Volume 9: Molten Mine Chapter 464 The Fourth Person
"Why do you think so?" Leighton couldn't help but ask.
"Because I didn't see a single word about this tunnel in the Security Bureau's files." Ke Lan said, "Although this tunnel was discovered by the 'Restart' project team, after confirming that the tunnel had no connection with 'Aguna Kotor', the tunnel should have been handed over to the Ruins Development Department of the Molten Mine Area for management. Once the latter took over the tunnel, they would have uploaded the relevant information to the archives, but I didn't find anything."
" Could it that the time was too short and they didn't have time to upload the information?"
"Even if this tunnel was handed over to the development department the day before the earthquake, at least a new folder with a project number should have been left. Moreover, for ruins of this level, even if no one is stationed there, at least a semi-permanent supply station should have been built at the entrance for subsequent exploration. But from the time we entered this tunnel until now, have we found any such traces?"
"Now that you mention it, it seems that there really isn't any..." Layton's eyes lit up. "Even if this tunnel has no research value, it is built of solid Nino alloy. The development department can't just leave such a piece of fat meat unattended."
On the Ark, credit points are equivalent to the paper money issued by various countries in the old era. They have no value in themselves and can only be regarded as a "symbol of value". It's just that because the "issuer" of credit points, the Ark, and all mankind share weal and woe, and the official strictly controls its circulation, the purchasing power of credit points has always been in a very stable state... But when it comes to hard currency that can be recognized by most people in this era, there are only two things.
In the old era on Earth, the two most common and most easily accepted hard currencies by the general public were gold and silver, which were known as precious metals; but now, these two things have become energy crystals and Nino alloys from the Alpha ruins.
This tunnel, using the concepts of the old era, is at least equivalent to a rich gold mine with extremely high reserves - although this statement is inevitably suspected of being a waste of resources, just like selling a device that integrates various high-tech technologies by the pound as scrap metal, but this also illustrates the value of this tunnel from another perspective.
There is absolutely no way the development department would have concealed this matter...even if they delayed reporting it, they would be held accountable to a considerable extent.
Even though the director of the Molten Mine Development Department has absolute power, he dare not take this "gold mine" for himself - this thing is completely different from the pure energy crystals in the Leviathan Mine. The latter only needs a small box to be taken out of the base without anyone noticing, but if this tunnel in the Molten Mine wants to be developed, it is impossible to hide it from anyone.
This is a serious crime. Not only will the offender be sentenced to severe punishment, but their family and relatives will also be affected.
"Park Sang-woo said that he walked back and forth in the tunnel, and the project team also conducted a detailed survey of the entire tunnel - although the tunnel he mentioned may not be the same tunnel we are in now - but this means that the development progress of the tunnel is actually very complete." Ke Lan said, "We only need to delete the parts involving important confidential information in the 'Restart' project team's investigation report on the tunnel, and this report can be submitted directly as an exploration report. The ruins development department of the Molten Mine District will be picking up a big bargain for free."
"But this investigation report does not exist... Even the information related to this tunnel cannot be found." Layton continued to talk along Ke Lan's line of thought, "Even the top-level secrets such as the 'Restart of the Yaguna Kotor Project' have left some clues in the archives of the Security Bureau. Such a trivial tunnel cannot have a higher confidentiality level than the 'Restart' project!"
"This is the only loophole in Park Sangyou's words." Ke Lan said in a deep voice, "At that time, he had already confessed the secret of 'Aguna Kotor' and expressed his willingness to cooperate... He took this opportunity to tell us the location of the tunnel when our vigilance against him was at its lowest."
"Do you suspect that he deliberately tricked us here?" Leighton's breathing became a little faster.
"It's hard to say now. We can't be sure of his motives and purpose... but we have to be on guard." Ke Lan glanced at the lifeboat in the distance from the corner of her eye. "We were deceived by that woman named Youyi once, and as a result, we lost Liao Zilang... I don't want this to happen again."
