Chapter 3258: Collapse in the Sea of Fire!

4 p. m.

The freight train of Morocco National Railways arrived punctually at Duke Mining.

The Elite Guards of the Third Battalion, following the usual procedure, guided the train into the platform, and after the empty carriages were uncoupled, they helped the locomotive turn around and pulled the prepared phosphate slowly out of the platform.

Yin Shaoyang stood on the platform with the Elite Guards responsible for transportation, watching the train gradually accelerate and slowly depart, his inner excitement rising to the point of almost cheering aloud.

After this train departed, the remaining task for everyone was to prepare for evacuation!

For generations, for hundreds of years, they had dreamed of breaking free from the control of the Poqing Association, and now, to achieve this goal, only a few hours remained.

After the train left, the engineering machinery in the mining area continued to operate, and once it was completely dark, the machinery was driven by the Elite Guards of the First Battalion to the open space below the office building.

One heavy machine after another kept gathering, all pressed tightly together, forming a magnificent sight.

At the same time, the Elite Guards of the Third Battalion began connecting the oil pipelines.

Since Duke Mining had a large number of engineering machines and vehicles requiring refueling, the fuel reserves here were substantial, with diesel accounting for six to seven tenths of the total fuel reserves, and the remainder being gasoline.

Since diesel is not easily ignited at normal temperature and pressure, the Elite Guards poured all the diesel into the sealed large containers in the mine and processing plant, and then combined it with a large amount of ignition material.

Yin Shaoyang said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, the high temperature and pressure generated when gasoline burns will heat and pressurize these sealed and semi-sealed diesel, making ignition naturally no problem."

Ye Chen nodded and asked him: "Is this fuel enough to reduce the entire Duke Mining to ashes?"

Yin Shaoyang excitedly said: "Enough! Such a vast amount of oil, when burned underground in the mine, will inevitably burn down all combustible substances below ground, and all the steel structures underground will also be greatly affected; at that time, the steel support and anchoring structures will lose strength under high heat, leading to the collapse of the entire mine structure, just like the principle of the World Trade Center towers collapsing due to high heat on 9/11 in the U. S., and the construction here is mostly supervised underground, so I am quite confident about this."

He continued: "Moreover, the workshop buildings of the refinery are mostly steel structures, and high heat will cause the load-bearing components to rapidly deteriorate; as long as the fire burns for tens of minutes, collapse is inevitable. The main office building is a steel-concrete structure, with not many floors, so the possibility of collapse is not great, but we still have the remaining mixed explosives from the underground expansion earlier; later I will have the brothers place the explosives on the load-bearing parts of the main building, and then remote-detonate them, so that the explosion can simultaneously ignite the fire. As for these engineering vehicles, once ignited, the diesel in their fuel tanks, amounting to tons, will quickly reach critical levels, triggering successive deflagrations, which will surely also be completely destroyed."

"Good." Ye Chen nodded: "You take care of these matters and then withdraw first; I will stay here waiting for them to come."

Yin Shaoyang couldn't help but sigh: "I also really want to witness this place turned to ashes..."

Ye Chen smiled: "Don't worry, you can withdraw in advance to a high ground three to five kilometers away later and enjoy the fireworks show from a distance tonight."

Yin Shaoyang excitedly asked: "Mr. Ye, is that really possible?"

Ye Chen nodded: "Tonight we will catch them off guard, but if you are too close, you may inevitably leave traces during evacuation; I alone staying here can ensure they find no valuable clues, while you, being several kilometers away, will make it difficult for them to track you down quickly, allowing for a calm evacuation later."

He added: "However, you must remember, if the detonation is at midnight, you must reach the food factory before six o'clock; it's a hundred kilometers, no problem?"

Yin Shaoyang said without hesitation: "Sir, rest assured, there will be no problem; the remaining brothers are all martial artists, their physical strength far surpassing that of the best marathon runners, so twenty kilometers per hour is absolutely no problem."

"Good." Ye Chen said: "Then tonight let Hall Master Wan and you together choose a suitable spot to enjoy the fireworks from a distance."

After saying that, he looked at Song Ruoyu and said: "Miss Song, although your cultivation is temporarily sealed, you should be able to handle this intensity of forced march, right?"

Song Ruoyu nodded and said: "Mr. Ye, rest assured, I will not fall behind."

Ye Chen then said to Wan Pojun: "Pojun, tonight you will lead the team; after the explosion, immediately take everyone to the food factory, without waiting for me, I will catch up with you."

Wan Pojun immediately said respectfully: "Yes, Mr. Ye!"

……

10 p. m.

Yin Shaoyang received a call from an envoy of Moor Trade, who told him on the phone that Moor Trade's convoy had already departed from Casablanca and was expected to arrive at Duke Mining on time.

At the same time, all the Elite Guards had already completed their final preparations before evacuation.

Yin Shaoyang handed a remote controller to Ye Chen, respectfully saying: "Mr. Ye, this is the detonator; explosives have been placed underground, in the workshops, and in the office building; when you press the detonator, all explosives will detonate simultaneously."

The remote control device of the wireless detonator resembles an outdoor satellite phone in overall shape, comparable in size to a 1990s big brother, with a liquid crystal screen in the middle and a vertical high-power antenna on top, much larger than the antenna of a typical walkie-talkie.

