Fortunately, Captain Wang did not disappoint them. As it was the grand finale, the host gave a special explanation to stir up the audience's enthusiasm.

Just as Xiao Cong was about to go on stage, Shi Lin and Shi Yuan brought Captain Wang in.

Because at the start of the auction, the lights were turned off to draw more attention to the stage, leaving only the lights on the counter.

So when Captain Wang and the others walked in, no one noticed. Shi Lin walked over to Gu Jin and Jiang Li and explained the current situation.

Because Captain Wang gathered the manpower in the middle of the night, fearing that there wouldn't be enough people, and also had to keep such a big commotion from the higher-ups, it really took a lot of effort.

Shi Lin told Captain Wang that the scale of this operation definitely involved high-level leaders, but they didn't know who exactly they were or what rank they held. The only way to rescue people was to launch a surprise attack so that the people behind it couldn't stop them.

Captain Wang and his men have already taken control of the bar outside.

Inside the venue, Captain Wang's men were searching for other exits, hoping to capture them all in one fell swoop.

Although Jiang Li had asked Xiao Cong, Xiao Cong had been captured and didn't know much, so he couldn't possibly know if there were any other exits.

Someone whispered something in Captain Wang's ear, and Captain Wang waved his hand, and the person left.

“My men have found the other prisoners, and we’ve also found a passage in another place, but we don’t know if the mastermind is here.”

I never expected there to be a place like this in the base.

Captain Wang never expected that such a thing would happen right under his nose, and that he knew nothing about such a large-scale clubhouse.

There must be spies among his men, otherwise, they could have built this place and there wouldn't have been no movement for so long.

He had also considered this today. When he set off on the mission, he didn't say where he was going. He told them to quickly assemble and set off, while he sent his trusted confidants to find out who in the team was going to tip off others. Hopefully, they would find someone.

"Leave the rest to me. As for today's matters..."

Before Captain Wang could finish speaking, Jiang Li and the others chimed in.

"Don't worry, Captain Wang, we've all been resting at home today and haven't gone out. Captain Wang hasn't seen us either."

Jiang Li understood what Captain Wang meant. This matter was too big, and countless people in the base were involved. Of course, it couldn't be known by outsiders. At the same time, they also asked Captain Wang not to tell the base that they were the ones who discovered it, lest they get into trouble.

Since Captain Wang had already arrived, they couldn't get involved any further.

"Alright, my men will take you out first, but I still want to say thank you."

Captain Wang understood their meaning and left the rest to him.

When Jiang Li and the others were about to leave, the host had already finished introducing Xiao Cong, and Xiao Cong was already standing on the auction stage.

Jiang Li pointed to the stage, and then told Captain Wang about Xiao Cong, worried that if Xiao Cong ran out and ran into Captain Wang's men, he would be arrested.

Captain Wang looked in the direction Jiang Li was pointing and saw Xiao Cong in the audience. He indicated that he understood and would keep an eye on things before the group followed Captain Wang's men out.

Fortunately, the group noticed that Captain Wang was also wearing a mask, so none of Captain Wang's men could see their faces.

Jiang Li and his group returned the way they came. When they passed the bar, everyone inside had been cleared out by Captain Wang, leaving only his own men.

Back outside the villa, Shi Yuan was already waiting for them. The group breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that such a place would never happen again.

After Captain Wang's men came out, they all went inside. Jiang Li could even vaguely hear screams coming from inside.

Jiang Li and the others did not go directly back to their residence. Instead, they wandered around other places for a while, changing their clothes into those from Jiang Li's spatial storage, before slowly heading back.

Previously, when one or two people went missing, everyone assumed it was because of the cold weather or because they went out to find food and didn't come back.

Most of them are children. Apart from their own family members, how can anyone else care about their life or death? Orphans are even less cared for. At most, they become the subject of gossip.

For the next few days, just like before, they still couldn't see Captain Wang. They didn't know what Captain Wang and the base had said, but no one came looking for Jiang Li and the others.

Moreover, some rumors started circulating in the base, vaguely mentioning the disappearance of many people some time ago.

They say there are monsters in the base that specifically target lone individuals at night and then eat them. Those who have disappeared before are said to have been captured by the monsters.

There are many, many versions like this. Now that there are no entertainment facilities, everyone starts discussing whatever topics they have.

Some of the rumors were quite detailed and well-founded; if Jiang Li hadn't known the truth, she probably would have believed them too.

Of course, there were also rumors that were close to the truth. Jiang Li guessed that they were spread by people who knew about it that day or by someone in the know.

With so many people involved that day, there was bound to be someone who couldn't keep their mouth shut and blurted something out. But what we didn't expect was that the story would spread from person to person and become more and more outrageous.

In short, people in the base are now in a state of panic and no one dares to go out at night. Even if they do go out at night, they take the main roads and walk in groups of several people.

However, there are also advantages. The crime rate in the base has decreased significantly, and those who want to commit crimes can no longer find an opportunity to do so.

However, the base certainly won't let these rumors continue to circulate. In the end, who knows how they'll spread, and it won't be good for the base's image.

So the following day, the base broadcast the new message and posted a notice on the base's bulletin board.

The first thing is that the base has found a new food source: Silver Snow Fruit. It has already been planted and is bearing fruit. It will be available for sale in the official supermarket starting tomorrow.

The second item, along with the silver snow fruit, is potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice.

Thirdly, the base has also cultivated seeds and nutrient solutions, but these will not be available for sale for another week. You can ask the staff for details at that time.

Fourthly, starting tomorrow, the base will be able to reconnect to the network, but this network can only be used inside the base; it still won't work outside.

As expected, once these four news items were released, everyone's attention shifted from the missing persons to these items, and they were only mentioned occasionally, but only briefly.

Now, everyone on the street is talking about whether the Silver Snow Fruit is expensive, whether they won't have to go hungry anymore, how to get there early to queue up tomorrow, what they can do after connecting to the internet, and so on.

However, the discussions always revolve around these few topics.

These messages should have been announced a couple of days ago, but then the auction happened, so the base didn't announce them. I guess Captain Wang was too busy. Later, rumors started circulating, which was a good way to divert everyone's attention.

Although the people on the road had many concerns, they were mostly thinking positively, and their faces were full of smiles.