The sharp stone was sticking its pointy end under Yoongi's ribcage for quite a while now, this time at last he removed it carefully making sure his position remains anonymous.

Si-woo was just beside him, lying motionlessly.
Taehyung and Nabi were on the opposite side, laying on their stomach.

Nabi was holding binoculars in her eyes.

The sign of the girl guided them until now was nowhere to be found.

She left twenty minutes ago for scouting the area. According to her, infiltrating the missile base was almost impossible. But the silver lining was the sloppy mountain range and beach altogether.

That beach had abandoned workers trail up to the nearest slope made while the missile base was constructed decades ago.
The mountain slope had abandoned workers' buildings and interconnecting caves. And according to her source, those caves connected with the underground missile silo of the main base.

"Here she comes," Nabi whispered as she looked through her night vision binoculars.

The girl crawled back to their position and nodded a little.

"Any news, Yara-sshi?" Yoongi whispered.

"Problem," Yara whispered back.

"Details please."

"The number of security is more than I thought it would be. There are none around the caves though, but that is another big problem."

"What now?" Taehyung was impatient.

"We don't know exactly which cave leads up to the base. Remember, this base was created during the second world war. And we don't have any source who can clarify to us which one to enter. And of course, these people won't keep an open door to their base from outside."

"So what do we have to do?" Nabi frowned, "we don't have time!"

"How many caves are there, Yara-sshi?" Yoongi was calm.

"Many." Her answer was short.

"The clock is ticking." Si-woo reminded them quietly.

"Then let's get going!" Yoongi was still calm, "we better find out the cave before it's too late."

"What if we fail?" Yara frowned.

"Then plan B." Yoongi nodded.

"What is that?"

"We'll bust through the base." Taehyung grinned.

Yara eyed every one of them in disbelief and finally concluded that this group of people wasn't seeing this absurd statement as an impossible task either.

"That is straight-up suicide you know that, right?"

"That is a chance." Si-woo disagreed, "and we will take it if that's what we need to do."

"But you are only four. And they are a minimum of hundreds of people out there!" Yara again frowned.

"We know." Taehyung grinned and looked at Yoongi, "should be fun."

"You guys are insane!" Yara concluded and sighed, "anyway, I have this job to lead you up to the cave and if I can help you find the right cave, my job is done here."

"And we'll be thankful for your help." Yoongi nodded, "please, lead the way."

Yara slowly crawled back from the ridge. Si-woo didn't move from her place. She waited until she made sure none of them were noticed by the military guards below the ridge.

They walked towards the east for the next twenty minutes and again stopped.

"What do you think, Hyung?" Taehyung whispered.

"What do you want me to think?" Yoongi scoffed.

Seeing Yoongi not saying anything more, Nabi interjected lightly, "simple. Need to kill those bastards and slip into the missile pod, stop them before it's late, what more? God! Too much work!"

This time a slight smile crept up on Yara's face

"Let's get to the point." Si-woo started, "we know we don't have much time. God knows how much time Namjoon sir can get us. Now lead the way, sir."

"Let's get going." Yoongi was still calm, "Si-woo-sshi, you'll stay back. Keep eyes on the military. If they start moving, radio us. Any questions, anyone?"

Everyone was silent. No questions asked.

They were on the walk since Hoseok left with the chopper. They took a little break in the middle after seeing the guarding military troop, and now they were walking once again.

Not long after, everyone except Si-woo reached the beach.

Yoongi said he'd go scouting and told Yara to stay close to Nabi and Taehyung.

Taking Yara with them, Nabi and Taehyung climbed up a short cliff, looking through the binoculars around them.

Yoongi came back after a few minutes.

They needed to go further north to reach the mountain ridge along the beach to begin the search.

He quickly informed Si-woo and got on their trail once again.
No words came from Si- woo's side except two quick taps on the radio.
Probably the military was nearby.

Turning further away from the beach, they started towards the north. Nobody will see them from the far horizon. This area was like this- dry, salty, and crisp air all around. The starry sky was moving with them accompanied by the alpha century in the corner of the vast canvas.

Yara was walking on her own, calm and quiet.
Yoongi caught up to her, "Yara-sshi?"

"Yes?" Yara hummed a little.

"I asked for someone mastered in this area. They sent you."

"So?" Her voice was a bit tough.

"What I meant was- how do you know this area?"

"My family got killed here."
Her voice was strangely calm and nonchalant.

"I am sorry." Yoongi nodded in understanding. The disappearance of people in North Korea was a very normal matter.

"Don't be. My father had it coming." Yara shrugged a little, "he stole from the military supply."

Yoongi was silent.

"He wasn't a thief, don't get it wrong." Yara smiled a little, "he was another corrupted officer in the military. Bad luck that he got caught before he could land a big fish."

"I don't know what to say." Yoongi tried to smile a little.

"Don't say anything. It's good that I got away before they found me."

"And how was that?" Yoongi quickly added, "you don't need to answer that if you are not comfortable with it."

