<h4>Chapter 117: News of Professor Wang Xi</h4>


    The feed they saw in the monitor was almost aplete pitch-ck darkness. The spots illuminated by the tactical shlight revealed rows of stone pirs formed by stctites.


    Nobody knew how many tens of thousands of years it had been since the formation of these stctites. They were joined together from the top of the cave down to the surface, their entire body d in a marbly white, bearing a close resemnce to jade pirs in a pce.


    “All conditions are normal.”


    “ording to the detector, the altitude is at -723 meters. The temperature is 24 degrees, the humidity is 70. Current atmospheric pressure stands at 105.7kPa. There’s no carbon dioxide umtion detected. There should be a passage somewhere around here.”


    The team regrly provided status reports from the other end of the radio.


    700 meters underground?


    Chen Chen faintly nodded. An altitude of -700 meters exceeded the maximum range of most conventional detection methods, which meant that if they were to construct a secret base in this cavern, it would be extremely difficult for it to be detected using regr technology. Large-scale incorporation ofbined technologies such as gravity, maism, and electricity would have to be used to find this ce.


    Then again, why would Chen Chen allow anyone to conduct such activities in his territory?


    “Detected membranous stearin... It’s a sign of life!”


    One of the team members suddenly lowered his head, the shlight directly projected on a long insect which was crawling.


    This long worm had hundreds of pairs of legs and its body took on a striped ck and white form. As it moved, its hundreds of legs moved about in a wave-like motion.


    Before the team member had time to reach for it, a dark figure that seemed to resemble a lizard shed past and immediately snatched away the millipede!


    “Wah!”


    The team member yelped in horror.


    “What happened?” one of the team members asked.


    “Nothing, false rm. It was just a smander.” The member shot the shlight in the direction the figure went and saw a palm-sized smander holding the millipede as it quickly vanished into the darkness.


    “I hear water, there’s an underground river here.”


    “I see it, there’s a pool in front, it’s deep groundwater!”


    “I see Astyanax in there!”


    Following the various reports from the group, Brando suddenly raised the questions. “Can you determine the size and shape of the cavern?”


    “ording to theser reading, the underground space measures at around 500 meters in length and 300 meters in width. The terrain here ispletely t. The rock structure should beposed of sedimentary rock and volcanic rock. The sedimentary rocks are umted from stic rocks and carbonate deposits.”


    Thomson, who was in charge of geology, exined from the other end of the radio, “On top of that, there’s a geyser pool in the middle of the cavern. There’s the sound of flowing water, I’d say there’s an underground river here. Judging by the fact that there’s aquatic life, it can be determined that it’s freshwater. This should be an isted underground rockyer so there’s no seawater intrusion.”


    “How about the height of the cave?” Brando asked again.


    “The lowest points are around twenty meters with the highest points extending up to fifty meters. It’s a perfect hemispherical area.”


    All of the members on the yacht began pping in celebration upon receiving this report.


    This meant that this ce was perfect for constructing a secret base.


    “In that case,e back up after collecting rock and water samples.”


    Chen Chen reminded. “Just to be on the safe side since we haven’t examined the microbial environment.”


    “Yes.” Brando nodded in response. “Listen up everyone. Prepare to leave after exploring the cavern and collecting the appropriate rock and soil samples.”


    ...


    On the afternoon of the same day, Chen Chen received apleted material report.


    Chen Chen read the report on the paper and rubbed his chin slightly. “You sure it’s this location?”


    “Yes, we made sure to calibrate it.”


    Qian Wenhuan reported at the end of Chen Chen’s desk, “It’s located to the southwest of the research center, which happens to be the ins. It’s only about 2 kilometers from the coastline.”


    “Good.” Chen Chen tossed the map on the desk. “Section that plot as a residential area and contact the Maind construction team in Namibia. I n to build a high-ie district here.”


    “A district?” Qian Wenhuan was shocked. He almost doubted what he was hearing.


    “That’s right, it’s going to be a district simr to the high-rise residential area back in the Maind.”


    Chen Chen nodded. “That’s not all, I also n to buildmercial streets, parks, hospitals, and even transportation facilities around to serve as an addition to the residence area.”


    “Are you nning to build a city?” Qian Wenhuan was dumbfounded.


    “Why else would it be called ‘Eco Science City’?”


    Chen Chen exined, “Even though we already offer decent welfare for the employees in the research center, we’ll need a specially designated residential area for them to feel a true sense of belonging.”


    Chen Chen thought for a moment before adding. “The district is just a part of it. We’ll also be designating arge area by the sea to serve as vis for the senior researchers to live in. When the employees have homes of their own, they’ll eventually want recreational and living facilities. If we don’t do it this way, the buildings will only remain as a staff dormitory no matter howrge we expand it.


    “Besides, after thepletion of the health centers, the clients whoe from ces near and afar will need facilities for their leisure.”


    “You mean to say...” Qian Wenhuan wiped the sweat from his forehead.


    “Wenhuan, you’re the primary person in charge here. I’ll leave things in your care after I leave.”


    Chen Chen pointed at his head. “You’re gonna have to move faster here from here on.”


    “Boss, you, you’re leaving?” Qian Wenhuan began to panic. “How am I supposed to handle all this by myself...”


    “Don’t worry, just temporarily.” Chen Chen leaned backward. “I’ll be heading back to the Maind for a bit. Oh, that’s right Wenhuan, you haven’t been home for half a year too. Better head back if you have time to.”


    “Isn’t ourpany in the expansion stage now? I’ll be sure to let you know if I’m heading back.”


    Qian Wenhuan scratched his head embarrassedly. “Oh yeah. I think if we’re going to excavate the underground space, we can do it during the construction of the Eco Science City. That way, it’s easier to mask the noises.”


    “That’s a given.”


    Chen Chen nodded. “But that underground passage is too troublesome, we’re going to have to pave another tunnel. When the construction team gets here, we’ll finish with the foundation of the district first. After that, we can carve the underground space by using well drilling as a front.”


    Upon receiving these instructions from Chen Chen, Qian Wenhuan promptly took out the notebook in his pocket to jot these details down.


    Chen Chen contemted for a moment and reminded again. “Make sure to be prepared since a seven hundred meters deep well is considerably deep. We’ll also be needing to drill through the rockyer so conventional drilling rigs won’t cut it. Large drilling rigs will be needed.”


    “Won’t usingrge drilling rigs draw too much attention?” Qian Wenhuan motioned with his hands and halted momentarily with hesitation.


    “It won’t. Well digging has worked like this in Africa.”


    Chen Chen made a gesture. “Take the underground space as the center and chart out a small town around two to three square kilometers around it. After that, drill four to five wells. By the time we prate the underground space, we can bribe the workers. Make sure to restrict their movement andmunications until the underground construction isplete, then we can erase their memory.


    “With the construction of the Eco Science City as a front, we can easily transport the necessary materials for the secret base. Even the officials of Namibia will have a hard time noticing it.”


    Qian Wenhuan began nodding.


    Chen Chen was in charge of charting the general n. As for the particrs of the operation, it was his responsibilities as usual.


    After Qian Wenhuan took his leave, Chen Chen looked at a missed call and a message on his phone. He fell into deep thought after that.


    The missed call and message were both from Wang Wei. In the message, Wang Wei informed that Professor Wang Xi recently took a prolonged vacation. Based on the professor’s recent conduct in the ss, he seemed to be disying early signs of Alzheimer’s...