Chapter 456 Slums...
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.
He instinctively gripped the gun in his arms, cursing under his breath, and sleepily, warily, and impatiently leaned halfway out, peering in the direction of the sound...
A surge of spiritual energy entered the guard's skull!
"puff--"
Red and white substances splattered instantly, staining the dilapidated walls of the guard post and his own body.
He didn't even get a scream out before his protruding half-body slumped down, lifeless, leaving only his headless corpse in that comical outstretched position...
The whole process was faster than anyone could imagine; from the moment the brick hit the ground to the moment the guard was killed, it took only two or three seconds.
Looking at the guard post that had instantly become incredibly bloody, He Zhuo couldn't help but grin and mutter under his breath, "Sister, Brother Xu...did we really have to make it so...so shocking?"
Shi Xu withdrew his mental energy expressionlessly: "When I take action, the noise is minimal and the efficiency is maximum."
Judging from your actions just now, you didn't intend to kill with one blow. The other party will inevitably struggle and shout, which will only increase the risk.
Only by taking action can I ensure that nothing goes wrong and that I don't alert the enemy.
Besides, doesn't this crimson hue suit the scenery of this rocky outcrop perfectly? It's not out of place...
He Zhuo pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, and mimicked Shi Xu's tone: "This blood color, doesn't it perfectly match the scenery of this rock?"
Ugh...you're such a faker! ...I think you're cuter when you call me "uncle"!
Shi Xu lifted his foot and walked forward: [I absolutely cannot pay any attention to this idiot, otherwise this old grudge will never end!]
Gu Qi: "He Zhuo, stop joking around, it's your turn to shine..."
"Quickly clean that thing up and put it back, and cover up the bloodstains too, so that if a patrol comes by, they won't spot the problem immediately."
"I know, I know, you only know how to make me do this dirty and tiring work..." He Zhuo complained, but his movements were not slow at all.
He used his earth-based abilities to roughly shove the headless corpse back into a corner of the guard post with a single earth spike...
Then, he manipulated the soil to quickly cover, bury, and compact the shattered skull fragments and splattered red and white matter on the ground.
While it's impossible to completely restore it to its original state, at least from the outside, it's no longer so shocking...
After dealing with this minor incident, the group passed through the gap in the makeshift barbed wire fence and entered the shantytown.
Stepping inside feels like instantly falling from modern society into a forgotten medieval slum, or even worse...
The odor in the air became more tangible and more suffocating...
What came into view was a densely packed, low, and dilapidated shack.
These so-called "houses" are mostly cobbled together from tattered plastic sheets, dirty canvas, salvaged wooden sticks, and rusty iron sheets. They are crooked and look as if a slightly strong wind could completely overturn them.
The roofs mostly had holes, barely enough to keep out light rain, but definitely not enough to keep out the bitter cold...
They moved silently along the edge of the narrow, muddy, sewage-filled "road".
Through the gaps in some of the shacks that were not completely covered, one could glimpse the interior—the so-called “beds” were nothing more than some blackened and moldy straw, tattered cotton wadding, or a few rickety wooden planks spread on the ground.
The space inside the shed is extremely cramped, often crammed with several people, or even more...
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