Chapter 85 Departure Research Institute

At dawn, before the sky was even bright, the main square of the Dawn Base was already a scene of solemnity and bustling activity.

Dozens of reinforced military trucks, armored personnel carriers, and several modified vehicles loaded with heavy weapons lined up in rows, their engines emitting a deep roar.

Fully armed soldiers are quickly and orderly checking their equipment and boarding the vehicles.

On the other side of the square is a gathering area for civilians with supernatural abilities who have been recruited.

There were about a hundred people, divided into groups of varying sizes or standing alone. The atmosphere was far less orderly than that of the military. Instead, there was more vigilance, unease, and calculations hidden beneath various expressions.

Some people silently wiped their weapons, some talked in hushed tones, and some kept glancing at the people around them.

Ruan Ning's team stood in a relatively peripheral position.

Ruan Ning was dressed in a neat dark combat uniform, with a Tang-style sword at his waist, and his expression remained calm and composed.

Zhou Min and Lin Yan stood on either side of her, equally well-equipped and tense. Da Huo sat quietly beside Ruan Ning's legs, its massive body and dark golden fur standing out conspicuously in the dim morning light, attracting many glances, both overt and covert.

Some people envied them, some were wary of them, and some had shifty eyes.

The members of the Thunder Leopard Squad also arrived and stood a little further away.

Lei Bao's gaze swept over Ruan Ning and Da Huo several times, his eyes filled with complex emotions, before quickly shifting away. His eyes briefly met those of an inconspicuous figure in the crowd—an informant that Li Wei had arranged to infiltrate the area, disguised as a member of a small team.

Ruan Ning's mental energy spread out like an invisible spider web, keenly capturing the subtle emotional fluctuations and energy reactions in the field.

She noticed the state of the Thunder Leopard Squad, as well as several seemingly carefree unfamiliar faces who occasionally glanced in her direction. Shen Yao and his core subordinates were indeed not on the list. Just as she expected, those young masters who valued their lives wouldn't personally take risks, but their henchmen had clearly been deployed.

"All personnel, get into your assigned vehicles immediately! Prepare to depart!" an officer commanded loudly through a megaphone.

General Chen Jichuan stood beside a command vehicle, his face stern, his gaze sweeping across the entire area like lightning, lingering for a moment, especially in the area of ​​civilian superhumans, with a clear warning in his eyes.

This mission cannot afford to fail, and we absolutely cannot allow any major internal turmoil.

Ruan Ning's team was assigned to the back of a medium-sized truck, along with two other unfamiliar teams, totaling twenty people. The truck was crowded and silent, with only the clanging of the vehicle and the noise of the engine.

The convoy, like a long steel dragon, slowly drove out of the base gate, rolled over the broken road, and plunged into the post-apocalyptic wilderness shrouded in morning mist and weeds.

The journey was more difficult than expected.

Nearly a year into the apocalypse, the poorly maintained roads were already riddled with holes.

Cracks spread like a spider web, and some sections of the road were completely buried by fallen trees, abandoned vehicles, or earthquake-induced debris. The convoy had to stop frequently, with earth- or strength-based ability users assisting engineering vehicles in clearing the obstacles, or simply detouring through the uneven, potholed terrain. Speed ​​was nowhere near being achieved.

Danger is everywhere.

Scattered zombies, attracted by the convoy's movements, staggered out from the roadside ruins or woods, but were quickly cleared out by soldiers in the lead vehicle or those flanking it using modified machine guns or supernatural abilities. The troublesome ones were some mutated creatures.

A pack of extremely fast, sharp-clawed mutated wild dogs attempted to attack the convoy's flank, but were repelled by several fire and wind-elemental ability users, leaving behind several charred corpses.

A mutated crocodile, disguised as rotten wood and lurking in a puddle, suddenly lunged and bit a truck tire. Its head was frozen by an ice-type ability user on the truck, and then smashed by a strength-type ability user.

Occasionally, dark shadows would streak across the sky, but perhaps due to the large size and mixed atmosphere of the group, no large-scale air attack occurred.

Each pause and encounter consumed time and energy, making the atmosphere increasingly tense. The civilian superhumans gradually showed signs of fatigue and anxiety, and their mutual wariness became more pronounced.

Around noon, the convoy took a short break in a relatively open wasteland. People got out of the vehicles to stretch their muscles, eat, and drink. Soldiers stood guard on the perimeter.

Ruan Ning's team huddled together, eating their dry rations with cold water. Da Huo crouched warily beside them, his ears twitching as he monitored their surroundings.

Ruan Ning noticed that the members of Lei Bao's squad seemed to be huddled together with the leaders of two or three other squads, whispering something, their eyes occasionally glancing in their direction. Meanwhile, the informant planted by Li Weian was pretending to organize his backpack not far away, but his ears were perked up.

"They're making connections," Lin Yan said in a low voice, taking a bite of the hard jerky.

“Not just Lei Bao.” Zhou Min sensed with his mental power, “but also the ‘Black Rat’ team and the ‘Poison Fang’ members. They’re all bad news; they love to do double-crossing and other underhanded things.”

Ruan Ning's expression remained unchanged: "As expected. Shen Yao won't place only one bet. Keep an eye on them, but don't be too obvious."

The rest period was short, and the convoy set off again. The road conditions worsened in the afternoon, and they even had to traverse a low-lying section that was half-submerged in water, with unknown creatures lurking beneath the murky surface.

The convoy proceeded cautiously, moving even slower.

As the sun began to set, painting the sky with a mixture of dusky yellow and crimson, the soldiers on reconnaissance reported back: the outer outline of An City was now visible, but the road to the High-tech Zone was completely blocked by a massive car accident and the wreckage of a collapsed overpass. They would have to trek about five kilometers through the complex urban area to reach the research institute.

Chen Jichuan's order came through the radio: the convoy should set up a temporary camp at an abandoned logistics park on the outskirts of Anshi, and all personnel should rest and spend the night there. They should enter the city to carry out their mission the next morning.

Setting up the temporary camp was another busy task. Clearing the ruins, setting up guard posts, and assigning night watch duties.

As night fell, campfires and emergency lights were lit in the camp. The firelight illuminated faces etched with weariness, vigilance, or ambition. Low murmurs, rustling sounds, and even suppressed arguments could be faintly heard.

Ruan Ning leaned against the edge of the tent, her gaze piercing through the campfire, looking towards the silhouette of the city shrouded in the night. In the darkness, she could faintly hear the mournful cries of countless zombies carried on the wind, along with some other strange, indistinguishable sounds.

It took a whole day to travel 150 kilometers.

The real test begins tomorrow.