Chapter 1392: Countdown From The Other Shore
This “smart pinhole camera” had been modified by Zhao Liangze in his spare time. He had reported it to Huo Shaoheng before.
Huo Shaoheng’s eyes flickered as he looked at him.”… Do you have it with you?”
“Yes, I have it. I’ll take it out now and see if I can put it in the elevator on the other side of the mechanical arm.”
Zhao Liangze ran back to his cabin and quickly took his “little robot (smart pinhole camera)”. He went out on the deck to communicate for a while with the staff who were responsible for operating the cable of the mechanical arm. Then, he used a special thin rope to hang it at the bottom of the long rope and slowly put it down.
This “little robot (smart pinhole camera)” was indeed very small. With a diameter of about two millimeters, it looked about the size of a freshwater pearl. It was almost impossible to tell that it was a camera.
However, when it reached its destination, it could be reassembled. There were three miniature rollers with a diameter of about one millimeter at the bottom that carried it around to take pictures.
On its back, a pair of wings as thin as Cicada’s wings could be stretched out to take it flying.
At this time, it was like a drone, but it was smaller and more concealed. Even professionals would find it difficult to discover its existence.
..
Time passed by slowly. Zhao Liangze sat in front of his computer and watched the little robot gradually approach the upper part of the steel spike on the mechanical arm under the pull of the rope.
He hoped that the opening at the lower end of the steel spike would be big enough for his little robot to get in.
The pearl-like little robot, which was the size of a grain of rice, moved step by step and was about to approach the opening at the lower end of the steel spike.
Zhao Liangze held his breath and watched the small ball glide through the hole. Then, as if it was struggling to move forward and could not take another step forward, it slowed down.
It spun in circles along the internal arc of the steel spike.
Almost, almost…
Zhao Liangze couldn’t help but shout to the staff on the deck outside,”… Can you expand the bottom of the steel spike a little more? Just a little more…”
When the staff member heard this, he thought about it for a moment, then operated the instrument and cautiously expanded the opening at the bottom of the steel spike by another half a millimeter. Adding the hole that had been previously created, the diameter of the entire bottom of the steel spike had reached a little more than two millimeters.
That was enough for his little robot to drill in.
A light click came from his earpiece.
The little robot successfully entered the space inside the submarine and landed on the floor.
Zhao Liangze slapped the table excitedly. “Major General Huo! It’s in! That little guy is in!”
Huo Shaoheng quickly turned around and strode over to his side. He patted his shoulder. “Make way.”
Zhao Liangze: “…”
Damn it, he was so quick to burn the bridge after crossing it.
However, Zhao Liangze didn’t dare to say anything. Not only did he give up his seat, but he also helped Huo Shaoheng adjust the back of his chair and the handle.
Huo Shaoheng wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to such trivial matters.
His attention was completely focused on the computer screen in front of him.
Zhao Liangze’s little robot (smart pinhole camera) was equipped with a bluetooth system that could connect to his computer through a wireless network.
In order to make the network unimpeded in the deep sea, Zhao Liangze had specially brought a network signal amplifier so that he didn’t have to worry about not being able to access the internet anymore.
..
Huo Shaoheng clicked “start” and then typed on the keyboard to give the little robot instructions.
Stand still.
Stand still.
Rotate.
Open.
The camera aperture on the head of the little robot the size of a grain of rice suddenly opened. It buzzed and rotated, finding the right angle and quickly focusing. Then, it started to shoot from the corners of the submarine.
Under Huo Shaoheng’s instructions, the small robot that specialized in secretly taking pictures (the smart pinhole camera) finally adjusted the light, shade, and angle of its camera.
Three small rollers, each one millimeter in diameter, also extended out from its abdomen and began to roll on the submarine’s floor.
Thankfully, the submarine was sealed very well. Otherwise, as long as there was a hole, the small robot would definitely fall out of the hole and “secretly take pictures” while floating along the seawater…
Zhao Liangze’s heart was in his throat. He was afraid that his small robot would disappear out of the blue.
During this period of time, he had been preoccupied with that small robot, and only then was he able to slowly recover.
With Bai Shuang’s death, his feelings had been completely buried.
Now, he was completely focused on his work. While searching for Gu Xiangwen’s whereabouts, he also developed some artificial intelligence systems, such as this small robot that was about to make a contribution.
If he succeeded this time, he could apply for professional funding to upgrade it.
Zhao Liangze’s thoughts ran wild, and he didn’t see that the little robot was already sending back video images.
Song Jinning’s attention was also attracted to it. She sat next to Huo Shaoheng and looked at the computer screen together.
The little robot was too small, and its field of vision was all upwards.
On the computer screen, a curved dome appeared first.
Like a children’s playground, there were some adorable cats and dogs drawn on the dome.
There was light shining down from the dome, and the walkway was clear.
Huo Shaoheng looked carefully. Turns out that there was a sunken LCD light hole in the dome, and the light was coming from inside the light hole.
After so many years, the submarine still had electricity.
Huo Shaoheng adjusted the camera angle of the small robot. Soon, a corridor appeared on the display screen.
Turns out that they were in the submarine corridor.
The small robot glided in the submarine. Not long after, a mountain-like object blocked its path. The entire screen was filled with the pitch-black “mountain”.
What sort of obstacle was that?
Huo Shaoheng put in much effort and constantly gave commands to change the angle. Only then did he make the little robot to go around the “mountain”. It retreated while filming.
After retreating to a certain distance, Huo Shaoheng activated the cicada wings on the back of the little robot and let it fly.
