MMORPG: The Almighty Ring

The car was parked on the platform and continued to descend at a speed not too fast to feel gravity changes inside but not too slow that one could not feel anything at all.

After three minutes, Jiang Fei grew uneasy as the air pressure in his ears started to make him feel slightly nauseated.

“How far are we from the surface?” he asked.

“Sir, we are current at 1,200 meters below the surface. Our destination is 3,000 meters below,” said the driver.

“3,000 meters?”

Jiang Fei was stumped. That was a depth that puts this place as a superior evacuation center! From the looks of it, Jiang Fei guessed that the place was built as a means to evacuate important people here. The question was… why would Fan Yao call him there?

Just as Jiang Fei was beginning to think that something was odd, the platform slowed down and came to a stop. The car’s engine ignited and the driver drove off, following a route that was lit up with countless on-road LEDs. In less than a few minutes, the car stopped and the door beside him flung open.

“Mr. Jiang Fei. This is your stop. I am only limited to this area and unable to proceed further. Please wait here. There would be someone else picking you up,” said the driver, still without emotion.

“Thank you,” Jiang Fei thanked the driver and got out of the car with Ariel. Although the driver was cold and expressionless, he could not speak otherwise as he was only mirroring the same expression.

After the car left, Jiang Fei turned around, only to see a huge building that looked like an overly grandiose station. The building was at the edge of the tunnel. On the station’s platform, there were rows of sofas and armchairs that one could sit and relax while waiting for the next ride. Judging from the location and the built-up of the building, the station looked like it was a rest-stop for long distance travels.

Jiang Fei did not immediately sit down but chose to walk onto the illuminated road and inspect the building from a distance. After seeing that the building did not look anything special besides being overly grand, he turned to the construction of the entire tunnel itself. The best way to describe the entire structure was to compare it with an underground train tunnel. The only difference was that there was no one else besides him and the sheer size of the tunnel. It was amazing how the Chinese military was able to pull off such a feat without the public knowledge.

After soaking everything in, Jiang Fei made his way to the platform and sat down on one of the sofas. Not long after, at the edge of the station, a large door unfolded. After a few clinks and clanks, the door opened and someone came out.

Ariel was the first to notice it and quickly warned Jiang Fei.

“Someone’s here,” said Ariel via telepathy.

As soon as she did, Fan Yao came out and greeted Jiang Fei.

“Welcome, Mr. Jiang!”

Jiang Fei was stumped once more. Fan Yao himself coming to greet him was the last thing he had expected.

“Nice to see you again, General Fan!” Jiang Fei replied and smiled.

The two proceeded to walk and talk about unimportant matters as Fan Yao brought him into the door and deeper into the entire base. Jiang Fei do not understand the motive of this but he could somehow tell that Fan Yao seemed a little different from before. He just could not put a finger on it.

After entering the base, Jiang Fei was greeted with various automated machinery. There was hardly any human personnel working there. Those “humans” that he saw were mostly Androids. It was so automated that everything was… neat. The kind of feeling that was similar to how he felt when he was inside the bridge of Braveheart.

“Captain, I have completed the basic scanning of this facility. Basic schematic has been completed,” said 0542.

“Good. Do a comprehensive scan!” Jiang Fei ordered.

“Yes, sir,” 0542 accepted the order and proceeded to thoroughly scan the entire structure. With the basic schematics now available, Jiang Fei would know what was going on inside this hidden base.

Fan Yao led Jiang Fei and Ariel into a small meeting room. The two were seated comfortably and was even served with the finest chinese tea. All that was inside the room were Androids, besides Jiang Fei, Ariel, and Fan Yao. Even the bodyguards that were accompanying Fan Yao since the start were Androids, only much stronger than the others.

“General Fan, what do you call me here for?” Jiang Fei broke the silence with the most impending question. There should be a reason why Fan Yao was doing this. It was odd enough for him to personally welcome Jiang Fei at the station and even lead him into the base, not ashamed of flaunting everything in it.

“Nothing special. It’s just been a long time since I’ve last seen you!” said Fan Yao with a friendly smile. He then started to talk about nonsensical things with Jiang Fei, of which, he did most of the talking.

Jiang Fei could not help but frown even more as the conversation continued. The topics that Fan Yao chose to talk about was neither important or interesting!

“Captain, I have completed the comprehensive scan!” 0542 reported. Jiang Fei did not reply as he was in the middle of having a conversation with Fan Yao. Perhaps he could, perhaps he couldn’t, Jiang Fei did not want to risk revealing any subtle ticks since they were being watched by four Androids.

The boring conversation continued on for roughly an hour when Fan Yao suddenly ended the conversation himself abruptly.

“That’s enough for me. I’m sure that Mr. Jiang is a busy man himself! I thank you for your time! Please follow me. I shall lead you back to the surface.”

“Thank you.”

Something was off but Jiang Fei could not figure it out. What was Fan Yao’s objective of calling him into this super secretive place.

Back out at the station, Jiang Fei was greeted with the same expressionless driver with his car ready to drive him up to the surface.

“Where do you want to go, Mr. Jiang?” said the driver.

“The same place where you picked me up.”

“As you wish. Please get in the car and we shall depart.”

As Jiang Fei entered the car and resurface to normal ground level, Jiang Fei took the time to review the full schematic of the base.

“Very will, sir. I shall project it in your mind and explain. The underground base is extremely large. The total area is five square kilometers spread across 17th floors in total. The floor which you and the human named Fan Yao had been talking was at the highest level. There are 16 more floors beneath that level.”

Images after images was imprinted in Jiang Fei’s mind and as Jiang Fei thoroughly see through each of then, he felt scared for a moment there. It seemed almost impossible for the government to construct such a huge underground facility without being noticed.

“I dare say this place should be the emergency evacuation center for the country’s higher politicians and officers,” Jiang Fei thought.

The highest floor of the underground facility was at least one kilometer underground, which extended another three kilometers down under. In the event of a nuclear strike, the radiation should never be able to penetrate such thick level of soil and earth.

“Additionally, at the lower floors, I have detected a total of 12,764 units of Androids. 6,350 of them are classified as non-combat units,” 0542 added.

Jiang Fei flinched. Not only did the government secretly built such an enormous structure under the earth, they had also produced more than 10,000 units of Androids!

“The combat-class Androids had an average combat ability of Intermediate Level 4.”

“Oh lord. Not only did they have the number, they had also managed to increase their power level!”

Jiang Fei did not know what to feel. The average power level of the other Androids that he had encountered in the battle of Japan was only Beginner stage of Level 4. Although Intermediate was just a stage stronger than Beginner, it was still a threat that Jiang Fei should be wary about.

“I guess that the only thing that is stopping the government from dispatching these Androids was the existence of Level 5 martial artists in China itself,” Jiang Fei thought to himself.