At midnight, Cheng Ziang and Baiyue officially set off. They wore dark cloaks to completely hide their figures.
Helros was under curfew regulations, so neither locals nor visitors were allowed to be active on the streets at night. The best troops from the army guarded Helros, the City Defense Mobile Regime. These exceptionally equipped soldiers were a force to reckon with; if they were to catch anyone, even the strictly-trained reconnaissance soldiers of the Advance Team would have to surrender.
Thus, the two had to proceed with the utmost caution. With this thought in mind, they carefully navigated the city streets. The curfew, in turn, provided some convenience—so long as they avoided the City Defense Mobile Regiment soldiers, they were unlikely to be spotted by anyone else.
In their dark cloaks, they moved through alleyways like ghosts wandering in the night. Before the mission, they had memorized a detailed map of Helros, ensuring they wouldn’t get lost while on task.
The sky was moonless, blanketed by dark clouds, with a persistent drizzle that soon soaked their cloaks. Treading on the slick cobblestones, they gradually moved towards the northeastern part of the city—where Helros’ air force base and industrial base were located.
The High-peak people built factories inside hollowed-out mountains, their chimneys spewing dense smoke. Although they utilized magic-based industries, it wasn’t possible for them to rely solely on Magic Crystals for industrial energy. Thus, abundant and cheap coal became their primary source of industrial power.
Due to the Otherworld’s environment, all industrial technologies from Earth after the Second Industrial Revolution became useless—with the exception of steam engines. These machines, which used steam generated from boiling water to drive pistons, proved functional in the Otherworld. Thus, after the Second Otherworld War, the High-peak people introduced this technology from Earth.
The industrial base of Helros was adjacent to the air force base, with the shipyard responsible for building large airships located right at the border of the two bases. The quiet, dark city was illuminated only by the lights in the industrial base and air force base, from where noisy sounds emerged occasionally.
Getting close to the industrial base and air force base was not easy. The High-peak people had established a prohibited area. Barbed wire fence and the City Defense Mobile Regiment patrolled, preventing any leaks from within.
However, this challenge was nothing for Cheng Ziang and Baiyue. They were trained for stealth maneuvers, and dealing with such lax security wouldn’t take them much time.
Perhaps because it was rare for anyone to infiltrate this restricted area, the City Defense Mobile Regiment’s patrol was lax. Cheng Ziang estimated that soldiers only passed through the area once every hour. If this was on Earth, such a negligent patrol would leave them vulnerable to spotting by infiltrators, endangering their senior officers—even without them realizing.
Having calculated the patrol schedule, Cheng Ziang signaled Baiyue to approach the barbed wire fence. This fence, specially imported by the High-peak people from Earth, would be hard to break through without specific tools. However, it was hardly an obstacle for them.
Cheng Ziang took out a wire cutter from his pocket and began to cut a hole in the fence. The fence was not electrified, so it couldn’t deter the two of them equipped with cutters. Soon, Cheng Ziang opened a crawlable hole. Once both of them slipped through, he replaced the cut fence to disguise the hole, so as not to alert any patrolling soldiers.
After successfully entering the restricted area, Cheng Ziang looked around, then whispered to Baiyue, "I’ll go check out the dock. You try to sneak into the air force base and figure out the deployment of airships there. We’ll meet back at the entrance in three hours."
"Understood." Baiyue nodded, then turned and left.
Cheng Ziang made this arrangement mainly because he trusted in Baiyue’s capabilities. Armed with Luo’er’s silencer pistol and a powerful Magic Crystal gun, she could unleash a surprise attack with formidable firepower and then retreat, even if she was discovered.
He, on the other hand, carried his beloved long knife along with several flying knives, which were his main equipment. On his back waist hung a heavy revolver, something Luo insisted he bring. Because if discovered, the weapons he originally had would not be enough to face the heavily armed High-peak soldiers.
After parting ways, Cheng Ziang slowly made his way towards the shipyard. It was late into the night, but the shipyard was still brightly lit. Unknown objects were being manufactured inside.
The closer he got to the factory area, the fewer security patrollers he encountered. Only small groups of drowsy Dwarves walked past him, yawning and heading towards the dormitory.
