Twenty minutes later.
Commander Noel of the engineering corps arrived at the temporary command post and handed the survey report to Benjamin.
Benjamin picked up the report and glanced at it. It stated that demolishing and removing all the buildings would take an estimated 20 hours.
He frowned. This story world only had seven days, and almost a day had already passed.
The time required just to level the ground was too long.
"If we only demolish in one direction, directly leading to the stone well in the backyard, and move all the construction debris to within a hundred meters, how long would that take? Give me a plan."
"Yes, sir."
Noel hurriedly left, handing Benjamin a new report five minutes later.
"Seven hours, very good. Follow this plan, with shifts and rests for demolition."
Benjamin found this time acceptable. He expected the obstacles to be completely removed by dawn.
As the plan was finalized, the roar of engines echoed throughout the entire village of Tumbbad.
The fortress-like gates of the Temple of Hastar were destroyed by precise directional blasting, the aftershocks causing no damage to the surrounding area.
Stone blocks were shattered by crushing hammers, and bulldozers and loaders worked together to dump them into a depression a hundred meters to the east.
Larger rocks were simply blasted apart with explosives, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Benjamin, pleased with the sight of this labor, gave an order and returned to his mobile command vehicle to rest for a while.
Although he can keep staying up, there was no need to.
Seven hours passed...
The perennial rain shrouded Tumbbad's mornings in a gray hue, never seeing the sunrise.
This land, untouched by sunlight, was filled with a deep sorrow.
The rain fell even harder, as if the goddess of prosperity was weeping for the collapse of the Temple of Hastar.
"Report, all obstacles have been cleared as planned."
Seeing the sky beginning to lighten with a greyish dawn, Noel switched off his headlamp and went to the command center to report the progress.
Benjamin, sitting in a chair, instantly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and clear, without a trace of sleepiness.
He got out of the vehicle and looked towards the temple.
The entire temple looked like a cake with a slice cut off.
A passageway large enough for 20 trucks to enter simultaneously led all the way to the stone well in the backyard.
"Noel, assemble everyone, I need to speak."
"Yes, sir."
Noel ran quickly towards the temple, whistling as he ran and shouting "Assemble!"
The battalion and company commanders echoed his shouts.
The whistles and calls to assemble resounded throughout the temple.
The soldiers quickly straightened their rolled-up sleeves, put down their bowls, and even those resting quickly rolled over and ran towards the assembly point.
Four minutes later, all the soldiers had assembled into a neat square formation.
Noel trotted forward, saluted, and reported,
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the Engineer Regiment should have 1078 men, and 1078 men are present. Please give instructions!"
"Return to your position."
"Yes, sir."
Benjamin had a truck pull up nearby. He stood up, climbed onto the roof of the truck, picked up a loudspeaker, and pressed the button, saying:
"Soldiers, you did a great job last night!"
"You came here overnight not to demolish this damned temple to build some garden villa."
"You came here for honor, to protect the safety of the people of our territory."
"We received information that beneath this temple lies a mysterious biological research base left behind by the Chariot Nation."
"It may involve horrific human experiments, so don't think your mission is insignificant. Every one of you is an indispensable link in this long chain."
"Later, you must strictly follow your superiors' orders."
"A true soldier will wholeheartedly fulfill his duty. Only when every link in the chain performs its function and fulfills its responsibility can the entire chain be unbreakable."
After Benjamin finished speaking, he jumped off the truck amidst the soldiers' resolute gazes and began assigning tasks to the engineering regiment commander, Noel, and the three battalion commanders and nine company commanders.
"See that well? There's an underground space 6 meters down. First, dig the well into a slanted pit, being careful not to damage the smaller well inside the basement."
Benjamin directed the excavation on-site, spending two hours transforming the underground space of the square well into a 35-degree sloping sinkhole.
The Well of God was thus revealed again, standing in the center of the sinkhole.
Benjamin then summoned the 13 officers of the engineering regiment, all at the company level or above.
"Underneath this metal well cover is a fleshy ball about 20 meters in diameter. It's a product of the Tank Nation's biological experiments."
"You must carefully dig it out along the edges, being careful not to damage it."
The 13 officers all nodded in understanding upon hearing Benjamin's explanation.
"Also... have you ever made pancakes?"
Benjamin gestured a circle with his hands.
"Yes..."
"No, but I know..."
"I've eaten..."
...
The men answered in unison.
"It doesn't matter if you haven't done it before, just seeing it is enough."
"When you dig up this biological experimental subject, every time you dig out a bit, you must coat it with flour, then cover it with several layers of cloth and plastic, wrapping it up like a pancake."
"Ask the most resourceful soldiers to handle this; there can be no carelessness."
"Yes...!"
The men replied in unison.
The order was given. Since explosives could not be used, the soldiers could only dig a little by hand each time.
Only after checking to make sure that they had not touched the meat ball would they let the excavator shovel to dig away the surrounding soil.
Like peeling layers of a coconut, they peeled away the soil layer by layer, from large to small, searching for the edge of the goddess's womb.
They dug for about half an hour.
"Stop! We've dug something up!"
"What...what is this?"
"It looks like a fleshy Ganoderma lucidum, but it seems quite large."
...
"This must be the experimental subject the commander ordered us to dig up..."
As a piece of dark, hard soil was peeled away, a roughly one-square-meter area of crimson, fleshy wall was revealed.
The soldiers all stopped to examine what it was.
"Quickly, where are the men from the Seventh Company? What are you standing there for? Go and apply flour, keep digging!"
Regimental Commander Noel was the first to snap out of his daze and roared.
A team of men quickly mixed flour with glue and applied it to the crimson flesh, then layered it with cloth, flour, and plastic, reinforcing it layer by layer.
Seeing that nothing unexpected had happened, the soldiers continued their work with great enthusiasm.
The entire process took a full six hours, and they had only dug halfway through.
Benjamin observed the entire time.
The outer layer of the 'Hastar Nest' had wrinkled textures and vascular fascia; it was not smooth and flat.
It resembled a freshly unearthed peanut, covered with numerous blackened tendrils that writhed slightly.
These tendrils, with their pipe-like cavities, looked more like ruptured blood vessels, securing the entire nest to the soil.
Half of its exterior was exposed, precisely measured at 618.4 square meters, covered by layers of flour, then tightly wrapped in layers of cloth and plastic.
As the excavated portion grew larger, it lost the stabilizing grip of the surrounding soil and slowly deflated, like a sea cucumber losing its water.
The slight cracks in the flour at the sunken edges were immediately filled by soldiers on standby.
Benjamin estimated the entire process would take another seven or eight hours.
However, at this critical juncture, he dared not turn away, remaining on the roof of the vehicle to monitor the situation closely.
He stood like a statue, intently watching the changes in the area, and remained there until the afternoon.
Under his watchful eye, the sappers remained steadfast in their duties, and even though the nest kept twitching slightly, the morale remained stable, and there was no major panic.