As they approached the mission objective, it was already 7 PM. The sky had not yet darkened, with a faint twilight hanging in the distance.
The motorcycle was parked a kilometer away in a concealed location. Now, Lin Yuan and Jiang Ziqi were lying on a small hillside, discussing the upcoming plan.
"Ziqi, did you sprinkle the realgar powder and insect repellent powder?"
"Sprinkled. The outer perimeter is covered with realgar, and the inner perimeter with insect repellent. Our entire campsite is enclosed."
There were many venomous creatures in the mountains, and it was summer, so extra caution was needed.
"Good. Let Xu Qing set up the camp. The three of us will go down and use the sonic exploration device to scout the terrain before we make any further plans."
"Understood."
Jiang Ziqi went to notify Xu Qing. Lin Yuan suddenly thought of something and asked, "Will this sonic exploration device prematurely awaken anything slumbering beneath? Don't insects and similar creatures have much stronger senses than us?"
"Captain, if we're talking about startling the snakes, creatures with such senses should also be able to detect your movements once you go in. So, it's better to check beforehand. It's certainly better than going in blind."
"Understood."
After Jiang Ziqi returned, he followed Wu Ping down the mountain. They were about 200 meters away from the old house that was now covered with a lot of climbing ivy.
They stopped only when they reached the house directly.
"This house is really big, even bigger than the small villas back in our hometown."
The house before them occupied a footprint similar to a villa, but its decoration was far less luxurious. It had blue bricks and gray tiles, and was built with mud.
However, Lin Yuan knew that the exterior was merely decoration and camouflage; he didn't know what was inside.
He had no intention of going in now, only signaling Wu Ping to start collecting information.
"Ziqi, cover your ears."
Lin Yuan was worried that the device's sonic waves might damage Jiang Ziqi's hearing.
"Don't worry, Brother Lin Yuan, I'm prepared," Jiang Ziqi said, pressing a switch on his helmet, and then signaled Wu Ping to begin.
"Hummm—"
The exploration device was activated.
The display screen continuously constructed the underground structure of the house.
Ten minutes later, the model was complete.
Not a single monster rushed out from under the house or from any cave during the process.
Even the sonic exploration device did not detect any signs of activity.
The underground was silent.
"The shape of this underground space, what does it look like?" The model had already been synchronized and transmitted to the Beidou combat systems on Jiang Ziqi's and Lin Yuan's wrists.
Now they needed to discuss the combat plan based on this spatial model.
"Like an anthill?" Lin Yuan answered Jiang Ziqi's question.
"Yes, yes, yes. When I watched short videos before, I saw someone pouring molten aluminum or tin into an anthill. After it solidified, it looked roughly like this."
"Then, in that case, this stronghold of the Eternal Life Cult is researching ant colonies?"
"Highly likely."
"Whatever it is, we'll find out tomorrow when we go down. The grenades we brought for this mission are all special-purpose rounds, so we won't be afraid if we encounter those things."
Since it had been confirmed that the mission target was a stronghold of the Eternal Life Cult, most of the grenades they carried were insecticide rounds, strong acid rounds, and incendiary rounds—special-purpose munitions.
The Eternal Life Cult researched and utilized insects, and these types of munitions were perfect counters for them.
Looking at the sky, which had completely darkened, without a single star, Lin Yuan also saw flashes of lightning and faintly heard thunder.
He frowned, "Alright, let's head back to the camp to rest. We'll take turns on watch tonight, with night vision and thermal imaging activated at all times. We cannot let our guard down."
"Yes!"
The air pressure was somewhat low now, and the air was very stuffy.
It was about to rain.
Dinner was simple, consisting of individual combat rations. Who knew if there were any dormant insect eggs in the food near the Eternal Life Cult's stronghold?
It was better to eat dry rations.
In the middle of the night, Lin Yuan was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. He quickly crawled out of his tent.
"What's wrong?"
"Rumble!"
The thunderclap from the clouds drowned out his words.
"Brother Lin Yuan, our lightning protection device was washed away by the water. We've just finished re-securing it."
"Water?"
Lin Yuan turned his head to look. A part of the mountain peak opposite them had collapsed.
A landslide.
"Are there any river valleys or similar areas around here?"
Hearing Lin Yuan's question, Xu Qing, who was wiping down the equipment, replied, "Captain, we considered the danger of flash floods and landslides before coming here. This place is fine. The lightning protection device just wasn't secured properly, and Wu Ping discovered it in time. Now, we just need to wait for the rain to stop."
"I understand! I just want to know if the stronghold below will be washed away by the water!"
"Don't worry, Captain! The entrance to the underground section is through a cellar, and this structure has its own drainage system. Most ants are architects, and whoever built this didn't discard this racial talent. It can automatically drain water during rainfall without the need for ant guidance."
"Alright, those who need to rest should go back and rest, and maintain their energy."
Since they slept fully clothed in combat readiness, the rainwater didn't wet their clothes at all. They went back, lay down on the ground, and slept.
The next morning, Lin Yuan and Jiang Ziqi were already geared up and performing final adjustments. Xu Qing and Wu Ping were integrating their positional information with the "anthill" terrain surveyed yesterday, so as to remind them of the correct direction in case of special circumstances.
"After we depart, you two must constantly monitor the outer perimeter. If any high-level mutants or special mutants approach, notify us and run towards our location. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
After returning a salute to the two, Lin Yuan and Jiang Ziqi pushed open the entrance to the stronghold.
The sonic exploration device had stopped operating, and Jiang Ziqi, acting as a human sonar radar, could now work with confidence.
"There's nothing in the room."
"Split up and search for data. Be careful."
They were still on the ground level, not having gone down yet, so splitting up wasn't inappropriate; it could also speed up the process.
"The west side has been searched, no findings."
"The east side has also been searched, no findings," Lin Yuan replied.
Before leaving, he glanced again at the somewhat out-of-place box of white chocolate on the table.
It was covered in dust.
He would come back to it later.
The Sky Eye was still active. Lin Yuan was being cautious as this concerned Andrea.
"Let's go, we're heading down."
Through an entrance in the cellar, Lin Yuan and the others successfully reached the location of the "anthill."
It was very dark; pulling the circuit breaker yielded no response, so they had to rely on high-intensity flashlights for their search.
The passages here were reinforced with bricks and cement. They were somewhat rough but still sturdy. The walls were covered with many religious paintings drawn with pigment. From afar, they looked holy and noble, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that the content had nothing to do with holiness.
Looking at them for too long could unsettle the mind.
Taking several deep breaths to clear his head, Lin Yuan stopped looking at the obscene and evil murals on the walls and focused intently on searching for experimental data and specimens.
The ground was only slightly damp, with some green moss and the like growing on it. Lin Yuan picked up a portion with tweezers and examined it carefully.
It wasn't insects.
The entire underground section seemed to be completely devoid of any living creatures. They had been delving for ten minutes and hadn't even encountered a rat, nor were there any signs of activity along the way.
"Brother Lin Yuan, this is the operating room!"
On the other side, Jiang Ziqi discovered a place with an English sign that read "Operating Room." The lettering was handwritten in red paint and looked terrifying.
"Be careful."
Places like this were usually boss stages in horror games.