Honestly, having been to many places in the Otherworld for almost a year, Helros was the most unique to Cheng Ziang. The ground was covered with rough concrete and tin fences surrounded the factory area in the distance, making him feel as if he were back on Earth. If not for the perceptible magic in the air, he might not have believed that he was indeed in a city located thousands of miles away from the Otherworld Gate.
Space was a premium in the city of Helros, thus making the layout of their shipyard compact. This gave Cheng Ziang room to move about. He continuously found objects to hide behind, and in no time, he managed to infiltrate the shipyard’s boundaries. The shipyard reverberated with the clanging of metal, and the ground occasionally rumbled. Cheng Ziang was unsure what the High-peak people were producing inside.
With that question in mind, Cheng Ziang found a gap and sneaked inside the shipyard. The place was brilliantly lit with Magic Crystal Lamps scattered everywhere. The luminosity of these industrial-grade Magic Crystal Lamps outshone common ones by a wide margin.
Walking into the shipyard, Cheng Ziang immediately felt a wave of heat. At the heart of the shipyard, two gantry cranes were carrying a massive component to be assembled onto the main body.
Upon seeing the colossal object at the centre of the shipyard, Cheng Ziang was dumbfounded. It was an enormous airship under construction. The entire body of the airship was steel-made, riveted together.
When he entered, the airship’s body was already completed. The two gantry cranes were installing two massive mechanisms into the airship while the workers onboard were busily riveting them into place.
Cheng Ziang discreetly ascended the auxiliary staircase to the shipyard’s above, from where he could look down on the entire airship. The workers were too engrossed in their overtime work to notice the stranger who had sneaked into the shipyard.
While there, Cheng Ziang began sketching the under-construction airship with trembling hands, a sign of his intense excitement. His sketching skills were passable, even if they fell short of Baiyue’s.
His excitement derived from the airship before his eyes, which was not mentioned at all in their intelligence. In other words, this might be a new class of airship by the High-peak people.
This was crucial intelligence as the headquarters was uncertain of whether the High-peak people would join the third Otherworld War. Despite claiming they wouldn’t get involved in Earth’s disputes over the Otherworld Gate, the trust had been damaged after the incident involving Masya’s cannons.
They needed to know whether the airship under construction was part of High-peak people’s military strategy or a defence upgrade specifically for the third Otherworld War.
After about twenty minutes or so, Cheng Ziang had roughly sketched out a blueprint. Though a little messy, it recorded a lot of vital information.
He folded the paper, slipped it into his pocket and was about to continue his observation when a High-peak worker, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, saw Cheng Ziang stealthily scrutinising the construction. The worker was stunned for a moment before he finally stammered, "Who are you?"
Taken aback by the sudden question, Cheng Ziang realised too late that someone had approached him. Glaring fiercely at the bewildered worker, he suddenly pounced on him.
The worker was caught off guard and found himself unable to resist as Cheng Ziang choked him. Despite his efforts to struggle, he couldn’t break free from Cheng Ziang’s strong grip.
Soon, the worker slowly lost consciousness, his arms limply hanging by his sides as he gave up the struggle. Once he had passed out, Cheng Ziang released him and hid him in a corner.
Cheng Ziang did not kill him outright because the worker hadn’t seen his face. Killing was not his preference, and either a death or unconscious worker would alert the shipyard. As such, he couldn’t afford to come here again, for he risked falling into a trap.
After dealing with the worker, Cheng Ziang continued documenting the airship’s information. After what seemed like forever, or at least until what he guessed was the scheduled rendezvous time, he discreetly left.
The worker would probably wake up the next day stirring up the hornet’s nest. It was unsure whether the alarmed High-peaks would conduct a city-wide manhunt, but regardless, he had successfully obtained the necessary intelligence.
When he reached the fence, he found Baiyue had been waiting for quite some time. Even though her mission was less taxing, she wasn’t idle. She had sketched the layout of the entire airbase, providing the headquarters with a comprehensive map.
Upon rendezvousing, both of them slowly crawled out of the wire fence, not bothering to conceal their actions. The gaping hole in the fence and the unconscious worker would undoubtedly serve as a wake-up call for the High-peak people. By tomorrow, they would need to decide whether to evacuate.