"I kind of crossed the border in curiosity." Yara smiled.

"You are telling me that our border protection is weak?"

"Come on! It is a joke!" Yara scoffed and rolled her eyes, "both military, both suck."

"You know I am a military person?" Yoongi smiled.

"Then you suck too." Yara shrugged a little and smiled a little.
"Anyway, I managed to survive somehow, going back and forth. That's how I ended up in this group who offered to use me as a liaison between the North and South in their works."

"You mean smuggling." Yoongi smiled.

"And you seek help from the smugglers." Yara raised a brow, "looks like you are not morally saint either."

"I am not." Yoongi nodded in agreement, "but this work is dangerous. You know that, right?"

"Well, I am good at my work." Yara nodded, "never had to encounter any problems. And I know what would I do if I get in any trouble."

"And what is that?"

"Turn back and run." Yara smiled, "I am no fighter or cool soldier like you guys. I'll just probably run."

"That is good for you. But..." Yoongi took the Glock-MP 260 from his pocket and offered her, "in case you need it, keep it."

Yara looked at the gun for a few seconds and smiled, "I think I'll pass."

"Your wish," Yoongi shoved the gun in his pocket once again.

It took half an hour to reach the slope.

"Why the hell did they choose an abandoned base?" Nabi scoffed, "they have well-facilitated bases around their country. Why this?"

"You don't know why these missiles are called 'Trident', right?" Taehyung smiled.

"Enlighten me." Nabi rolled her eyes.

"You know the weapon of Poseidon, the Greek the God of the sea?" Taehyung raised one brow.

"Trident?"

"Bingo." Taehyung grinned, "and these missiles are called Trident because they have a unique feature. They have to launch from underwater."

"That is new."

"Yes." Taehyung smiled, "why do you think the USA is using a ship? And why this base? Because it is a base connected to the sea. So easy to launch if they can just flood the missile pod with the seawater opening the sluice gate."

"Got it, Mr. Google." Nabi sighed, "why don't we just barge through the sluice gate then?"

"Cause it is made in such manner that no ordinary explosives can destroy it. And we don't want ourselves to wash away too if we destroy that sluice gate." Yoongi answered, "now please, let's get on it. Divide and conquer."

Four of them had split into two teams and not long after the searching started in the slope, the first cave was found.

Yoongi took out the halogen flashlight from his waist and entered the big cave.
But the cave took a hard turn after only ten feet and suddenly came in a blind end.

Yara and Nabi found the second cave.
But that too was stopped suddenly after a few minutes.

The third cave was narrower than the first two.
Yoongi and Taehyung were crawling to get in. This cave went deep in the hill. The walls were made of various stones. After a few feet more, the ceiling turned higher enough to stand perfectly. After a few minutes of walk, the ceiling again came down and they both were on their knees.
Taehyung marked the walls with chalks when the tunnel split into two paths.

It took fifteen minutes to get here.

"What do you think?" Yoongi asked Taehyung this time.

"We need more people to search up every tunnel around." Frowned Taehyung.

"Who do we have except the two ladies?" Yoongi said unmindedly.

"Why not?" Taehyung beamed, "I'll go get them!"

Taehyung got busy with the open radio channel, but the radio was silent in this deep into the hills.

"Go. Bring them here."

"Another thirty minutes!" Taehyung groaned in frustration but started towards the road they just come through.

This time he had to climb up the sloppy road and the crawling became more difficult. He cursed at his fate as he fastened his speed. After a few minutes, he found the utility bags they both left before entering the narrow tunnel. Carrying those with them was causing trouble.

Yoongi turned off his torch to reserve the battery power of the torch. His night vision visor was inside the utility bag as he was now using a torch. His mind was crawling with tons of thoughts. One time he felt it was getting difficult to breathe. As if the oxygen was being used up here and he was going to suffocate slowly.

He brushed off the thoughts.

He remembered the commando training. They had to stay in a cave under the sea often to increase their abilities. One time he had to go one on one with a tiger shark just with a harpoon spear.

After thirty minutes, he heard someone coming. He lit up the torch.

Nabi came in first. Following her was Yara and then Taehyung.

"You shouldn't have come in." Yoongi frowned a little towards Yara, "you are not familiar with this type of situation."

"Save it." Yara shrugged off the remark.

Yoongi gave everyone two minutes to rest and then laid out his plan.
Everyone will split and start to search the underground tunnels. If they come to split paths, one person of the team will go in one direction, the other one will go to the second tunnel.
They both will come back after ten minutes and will decide to choose one tunnel which looked promising.

It took almost an hour to look around the tunnels. It became even harder to carry the ammunition and weapons. Everyone's knees and elbows were already scratched. They had their head bump more or less on the ceiling. Yoongi got his forehead cut and had to cover it with gauge tape.

They were walking through the long tunnel which was obstructed by stacks of stones now and then. The ceiling was now almost ten feet in height.

