Chapter 445: First Day of Departure
Shitian Mountain is located at the junction of Baicheng.
There used to be many iron mines in Baicheng, but due to excessive mining, the ecological environment was severely damaged and rectification was required. So many flowers, plants and trees were planted to restore the ecology, among which cypress trees were the most common, hence the name Baicheng.
Following the highway route given on the map, it is about seven or eight hundred kilometers from Fucheng to Baicheng, and you can arrive there in one day.
But now the road has been covered by floods, and the terrain has changed due to the earthquake. Xia Xiaoman conservatively estimated that it might take them 3-5 days to reach Baicheng. Adding the time for finding the mine and the return trip, if everything goes well, they might be able to complete the mission in half a month.
After counting the equipment and daily necessities and planning the route, Xia Xiaoman and others set off immediately.
It is not easy to sail on water on land. In some places, the water is too shallow and the bottom of the boat can easily hit some small hills.
Xia Xiaoman and his team need to go into the water frequently to check the underwater terrain, avoid mountains protruding from the ground and shallow water areas, and try to drive to places with more water or fewer mountains.
Xia Xiaoman asked everyone on the boat to take turns to explore the terrain. One reason was to train everyone's water skills and get used to using diving equipment; the other was to give everyone a break so that they wouldn't always have to go into the water alone.
The first person to enter the water was Xia Xiaoman. The recent rain was relatively light, and the water was a little turbid, but because of the abundant light, Xia Xiaoman could still see the general outline of the road ahead.
You don't need to see the terrain very clearly to investigate it, you just need to mark the protruding mountains under the water so that when the official people come to mine in the future, they can avoid them.
After swimming around in the water, Xia Xiaoman looked around and didn't find any living creatures, so he took note of the terrain and swam back to the boat.
After climbing aboard and marking the underwater terrain, Sun Qing led the others to sail forward. After sailing for a hundred or two hundred meters, the boat stopped and Xiao Zheyu went into the water to explore the terrain ahead. They kept going and stopping like this for a whole day but still couldn't get out of the floating city.
Xia Xiaoman retracted his previous speculation. According to the speed they were traveling, it might take them at least ten days or half a month to reach Baicheng.
At night, Xia Xiaoman and Li Yu'e held a brief meeting to summarize today's work progress. After the meeting, Xia Xiaoman glanced at the time and said, "It's still early, how about we go a little further?"
Xiao Zheyu's face froze when he heard this. "Sister Xiaoman, it's the first day, so don't tire yourself out! We still have to continue exploring the terrain tomorrow."
Seeing Xiao Zheyu looking tired, Xia Xiaoman asked, "Are you all very tired?"
Li Yu'e and the others didn't say anything, but their expressions showed signs of fatigue. Fifty people took turns in the water, and each person didn't get a turn many times, so it shouldn't be too tiring, but the prerequisite was that the weather and environment had to be good.
The temperature outside is now as high as 40 or 50 degrees, and it is raining. You can imagine how uncomfortable it would be to stay outside in such weather wearing a one-piece shielding suit.
It is very easy to get heatstroke when the temperature is high and the humidity is high. Fortunately, their bodies have evolved and can withstand such a harsh environment. In the past, a large number of them would have fainted.
Seeing that everyone was very tired, Xia Xiaoman said, "Then you guys take a rest first. I'll lead the team to keep watch."
Li Yu'e and the others nodded, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
…
There is a shift schedule for night watch. On the first day, Xia Xiaoman and Su Ran led the night watch. Xia Xiaoman guarded the first half of the night, and Su Ran guarded the second half.
At three o'clock in the morning, Su Ran got up to change shifts, and Xia Xiaoman took Maodan to the living area to rest. The space on the ship was limited, and there were no single rooms. Ten people shared a room, sleeping on bunk beds.
Not long after Xia Xiaoman lay down, gunshots were heard outside. She immediately opened her eyes, quickly put on her shielding suit and oxygen helmet, then quickly helped Maodan put on his clothes and rushed out of the deck.
"What happened?" Xia Xiaoman asked.
Su Ran fired underwater while saying, "A few people driving assault boats sneaked up to our ship and tried to climb up, but they were suppressed by our firepower and jumped into the water to hide."
"Assault boat?" Xia Xiaoman frowned and took out a telescope to look around. After a while, she saw Wang Canxiong hiding behind a mountain in the distance.
Xia Xiaoman put away the telescope, went into the armory, took out a sniper rifle, put it on the guardrail and aimed at Wang Canxiong. The hull was shaking slowly, and when the muzzle of the gun was aimed at Wang Canxiong's head, Xia Xiaoman immediately pulled the trigger.
Xie Yi, who ran out with a telescope to check the situation, heard a loud bang. The next second, the oxygen mask on Wang Canxiong's head was pierced and the bullet embedded in his head.
"Xiao Man, you killed Wang Canxiong, aren't you afraid that Mayor Yu will cause trouble for you?"
Xia Xiaoman put away the sniper rifle neatly, "What are you afraid of? Wang Canxiong didn't complete his mission properly and came to harass us. I have reason to suspect that he is a spy sent by the capital to cause trouble. Isn't it right to kill him?"
"Besides, Wang Canxiong's mission was just to investigate the terrain around the underground city. Anyone can do such a simple mission. If Wang Canxiong dies, can't we just replace him with someone else?"
She was afraid of this and that, so what mission did she come out for? She should just go home and grow sweet potatoes.
After dealing with the leader, the rest fled in panic, not daring to provoke Xia Xiaoman and the others again. The first day of the mission was relatively successful.
The next morning, Xia Xiaoman and his group continued to move towards Baicheng.
After sailing for more than an hour, they passed a towering mountain. Xia Xiaoman took a telescope to look at the mountain. The mountain was bare with only some rocks.
Xia Xiaoman looked carefully for a long time, but did not see any signs of human life. But she was still worried, especially when she saw Maodan staring at the mountain ahead with a vigilant look on his face, she felt even more that there was something in the mountain.
"Xie Yi, can we take another route and go around the mountain ahead?"
Xie Yi took out the map and studied it. "We can take a detour, but it will be a long way. At our current speed, if we take a detour, it may take us an extra day."
Xia Xiaoman frowned. They were already traveling very slowly. If they delayed for another day, there was no telling if there would be enough supplies on the ship.
Xia Xiaoman looked conflicted. At this moment, the person who went into the water to explore the way suddenly pulled the safety rope hard. The person on the boat holding the safety rope saw the rope being pulled hard and immediately shouted for help.
When Xia Xiaoman and Xie Yi heard the noise, they didn't bother to study the route and hurried out to the deck to check the situation.
"What's going on?" Xie Yi asked loudly.
Sun Qing pulled out his gun and pointed it forward, "There's something in the water! I just saw a huge black shadow on the water!"
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