Precision Demolition

Old Kahn's gaze was resolute as he nodded, "I've got this. By placing high-explosive devices at the building's critical load-bearing points, we can ensure the structure is completely destroyed. If successful, it will collapse vertically without affecting the surrounding buildings on the surface."

Old Kahn carefully studied the architectural blueprints in his hands, "If we follow the marked ventilation ducts and maintenance hatches on the blueprints, we can infiltrate the underground. Although Chris will cut the surveillance and alarms, we must still be very cautious to avoid any uncertainties."

Young Kahn was responsible for working with Rakien to find information on government contractors, confirming more detailed engineering layouts and load-bearing structures of the building.

The day of the infiltration operation was drawing near.

On the night of the operation, the four of them changed into disguised clothes early on, wearing face masks capable of evading any civilian surveillance systems on the streets. They drove an unremarkable van with changed license plates, and after a while, they slowly approached the vicinity of the building deep in the city. Chris remotely shut down some of the nearby surveillance cameras and provided real-time data support as they prepared to infiltrate.

Young Kahn stayed in the vehicle, monitoring the surroundings and alerting the others at any sign of danger. Rakien and Oren, along with Old Kahn, took advantage of the night to infiltrate through the familiar ventilation ducts. Along the way, they crawled on their hands and feet through the narrow ducts, listening vigilantly for any movement around them, fearing to trigger the alarms again.

They carried explosives and placed high-explosive devices at nine critical load-bearing locations in the underground facility. With each step forward, they became more cautious. Oren's calmness and precise planning allowed the entire operation to proceed methodically in silence.

"Here," Oren whispered, pointing to a corner marked on the blueprint, "We need to place the first explosive here. According to the blueprint, this is the core node of the power supply center."

Old Kahn took out a polymer-timed explosive device from his backpack and gently attached it to the wall. The timer was set to activate in three hours – the final time to ensure the facility was completely destroyed after they left.

As time passed, the four successfully completed all tasks – the polymer explosives were accurately placed at each critical point and load-bearing structure, and Chris's technical support also ensured they temporarily evaded all security systems. Rakien stood at the bottom of the facility, looking at the huge and complex gene cultivation equipment, filled with mixed emotions.

"The destruction of this giant experimental center may save the entire planet. Let the negative dark forces that harm us go to hell!" Young Kahn said in a hushed voice through the encrypted communicator in the vehicle, his hand trembling slightly, whether from tension or anger.

With the last high-explosive device set, Oren glanced at his watch, "It's almost time, let's get out of here."

The three tacitly and quickly evacuated, returning to the surface along the same route. Everything went smoothly, without any obstacles. When they stood again on the city streets, the lights were still normal, and no one noticed the impending explosion.

They quickly returned to where they had parked. Rakien got into the van first, followed by Old Kahn and Oren who closed the doors behind them. The van swiftly left the quiet but dangerous area, heading towards Kahn's bar.

The distant building still stood in the night, soon to become ruins.

"Alright, Chris, mission accomplished! We've safely evacuated," Young Kahn excitedly whispered into the communicator.

Chris's voice came through the earpiece, "Great job! I've erased your traces from the system, the security system is temporarily down, you're safe."

They returned to Kahn's bar, the atmosphere still tense. Rakien looked up at the clock on the wall, less than 20 minutes left before the explosives would detonate.

The group quickly crossed the street, took the elevator to the top of a nearby high-rise, and took out two high-powered telescopes from their backpacks. From here, they had a perfect view of the distant black building.

"Three minutes left," Old Kahn checked his watch, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, his expression complex.

Everyone sat silently in the corner, waiting for the moment to arrive.

Time ticked by, second by second, until the final moment. Rakien watched the countdown on his watch, never had time felt so slow, until the last second, his heart raced as if he had stopped breathing, but on the surface, he still tried to remain calm.

Suddenly, a deep explosion sounded from the distance, like a huge muffled roar, the ground shaking with the rumble. Rakien and Kahn immediately stood up and observed everything in the distance through the telescopes.

In the distant night sky, a massive column of smoke and dust shot up into the air. The building slowly collapsed in the explosion, accurately falling straight down. As the structure collapsed, a huge gray cloud of dust and explosion light rose into the air, obscuring the view. Miraculously, the surrounding buildings were indeed unharmed, the explosion was precisely placed, only the target building collapsed vertically, turning into ruins.

"Beautiful! So precise!" Young Kahn exclaimed, looking through the telescope. "Alright, mission complete! Let's head back to the bar."

The group quietly descended from the rooftop to the ground and returned to Kahn's bar.

Meanwhile, residents around the building gradually came out of their homes to surround the ruins, many holding their phones to capture the scene. Faces were filled with surprise and confusion. Murmurs began to spread among the crowd.

"What's going on? How did that building just fall?"

"This building never had any windows or doors, I always thought it was a bit strange, what was it for?"

"I just heard an explosion, was it a terrorist attack?"

"Where are the police?"

At that moment, the sound of police sirens grew closer. The Averland government's police forces quickly arrived at the scene, dozens of police cars surrounded the area. Fully armed police poured out of the vehicles and began to cordon off the scene.

"Scatter, scatter!! This is dangerous, everyone leave now!" an officer with a megaphone shouted, "Everyone move away from the scene, maintain a safe distance!"

The police skillfully set up barriers, dispersing the onlookers, gradually driving them back to a safe area outside.

Rakien stood inside the bar, observing the outside through a gap in the curtains. He knew this was only the beginning. Although they had destroyed the negative alien's gene research center, the battle was far from over. The negative alien forces still existed, the nuclear threat was still there, and the Averland police's rapid response meant their actions might have been noticed.

"We need to think about our next move," Rakien whispered, turning to look at the others in the bar. "They will investigate this incident relentlessly."

"Indeed," Old Kahn nodded, speaking in a deep voice, "But we have no way back."

The next day, all of Averland's newspapers and news channels were flooded with reports of the incident, but the news described the building as a "government office building" and claimed the event was a terrorist attack planned by "terrorists." Seeing these distorted reports, Rakien and the others were furious, the truth so easily twisted.

"That's not an office building! They're lying!!" Rakien pounded the table with his fist, his emotions running high.