As my feet firmly touched the ground of the rocky base, a foul air mixed with the smell of mildew, a faint trace of blood, and the pungent odor of some kind of chemical reagent instantly rushed into my nostrils.

Unlike the desolate and lifeless ruins outside the wall, inside the wall, there were scattered flickering lights and the faint hum of machinery.

Lu Nange raised her clenched right fist, and the entire team froze instantly. Everyone quickly found cover using the shadows in the corners and abandoned building materials, holding their breath and concentrating.

Lu Nange, Chi Yanzhou, and Shi Xu's gazes quickly met in the darkness...scanning the surroundings ahead.

The place where they landed seemed to be a forgotten corner on the edge of the base, an abandoned material storage area.

A chaotic scene came into view: broken precast concrete slabs were piled up haphazardly, and discarded metal frames and unidentified machine parts were scattered all over the ground...

Further ahead, beyond this storage area, lies a relatively open buffer zone overgrown with weeds.

Further away, the silhouettes of several rows of low, dilapidated buildings, resembling a refugee slum, stand indistinctly.

Only a few dim, yellowish lights flickered there...

Chi Yanzhou: "Judging from the style and density of those low-rise buildings, it looks like a temporary shantytown?... This might be the area where slaves were imprisoned."

Lu Nange: "Yes, the energy reaction in this abandoned area we are in is very weak, and there are few survivors."

Most of them are concentrated in the area further to the left of the Rock Base, where the energy reaction is relatively active; this should be the activity area of ​​the Rock Base's ability users.

She paused, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly: "As for the lab entrance... we haven't found it yet, but the basement..."

It is indeed deep underground in the direction of the main building complex in the middle... the entrance must be hidden nearby.

Chi Yanzhou: "Splitting up is too risky, and we don't have enough manpower."

"Shall we go check out that shantytown area first? Find someone to ask and confirm the exact location, entrance, and interior of the lab."

With the plan set, Lu Nange made another gesture—keep the formation, follow me.

The team moved silently once again.

They crept along the shadowy edge of the abandoned area, making their way towards the shantytown.

The closer you get to the shantytown, the stronger and more complex the odor in the air becomes...

The sour smell of accumulated sweat, the stench of untreated excrement, and the musty smell of rotting food... all mixed together.

Faintly, a few sobs drifted on the wind, as thin as a wisp of smoke...

The outer defenses of the shantytown looked very rudimentary, simply surrounded by rusty and barbed wire, with a height only enough to prevent ordinary people from entering and leaving at will.

At the entrance, there was a crooked guard post pieced together from wooden planks and sheet metal, from which a dim, flickering light shone, as if it might go out at any moment.

A guard was leaning back in his chair, his head bobbing up and down like a chick pecking at rice, the rifle he was holding swaying precariously as if it would fall to the ground at any moment...

He Zhuo lowered his voice, a hint of eagerness flashing in his eyes: "I'll do it!"

He slightly moved his feet, and a subtle earth-elemental energy fluctuation emanated from him. A small pile of loose bricks next to the guard post silently slid down with a soft "clatter".

"Who? Damn it, who's got no eyes to see this...?"

The dozing guard jolted awake, his sleepiness instantly dispelled by the fright.