First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 164
Chapter 164: Lock
On the last day of vacation before the selection competition—to be precise, the last half-day—Lian Sheng and Lu Mingyuan's group planned to go shopping at the commercial street in District 36 to lift their spirits.
However, none of them were familiar with District 36. Most of the area was uninhabitable mining zones, along with abandoned old residences. The only places with any real foot traffic were the few registered urban districts.
Lu Mingyuan had been there the longest, but he'd never had time to explore. Busy recording all sorts of data, where would he find the leisure for such things?
So they turned to the optical computer for help again.
After filtering based on their time constraints and location, the most suitable option remained Dongcheng District, where they had previously rented rooms.
The group exchanged glances, hesitating. Truly, this was fate calling.
Lu Mingyuan turned in a circle and asked timidly, "So... are we still going?"
Clearly, he wasn't as bold as the others. He was a law-abiding citizen—had been since childhood.
Fang Jianchen gritted his teeth and said, "What else? Explore on our own? Twelve hours isn't even enough to scout the base properly."
Cheng Ze added, "Even if you wanted to scout, the base wouldn't let you."
The base was full of red restricted zones strictly off-limits to students. Upperclassmen had slightly more freedom, but newcomers like them might as well have been prisoners.
Not that they'd had time to explore anyway. Access restrictions made no difference to them.
Ji Ban, hugging his knees, watched them and asked in confusion, "Why are you all so scared? Afraid to go out? Isn't today a rest day?"
Lian Sheng scratched her head. "It's not the same thing, buddy."
The group's souls wavered between mischief and filling their stomachs, interrogating their own limits. Then came a cry from the depths of their hearts: Why was District 36 so unfriendly?
Ji Ban studied their expressions and asked, "What's over there?"
Fang Jianchen listed: "Black-market shops, scammers, thieves, violent cops. And beasts."
"Ah..." Ji Ban tilted his head, imagining it, then nodded sagely. "Oh..."
Lian Sheng stood up.
All eyes turned to her.
She pressed down on her waistband and said, "Belt's too tight. Carry on."
The group: "..."
Zhao Zhuoluo asked, "Is Dongcheng District within the permitted activity zone?"
Cheng Ze: "Of course it is."
"Then what's the problem? If it's permitted, it must be safe. Going there is within regulations, so why worry?" Zhao Zhuoluo said. "Let's go. We're just buying a few things—pay the listed price and that's it. Remember, don't meddle this time. Quick trip, quick return."
Lian Sheng nodded. "Right. Worst case, we've got Doctor Lin as backup."
At the mention of Doctor Lin, the group felt a chill run down their spines. Suddenly, the idea of retreating seemed appealing.
Lian Sheng said, "Or we could just go for breakfast."
Instantly, the group declared in unison: "Let's go! Time to head out!"
As they left, they ran into Zhang Ce from the Allied Military Academy.
He'd clearly just woken up and was still groggy, half-lidded eyes blinking as he asked, "Heading out?"
Lian Sheng nodded. "Going to eat. You coming?"
"Nah. Gonna practice formations with the team later." Zhang Ce added, "Just a heads-up—the selection competition rules are five-plus-one, but if the last 'one' doesn't make it to the finals, they stay at school. There's not much time for everyone to gel."
He muttered under his breath, "This year's rules are a complete mess. No idea how it'll all shake out."
Lian Sheng acknowledged the reminder, then led the group out of the base.
Alliance University had enough students who'd made it to the finals to form several different teams. If they had to pick a role that absolutely required recruiting from the remaining student body, it would be vice commander.
But in past six-player matches, the data analysis hadn't been particularly complex. Most of the information was displayed directly on the map.
Given the choice between a rear-focused vice commander specializing in analysis and a frontline combat specialist, they'd prefer the latter.
In other words, under normal circumstances, the finals of the selection competition didn't require a data analyst.
Since all the participants were already at the base, they had plenty of time to adapt and coordinate.
Subtle flexing was the deadliest kind.
Zhang Ce sighed enviously at their good fortune, then turned back to eat. At the appointed time, he headed to the training room to log into the machines.
After putting on the sensors and preparing to connect to the system, he found he still couldn't access the external network.
Zhang Ce frowned. They'd already notified the base to connect to the military academy's internal network. This had never happened before—what was going on today?
Since this had never occurred, Zhang Ce assumed it was his own fault or that the system needed to self-repair. So he waited another ten minutes.
But after that time passed, the prompt remained the same: "Connection failed."
Zhang Ce stepped down and noticed other students standing around the entrance, equally confused.
Zhang Ce asked, "What's going on?"
"No idea."
"Who's going to ask?"
Zhang Ce said, "I'll check the office."
The instructors' office was in a different building from the training facility. Zhang Ce went to request external network access.
As he approached, he realized students had already come to report the issue. The room was noisy, and the door was left open.
Zhang Ce slipped in from the back and tapped someone on the shoulder. "What's happening?"
"The base network is having some issues."
"What kind?"
"Loose connection, maybe aging wiring. Either way, no internet right now." The instructor up front scratched his head irritably. "The control room is investigating. They say it's because the signal isn't being received, but the signal tower insists transmission is normal—that the base itself is blocking it."
