Chapter 330: Chapter 162: Tactical Underwater Rescue

Gu Ji had already witnessed this kind of scene in the checkpoints of the underground building, so he just slightly paused, pushed the corpse aside, and then gestured with the flashlight to the left and right: “Singer, you go to the left and focus on investigating the rooms with closed doors!”

“Got it, Commander!”

Singer nodded but noticed that when Gu Ji left, his movements were very slow and slight, completely using the power of his fins to “glide” forward. He recalled Gu Ji’s appearance when he entered the water just now; the entire process didn’t seem like a rescue, more like a “stealth invasion.”

In fact, this was Gu Ji’s combat instinct gained after acquiring close combat skills in maritime operations.

In tactical diving by special forces and SWAT teams, they often perform highly challenging tasks such as underwater infiltration and demolition, requiring a lot of professional equipment: back-mounted closed-circuit rebreather, buoyancy vest, underwater communication, diving compass, weight belt, individual sonar, and more.

A diver equipped with such gear moves very slowly underwater, only 3-5 kilometers per hour, because prolonged swimming causes fatigue, and if the distance is too great, underwater transport vehicles are used. Therefore, “conserving energy” is very important for tactical diving.

According to the sonar instructions from the detector.

Gu Ji directly skipped the first room, as an open room meant it was already filled with water. Without a supplied-air breathing apparatus, surviving underwater for over four hours is impossible; only rooms with closed doors might still have some air left to barely survive.

“Commander, the fourth room on the left is closed!”

“I’ve also found a closed room on the third right. Check the bottom of the door for any obstruction, use a flashlight or knock on the door to signal inside.”

While speaking, Gu Ji approached the door frame and used the High-Power Flashlight to inspect the door seam.

If someone was inside, they would surely try to block any leaks with clothes, foam, or other items. As expected, he found that the one-finger-wide door seam was stuffed with plastic bags from inside.

“Singer, I found something here!”

Gu Ji shouted, then knocked forcefully on the door. After several knocks, there was a sudden “bang bang bang” response from inside, at which point Singer swam over as well, “Start prying the door.”

As he spoke, he drew an underwater demolition tool from his back.

The tool is made up of cutters, spreaders, hydraulic rams, and high-temperature cutters, allowing cutting, spreading, ramming, and cutting operations on land and underwater.

Gu Ji first inserted the spreader into the door seam, twisted the lever with force, and the doorframe brace instantly began to loosen.

At this point, a series of urgent and intense knocks sounded from inside, needless to say, water had started leaking in.

“Three, two, one, prepare to breach the door for rescue!”

He deliberately gave those inside some reaction time. After giving the order to Singer, both of them continued prying the demolition tool into the enlarged door seam, pressing against the wall with one foot, and pulling out forcefully.

Crack!

The top half of the door was instantly pulled open with a giant crack. With Gu Ji’s continuous force, the door broke free entirely from its devastated frame, and the accumulated water flooded inside in a blink of an eye, submerging the interior.

“Commander! Sonar shows three people inside the room!”

“Singer, you take one, and I’ll take the other two! Return the same way we came; I’ll go first!”

Gu Ji decisively assigned the tasks; while illuminating with the High-Power Flashlight to attract them, he swam into the room, and as he turned, he saw two shadows approaching him. He didn’t have time to focus on the other person because that was Singer’s task. Without knowing the swimming capability or lung capacity of the three individuals, all he could do was race against time to get them to the surface.

So, Gu Ji grabbed the waists of the two, lifting them like chicks, fluttering his fins, quickly swimming toward the central staircase.

The two seemed to understand that someone was rescuing them, obediently holding onto his waist.

At this moment, Gu Ji’s previous effort in conserving energy underwater came into play, plus the endurance enhancement from the mark. Despite carrying two survivors, his speed wasn’t significantly affected.

Splash—!

A splash suddenly burst out from the water on the third floor as Gu Ji successfully surfaced with the two survivors.

“Quick! Give me a hand!”

“Be careful not to miss the steps!”

Seeing the rescue team rush over, Gu Ji quickly removed his breathing mask and shouted while checking on Singer underwater: “Singer! How is it going on your end? Answer quickly!”

“Splash! Commander, I’ve got them up!”

Just as he spoke, Singer and the other survivor appeared behind him.

Once the three were seated at the windowsill, the accompanying medical team hurriedly checked for injuries; perhaps the four hours of darkness and entrapment left them heavily traumatized, even after being rescued, they continued to look fearfully at the pooled water on the floor, wide-eyed and toes tucked under.

“Rest assured, you’re safe now, and I’ll arrange for you to be safely sent to a disaster relief center, but I still need to ask a few questions: Are there any others trapped in this building, and have you seen the Chief or the Minister of Water Resources?”

In response to Gu Ji’s inquiry, a brown-haired female government worker shook her head, took a deep breath, suppressed her fear, and said: “There should be a dozen more people. When the flood hit, it quickly flooded the building. We heard many screams, and when we reacted and tried to escape, the water had already reached the second floor. The doors were hard to open, water kept coming in through the door seams, and in desperation, we could only block the door seams and wait for rescue on the office desks. As for the ministers… we don’t know, we only know the Chief was in the conference room!”

“Singer, take them away first, then bring two more divers with me to go down.”

“Commander, take a rest too; after all, you brought two people up!”

“Don’t worry, this workload won’t exhaust my energy.”

Gu Ji shook his hand and replaced his oxygen mask.

Singer, slightly panting, seeing him breathe steadily, then took the three staff out of the safety-tethered window.

In this way, under the command of Gu Ji,

Team 14 swept through the entire Geology Bureau building, rescuing 11 people, including a well-known geologist in Assam. The only regret was that neither the trapped personnel nor the floating corpses had signs of the two ministers.

Meanwhile, Fatima’s team searched all the rooms on the third floor, including the conference room, without finding any valuable clues.

“It seems likely they were swept away by the flood; regardless, let’s move on to the next target…”

Though the ministers were crucial, Gu Ji couldn’t revolve around them indefinitely.

As he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of the geology expert seeming hesitant to speak. This guy, in his forties with silver hair, black-framed glasses, dark brown skin, clad in a white coat, was the typical Indian scholar type.

During the rescue conversation, Gu Ji had already learned his name.

“Mr. Nandeao, do you have something to say?”

“I…”

Nandeao hesitated for a moment but eventually made a decision: “I don’t know if saying this is appropriate, but before the flood, the Chief came to ask about the geological activity of the Himalayas. At that time, I overheard him having a fierce argument with the Minister of Water Resources; their emotions were extremely agitated. The accompanying secretary had me temporarily leave and return later. Who would have known that disaster would strike right after…”

Had they had a dispute?

Gu Ji and Fatima exchanged a glance, unable to keep from raising their eyebrows.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep