The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 35

Plunging into the Abyss

[Time until Steam Explosion: 09 minutes 58 seconds]

‘This is insane.’

The situation was spiraling toward catastrophe.

One hundred and fifty degrees. High-pressure steam, far exceeding the boiling point, churned and writhed beneath the bedrock.

If ten more minutes passed like this?
A terrible disaster would certainly occur.

Kang Jun leapt from the operator’s seat, his mind racing through calculations.

‘There’s only one way.’

He recalled the Hidden Effect of the Pulse of Earth he had used to contain the fire demon before.
But even this method was far from simple.

[Earth Cooling]
▶ Effect: Rapidly lowers the temperature of the ground within a 10-meter radius, freezing the foundation.

‘The range is only ten meters. No matter what I do from the surface, it’s useless.’

Kang Jun bit his lip.

09 minutes 30 seconds, 29 seconds, 28 seconds… The timer ticked away without mercy.

“Mr. Kang! What on earth is happening! Is a volcano about to erupt or something!”

Leo came sprinting over, his safety helmet half-knocked off, voice shrill with panic.

There was no time for explanations. Kang Jun turned to Max, speaking urgently.

“Max! Attach a Safety Harness to the Crane Wire and lower it down in front of me—now!”

“What? The wire? Don’t we need to pull out the drill first?”

“The drill broke and got stuck in the bedrock! An explosion is coming. Hurry!”

Seeing Kang Jun’s expression of panic—something Max had never witnessed before—he immediately signaled the crane operator.

“Crawler Crane One! Lower the wire now! As fast as you can!”

Whirrrrr—!

The boom of the Crawler Crane rotated, and the Safety Harness descended above Kang Jun’s head.

Kang Jun quickly fastened the harness around his waist and thighs.

“Mr. Kang! You’re not actually planning to go down there, are you? Are you out of your mind?”

Leo grabbed at him, his face pale with shock. Sophia came running over, her complexion drained of all color.

“Director! That narrow shaft could collapse at any moment! This is suicide!”

“There’s no time. If we’re all going to make it out alive, I need to go in now.”

Kang Jun wrenched his hand free from Leo’s grip and switched on the radio, barking orders at the crane operator.

“Lower me to 60 Meters Underground without stopping. I’ll signal when you need to halt.”

[Understood! Descending now!]

The Crane Wire pulled taut, and Kang Jun’s body lifted into the void before vanishing into absolute darkness.

Whirrrrr—!

As the distance from the surface widened, his vision collapsed into nothing.
Only the Safety Helmet Lantern mounted on his head cut through the rock face.

“Ugh…!”

A groan tore from Kang Jun’s throat. Tremendous heat surged up from below, rising through the passage.

Like diving into the heart of a sauna’s furnace.

Without the Artisan’s Grip and his elevated Strength stat, he would have lost consciousness long ago at this temperature.

Sweat drenched his work clothes. Before his eyes, steam caught the lantern’s beam and writhed in dizzying waves.

[Time until massive explosion: 05 minutes 12 seconds]

“Don’t slow down! Keep lowering me!”

Kang Jun shouted into the radio. The friction noise of the wire intensified.

And at last, at 60 Meters Underground.

Clank!

The wire pulled taut and Kang Jun’s body stopped.

Ten meters below his feet, a massive chunk of metal was lodged at an angle—the Core Shaft that had broken free from the Core Drill.

‘Just in time.’

Kang Jun reached toward the scorching soil wall.

“Activate skill!”

[Pulse of Earth (Lv.2) Hidden Effect unlocked: Earth Cooling activated!]

Flash—!!

The passage stretching down to 60 Meters Underground flooded with cold radiating from Kang Jun’s palm.
But he didn’t carelessly drop the temperature to twenty degrees below zero.

‘If I freeze everything around here, the volume will expand and the bedrock will collapse. And if that broken shaft freezes solid, I won’t be able to extract it.’

Delicate control was essential.

Kang Jun suppressed the output of his cold. His stamina drained away in an instant, drawn by concentration pushed to the edge of its limit.

“Cool down… please!”

In mere moments, the passage erupted into chaos.

Screeeeeech—
Whoooooosh—!

The steam filling the sealed corridor collided with the cold emanating from Kang Jun, and the gaseous vapor couldn’t withstand the critical point—it began condensing in an instant.
The transformation was total. Steam liquefied into something else entirely.

From 60 Meters Underground, torrential rain poured down in the darkness.

[System Message: The liquefaction of steam has caused pressure in the underground water vein to drop sharply.]
[The Steam Explosion critical threshold has been extended to one hour!]

“Haah… haah….”

Kang Jun released his grip on the wall, breathing heavily, raggedly.
Dizziness threatened to engulf him, yet a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Once he’d steadied his breath, Kang Jun raised the radio to his lips and shouted.

“Now… pull me up.”

Whiiiine— click.

Max rushed over in a panic, supporting Kang Jun as he stepped down from the crane. Sophia unscrewed a water bottle and pressed it into his hands, while Leo wiped his eyes, trembling with relief.

“Cough, cough… Max, send down the Observation Camera so we can assess the situation.”

A moment later, Max approached Kang Jun with a grave expression.

“Sir, I don’t know how we’re going to handle this….”

Max set the monitor down on the table with a heavy sigh.

“From 50 Meters Underground all the way to the bottom—there’s standing water. Murky water at that.”

Kang Jun already knew. He’d been the one to transform that expanding steam into water, after all.

“To retrieve the broken Core Shaft, we need to send down a Lifting Chain and hook it through the eye. But….”

Max’s voice trembled.

“Visibility is zero. With the equipment we have on hand, it’s impossible.”

Max was right.