"Speaking of that woman... Could this Park Sang-woo also be a member of the heretic sect?" Layton's facial muscles trembled slightly with excitement. "His surrender was fake. His real purpose was to use the resources of the Ark to locate the coordinates of 'Aguna Kotor'! But if he is a member of the heretic sect, why doesn't he just lure those monsters here? If he wants to kill us, it should be easier to do that, right? There's no need to trick us into this tunnel... What's more, he is with us. If there is any danger here, he can't escape, right?"
"He can use the resources of the Ark to locate the Yaguna Tor, and he can also use our power to explore this ancient warship... In his eyes and in the eyes of the heretics, the Yaguna Tor is much more important than our lives."
"So what should we do now? Should we confront him directly?" Leighton asked.
"Do you think he will admit it?" Ke Lan asked back, "Besides, we don't have any solid evidence right now. Everything we just said was just speculation. Apart from him, everyone who knew about this tunnel is dead. If he insists that he knew nothing about these things, we won't be able to do anything to him. We've used coercion to force a confession once, so it won't work the second time."
"What should we do then?"
"So, I called you out because I need your help."
"What do you want me to do?" Layton asked seriously.
"Forge a piece of data." Ke Lan took out a black memory card from his pocket and said.
"What data?" Leighton asked.
"The list of people who entered the magma channel." Ke Lan said word by word, "All's fair in war. Since Park Sangyou didn't tell us the truth, we might as well trick him."
…
After a while, Ke Lan and Leighton returned to the main force. At this time, the others had basically rested and were waiting for his order to continue moving forward.
But Ke Lan said to everyone with a serious face: "Layton and I just made a new discovery, and this discovery is related to you, Dr. Park Sangyou?"
"What? It's related to me?" Park Sangyou looked at Ke Lan with a confused look on his face.
"You said before that there are four members of the expert group entering the magma channel, right?" Ke Lan walked to the lifeboat and asked him through the porthole.
"When we entered the passage, we found three bodies, namely Dr. Bernd Ferry, Dr. Mueller von Guderian, and Mr. Huang Renxun, but the fourth expert was nowhere to be found... Logically speaking, the four of them should be together."
"This...how should I know this? Maybe they got separated? Wasn't Alfonso's body a long distance away from them? And the vehicle driver, he is also missing..." said Park Sangwoo.
"I just want to ask, what is the name of this fourth expert." Ke Lan looked directly into Park Sangyou's eyes and supported his hands on both sides of the porthole.
"I, let me think back..." Park Sangyou subconsciously avoided Ke Lan's gaze, "It's... it's 'Alex'! 'Alex Sashes'!"
"Team Leader Breya, please check this person's information." Ke Lan turned around and said to Aya .
"I found out. There is indeed such a person." Aya Breya nodded. "'Alex Sashes', a senior researcher at the institute and a materials expert, was transferred to the Molten Mine Area garrison base at the same time as the three experts who died. He should also be a member of the 'Restart' project team. His name is also on the list of missing persons."
"Alex Sashes... Why would a materials expert become a member of the suicide squad? You all already know that the main material of 'Aguna Tor' is Nino alloy. If you want to study Nino alloy, there are plenty of samples outside. Why do you need to enter the magma channel?" Ke Lan continued to ask Park Sangyou.
"I don't know what you mean. Why can't the materials experts volunteer to join the advance team? After all... after all, this is likely to be a one-way trip. Not everyone can ignore life and death... They all volunteered to participate in this operation..."
"No!" Ke Lan interrupted Park Sangyou's explanation, "Indeed, most people are afraid of death... But if you ask where the most people are, I don't think it's the field corps combat troops on the front line, but the research institute under the heavy protection of the Ark!"
He took a breath and continued, "Although I have only met a handful of researchers, I have heard a lot about the deeds of these crazy people... Dr. Park Sangyou, since you can say 'put life and death aside', I wonder if you have heard of another ancient Chinese saying?"