Zhao Liangze wiped the sweat from his forehead and snorted to express his refusal. “… when it flies, it uses more batteries…”
He hinted to Huo Shaoheng that he shouldn’t fly too much and that it would be best if he just let the robot roll and film.
Huo Shaoheng ignored him and continued to operate the flying robot to film the situation inside the submarine.
Because he had flown up from the ground, the view was now wider and clearer.
Turns out that the “mountain” the little robot had encountered was a person who had fallen on the submarine’s aisle.
That person was wearing an old man’s casual outfit and a pair of soft-soled sneakers.
From that person’s face, it was obvious that he was very old. His face was full of wrinkles. He was also bald and emaciated. He was holding a gun in his hand.
“Is that person dead? How long has he been dead? He looks like he’s asleep.” Zhao Liangze’s attention was on that person’s appearance. “Why does he have a gun in his hand? Huh? That’s probably a. 022 caliber stinger pistol…”
“The famous Stinger.” Zhao Liangze clicked his tongue. “That gun is quite expensive. How spendthrift of him.”
Huo Shaoheng glared at him. He didn’t say anything, but the sound of typing on the keyboard became even more intense and loud.
The small robot flew in the submarine’s space. As the camera’s vision shifted, they saw three more people lying outside a large door.
There were men and women, old and young. They wore different clothes, but they all had guns in their hands. Their shapes were unique, and the barrels were long. One look and one could tell that they were the famous Stinger.
As if it was made of oak, the door looked very thick and heavy. A steel bar as thick as an adult man’s arm was attached to the door, and there was a huge disc password lock hanging on it.
The flying robot bumped against the door for a while, and Huo Shaoheng soon found a gap in the door. Of course, it was a gap compared to the small robot, and it was so close to the floor that it was difficult for the naked eye to see it clearly.
He directed the small robot to land and put away the wings on its back. Three almost invisible pulleys stretched out and drilled through the gap at the bottom of the oak door.
Once inside, the screen was pitch black.
After a while, the door gradually lit up.
It was as if it had sensed light or magnetic interference.
In short, the computer screen in front of Huo Shaoheng twisted and made a sizzling sound before returning to normal.
As the lights in the room lit up, it was as if a white piece of paper was gradually showing the outline of an ink painting. The appearance of the cabin slowly appeared in front of everyone.
It looked like a study room with a very luxurious and low-key layout.
The floor was covered with a thick carpet, and a mahogany desk was placed against the wall. Next to the desk was an eight-fan screen that was as tall as a person.
The base of the screen was carved with dense landscapes, birds, animals, flowers, plants, and trees. At a glance, it looked very ancient, like an antique.
The eight-fan screen in a row divided the entire room into two. For the time being, they could not see what was behind the screen, only the decorations in front of the screen.
On the empty space in front of the screens, a 90-degree corner sofa was placed in the middle of the room.
The space in the middle of the sofa was empty. There was no coffee table, but an empty space instead. It was obvious that it was a round, slightly concave disc-shaped pit.
In the corner of the room, there was a branch-shaped floor lamp. Like the branches of a big tree, the streamlined tree branch-shaped lamp extended from the lamp holder in the corner and covered the concave disc-shaped pit in the middle of the corner sofa.
The desk was clean. There was nothing on it except for a black cylinder in the middle of the desk.
This cylinder was about the size of a normal-sized coffee cup.
Everyone’s eyes moved along with the light that gradually lit up in the submarine cabin.
When all the overhead lights in the entire cabin were lit up, the branch-shaped floor lamp suddenly lit up as well.
The light from dozens of crisscrossed tree-branch-shaped lamps shone down like a pillar of light and covered the slightly sunken circular space in the middle of the corner sofa.
The figure of a man in a khaki trench coat gradually took shape in the light!
Huo Shaoheng, who had always been calm and impassive, suddenly stood up.
Song Jinning and Zhao Liangze also widened their eyes. “Could there actually be a living person in there?!”
Upon closer inspection, the figure of the man was actually illusory. After a while, the figure gradually formed into a three-dimensional shape.
When the figure of the man became extremely clear and lifelike, the ceiling lights in the cabin were extinguished again, leaving only the light pillar from the chandelier in the center of the room.
In the middle of the light pillar, the figure of the man became even more lifelike.
Turns out that it wasn’t a real person, but a holographic image.
He was tall and wore a khaki trench coat.
His eyes weren’t big, but they were very deep and dark. His hair was thick and neatly combed. His straight nose was exactly the same as Gu Nianzhi’s nose. His jaw was square, his lips slightly pursed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
It was obvious that he was a gentle and big-hearted man.
His smile was very infectious. Even though it was only a hologram, when he looked at you and smiled, you couldn’t help but smile along with him.
Huo Shaoheng clenched his fists.
That was the figure he had seen in his dream. It was Gu Nianzhi’s father, Gu Xiangwen.
Zhao Liangze had also seen Gu Xiangwen’s picture once. He quickly remembered and said in a low voice,”… That’s Mr. Gu’s hologram?”
Huo Shaoheng nodded with difficulty. His throat seemed to be choked by something and he couldn’t say a word.
Song Jinning was in awe. She quickly stood up and whispered, “That’s Mr. Gu?”
At that moment, through the small robot’s sensor equipment, Gu Xiangwen’s voice sounded from the computer’s microphone. The audio quality of the voice wasn’t very clear, but they could hear what he said clearly.
“Today is year 2XXX, the XX day of X. It has probably been seven years and three months since the day of my death.”