures in the display room walls, I continued forward and got around a third of the way down the hallway before having to stop.

But it wasn't because there was debris blocking my path. Instead, the hallway had simply come to an end. 

As I stood there looking out into the debris-filled water, I sent my aura out as far as I could to see if it was just a really big rupture, but my aura found nothing but more debris and water. 

-Well.. It's big enough for my dragon form at least…- Wanting to get a better look at things, I changed to my dragon form and released the barrier holding back the water.

*Splash-Crash* *Blub*

Taking a moment to adjust to the pressure, I swam out and expanded my aura back towards the hallway.

It only took me a moment to notice the several other rooms that were now exposed, but the damage caused by the water pressure was similar to the display rooms. Most of the exposed rooms didn't have walls that could handle the pressure, causing them to rupture and fill neighboring rooms with water as well.

"Haah..." Trying not to dwell on my ever-dwindling chances of powering the control room back on, I swam down and followed the damage.

Before long, the edge of the damage curved inward and I came up to a huge block made up of an array of antimatter cables seen in the charge pylon outside. -This must've been the battery...-

It had been almost completely destroyed with only the very outside still being recognizable, but looking through the hole in its center, I noticed that there was nothing below it. -Is this the very bottom of the structure?-

Although not entirely sure, I assumed the controlled discharge was meant to aim the blast of energy downwards, minimizing damage to the structure. -But that clearly didn't work as intended...- 

Just from what I had seen with my aura as I swam down, I could paint a pretty good picture of what the structure looked like now. (A cube with a huge paraboloid taken out of it) -Even though not much of it is left though... I should probably still look through it.-

Deciding to test my luck, I spent the next day or so looking through every possible room in hopes of finding anything of use, but it seemed like my luck was running out.

As I looked around, I found countless interesting things, from bedrooms and cafeterias to massive destroyed experimentation and specimen rooms, but nothing necessarily useful.

Just when I was starting to lose hope though, I found a small 'server room' filled with, not water, but non-conductive coolant.

-Oh my god.. what are the chances?- Making my way inside and taking a closer look at the suspended computers themselves, I noticed there was almost no corrosion or damage of any kind within the parts. It was as if the coolant had protected it from all-natural forces over the countless millennia that it sat here. 

-It's possible!- With my hope revitalized, I wanted to immediately try to power and turn the power back on, but I had to hold myself back. -Now that I know it's possible, I need to be extra careful…-

Carefully heading back out of the room and into the destroyed area, I looked around through the now mostly clear water.

-To think the battery at 1% charge did this... Just what kind of blast would it have created if it was full?- It sent a shiver down my spine just thinking about it but at the same time it brought along a wave of excitement that piled on top of my newly rebuilt hope. 

-Maybe I should test my luck and explore the dungeon before trying anything here.- Although I was quite nervous about it, I left a marker in the void to pinpoint the location of the laboratory and tethered it to the space runes so it wouldn't move. -That should be good for now.-

Coming back out of the void, I swam up and out of the structure, being sure to completely mask my presence as I left. -Even though the chances are slim, I may just find something left by the Acardi like this lab...-

The next few hours passed by in an instant as I continued to swim further into the dungeon and sneak past the occasional colossal monster. -To think this dungeon is still alive though...- Although it was faint, I could feel the dungeon's steady suction of mana into the cave. -I wonder how strong the core is of a dungeon this old and this large...-

Continuing deeper, I came across a large formation of eight antimatter charge pylons, each with heavily damaged and clogged runes, but the cables leading from them just went straight into the ground and out of sight. -What? What are these for?-

Unable to hold back my curiosity, I hastily cleaned up and fixed all of the runes, but as I did, a rogue thought came to mind. -What if these cables lead back to the lab...- I stood there, frozen for a moment before doing my best to shrug it off. -If the Acardi got to the point that they can utilize antimatter power, I'm sure they have safety measures in place.-

As that thought passed through my mind, I remembered the 'controlled discharge' and felt a shiver pass down my spine.

- Liv Sigmond ~

It had been a few days since we confirmed the deaths of Commander Dolph, the squadron leaders, and the soldiers now, and we were finally making it back to headquarters.

*Creaak* The metal gate creaked as we lethargically made our way into the base.

"Commander... Can we.. f..finally rest?" Quite literally everyone but the squadron leaders and I were completely out of energy after running for nearly 3 days straight.

"Yes, you are all dismissed except for those I already spoke to! Please take the day to relax. There won't be any training today!" -They've earned some break time…-

As I yelled out the information, they let out a collective sigh and fell to the ground. 

Under normal circumstances, I would chuckle since it reminded me of my early days in the military, but today I felt nothing but a mix of anxiety and the urge to sleep. -If only Dolph wasn't such a dumbass, I wouldn't have been put in this situation...- "Squadron Leaders, I need you all to write a report by lunch tomorrow. I know it isn't much time but we don't have a choice."

"But-"

"This situation could easily jeopardize the safety of the entire city so I won't be taking any complaints. Also, those that don't get the report submitted in time will be subjected to a month of tier 12." [1] Seeing that they all understood the urgency of the situation, I double-checked to make sure I had everything done and ran across the base to my room. -I need to get cleaned up and changed quickly!-

Slamming open the door, I ran into the restroom and cleaned up as fast as I could. -Alright, next I need a fresh uniform...-

Dashing over to my closet, I threw on my formal uniform and fixed the newly delivered rank badge to it. -This is good enough!-

Quickly throwing it all together, I dashed back out into the hallway, sent a messenger to retrieve the guild master, and hastily made my way to the Duke's estate. -Great Gods, please grant my prayer for this meeting to go well!-

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[1] - Tier 12 training is a training routine meant for high-Clerics. (aka its pretty insane training for non-high-cleric ranked hunters)