Thinking this, after the pursuers left, Wu Ma quietly asked, "How did the captain know there was a cave here?"
"Could he have been here before?"
Upon hearing Wu Ma's words, Shen Hou scratched his head and then said, also somewhat puzzled, "I'm not sure. It feels quite magical to me."
After speaking, he seemed to be stunned for a moment, then whispered, "By the way... during our escape, did any of you hear a 'rumbling' sound?"
When Shen Hou mentioned this, the few looked at each other, and finally, Ding Xiaoliu, with a stern face, said, "I think I faintly heard something. But I was so rushed while fleeing, I thought I had misheard."
Hearing him say this, another team member from the Investigation Bureau named Dong Feng, as if suddenly thinking of something, abruptly turned his head to look at the cave wall.
A First-order Catastropher already possesses slight night vision ability, so although the cave was dimly lit, he could still vaguely make out some things.
He exclaimed, "Eh," then with some amazement, pressed against the cave wall, gently feeling around with his hand.
After a moment, he lowered his voice and said, "Look quickly..."
"The soil in this cave is all damp. And there are even some freshly broken, tender roots mixed in."
Hearing Dong Feng's words, the other five Dare-to-Die Team members hastily checked as well.
They soon discovered similar conditions in other areas of the cave.
Team 3 specifically worked with soil, moisture, and plant collection. They had also learned quite a bit of specialized knowledge in the past few days.
They knew better than anyone what this phenomenon meant.
'This cave... has been newly dug.'
'And... judging by the roots still oozing sap, it couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes.'
Thinking this, the six of them couldn't help but exchange looks, seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
Because, compared to the explanation that Qiu Tu had mysteriously dug a cave next to them just minutes before; it was obviously more plausible that after discovering they had been caught by the enemy, he had dug out a cave thousands of meters away, helping them to hide...
Both explanations were incredibly exaggerated, weren't they!
What Tier Disaster Changer was their captain exactly? And what was his Cataclysmic ability?
It felt... as powerful as a deity?
Thinking this, the eyes of the six couldn't help but go madly wild. The cave also became incredibly silent for a time.
After a moment, it was Ding Xiaoliu who spoke up.
He swept a serious gaze over the five people present and then said, "Regardless of what everyone is thinking or guessing,"
"I want to remind everyone that a Cataclysmic ability is a person's biggest secret. If it is known by others, one could become the target of an attack."
"So, there are things you should think twice about discussing, and who you can discuss them with, I hope everyone will carefully consider."
As he finished speaking, another member from the Investigation Bureau, Dong Feng, also chimed in,
"Little Liu is right, Brother Tu has just saved our lives!"
"Don't bite the hand that feeds us."
Having said this, he paused for a moment and continued, "Moreover... Brother Tu is one of the youngest high-ranking individuals in Xinjie City. He was born and raised in the underlayers of Xinjie City, one of our own."
"He is under the care of big shots from the Sanctuary, protected by the Bureau Chief, closely collaborates with the military and the Security Department, and has a large number of investigators who follow him."
"Such a potential stock with excellent performance, you don't want to lose the watermelon to pick up the sesame seeds."
Dong Feng and Little Liu meant the same thing, fearing that someone upon their return might leak Qiu Tu's Cataclysmic abilities to the military or to their own superiors. Thus, they were issuing a precaution.
What Dong Feng was saying was more direct: instead of currying favor with your own superiors by leaking Qiu Tu's information, you might as well just swear allegiance to Qiu Tu directly. Perhaps the prospects could be better.
When they heard the two of them speak, the other four members exchanged glances, and their expressions slowly changed from surprise to determination.
Meanwhile, a series of increased loyalty prompts also floated by on Qiu Tu's side.
Except for Ding Xiaoliu, whose loyalty had long reached over 80 and only rose by 1 point, the other five members all increased by 2 to 7 points of loyalty…
Seeing this, a hint of a smile flashed in the depths of Qiu Tu's eyes.
There were two main goals for Qiu Tu in willing to lead the Dare-to-Die Team to investigate amidst such great danger.
The first was the Refining Area Center. The second was to enroll this Dare-to-Die Team under his command.
As his status rose higher and higher, he needed a group of Disaster Changers with decent abilities and to cultivate his own confidants in other departments.
And this batch of new Disaster Changers without any backing, who would be promoted upon their return, became his first choice.
With the merit from investigating "Boundless Heart Sea" and the strength of the Disaster Changers, this batch would almost 100% become Deputy Staff Chiefs, Staff Chiefs, or even Deputy Division Chiefs within the next six months.
This would be the first layer of mid-level power Qiu Tu would harvest!
Thus, during these seven days, showing them his strength, and then saving them from fire and water when they were abandoned by Xinjie City, continuously boosting their favorability, was Qiu Tu's plan!
As for... whether this would expose his identity as a Domain Master...
Thinking this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but use Infinite Vision to take a glance at Tang Feifei and Qin Shuman, who were sneakily observing him.