"Cover your ears," Yoongi said observing the ceiling.
After they complied he took out his gun from his holster and took a shot aiming at the ceiling.

The gunshot sound in this concealed area was deafening.

The bullet exploded one part of the ceiling and the chunks came down like a stone shower. Yoongi took a piece and observe it and passed it to Taehyung.

"Hard." Commented Taehyung.
"But the consistency is too fragile."

"Right," Nabi said taking the stone from Taehyung.

"What will we get from it?" Yara asked curiously.

"That this ceiling can come down at any moment like an avalanche." Taehyung remarks quietly.

"Great!" The sarcasm in Yara's voice wasn't hidden.

They searched for another hour. But there was no end to these never-ending tunnels.
They got separated again at another crossroads.

Yoongi and Taehyung went towards the right one. After a few minutes, he felt they come down even further from their previous height. Before getting back, Taehyung sat down for a minute and gulped down a little water from his canteen.

Then it came into Yoongi's eyes.
The floor in front of the slope was going back upwards like a ramp. Yoongi almost reached the ceiling climbing the ramp.
Where the ramp almost touched the ceiling, there was a tiny slit.
He began to scour through his pocket for a lighter and said, "turn off your torch."

"Why, hyung?"

"Do it."

After Taehyung turned off the torch, Yoongi lit the lighter and brought the flame near the slit. The flame wasn't moving that much, but it was evident that there was moving air to the opposite side of the slit.

He turned on the torch and examined the slit. This ramp was made very technically. The slit was almost invisible.

"It is man mad." Yoongi declared, "I think it is kind of like a seesaw. Give me a hand, Tae."

Both of them climbed up the ramp as far as they can and backed up their back against the ceiling.

"Push the ceiling with your back as hard as you can," Yoongi stated, "on my count, one...two...three!"

They pushed it with all their might.
Nothing happened.
There was silence except for the ragged breathing of both men. Then suddenly the ramp moved a little. It sank under their feet. Once they stopped giving pressure on the ceiling and the floor, the ramp again came back to its normal position.

"Again!".

The lever downed one inch on the second try. The opposite side showed a hollow chamber through the slit. Yoongi inserted the torch inside the slit. But as soon as the pressure reduced on the ramp, the slit closed again and the plastic torch shattered. The weight of the lever was too much.

"Brilliant, hyung!" Smiled Taehyung, "if we all try together, we can open the road. We have plenty of room to stand four people at a time too."

After seven minutes, they both found Yara and Nari. They were eating protein bars leaning against the stone wall of one of the tunnels.

"We failed. This tunnel is closed too." Said Nari.

"We found a way." Yoongi smiled and briefed about the whole situation.

Again they came back to the ramp. Everyone stopped in the middle of the ramp, cocked their shoulders to the ceiling.

"Everyone, together," Yoongi shouted.

The stony ramp started to get defeated with the combined force of four people and started to get linear.

That little slit soon turned into a door of a chamber. The opposite wall was made of titanium alloy.
The ramp turned into a sloppy path against their forces.

"We can't come back if we go into that chamber." Yoongi gritted, "once we step down from the ramp, it will go back to its original place."

"Yeah," said Nabi, her forehead was dripping in sweat.

"Let's take the risk." Taehyung insisted.

After one end of the ramp landed on the floor of the chamber, they came down one by one from the platform.
Below the ramp, there were a few levers that moves the ramp to and fro.

After receiving the pressure on the ramp, it sprang back to its original position, blocking the door they just created a few minutes ago.

As soon as the ramp went back, a new sound was heard from above.
Yoongi pointed his torch towards it. And there it was- few holes were seen above from which now sands were coming down like a shower.

"Shit!" Yara cursed.

"These were made to flood this chamber whenever they needed," Taehyung observed the ceiling, "guess the sea level-shifted, now all we left was with the sands from the beach above us."

Yoongi looked around the room with his torch. It was a room of ten square feet. Three walls were made of titanium alloy and one wall was made of brick. As if the chamber was sealed from outside by making this fourth wall.

The fourth wall was plain. No door or window there, no handle or mechanisms there either. There kept no way to get in or out.

They searched the wall for two minutes. Meanwhile, sands were showering from above, accumulated on the floor.

Yoongi took out his knife and started to scratch the plaster of the brick wall. The aged old wall didn't show much resistance. The brick loosened after a minute. Yoongi took out the brick and dropped it on the floor.

The slit showed another layer of brick behind. There could be tens of layers of the wall behind that

"We need to reach to the lever of the seesaw, "said Nabi with annoyance.
She stood just below one sand shower mistakenly and got out of there quickly, "but how would we lift the wall?"

The chamber had three reservoirs in front of it which were now overflowing with sands.

"At this speed the sand is filling the chamber, even if we find the lever, it will be our grave." There was panic in Yara's voice, "we are trapped! What would we do?"

Yoongi and Taehyung looked at each other.
Nobody could say a word.

There was no way out.