by <unknown>
"How is that possible!" Hanamal saw the color of bewilderment appearing on the elder's expression.
"It's true. They say that children cost a lot of Namibian dollars back in Mainland China. Having children required a great deal of consideration!"
"How can that be? Who's supposed to watch the cows then? We need to have a lot of children so that someone could watch the cows. The more children you have, the more cows you can have, and that leads to more income. How is having children supposed to cost more?"
Hanamal looked at Nasara prattling on and on with a baffled look on his face. He then saw the outsiders who seemed to find the entire ordeal hilarious. He was quickly consumed by an emotion known as shame.
At the time, he was not sure what sort of emotion he was experiencing, but he was able to read the look in the outsider's eyes.
There was a distinct pity in their eyes. They looked at the elder the same way the elder looked at Lilia, Panama, and the other orphans.
The way these outsiders saw it, Hanamal's little village was like an orphan abandoned by the world…
From that day onward, Hanamal was determined that he was going to get out of this village. He was going to leave this place that his parents never ventured out of.
Unlike his equals, Hanamal possessed an unwavering spirit that allowed him to press on endlessly until he achieved his goals.
Little did Hanamal knew, his opportunity arrived sooner than he had expected.
By the time Hanamal was eleven, his father's health condition constantly deteriorated by the day. The entire village was no stranger to occurrences like this.
Some of the people in the village were simply destined to not make it past thirty.
Just as expected, his father heaved his last breath within a few months. His mother followed his father shortly after that, leaving Hanamal with his three elder brothers and two younger brothers.
After losing their parents, the mood in the family continued to grow tense.
To not add to his brother's burdens, Hanamal made up his mind and committed to leaving the village he had spent eleven years in…
Hanamal slowly opened his eyes.
He rose in the pitch-black room and sighed slowly.
For some reason, he continued to dream about the small village he was born in even after thirty years. He dreamt of the blurred faces of his parents…
Hanamal wondered, how were his brothers doing?
He glanced at his clock, it was only 3 o'clock at midnight. There was still some time to pass before daylight.
Hanamal did not bother turning on the lights. He lit up a cigarette in the dark and let the loneliness course through him.
The world was such a mysterious place. Even though both of his parents were infected with HIV, he was born without any form of disability. It was for that reason that he was able to survive for many years in this world.
Hanamal did more than just surviving. He also got out of Namibia by putting himself through school and getting admitted into the Polytechnic Institute of Cape Town University in Rainbow Country.
It was the best university on the African continent.
After graduating at thirty years old, Hanam was recruited into Cape Affix Electronic Technology Company as an electrical engineer.
Who could have ever known what strange mysteries life had in stock for us?
As Hanamal was contemplating all the things he went through in this life of his, his finger holding the cigarette suddenly halted.
He stopped because he heard the sound of the door being unlocked coming from the living room outside his bedroom.
"Clack…"
Human senses tend to be sharper in the dark. Despite being more than ten meters away, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked.
Somebody was trying to break in!
Thief? Robber? Or was it his girlfriend who he broke up with just a few days ago?
As Hanamal was letting his imaginations run wild, he heard a loud crash and the door was swiftly kicked open!
Just how brave was the person coming in?
Hanamal felt his hands tremble, the cigarette slipped out of his hand and onto the bed. Hanamal could hardly be bothered about that. He quickly hopped out of the bed and went for the window!
Before he could crawl out the window, he heard a round of stomping footsteps coming from behind him. It was followed by a big rough arm grabbing him by the back collar and fiercely tearing him off the windowsill!
"Don't kill me, I have no money!" All Hanamal could muster was a terrified shriek before he felt a numbing pain on his head and blacking out.
…
Hanamal awoke abruptly to cold water being splashed on his face.
There was a terrible, burning sensation in his head as he inspected his surroundings. He noticed that he was tied to a chair. In addition, a cloth which reeked a god awful stench was stuffed into his mouth.
He found himself in an unfamiliar room with several men in black surrounding him. Right in front of him was a somewhat slouched figure.
Kidnap?
Hanamal felt his heart tightening. He quickly began begging for mercy but the only thing that came out was muffled whines.
"Everybody head out first."
It was then when the slouched figure spoke.
"Yes, Godfather."
The ferocious group of men in black shuffled out of the room like a flock of sheep. The last one made sure to lock the room after exiting.
The man with the slouched figure began approaching closer. It was only then when Hanamal noticed that the other person's eyes appeared somewhat familiar.
Oh God… Was not this Dlamini, the Member of Parliament who always appeared on the news?
Dlamini pulled the cloth from Hanamal's mouth and asked in a bizarre tone, "You're Hanamal, the Hanamal born in Gorob Village?"
"Sir Parliament Dlamini!"
Hanamal quickly defended himself. "I was wrong, I swear that I'll never ridicule you online ever again. Although I voted for the current mayor during the election because your proposal was absolute bull- I swear that I'll vote for you if you run again, please let me off the hook…"
Hanamal immediately rambled incoherently, he was not even sure what he just said.
