After leaving Site-19, Luo Shu abandoned any hope of extracting information from Xi Juan.
He tossed a Silicon-Based Intelligence module at his transforming pickup truck, ordering it to reconfigure itself—this time, reclaiming its ground-effect aircraft mode.
During the Albuquerque incident, the truck had disguised itself as a seven-seat business vehicle, sacrificing flight capability to evade pursuit. Now, flying south along the Atlantic coast to Cuba was the fastest route.
After a day's rest in a D.C. hotel, the transformation was complete. Under cover of darkness, Luo Shu slipped into the Atlantic and soared toward Cuba.
Guantanamo: The First Stop
Cuba lay nestled in the Caribbean, just 217 kilometers south of Florida, encircled by Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.
More critically—the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, occupied since 1898, anchored the southeast coast.
Post-1962, after Anomalous Item-3125's outbreak, this base became part of Cuba's quarantine.
Luo Shu landed near Guantanamo City at dawn. His choice was deliberate:
Historical Suspicion:
Why maintain an overseas base here, cut off from Cuban utilities, when strategic locations like Panama or Bermuda existed?
The infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp—a human rights nightmare—hinted at Foundation involvement. D-class procurement, perhaps?
Chronological Oddity:
The base predated Item-3125's emergence by 64 years.
If the Foundation manipulated U.S. policy (as "The God's" puppet), this could've been Site-167 in disguise.
Discovery
His hunch proved correct.
Like Area-51 (Site-14), Guantanamo Bay hid a former Foundation site.
Behind a thick concrete wall in the desalination plant's pump room—ignored by Marines—lay the entrance to Site-167.
His truck-shaped ally smashed through the facade, revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
Descent into Oblivion
The abandoned site was a time capsule:
Upper levels: Cobwebbed corridors, home to rats and spiders.
Sublevel-1: A mass grave. Skeletons in lab coats clutched scattered files.
Item-3125's effect had been instantaneous. Not even vermin dared linger here.
The Foundation hadn't bothered sanitizing the site—just sealed it and erased all records. Even the O5s forgot.
The Paper Trail
With no central mainframe (computers in the 1960s were room-sized, unreliable novelties), Site-167 relied on physical archives.
Luo Shu combed the derelict records room, seeking clues to Item-3125's location.