He glanced up. "Any of you know about this stuff? Fix it yourselves. Maybe someone messed with the settings?"
They were all at a loss—this wasn't their field. Plus, network failures were rare in District 2, so they had no experience troubleshooting.
If it happened there, you'd just file a complaint with the signal company.
Zhang Ce said, "I'll get someone from Command. They might know."
Soon, a Command student arrived.
"Wrong specialty," the student said flatly. "Who told you modeling students are IT experts? Networking isn't in our curriculum."
A crowd gathered around the optical computer, pointing and speculating. The instructor still hadn't heard back from the control room. The situation was bizarre.
Finally, he stood and shooed the students out, deciding to visit the control room himself for answers.
With no internet, the internal network was down too, rendering the sensors unusable.
Students scattered to wait, assuming the outage wouldn't last long.
They gathered in small groups to chat, enjoying the rare break.
About ten minutes later, the overhead lights flickered.
Everyone looked up, wondering if they'd imagined it.
Then the bulbs began flickering erratically, brightening and dimming unpredictably before plunging everything into darkness.
While they'd been sitting there earlier, the ambient noise hadn't seemed loud. But when all the machines powered down, they realized just how quiet the base could be.
Quiet enough to be unsettling. A sense of unease crawled over them.
Though shocked, the students remained calm—their training kicked in.
When the lights went out, no one panicked. They simply stood alert, listening for distant sounds.
But the clearest sound was their own accelerating heartbeats.
After a moment of silence, one boy finally spoke:
"What are the odds... the base lost power?"
"Slim, right? The base would never black out. What about backup systems?"
"Where are the instructors? Are we the only ones left in the base?"
"This building was assigned for our training. During breaks, it's just us."
"First the net goes down, now the power... wild guess here—is the base under attack?"
"Shut up! Don't joke about that!"
Fortunately, it was daytime, so the rooms remained dimly lit. Without artificial light, it was just slightly darker.
One boy stepped forward. "Alright, don't freak yourselves out. Might just be a glitch. Let's check the back—there should be self-defense troops there."
Zhang Ce joined in. "I'll go with you."
"Might as well all go downstairs and look."
So the students in the training room decided to head down together.
At the stairwell, they met another group. After merging, they proceeded to the entrance.
A few were already gathered there.
One turned and said, "The door's locked."
Another corrected, "The door's lost power."
"Now what? Do we go out?"
"If there's an emergency outside, we're unarmed—going out would be dangerous. If it's just a malfunction, leaving won't help."
Trapped inside, the students hesitated.
"Wait!" A boy's expression suddenly changed. "If this were an accident, even with the net and power down, someone would've notified us by now. But no one has."
Through the glass doors, they saw no movement outside.
"But District 36 is a safe zone. Don't scare me like this."
As they wavered between panic and doubt, Doctor Lin came sprinting from the distance. Pale-faced, he shouted at them, "Everyone! Evacuate the base immediately!"
The students replied, "The door's locked."
Doctor Lin: "Break it!"
Silence.
How were they supposed to break this door? It was made of special material—even gunfire might not penetrate.
Doctor Lin rushed over, shoved people aside, and pulled out a card to swipe at the door.
The screen displayed: "Error."
Face dark, he turned. "Everyone, follow me. Prepare for combat. Grab anything useful. We'll check the emergency exits—see if we can get out that way."
As they trailed behind him, a student asked, "Doctor, why did the base lose power?"
Doctor Lin said, "It's a lockdown, not a blackout."
The students grew uneasy. "What does that mean?"
"The base doors aren't controlled by the power grid—they wouldn't fail during an outage!" Doctor Lin said grimly. "Prepare yourselves. There might be trouble."
At his words, their hearts sank.
They'd mentally prepared for this, but when reality struck, those preparations crumbled.
They desperately hoped their fears were unfounded.
District 36 might have poor living conditions and subpar cuisine, but it was a mining zone!
And mining zones meant one thing: massive profits.
The energy, the metals—this wasn't just about money.
District 36 was a peace zone, but it was also on the Alliance's fringe...
Silent, each lost in thought, they hurried to the second floor.
Doctor Lin suddenly turned back, scanning the group. "Where are the other students? How many are here?"
"A few left the base—went to the city, I think. Some might still be in the dorms."
"Lian Sheng's group went out!"
"Ah—! Do they know what's happening here?"
"Does the Alliance know?"
The ground trembled underfoot as a muffled explosion echoed in their ears.
Bracing against the walls, their breathing grew ragged. Doctor Lin rushed to a small window.
In the distance, plumes of smoke rose from the base's central buildings.
More explosions followed, igniting in sequence.
Their limited view obscured the details, but they could see black debris raining from the sky.
Doctor Lin lowered his head slightly, bangs shadowing his eyes, his expression hidden from the group.
Only his clenched jaw and white-knuckled grip on the windowsill betrayed his fury.
"Explosions..."
The blasts shattered their last shreds of hope, laying the truth bare.
One boy slumped against the wall, mind blank.
2018! Happy New Year!
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