"Enough!"
Dlamini scoffed. "I'll ask you one more time, are you born in a village called Gorob?"
"Yes, I was born in Gorob Village. But I swear in God's name that I'm not a spy of Namibia!" Hanamal explained himself in a panic.
"D*mn it, don't talk about God in front of me!"
Dlamini suddenly got angry. Though what exactly provoked him to this degree, Hanamal did not know.
Dlamini sighed heavily when he seemed to catch himself losing his composure, he went on. "Since you're Hanamal, I take it that we have the correct person."
He turned around and went to the desk where he opened a laptop.
The laptop display showed the Windows interface as was the norm when it was turned on. However, the image quickly flashed and turned into a pitch-black screen with a strange logo on it.
Hanamal was certain that it was not the logo of the computer…
"Good morning, Mr. Hanamal."
Amid Hanamal's confusion, he heard a voice coming from the laptop. At the same time, he saw a scribbled hand-drawn map appearing on the display.
"Mr. Hanamal, please excuse our unseemly intrusion. If I may ask, where exactly did you acquire this map?"
"This map?"
Hanamal was slightly taken aback when he heard the question. Upon closer inspection of the map, his confusion quickly turned into fright. "How is this possible! I drew this map a few years ago based on what I could remember from my childhood. I never posted it online. How did it end up in your hands?"
"I take it that you're the author of this map then?"
The voice from the computer did not appear to be bothered by the lack of clarity in Hanamal's answer as another question followed. "Are you sure that the contents of the ma
p are true?"
Hanamal hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Dlamini glaring at him at his side, he quickly nodded an answer. "Yes! I discovered the cavern when I was a child, I'm sure of that. Apart from me, there were a few children my age who knew about it as well."
"A few children your age knows about the cavern as well?"
The person on the other end seemed to fall silent for a moment to allow some time to think when another question followed after. "Do you know their names?"
"Sorry, I'm not so sure anymore…"
Hanamal hastily shook his head. "It was more than thirty years ago and my memory of it is pretty hazy now. If it wasn't for my dream about that cavern I'd have discarded the memory entirely!"
"I see, such a shame."
The voice on the other hand gave a blank response. After that, it spoke again, "Mr. Dlamini, I'll entrust the delivery to you, I'd hope I can see Hanamal in person in a day."
"Understood, Lord Judas."
Dlamini nodded in response and informed obediently, "I already had someone get the flight tickets, you'll see him very soon."
"Wait!" Hanamal was struck with horror upon hearing their conversation. "Where are you guys taking me?"
"Well, we're bringing you home, of course."
There was the faintest hint of a snicker in the voice from the computer. The computer turned off on its own after that…
Chapter 115: Found the Entrance |
There was a reef coast in the coastal zone five kilometers south of Gorob Village, only a few kilometers away from the famous Sandwich Harbor in Namibia.
The Sandwich Harbor was one of the popular destinations in Namibia. Since the desert was connected to the sea in this region, tourists got to witness the fabled scenery where the desert met the sea and poured its golden sand into the ocean.
While Chen Chen was in the process of leasing the 50000 hectares of land, he made sure to include a portion of Sandwich Harbor in the agreement. He planned to develop a wellness center here in the future.
Apart from the Sandwich Harbor, all that could be seen was a regular reef coast.
At the moment on the turbulent Atlantic coast, several speed boats could be seen hovering along the coastline, taking caution to not hit the reef and damage their hulls.
Several mercenaries fitted diving suits were on the boat. They dove into the water and appeared to be searching for something.
This went on for three days.
It was then when a slightly larger yacht began approaching from afar.
The past few days felt like years for Hanamal. Nobody cared to ask what he wanted or needed. After being forcefully dragged back to Namibia, he was only fed a single meal before being dragged to this foreign and yet familiar part of the sea.
Upon seeing the reef coast, Hanamal felt a glimpse of memory coming back to him.
It was as if he had returned to thirty years ago, back when he was in the carefree days of his childhood.
Unfortunately, the flashback only lasted for a brief moment before it was abruptly cut short by the Chinaman wearing gold-framed glasses with combed back oily hair.
Qian Wenhuan kept staring at the map and the scenery before him while he constantly asked, "Hanamal, is this the place?"
"I'm sorry, it has been so many years. I only vaguely remember the approximate location. All I can say for sure is that it's along these coastlines, we'll find it soon enough," Hanamal explained cautiously.
Qian Wenhuan broke into a bitter smile. "Bro, are you messing with me now? You don't even know how deep the cavern is? Isn't there a landmark or something you can use as a reference?"
"It wasn't me who found the cavern. It was a child around my age who found it. He only invited me to take a look…" Hanamal's voice was almost a whisper.
Qian Wenhuan rolled his eyes and pointed at an assistant nearby. "Give Mr. Hanamal here a diving suit."
"Please don't, it's not like I can find it even if I dove down…"
There was a visible change in Hanamal's expression as he quickly made a waving gesture with his hands. "Also, it's been so many years, I've long forgotten how to swim!"
