Everyone got out of the car and pushed open the warehouse door.

An unbearable stench wafted out.

"vomit"

He couldn't help but gag, quickly covering his mouth and nose with his hand, his brow furrowed, desperately trying to suppress the urge to vomit. The smell was simply unbearable; he had never smelled anything so foul before.

"What's that smell? It's so stinky!" Gu Yanlin frowned, pinched his nose, and said with disgust.

He was still a little distance from the door, so he wasn't as shocked as Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui shook his head, his expression serious, his brows furrowed, and said, "I don't know, but this definitely doesn't taste good."

The two of them stood at the doorway, hesitating whether to go in. The stench was simply too strong.

However, Zhao Rui and Gu Yanlin still pulled up their clothes, covered their mouths and noses with their collars, and slowly walked in.

There was nothing they could do; this warehouse was the most intact building they had seen along the way, and all they could see ahead was a wasteland.

The warehouse had no windows and was very dark against the light.

After entering, it took the two of them a while for their eyes to adjust before they could see that there were some wooden crates on both sides of the warehouse, which were dilapidated and damaged by water.

The walls were covered in mold and grime.

The stench came from several corpses lying haphazardly on the ground, their bodies rotting away, with bones visible in some places and white things wriggling on the decaying flesh.

It is likely that the warehouse was flooded during the flood, and these people were unable to escape from inside, eventually becoming trapped and dying.

The prolonged soaking and decay, coupled with the hot weather, accelerated the decomposition of the corpse, emitting a strong stench that made people feel nauseous and uncomfortable.

Zhao Rui and Gu Yanlin were shocked and saddened by what they saw.

“It’s so pitiful.” Gu Yanlin sighed. “They may have been trapped here for a long time, until they died.”

Zhao Rui nodded and said, "Yes, who knows how many people this will involve nationwide?"

Even though he was used to death, Zhao Rui couldn't help but sigh for them, trapped in the warehouse, watching in despair as the water slowly engulfed them until they died.

Red flames illuminated the entire warehouse, and nine people stood in front of the flames, mourning the dead.

The flames engulfed the last piece of clothing before gradually fading away, leaving behind ashes and silence.

The group carefully collected the gray powder from the ground, filled an empty water bottle with it, and buried it in the ground outside the warehouse.

This was the only thing they could do for these few people.

By the time the warehouse was tidied up, the blazing sun high in the sky had already begun to set.

Having been on the road all day and not having had time for lunch, I suddenly felt very hungry.

It was too hot, and they didn't want to bother with anything else, so they just grabbed some steamed buns and ate them plain.

"It's so hot, these steamed buns probably won't last long," Lin Cheng thought to himself as he looked at the bun in his hand.

The things they brought out of Liancheng were mostly steamed buns, followed by compressed biscuits, canned goods, and other relatively easier-to-preserve items.

A few days ago, the weather was cool, and steamed buns could still be stored. But in this 50-degree heat, steamed buns probably won't last even a day or two.

"It's alright, there's not much left. We'll have another meal tomorrow morning and that'll be it," said Chai Ping'an, the team member in charge of storing the food, after checking the supplies in his hand.

They've been busy traveling these past few days, mostly just eating steamed buns, so the buns are going through quickly, but they haven't touched anything else yet.

Then he frowned and said worriedly, "However, our food won't last for more than a few days."

“Especially the water, that’s all our stock.” Chai Ping’an nodded at the transparent water bottle on the ground, which was only half-full in height.

The heat came on so suddenly that they were quickly depleting their water supply.

People can go without food for a short period of time, but they cannot go without water. They urgently need to find a new water source.

"Let's take a break. When it gets a little cooler at night, let's all go out and look for some. We still have some here, enough for an emergency," Gu Yanzhi said slowly, swallowing the last piece of steamed bun in his hand and taking a sip of water.

Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao's supplies are not calculated together with those of the 532nd Squad. As for Gu Yanlin, as a member of the 532nd Squad, he is entitled to a share of the squad's supplies. His sister and brother-in-law are willing to contribute more supplies to him, and no one else has any objections, nor should they.

We've gotten along very well during this time and have become good friends. Gu Yanzhi is willing to lend a helping hand when a friend needs it.

However, she wouldn't be a sucker and give away her things directly. Although she knew they wouldn't, she still had to be wary; she understood the principle that a small favor could breed resentment.

An hour or two after sunset, the temperature did indeed drop a little, just as Gu Yanzhi had predicted.

Although the temperature only dropped from 50 degrees to 45 degrees, it still brought a sense of coolness to everyone.

After resting for a while, everyone split into three groups according to their travel arrangements and prepared to go out to find water and food.

At night, Julu County is completely dark and deathly silent.

The three flashlights belonging to the nine people were the only source of light in the city at night.

"Captain, let's go over there then." Gu Yanlin pointed in a direction at random, said something to Chu Guodong, and then left the warehouse with Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao. The darkness quickly swallowed their figures.

"Then let's go too."

Actually, there's not much to look for. In this collapsed ruin, unless they spend a lot of time, energy, and physical strength clearing the rubble, they won't find anything.

Going out is, at best, just trying your luck.

However, as they walked, Gu Yanzhi and the other two sensed something was wrong, feeling as if someone was following them.

Gu Yanzhi quietly made a hand gesture, and Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin nodded in understanding.

As they passed a tall, ruined building, the three of them turned around and disappeared.

Two furtive figures soon emerged from the spot where the three had disappeared.

"Brother, the person in front of us has disappeared. We've lost them."

"Take your time searching. This place is remote, and not many people come here. We must find out what they came here for." The two spoke softly, but their voices were clearly audible in the quiet night.

"Who are you? What are you doing following us?" As the two stood on the ruins looking around, Gu Yanzhi and his two companions surrounded them from three directions and asked rudely.

"What are you doing here?" The two men didn't answer, but asked instead.

"Our vehicle ran out of gas when we passed by here, and we also didn't have much food left, so we had to stop temporarily to replenish our supplies," Song Zhao replied, half-truthfully.

Using the faint light from Gu Yanzhi's flashlight, the two sensed that the three people in front of them didn't seem to be faking it, and they were already halfway convinced.

"We are from the Julu Base."