Rebellion 11, Area 51
Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"Are you saying Chief of Staff Schröder is not at home? What about other places? Have you looked for him?"
A wave of panic surged in Beluga's mind.
The officer reporting to him shrugged helplessly.
Beluga crossed his arms and continued to pace on the floor, though his steps were no longer as steady as before.
Calm down! Calm down! Beluga, you can think of a solution.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
Wait a minute, it seems that Chief of Staff Schröder not being in Alden Town might actually be more advantageous for me. After all, Schröder is second only to Paul Grayman in the Alden army. If he were here and not cooperating with my actions, whatever solution I attempted would inevitably cause some trouble.
And if he's not here, that's much better.
Moreover...
With that thought, he immediately took action. "Follow me!"
Beluga waved at the officer who had come to report to him.
The two exited the office, and the two subordinates guarding outside quickly followed. They swiftly traversed the wide corridors of the staff building and ascended the stairs to the third floor.
The entire building was already under Beluga's control, so they moved smoothly without any obstruction.
He stopped in front of a door.
"Break down this door!"
With a command from Beluga, the two subordinates beside him turned sideways and forcefully slammed into it with their shoulders.
After a series of loud crashes, the room door was knocked open, and the group immediately entered.
"This is Chief of Staff Schröder's office!"
Unlike the panic he had shown earlier, Beluga now looked almost ecstatic. His keen eyes quickly spotted what he was looking for.
A circular seal quietly sat in the inkpad box on the desk.
He quickly walked over to the desk, picked up the seal, and examined it closely.
"Definitely, this is the official seal of the staff. With it, our subsequent actions will be much more convenient."
...
Chief of Staff Owen Schröder of the Alden army rode hard on horseback with his two guards, and fortunately, they left before the militia could seal off Alden Town. They had ridden southeast for more than three hours until they stopped at a forest.
Schröder and his guards dismounted, letting their panting horses rest for a few minutes.
The old knight pulled out a short, thick-barreled pistol from his waist, raised it to the sky, and pulled the trigger. The gun did not produce the loud sound of an ordinary firearm but instead let out a muffled bang. Immediately after, a burst of light shot from the muzzle, soaring straight into the night sky.
As it ascended, the light suddenly exploded with a loud pop, scattering countless bright points around, resembling a flower blooming in an instant.
Schröder put away his pistol and quietly gazed into the dark forest ahead, with only the sound of their horses' labored breathing left in the air.
After just a few minutes, several points of light suddenly appeared deep within the pitch-black woods.
Soon, the lights became clearer, and it could be seen that they were lanterns getting closer.
"Which nobleman is this?"
Several riders sprang out from the forest, illuminated by the lanterns. They were all dressed in Alden army uniforms.
Schröder replied, "It's me, Owen Schröder."
"Oh, it's Lord Schröder. Are you here to enter Area 51?"
The leader's tone revealed a hint of unease in the latter half of his sentence. After all, coming to this place in the middle of the night, especially with the Chief of Staff himself arriving, clearly indicated that something urgent and important was happening.
"I need to see Herman and Claude immediately; I have some very urgent matters to discuss with them."
As expected, the soldiers coming to greet Schröder were startled. Something big might have happened in Alden Town.
"I understand, Lord Schröder. Please follow us closely, and you will meet them in half an hour."
Area 51 was initially established to combat pirates, a secret location chosen by Paul in the forests near Alden Town. He used it to train new recruits and established the first three infantry battalions. Later, as the army grew, it was no longer used for training new soldiers but was converted into a research and manufacturing base for weapons and equipment—specifically, the unique gunpowder weapons of the Alden army. From then on, this place was officially named Area 51 by Paul.
Gunpowder weapons were the most classified assets in the Alden army. Paul believed it was better to keep these things securely in his own hands until he felt sufficiently safe, so the production of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons took place in this extremely secretive location. Only a few high-ranking officials in the government and army knew about Area 51. Those veterans and junior officers who had trained there believed the training camp had long been abandoned.
Since Area 51 was a secret base, it was naturally under tight protection. The woodland connecting Area 51 to the outside was filled with traps, which changed periodically. This was also the reason Schröder needed to wait outside the forest for someone to come and greet him; even he did not know the latest safe routes.
Of course, Schröder was not running to Area 51 for refuge.
Few knew that the Alden army, besides the publicly known eight battalions, actually had a ninth battalion specifically established to guard Area 51. Even when Paul previously reduced the army to save costs, this battalion was retained in full for confidentiality reasons—Paul did not want soldiers who might transition to civilian life to leak any information about Area 51, even a little bit.
Schröder's purpose in coming to Area 51 was to use this battalion to deal with the rebels in Alden Town.
As for confidentiality... since his home had been stolen, it was clear that quelling the rebellion took precedence.
Schröder and his two guards followed the soldiers guiding them through the forest, winding around for about half an hour. Finally, the scenery ahead opened up. Under the bright moonlight, a cluster of buildings, the size of a small town, appeared before their eyes.
Area 51 was not only a weapons manufacturing base but also served a residential function. All those working here, whether engineers responsible for research and development, workers engaged in production, or administrative personnel handling management and logistics, as well as officers and soldiers stationed here, had their families brought to this secret area—again, for confidentiality.
To accommodate these people, besides the military factory, Area 51 also had shops, farms, and various production units for civilian goods, and even included schools and theaters.
As for whether the people inside had any need to communicate with the outside world... Please, most people of this era have never left the village where they were born in their entire lives.
In short, this was a small self-sufficient town located deep in the forest, akin to the legendary secret cities of the Cold War era that couldn't be found on maps.
TL: During the Cold War, several secret cities, also known as "closed cities," were established, particularly in the Soviet Union, for military or scientific purposes. These cities were typically not marked on maps, and access was heavily restricted, even to Soviet citizens. Here are some notable examples:
• Arzamas-16 (now Sarov)
• Chelyabinsk-40 / Chelyabinsk-65 (now Ozersk)
• Zheleznogorsk (formerly Krasnoyarsk-26)
• Severomorsk
(End of the Chapter)
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