The sensors on heavy machinery couldn’t see through water that murky. And there wasn’t enough space to deploy any alternative apparatus.

Only one solution remained.

“Someone… will have to dive into that murky water, attach the chain, and come back up.”

Sophia spoke the grim conclusion aloud.
At her words, Leo cried out in horror.

“This is insane! To go down there, you’d have to risk your life! Murky water at 70 Meters Underground….”

No one in the room could argue against Leo’s cry.

It was just as everyone hung their heads in despair.

Bang!

The iron door of the hastily erected Site Office swung open with a deafening clang.

“Why is everyone looking so grim? I’ll just dive down and handle it.”

All eyes snapped toward the source of the voice.

A man in unfamiliar attire walked toward them from the distance.

He was clad in a black wetsuit that clung to his frame, an air tank strapped across his back, and a full face diving mask clutched in one hand.

It was Dominic.

“D-Dominic? When did you change into that?”

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise as he fumbled for words.
Dominic chuckled, moving with practiced ease to check the valve on the air tank.

“I found the gear I used during that bridge project buried in my trunk. Lucky thing I still had plenty of air in the tanks.”

His demeanor seemed as relaxed as someone stepping out for a casual stroll.
Yet his eyes had shifted, reverting to the cold, steely gaze of a special operations agent from his past.

“Dominic… this isn’t just a river. It’s a vertical shaft—completely immobilized.”

Sophia voiced her concern, but Dominic merely shrugged.

“Everyone has their specialty.”

Dominic pointed at himself with his thumb as he spoke.

“There’s nowhere I can’t reach. Consider it a simple delivery job for a lifting chain.”

At his unwavering resolve, Kang Jun gave a nod of approval.

The talent that the System had provided was proving its true worth in this desperate hour.

“Understood, Dominic. Let’s begin the briefing.”

Kang Jun knelt and placed his hand against the ground. The tremendous expenditure of Mental Power had left his face visibly exhausted.

[Skill Activated: Pulse of Earth (Lv.2)]
[Skill Activated: Ruler’s Blueprint (Lv.1)]

A faint rumble ran through the earth.

Kang Jun looked up at Dominic and began to relay the conditions underground.

“Listen carefully, Dominic. You’ll enter the water at the 50 Meters Underground mark. The submerged section spans roughly 20 meters. The water’s warm and murky—zero visibility.”

Dominic nodded gravely, absorbing Kang Jun’s words.

“When you reach the bottom, you’ll feel the steel shaft. It’s wedged into the rock wall at a 15-degree angle. Be careful—careless contact could jam it permanently.”

Kang Jun drew upon his remaining Mental Power to deliver the crucial final detail.

“Lower right. There’s a small gap between the rock face and the shaft. That’s the only space where we can thread the chain through and secure it. Remember that exactly.”

“Lower right gap, fifteen-degree angle. I’ve got it down perfectly, sir.”

Dominic pulled the Full Face Diving Mask over his head and steadied his breathing.

Click—whoosh.

A crisp sound came as he opened the air valve.

At Max’s signal, the Crawler Crane carrying the bundle of Lifting Chain moved forward.
Dominic wrapped the chain around one arm and gripped the Crane Wire in the other.

“Dominic, there’s one last thing you need to keep in mind. Fifty minutes. You must secure it and return within that window.”

At Kang Jun’s warning, Dominic gave a thumbs up.

“Descent commencing.”

Wheeeee—!!

The Crane Wire spooled out, and Dominic was pulled into the Abyss Passage.

Those on the surface stared only at the radio speaker, their hands clasped together. Through the communication link, Dominic’s breathing came through in real time.

Whoosh—breathe. Whoosh—breathe.

[Passed 30 Meters Underground. This is incredibly hot, sir. We’re talking sauna level.]

Dominic’s cheerful voice came through, but he was in fact pressed into an extreme situation.

[Reaching 40 Meters, 50 Meters Underground. I’ve hit the water surface. Going in now.]

Splash!
The sound of water rippling carried through the radio.

From this moment on, Dominic had to search for the steel shaft in pitch-black, turbid water, enduring the water pressure.

An unbearable silence settled over the surface.

The timer etched on Kang Jun’s retina ticked down mercilessly.

Forty minutes. Thirty-five. Thirty.

Anxiety made Max’s leg bounce; Sophia whispered prayers to herself.

[Bottom. I’ve reached the bottom.]

At last, breaking the silence, Dominic’s voice came through.

[Can’t see a damn thing. Confirming by touch. Hell, this shaft is massive. Fifteen-degree angle confirmed.]

“Don’t rush. Dominic, it’s lower right.”

Kang Jun spoke into the radio with calm precision.

Blub-blub… clang, clang.

The sound of chain being dragged through water carried back to them.
Every effort was palpable—Dominic grappling with the weight of heavy iron in the depths.

Time kept slipping away. Twenty-five minutes. Twenty minutes.

[Ugh… The gap’s too narrow. The chain keeps slipping.]

Dominic’s breathing had grown visibly ragged.

Underwater work in an enclosed space burned through stamina at a staggering rate. And that was before factoring in the tons of steel core shaft and the heavy lifting chain he was wrestling with.

[Huff… huff…]

Please, please. Leo was calling out to God silently, hundreds of times over, when it happened.

Clang. Metallic screech.

The sharp report of metal striking metal crackled through the radio.
And then Dominic’s voice, bursting through the static.

[Chief! I found it!]

Clank—! Whoooosh—!

The sound of chain links locking into place.

[Lifting chain secured! Start the winch now!]

“Crane! Maximum speed extraction!”

At Max’s shout, the winch of the fifty-ton Crawler Crane spun like a madman’s wheel.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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