Zhao Jingguo followed closely in Ye Li's footsteps, cautiously advancing deeper into the resource area.

Before long, the two arrived at the outermost furnace.

The furnace's entrance and exit have been buried by countless iron filings.

The entrance was also blocked by collapsed iron frames, iron plates and other debris outside.

Ye Li and Zhao Jingguo stood outside, and the cave entrance was almost invisible to them.

Only some broken iron parts can be seen exposed outside the iron sand.

"Is this the end?"

Full of suspicion, Zhao Jingguo walked to the front of the furnace, raised his hand and gently tapped the furnace wall. The moment his fingers touched the furnace wall, a piercing pain suddenly struck, causing the muscles in Zhao Jingguo's face to twitch violently involuntarily.

"Ouch~ It's so hot!"

Zhao Jingguo quickly pulled his hand back and looked down. He saw that a large blister had rapidly formed on the tip of his finger that had just touched the furnace wall.

Seeing this, Ye Li also reached out and touched it, and immediately felt a warm sensation on his hand.

Is this the Flaming Mountain?

Ye Li said calmly, then picked up the Barrett and peered into the furnace wall; all the red dots were inside the furnace.

Ye Li frowned slightly, quickly scanned the surroundings a few times, and said, "I just don't know where the entrance is. It's probably buried underground by this sand and soil."

Zhao Jingguo looked worried and quickly asked, "Then what should we do?"

"Step back!"

Ye Li said something indifferently and retreated.

Seeing this, Zhao Jingguo also hurriedly retreated.

The two retreated nearly 50 meters before stopping.

Zhao Jingguo looked at Ye Li and asked suspiciously, "What are you going to do?"

"hehe!"

Ye Li raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile, but did not answer.

Then, he raised the Barrett rifle in his hand again and aimed it at the furnace.

Ye Li carefully adjusted the angle, finally fixing the muzzle of the gun at a position 15 degrees to the left of those red dots.

With a loud "bang," a dazzling beam of energy shot out from the muzzle of the gun, like a raging python rushing straight toward the furnace.

Wherever it passed, the air seemed to be torn apart.

Even the iron sand remaining within seemed to be drawn by some powerful force, surging violently like a turbulent tide.

The energy beam slammed into the massive, thick furnace wall with tremendous force.

In an instant, a deafening roar resounded through the sky, and the entire furnace began to tremble violently.

Countless tiny stones shot out from the furnace wall like raindrops, flying everywhere and whistling through the air with a sharp gust of wind.

The power of this energy beam was so astonishing that it encountered almost no effective resistance and pierced through the thick outer wall of the furnace with unstoppable force.

Two breaths later, Ye Li put away the Barrett and strode towards the breach in the furnace wall that had been blasted open.

A shocking gaping hole had been opened in the otherwise impenetrable furnace wall, from which a stream of warm air was continuously gushing out.

Ye Li looked at Zhao Jingguo and said, "Let's go in and take a look!"

"I?"

Zhao Jingguo pointed to himself.

"Could it be me?" Ye Li retorted, "But you weren't the one who went to rescue me!"

"......"

Zhao Jingguo looked slightly embarrassed, but he didn't say much, after all, Lei Qing was indeed his man.

Zhao Jingguo silently took out a flashlight from his spatial ring, turned it on, and carefully crawled into the unbearably hot furnace.

As soon as he entered the furnace, Zhao Jingguo felt the temperature around him rise instantly, as if he were in a blazing furnace. Large beads of sweat quickly seeped from his forehead and slid down his cheeks.

There were constant hissing sounds underfoot, and a burnt smell of leather emanating from the ground.

Zhao Jingguo clenched his teeth, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. The high temperature felt like it was steaming him alive. He endured the extreme discomfort and moved forward step by step with difficulty.

With each step, Zhao Jingguo felt as if his legs were filled with lead, and the water in his body seemed to be evaporating rapidly.

Zhao Jingguo couldn't help but look back. When he saw Ye Li following closely behind him, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally calmed down a little, and his anxiety gradually dissipated. He continued walking forward.

After walking nearly 200 meters in the narrow space, a horizontal passage appeared ahead.

The previously oppressive and cramped space instantly became open and spacious.

Zhao Jingguo carefully jumped down.

The air inside the passage was equally murky.

There was just much less dust floating in the air.

The visibility isn't as low as it is outside.

Even the temperature around us dropped significantly.

"Over here!"

Ye Li's voice suddenly rang out.

Zhao Jingguo turned around and saw that Ye Li had already continued to move into the passage.

Seeing this, Zhao Jingguo quickly followed Ye Li's steps.

The passageway was filled with a metallic smell, mixed with a scorching heat, making it difficult to breathe.

After walking a while longer, the two arrived at a spacious cave.

The survivors hiding in the cave lay scattered on the ground, lifeless, like corpses that had stopped breathing, not moving at all.

The inside was even hotter and more unbearable, as if one were in a raging furnace, making the already thin air even thinner, in addition to the dust that had rushed in from the explosion.

Despite the opening above, the wisps of air that entered were quickly swallowed and diluted by the heat, making breathing extremely difficult; each breath felt like swallowing scalding lava.

Ye Li turned to look at Zhao Jingguo beside him and said in a deep voice, "Go and see if any of your people are there!"

"good!"

Zhao Jingguo quickly agreed, then became extremely cautious and slowly moved forward with careful steps.

His gaze swept over the faces of the people lying on the ground.

Just then, a person lying on the ground suddenly sat up straight without warning.

He was wearing the same mask as Ye Li and Zhao Jingguo.

He turned to look at Zhao Jingguo and Ye Li.

"Brother Zhao...?"

The man managed to squeeze out those two words with an extremely weak voice.

His voice was weak, as if he was about to breathe his last.