After multiple accidents, the convoy finally embarked on the journey steadily.
However, due to the sacrifice of a comrade, the convoy's initial relaxed atmosphere became extremely heavy.
An Hongye no longer had her initial playful demeanor.
Sitting in the vehicle.
Unless Baiyu actively asked her about the wasteland, she remained silent, mostly sharpening weapons.
After a monotonous stretch of travel.
The three battle-scarred heavy trucks stopped by a large pond.
The surface of this pond was colorful.
One look would reveal that the water had been heavily polluted, with unknown viruses inside.
"Put on protective suits, set up the pumps, and drain this pond,"
Luo Cheng instructed everyone.
A group of Wildfire members set up three pumps by the pond and connected them to batteries.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The entire pond began bubbling intensely.
Another team of Wildfire members dug drainage ditches and reservoirs nearby to collect the filtered wastewater.
"Is the resource site beneath here?"
Baiyu asked.
An Hongye nodded: "This is a hidden entrance to that resource site, previously detected with a Detector.
Now the front entrance of the resource point.
There are definitely many corporate members there; even if we could win, we'd suffer massive casualties.
So we'll enter from this entrance.
If we can avoid direct confrontation, let's do so; if not, we'll engage openly."
An Hongye's decision was sound.
Avoiding direct confrontation was the hope for the survival and growth of the resistance.
The three pumps operated simultaneously.
The pond's water surface soon started to drop, revealing some bizarre fish and mud lobsters inside, some even with two heads.
This was all due to radiation exposure.
Once the pond was completely drained, Luo Cheng had explosives brought in and buried beneath the pond.
Bang.
A loud explosion.
The tunnel hidden beneath the pond finally came into view.
Luo Cheng and An Hongye both smiled.
They'd finally found it.
"Let's go, start the operation.
This time we must secure the resource site, or the losses will be too great."
Luo Cheng took the lead, entering comrades.
The team then split into smaller groups and began advancing through the tunnel in order.
Equipped with high-power lights, visibility remained high in the pitch-black tunnel.
The tunnel walls were covered with moss.
The group advanced cautiously, the tunnel itself uneven, and encountering any strange mutated creatures could result in injuries.
Fortunately.
Perhaps due to the previous misfortunes, this journey through the tunnel was without incident.
Luo Cheng was the first to emerge from the tunnel.
The Wildfire squad filed out behind him, quickly forming a formation at the exit to guard against unexpected threats.
Yet after forming the formation.
Most were stunned by the scene before them.
One skyscraper after another, built of concrete and steel, had walls crawling with moss despite being clad in glass.
The powerful lights in their hands only illuminated the nearby area.
However.
The air was filled with many glowing fireflies, their light strong enough to make the scenery visible.
"This isn't a resource site at all; it's a city from the old world!"
An Hongye exclaimed.
The rest of the members felt similarly; Luo Cheng was so excited he couldn't speak for a moment.
An old-world city.
And it had previously gone undiscovered, only now being found.
The value of this was inestimable, the most precious thing in the current age.
If this city had a security defense system, they could even relocate the base headquarters here.
To those living in the new world, the term "city" was extremely unfamiliar. Most couldn't understand why people in the old world gathered in such numbers.
However.
This didn't diminish their longing for cities.
A city from the old era meant various steels and manufactured goods, and possibly even armories.
Obtaining the ruins of this city could even overturn the current power configuration.
Of course.
They weren't blinded by the prospects before them.
Only what they could grasp was real; anything beyond reach was as elusive as a mirage.
"Everyone take a temporary rest, remain vigilant. The company might have also discovered this and may have already entered the city.
Once they find these old-world city ruins.
They might immediately dispatch reinforcements, perhaps even 90% of their forces."
Luo Cheng instructed.
The group followed the instructions, spreading out fanwise to search the surroundings.
The search proceeded at a brisk pace.
All were working hard; faced with such a large-scale site, they could search without tiring.
Soon.
The first wave of searching concluded.
Everyone returned to the assembly point.
The primary objective of the first search was to secure safety, avoiding areas with peculiar flora or fauna, or excessive contamination.
This search revealed no issues.
However.
When Luo Cheng did a headcount, he found a team missing.
This group was long-established, comprised of three experienced field members, who would never miss an assembly.
This meant.
They certainly encountered trouble.
Yet experienced members would signal with a Signal Flare or cry for help immediately when in danger.
This was not the case now.
The only explanation was encountering a threat that allowed no reaction time before being killed or losing consciousness.
Only in this way.
Could they vanish without a trace.
Luo Cheng frowned tightly, while An Hongye and other captains were in a quandary.
If everyone moved together.
Encountered dangers would greatly diminish, but so would operational efficiency.
Yet.
If they didn't move together.
Not knowing what was threatening them from the shadows, further disappearances might lead to panic.
"Let's move together,"
Luo Cheng mused for a moment, and said.
Yet An Hongyue shook her head: "Leader, I disagree with this plan. If we move together, our target will grow and operational efficiency will plummet.
In these circumstances, time is life.
If we delay too long, and the company's main force arrives, everyone will be in immense danger."
Luo Cheng did not immediately refute An Hongye.
He knew An Hongye's stance implied an alternative solution.
"Then what do you propose?"
Luo Cheng asked calmly.