"Don't be presumptuous now, Mr. Hanamal. Human's memory can be a feeble thing. You may not be able to recall it now but maybe when you enter the water – Eh? I suddenly remember it now! Yeah?"
Qian Wenhuan made the same waving gesture. "It's not that we don't believe you, it's just that we're trying to broaden our view here!"
Qian Wenhuan shoved the diving suit into Hanamal's hands despite his protests.
Hanamal carried a sour expression on his face. He looked around him and saw several speed boats along with people coming in and out of the surface of the water. Only then did he begrudgingly put on the diving suit.
…
Evening. Just as Chen Chen was about to leave the laboratory, he received a call from Qian Wenhuan.
"Boss, we found it!"
Qian Wenhuan's voice on the other end of the phone was full of excitement. "We took three days and yielded no results whatsoever. But when Hanamal dove in, he immediately found the cavern. Turns out that the entrance was sealed away by a build-up of seaweed and silt!"
"Good work." Chen Chen applauded. "Can you enter?"
"Not for the moment. We measured the entrance of the cavern at a little over fifty centimeters but as we dug further we found that it can get as narrow as thirty centimeters. I'd say even a frail child of around eight to nine years old can just barely squeeze through."
"I see, why don't you come back for now."
Chen Chen thought for a moment. "Prepare the tools for underwater operation tonight. We can ship them over tomorrow and begin exploring."
"Understood."
After ending the call, Chen Chen went to the power control room of the research center.
The power control room was located on the ground floor of the research building. All of the power used in the research center was sourced from here. The power was distributed accordingly before being passed to the other sections.
For some undisclosed reason, Chen Chen made sure to fortify the power control room to be more secure than a bank. The metal reinforced gate measured at half a meter's thickness and an internationally renowned biological identification system was installed. All of these security protocols with Little X's monitoring to boot.
Unless the research center was captured by force, otherwise, there was nobody else other than Chen Chen who could access the power control room.
He stepped up to the door of the power control room and placed his palm on the verification device. The door was opened after the iris identification.
Chen Chen sighed as he walked into the power control room and saw a USB flash drive inserted into a special plug-in board.
All this time, not only did Chen Chen use the electricity generated from the photovoltaic equipment, but he also established a transmission channel agreement with the Walvis Bay power plant. All of the leftover electricity left unused by the Walvis Bay power plant was fed into this place and subsequently devoured entirely by the USB drive.
Even with that, it was still too slow. It could barely compare to the amount he had accumulated in the five days in Cape Town.
The power plant in Walvis Bay was just a small 100,000-kilowatt generator set. Supplying this small town with a population of one hundred thousand was already pushing its limit, let alone Chen Chen's side.
The photovoltaic generator set established by Chen Chen could generate 6 kilowatts of electricity per hour. With a thousand of them being set up, the power generated was only the rough equivalent of a 6000-kilowatt micro power station.
On top of that, there were only 12 hours of daylight each day, effectively cutting the efficiency in half. There was simply not enough electricity for the USB drive.
Over the last few months, the USB drive had absorbed a measly one million kilowatts of electricity. It was enough to allow Chen Chen to instantiate a kilogram worth of objects.
Chen C
hen could not help but shake his head when he saw the USB drive laying idly.
If the USB drive had this much power left in it back when he had just acquired it, it would save Chen Chen a lot of work. At that point, he could just eat NZT-48 like candies and the same could be said for the immunity shot.
For his current stage, this amount of power was pitiful.
The only thing Chen Chen could do was to wait until the commencement of the nuclear power plant construction. Only then was he able to take the initial steps to instantiate the items he needed.
Yes. Just the initial steps.
Even with a 2 million kilowatt nuclear power plant, it could only provide 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity for the USB drive daily. This number was obtained without factoring in the need to provide energy for the other users.
40 million kilowatts per day after conversion translated to around thirty kilograms of objects instantiated. This summed up to only roughly 11 tons a year.
Realistically, there was no way that Chen Chen could hog all of it for himself. He had to distribute two-thirds of the power generated to Namibia. Therefore, the actual resulting efficiency had to be cut into one-thirds, which was barely 3.7 tons.
Judging by the surface size of the crystalline appearing in Chronicles and calculating it according to the density of an ordinary crystal which was 2.66g/cm3, the approximate weight was in the range of 9.31 to 10.7 tons. This meant that it would take Chen Chen two and a half years just for instantiating the crystalline alone.
A mere piece of crystalline was going to take Chen Chen three whole years. One could only imagine how long it was going to take for the other high-tech equipment or even humongous spaceships that Chen Chen wanted.
To sum it up, the construction of the nuclear power plant was merely the first stage of Chen Chen's plans for powering the USB drive.
He was still going to need to find better methods in the future…
Chapter 116: Exploring the Secret Cavern |
The next day, Chen Chen went to the reef coast in person.
Namibia was already sparsely populated in the first place with only 2.5 million people living on 800,000 square kilometers of land. The scarce population proved to be more evident in off-road remote places like this.
