Chapter 535: Chapter 420: The First Battle, A Success!_2
Found it!
Fang Huai swiftly swam in that direction.
Very soon, based solely on the particles in the water, one could discern a clear direction of the water flow.
It became more and more obvious.
A formation of Stone Mountain gradually emerged in front, like Sun Wukong entering the East Sea and gradually discovering the Dragon Palace.
No wonder it couldn’t be found; the location wasn’t at the bottom at all but on a Stone Mountain seven or eight meters from the riverbed!
Fang Huai’s eyes widened more and more, his swimming movements slowly ceased, but he felt the current pulling him toward a hole in the Stone Mountain, large enough for half a person.
This wasn’t just a simple whirlpool, but a water-traversing karst cave!
Moreover, the surrounding currents suggested that the cave had already formed a passage, but it was unknown where it led.
This was too terrifying. What if it was a few hundred meters long? If one got stuck anywhere inside, wouldn’t they be buried there?
Fang Huai quickly tightened the safety rope and moved a little further away.
As the dragging signal came from his hand, the team above also began to pull him, which moved him further away.
Feeling completely protected by the rope, he felt a sense of security. After checking the pressure in his air tank, with 15 megapascals remaining, he tugged on the rope three times, releasing a safety signal, then slackened the rope again and, emboldened, moved closer. Grabbing the edge of the hole, he peeked inside.
With that one glance, he was horrified yet simultaneously ecstatic.
There seemed to be a foot around the corner inside!
Fang Huai then completely forgot about the danger, wholly stuck his head in, with the light refracting through the cave, he could see quite far.
Upon closer inspection, half a body was visible, with only a pair of pants remaining. The clothes and shoes had been washed away by the relentless currents, but the body seemed to have swollen and was stuck.
It was a man. Found him!
Having calmed down, Fang Huai carefully observed the terrain surrounding him.
In Guizhou, with its karst topography, also known as karst geomorphology, it’s easy for caves to form.
However, this cave appeared to be very long. Just the corner where the man’s body was situated was seven, eight... ten meters away from him!
In water, estimating distances was inaccurate, but it was quite far anyway!
Although long, the cave wasn’t pretty at all. It was bare, with pieces of rock, a far cry from the underground caves he had visited before, which had stalactites and jade bamboo shoots.
"Shh..."
The air pressure had fallen below 5.5 megapascals, and the alarm started sounding.
Without any hesitation, Fang Huai kicked his feet, slowly ascending, while still keeping his gaze fixed below.
At least 30 meters.
Breaking the surface, Fang Huai looked around to firmly memorize his current bearings and then climbed onto the boat.
The Southwest Guizhou Special Services soldier responsible for checking the air tank pressure took one look at his gauge and immediately exploded:
"Your air pressure is almost depleted! How can you conduct a search like this? Did you do a decompression stop coming up?"
Fang Huai didn’t answer but looked around at the kayaks, noticing that two people were missing. They had probably gone down again.
He then waved, removed his breathing system, took a few breaths and said:
"Have those two come up. We’ve found the person, prepare for rescue! Notify Chen Gong from our squadron to borrow a hypodermic needle and bring it over!"
With that statement, expressions on the boat froze.
"Found... really found it?"
Fang Huai nodded, "The Titan’s Condition has appeared. Act quickly!"
Ecstatic. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"Found it! Found it! Have them come up! Prepare for rescue!"
"Land, land, call 120 to borrow a...," a young soldier with a two-way radio started speaking then turned around, puzzled, "Borrow what?"
"A hypodermic needle! The victim has high-pressure air in his stomach, which could cause his abdomen to burst due to increased atmospheric pressure when brought ashore! To ensure the integrity of the body, an abdominal puncture must be performed underwater before bringing it to land!"
At this, the young soldier’s face went a bit pale, and he hesitantly replied:
"This... is he dead or not? Stabbing his stomach..."
No sooner had he spoken than Fang Huai was rendered somewhat speechless.
But it was too late to react...
"Smack!"
A heavy slap struck the back of the young soldier’s head.
The same world, the same squad leader.
"If you’re not going to use your brain, donate it! Commander Fang has already said it, the guy is bloated inside, you think he’s dead or not? Don’t embarrass our squadron here! Get the message to the shore quickly!"
"Land, land, we found the person, prepare... a hypodermic needle!"
"Smack!"
"Have them call 120 to borrow one! Where would we have such a thing?"
"Land, call 120 to borrow a hypodermic needle!"
With several shouts, the surroundings began to bustle.
"Found him!"
On the shore, a large crowd instantly gathered, some waving frantically to confirm the news.
Those downstream began to receive notices, and by the time the hypodermic needle was delivered, there were at least a hundred or two hundred people on the shore.
Li Zhi and a leader-looking person also rushed to a spot on the shore, speaking into a two-way radio.
"Little Fang, Little Fang, are you certain you found the person? Where?"
Fang Huai stood up, took the two-way radio, and after a moment’s thought said:
"Reporting to the Regimental Commander, there’s a water-traversing karst cave below, the victim was sucked in, now stuck inside. The cave is complex, with strong currents, extremely dangerous!"
Actually, it wasn’t that dangerous.
But since Li Zhi was involved, it surely meant that high-level officials from the province had arrived, so he might as well describe it a bit more challenging.
Li Zhi would understand later... right?
It never hurts to overstate a favor.
Li Zhi’s voice came through, filled with tension: "What’s the likelihood of successful rescue? Can you guarantee your own safety?"
Fang Huai’s voice rose: "Reporting, we’re preparing a team of three for the rescue operation. I will do my utmost to ensure safety! I guarantee to complete the task!"