Yin Shaoyang explained the operation of the detonator to Ye Chen, confirmed that the unlocking and detonation procedure had no issues, and then said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, please pay attention to safety."

Wan Pojun came before Ye Chen, respectfully saying: "Mr. Ye, I and they will go ahead first; you, be careful in all matters!"

Ye Chen nodded: "Be sure to pay attention along the way, and do not leave any trace clues."

"I understand, sir!"

A few minutes later, Wan Pujun led Song Ruoyu and the Elite Guards who had held out until the end away from Duke Mining.

The entire Duke Mining now had only Ye Chen left.

Ye Chen came to the mining area of Duke Mining, found an iron tower with the best view, and waited there holding the remote controller.

Time passed second by second.

At 11:45 p. m., at the end of the dark road in the distance, a string of lights appeared, a convoy of about ten to a dozen vehicles, heading toward the main gate of Duke Mining.

Ye Chen, leaning on the railing, smiled slightly, watching the long-awaited convoy draw nearer.

At this moment, the vehicle leading the convoy was a Toyota Land Cruiser clearing the way, and the person in charge of Moor Trade, also the special envoy assigned to dock with Duke Mining, Dong Mingchao, sat in the front passenger seat.

Besides him and the driver, three more people sat in the rear seats, all of them backbone members of Moor Trade and also confidants of Dong Mingchao.

Seeing that Duke Mining was not far away, Dong Mingchao said: "You few, later you must all cheer up for me; this time inside Duke Mining is not just Yin Shaoyang's Elite Guards, but also a deputy commissioner sent down from the Governor's Office for gilding; in front of the deputy commissioner, you must perform well, or else let her have no dissatisfaction with you."

The few immediately nodded, and the driver said: "Special envoy, rest assured, we will definitely not let you down."

"Hmm." Dong Mingchao hummed in satisfaction, then looked around, somewhat puzzled, and asked: "Isn't Duke Mining supposed to work 24 hours non-stop? Why is the mining area pitch black with all lights out?"

The driver hurriedly said: "Tonight isn't it the big blood change? Stopping for a while is also normal; after sending off this batch, we still have to wait for the next batch to arrive, all kinds of scheduling arrangements, so stopping work is definitely more convenient."

"That's true." Dong Mingchao sighed and said: "The big blood change is indeed somewhat harsh for these Elite Guards; I have been in contact with Yin Shaoyang for many years, and I get along well with this person; this replacement, I also feel somewhat uneasy in my heart; now I can only silently pray that it doesn't happen to us."

A man in the rear seat asked nervously: "Sir, will it happen to us?"

"How would I know?" Dong Mingchao said helplessly: "Such matters require me to cooperate and execute before I am informed; otherwise, I get no wind of it; if one day it really happens to us, we can only obediently follow orders."

That man said with a sorrowful expression: "My son is not yet one year old; if it really happens to us, I might never see him in this lifetime..."

Dong Mingchao coughed twice and said: "Cough cough, enough, saying these useless things means nothing; everything follows the arrangement of the Ying Lord; before any clear order comes down, just cherish the present days well."

The few people drooped their heads in nod.

At this moment, the lead vehicle had already reached the gate of Duke Mining.

Although Duke Mining was brightly lit, there was no one guarding the gate; seeing the convoy arrive, no one came to verify the situation or open the gate, which made Dong Mingchao somewhat puzzled.

He frowned at the brightly lit gate and muttered: "What's wrong with this Yin Shaoyang? Does he know he's going to be replaced, so he's started to slack off?"

After saying that, he took out his phone and called Yin Shaoyang.

At this very moment, Ye Chen's gaze was fixed on the convoy stopping one by one at the gate of Duke Mining, his finger already having unlocked the detonator.

He didn't have anyone plant explosives near the gate, so once detonated, it wouldn't harm these people in the convoy. Ye Chen deliberately wanted to leave them alive so they could relay firsthand information to the Right Army Governor's Office and to Wu Feiyan.

Inside the land cruiser, Dong Mingchao frowned tightly and muttered: "Strange, not answering the phone, the Censor is still here—could these guys have mutinied?!"

"Mutiny?" the driver couldn't help but say: "Without the antidote, what good would mutiny do? After mutinying, if the Ying Lord doesn't send people to confiscate, they and their families will all be dead within a week."

"That's right..." Dong Mingchao kept sucking his teeth, making a tsk-tsk sound, muttering: "Just what is going on?"

Just as he finished speaking, with his head lowered, he suddenly felt the front blaze bright as daylight. Everyone instinctively looked up, and suddenly, Duke Mining's interior erupted with towering flames!

Dong Mingchao instinctively blurted out: "Oh shit! Reverse fast!"

Before he finished speaking, the explosion sound and shockwave came crashing in together!

The massive shockwave directly overturned Duke Mining's perimeter wall, shaking all vehicles violently, even shattering the front windshields!

Dong Mingchao didn't even notice the cuts on his face from flying glass, quickly pushed open the door and jumped out, staring at Duke Mining now engulfed in a sea of fire, stunned and frozen in place!

At that moment, the bombed office building instantly collapsed amid the inferno!

Dong Mingchao quickly raised his hand to shield against flying debris from afar, shouting at those in the vehicle: "Hurry, export the dashcam footage and send it to me! I'll report to the Vice Governor right now!"