"Are your people ready?" Kola walked towards Nangi with a sense of dignity about him.
"Waiting on your signal," Nangi answered with a smile.
With a sweep of his gaze, he could see the men lined up at the entry of some underground space.
At the front, Warai and Njeru held their guns and peered down the shaft.
At some point in history, someone had discovered the military base and raided their weapons and anything precious to be had.
Many decades later, this place had exchanged hands severally. Some rich Adventurer team would buy or rent it if they had business in the area.
The reason it remained undeveloped was that there was hardly any business to conduct in the area. To call it remote would be an understatement.
Sometime back, Kola had acquired the base from a previous owner at quite the steep price, a decision that astounded many. His competitors had conducted secret investigations in the area wondering what was worth so much, but there was nothing.
Despite all their investigations, they could not yield any result. How could they, they did not have the advantage Kola had, an AI whispering in his ears showing him all the undiscovered treasures.
However, Sallie did warn Kola that he would face severe peril acquiring these particular resources. He needed help, which is why Kola allied himself with Nangi.
Kola did not want some bigwig to swoop in and take all the treasure, but he also needed someone with enough clout to get the necessary resources and manpower.
Nangi had not disappointed Kola in any way. With the weapons and equipment that the lead team had, Kola was very confident of this team. Better yet, Sallie approved of this team.
"You ready?" Kola asked Sallie through their mental connection.
"Waiting on you," Sallie replied, borrowing the words spoken by Nangi.
"Alright, lead the way."
Putting on his helmet, Kola stood up and marched to the front, Nangi following closely behind. It was time to move out.
Time to move out.
The shaft was extremely dank. The foul air coming from it was in no way inviting, but Kola had to step up and move forward. This was his operation, and he was the lead.
The ropes were hooked, and they were ready to rappel. Holding his assault rifle tightly, he took a deep breath and jumped in.
It took the entire group a whole hour to rappel the entire shaft, but this was to be expected. The entire group was made up of elites, and everyone one of them was experienced, save for one.
While lacking in experience, Njeru made up for it in enthusiasm and excellent learning capabilities. Others didn't even know he was learning, he just matched every action that Kola did.
There was also the added advantage that he could evolve and transform what he learned on the spot, improving Kola's flaws.
Moreover, Njeru discovered he had latent survival instinct. The more murkier the situation, the more alive he felt. Something inside him was growing, as though his memories were coming back.
Soon, everyone was down on the ground.
As they had been climbing down, they had popped some flares to illuminate. Since the science of making flares had been long lost, it was a statement of wealth that Kola could use such luxuries.
Needless to say, Nangi and most of his team were shocked and awed by the extravagance displayed.
What they did not know was that Kola had a little invisible fairy who could take him to all the cool places that had yet to be discovered.
Sallie's guidance had proved useful time and time again. Acting as his guide, Sallie had led him and his Adventurer team to grand places and discovered openings that were not there before.
It was in one of those grand discoveries that they had unearthed piles of flares stacked away. They had only sold a few, to keep the price high, while storing the rest for themselves.
Once they were down there, they lit up the torches and started moving. Kola was in the lead.
The tunnel they had come upon was pitch black and showed no sign of life. Not even spiders made their home on the walls.
All this area had been explored so far, they were still going to the truly undiscovered locations, where they believed to house the treasures.
It was then that they approached what looked like the end of the tunnel. From here they could go no further.
There were signs that some explorers had tried to blow up the wall in hopes of going through, but none had succeeded. The wall was just too thick, and since it was underground, they assumed this was the end of the tunnel.
Touching the walls, even Nangi believed this was the end. Some explosive had dug an entire five inches through the wall, but had not been able to penetrate. Could there be anything beyond.
As he was contemplating, Njeru watched Sallie appear and place her hand upon the wall. He noticed some force-field type that his eyes had not seen. It seemed to receive the order, where it turned itself off.
She then cast a confident glance at Kola and told him, "It's done."
Hearing the report, Kola confidently strode forward saying, "sometimes, it's not about brute strength."
Strangely enough, the huge spoked wheel that acted as the lock was still intact. However, this was not because those who tried before had opted to leave it be, it was just that they couldn't even dent the metal that it was composed of.
Kola grabbed the spoked wheel and spun it. Seeing it freely move, everyone gasped, but not as much as they did when they heard a click sound, as though locking in place.
Suddenly, a circular part of the wall began to open, revealing a hidden passage in the wall.
Everyone was shocked, giving Kola a shocked look. It was as though they were seeing him again for the first time.
While some may have believed him, Nangi and Chege understood it was not as easy as turning the spoked wheel. If it had been, then others would have figured it out long ago. Clearly, Kola had unearthed some big secret this time round.
As everyone marveled at the new hole in the wall, Kola made sure to grab a flare and toss it inside, illuminating the dark corridor just beyond the door.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but everyone had a feeling that there was something lurking just beyond the field of view. An ominous feeling settled in their hearts, yelling at them to turn back.
However, each of these people were adventurers. As the name suggested, they labored to go to ruins and dungeons. To do such a job, you needed some level of daring and audacity, and they were not lacking.
Kola led the way, being the first to venture into the darkness. Others closely followed, no one wanted to be left behind.
After about four hours of walking in darkness, people were getting exhausted. They knew they had to remain vigilant, so progress was not as quick as they would have wanted.
They still wanted a place to rest. While they were seasoned veterans, well, most of them were, they couldn't remain vigilant forever.
They were traversing a tunnel, and common sense dictated that they should not rest. A tunnel was too exposed, and danger could come at them from any side.
However, thus far, they had not seen any other option of travel. It was just one long wide tunnel leading to the middle of nowhere.
Njeru noticed how frustrated his companions were, despite them not showing it. He did not understand it though. While he had been walking, he had noticed quite a number of side tunnels.
However, just past the right turn, there was a gap in the tunnel, as though they had been incomplete. It was quite a strange sight, seeing a massive hole along the passage. Had there not been a right turn, they would have struggled, or so Njeru thought.
But as they got to the right turn, Njeru noticed Kola and the others were not turning, but continued walking forward.