While playing with the baby slug, Shi Nian curiously took Lu Sheng's arm and asked, "Sister, these people are so strange. They're already so badly injured, why are they continuing the mission?"
“Sunk cost, you know?” Zhang Xiaojuan explained calmly, “We’ve already suffered a considerable loss. If we give up halfway, we’ll lose everything. We can only grit our teeth and keep going. It’s just like how you girls are love-struck. You know the other guy is a jerk, but because you’ve invested so much, you still can’t bear to break up.”
Shi Nian nodded as if she understood, squeezing the baby slug in her hand until it made a squeaking sound.
The rest of the journey went relatively smoothly. The group walked for more than half an hour before finding the Green Mountain Base, which was surrounded by mutated plants.
The streets were teeming with mutated zombies, and the vast base echoed with the hungry howls of the hordes.
As soon as the main force entered the base, the girl with glasses in Sun Lu's team took out an electronic map.
“Before we set off, we made contact with the survivors of the Qingshan Base who had escaped to deep space, and they gave us a map,” Sun Lu explained to Lu Sheng and the others.
The research institute was located deep within the Qingshan base. The large team marched in as a group, clearing all the streets along the way.
The safe house was converted from an underground air-raid shelter from the pre-apocalyptic era. After entering the research institute, the group went downhill and soon found the door to the safe house.
The entire underground corridor was filled with the aura of death, and the stench of decay was palpable with every breath.
The entrance was piled high with the remains of mutated plants, and the ground was littered with the corpses of zombies that had been overrun by the plants. Clearly, the survivors had gone through a fierce battle to enter the safe house.
"Is anyone inside? We're a rescue team from the Deep Space Base." Sun Lu tried knocking on the door of the safe house.
Soon after, the sound of tables and chairs clattering came from inside the door, followed by an excited female voice: "Great! The rescue team has arrived!"
But the group waited for a long time, and there was no sign of the door opening. Instead, the infrared camera in the corner of the corridor moved slightly.
Zhang Xiaojuan shrugged. "It seems they don't really trust us."
After another ten seconds or so, the people inside seemed to be repeatedly confirming the identities of Lu Sheng and her group.
Once they were sure that everyone outside was alive, the door to the safe house opened a tiny crack, revealing a pair of withered, yellow eyes scrutinizing them.
An indescribable stench instantly wafted out from under the door, making everyone present feel nauseous.
"What's that smell? It stinks..." Han Rui subconsciously pinched her nose.
Zhang Xiaojuan quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "My dear lady, she's been locked up in the safe house for a month, eating, drinking, and relieving herself there. Of course she'll smell bad! Let's bear with it and not say anything, it's really impolite."
Du Ze pushed Sun Lu aside, squeezed in front of her, and showed her his Deep Space Base ID card. "I am the captain of the Falcon Squad of Deep Space Base. We are here to rescue you."
Those withered, yellow eyes stared at the ID card for a long time before finally breaking into a sob, "Oh my god! It really is a rescue team!"
After saying that, he shakily opened the door, grabbed Du Ze's hand excitedly, and burst into tears, "You've finally come!"
Only then did Lu Sheng and the others get a clear view of the entire safe house.
The entire safe house was only about 300 square meters, with excrement and garbage everywhere in the corners, and only one small air window, about one square meter in size.
The oil lamp inside was almost burned out, and the air was filled with a complex, putrid stench.
There were about seven or eight people inside. The men were all unshaven and their faces were hard to make out, while the only two women were emaciated and pale from hunger.
Lu Sheng cautiously scanned the room and whispered a warning, "Be careful, something's not right here."
"What's wrong?" Zhang Xiaojuan asked curiously.
Xu Yi calmly took out a mask and distributed it to everyone, saying, "There is no food waste here."
After Xu Yi reminded them, the remaining few people turned their attention to the mountain of garbage piled up in the corner.
Safe houses typically have stockpiled canned goods and compressed biscuits as backup food, usually packaged in metal cans or aluminum foil. A month's supply for seven or eight people would require at least dozens of cans.
But there wasn't a single canned food in all this garbage. What have these people been eating to survive until now?
On the other side, Du Ze excitedly rushed into the crowd, asking, "Where is Dr. Lin Wanshan? Which one is Dr. Lin Wanshan?"
The survivors looked at each other, and no one spoke.
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