"What?"
"'If I can hear the truth in the morning, I would be willing to die in the evening.' ... That's right, the institute is full of such lunatics. In order to seek truth and knowledge, morality, ethics and even their own lives are all prices that can be exchanged for them... I think, as someone who has worked there, you should know this better than me, right?" Ke Lan grinned, "If it weren't for the Ark's legal control, this group of people would probably do a lot of 'shocking' things, right?"
"What exactly do you want to say?" Park Sangyou began to show impatience.
But Ke Lan knew that this impatient look was just a cover-up for deeper nervousness and panic.
In order to cover up a lie, he needs to tell more lies to make up for it, but the more lies he tells, the more loopholes there are that can be caught.
"I think that given this opportunity, these experts will fight over it, right? Even if not all the experts in the project team are crazy and don't care about their lives, it should be easy to gather four death squads, right? How could it be possible that an expert like Alex, whose expertise is not very useful for exploring lava tunnels and ancient warships, would get the chance?"
"The situation was urgent at the time, and we didn't think too much about it!" Park Sangyou said, "The four of them were the first to volunteer to enter the lava tunnel, so..."
"I thought so at first, but until I found this." Ke Lan took out the black memory card from his pocket and stuck it on the porthole of the lifeboat.
"What is this?" Park Sang-woo looked at the black memory card and the corner of his eye twitched involuntarily.
"I picked it up with a drone a hundred meters away from Alfonso's body." Ke Lan said, "This thing should be the most commonly used large-capacity storage card in the research institute. It is manufactured by Ark Silicon Technology Company. The single chip capacity is 65TB. You must know Dr. Park Sangyou."
"… Is this your new discovery? Is this discovery related to me?"
"Yes. " Ke Lan said, "There are several recordings in it, and a total of six people's voices appear. After a one-to-one comparison with the sound data preserved in the archive, I confirmed the identities of five of them."
"Who are those five people?"
"Four of them are already dead, and their bodies have been found. As for the voice that cannot be identified for the time being, I think it should be the driver of the vehicle. As long as we spend some time to check, we can also confirm his identity. Of course, this is not important. What is important is that voice that is somewhat familiar to me."
As he spoke, Ke Lan put away the memory card and took a step back.
"The fourth expert who entered the lava tunnel was not Alex Saches... but you, Park Sang-woo . You lied from the beginning, and it was you who deliberately let us enter this tunnel."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone except Layton and Park Sang-woo was shocked. All eyes were focused on the lifeboat, and the two agents even drew their weapons.
"You heard wrong." Park Sangyou's tone was unexpectedly calm.
"I might have heard it wrong, but the machine can't make mistakes... unless this Alex has the same voice as you."
Park Sang-woo looked at him deeply, his lips moving slightly, as if he was whispering something.
"What did you say? Speak louder." Ke Lan frowned. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Park Sangyou twitched his lips, a playful smile appeared in his eyes, but he didn't stop talking...
The Holy Word! He is chanting the Holy Word!
Ke Lan suddenly reacted and shouted, "Everyone retreat and get ready for battle!"
Park Sang-woo was seriously injured, and with the restraints, he couldn't move at all, and there were no parasitic seeds in his body... Ke Lan thought that he would not be able to resist, but she had overlooked the "Holy Word".
Ke Lan had already pulled out his gun and repeatedly pulled the trigger at the lifeboat. However, the bullets were unable to penetrate the porthole made of bulletproof glass, leaving only a large number of cracks that spread out like spider webs.
Park Sang-woo in the lifeboat has changed from a middle-aged man to a haggard old man.
His eye sockets were sunken, and his skin was tightly attached to the outline of his bones. The flesh and blood in between had completely disappeared, and his whole face looked like a skeleton. This also made his smile look extremely eerie.
The ceremony has reached its final stage...
