47
After rushing into the thick fog of Tongue Bay, Lian Chuan slowed down and let go of Ning Gu's wrist.
"There are no indigenous people, right?" Ning Gu asked.
"No." Lian Chuan walked forward.
"Have you heard any movement from other travelers?" Ning Gu asked again, "And the leader and the others."
"No," Lian Chuan raised his hand and pointed to the right. He heard a sound over there when he came over. "Some travelers should have gone forward along the fog."
"That's their patrol route." Ning Gu breathed a sigh of relief. This meant that at least some people were alive. As long as they were alive, the captain and Li Xiang, who were more powerful than them, should also be fine.
But what made him a little uneasy was the collective disappearance of the indigenous people.
"The Aboriginals have lived here for years," Lianchuan said. "When Tongue Bay was swallowed, they already knew what was happening."
"Where can they hide?" Ning Gu thought for a moment, "Could they go outside the border?"
"No matter where they hide, it's a good thing that we don't run into them now," Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu looked at the ground under his feet, then bent down and touched it: "The ground is not icy anymore."
"Which direction is the basement?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Come," Ning Gu stood up, adjusted his goggles, and walked forward, "Follow me."
Lian Chuan followed.
A faint smell of burning could be smelled in the air around, so faint that one had to hold one's nose against the wind to distinguish it, as if the black fog was being burned by the constant flashes of lightning.
According to Ning Gu's judgment, combined with the distance he went too far last time, the basement should be just a few hundred meters to the right front.
He slowed down his pace. Although he was very eager to know the situation of the team leader and Li Xiang, special landmarks like the basement were often dangerous targets and required caution.
In addition, many small cracks appeared on the ground, like cracks extending from the big crack. Although there was no electric light, they were bottomless. Ning Gu placed the cold light bottle into the crack and could only see infinite black downwards.
Not long ahead, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the black fog in the distance.
Ning Gu was stunned and stopped.
Then the lightning flashed again, from left to right, like Lian Chuan's foot crossing the ground outside the Lost Valley.
"That crack..." Ning Gu whispered, "may have passed through the basement."
"I didn't hear anything unusual," Lian Chuan walked in front of him, "Go slowly, don't get close to those lights."
"Yeah." Ning Gu responded, "Is there no movement from the leader and Li Xiang? There are a lot of travelers down there, but there is no movement either?"
"No." Lian Chuan replied.
Ning Gu's heart sank. If the crack happened to pass through the basement, whatever was inside might have turned to ashes.
The area surrounding the lightning was illuminated. Not to mention the Tongue Bay, even the entire ghost town had never had such a large area of light. Ning Gu was stunned as he looked at the lightning that was like a wall just a few dozen meters ahead.
We have reached the basement.
But the basement door had disappeared.
A deep crack appeared on the ground above the basement. The door had collapsed, and the entire basement seemed to have been cut in half by a knife.
From this angle, you can't see what's inside the crack. You only know that this crack is the same as those small cracks, and there is no flash of lightning.
Ning Gu walked closer slowly. The crack was very long, but not very wide, less than one meter. He still couldn't see clearly even when he got closer. There was dead silence below.
He brought three cold light bottles, and when he was about to throw the one in his hand into the basement to have a look, a series of explosions suddenly came from the left.
The air began to vibrate along with the ground beneath their feet, and the wind instantly changed direction, whistling wildly as it swept past.
When Ning Gu turned his head, he saw a beam of lightning.
It flashed towards this side rapidly from the depths of the Tongue Bay, and then countless tiny cracks crawled across the ground under feet, quickly opening like a net.
This is a new electric crack.
The ground behind him was already covered with a network of cracks, and there was no telling where it would suddenly split open and burst into lightning.
"Go down." Lian Chuan said, rushed forward and jumped into the basement.
Ning Gu didn't have time to hesitate, he also rushed forward and jumped down.
While still in the air, I heard a loud bang in the air behind me, which should be a flash of lightning.
Ning Gu really wanted to look back, but he didn't dare. He could feel that at that moment, the clothes on his back had turned to ashes.
If I look back, I'm afraid this face that serves as the facade of the ghost town will be gone.
The basement was very deep, and one would have to walk down a long staircase from the door, but now one jumped directly down, and the landing process was quite long.
When he finally stepped on a piece of broken black iron, Ning Gu knew he had reached the bottom. He quickly fell to the side and rolled around before he stabilized himself.
The cold light bottle went out when the lightning flashed. Now it was pitch black all around and he could not see anything.
"Even the dogs?" he lowered his voice.
"Yes." Lian Chuan responded from behind him, "Are you hurt?"
"No, but..." Ning Gu touched his back with his backhand, and sure enough, "My clothes are burned."
A blue light appeared behind him, which was the lighting on Lian Chuan's uniform.
"Your back..." Lian Chuan probably saw his back.
Ning Gu turned around immediately: "What's wrong with your back? Perfect."
"It's dark," Lian Chuan said, "Are you okay?"
"What?" Ning Gu lowered his voice and turned around quickly, "Help me take a look!"
Lian Chuan hesitated for a moment, then reached out and rubbed his back twice, rubbing off a piece of black gray and revealing his white skin.
"How is it?" Ning Gu asked.
“…very white.” Lian Chuan said.
"I'm asking you if you are hurt!" Ning Gu shouted in a low voice.
"Are you injured? Can't you feel the pain?" Lian Chuan thought that this man was shot in the leg twice by the capture gun and didn't fall to the ground and was able to escape... Maybe his pain nerves are not well developed, so he reached out and wiped a few times to confirm that there were no injuries on his back, "I don't think so."
"That's fine." Ning Gu hesitated for a moment and took off his clothes. His back was completely exposed, and the clothes felt awkward on him.
After taking it off, he realized, "Did you notice how warm it is?"
"Nothing was found," Lian Chuan looked at him, "I subdued the temperature."
"Is constant temperature so amazing?" Ning Gu said.
"Yes." Lian Chuan replied.
Ning Gu glanced at him, unable to think of anything to refute, so he turned and walked away.
"It wasn't this warm when I came here before," he looked around with the help of the light from Lian Chuan's uniform. This was the small hall at the entrance to the basement. There was nothing in it. It was also empty when I came here before. It didn't look like it had changed much now, except that a small half of it had collapsed, and the ground was covered with debris of all sizes.
"Where are we going?" Lian Chuan asked.
"There's a small door over there," Ning Gu pointed, and found that the small door leading to the deep basement was broken in half and leaned against the wall. "Is it... gone?"
"Let's go and take a look." Lian Chuan walked over there.
Behind the small door is a short passage. Not long after walking, I saw another small door.
The door was not collapsed by the earthquake and is still closed.
Ning Gu went over and pushed the door, but it didn't move.
He turned around and glanced at Lian Chuan: "Can you open it?"
"How did you open it when you sneaked in before?" Lian Chuan clenched his left hand, and the brass knuckles on his fingers emitted a dark blue light.
"It's open," Ning Gu stepped aside, "Now that I think about it, it was probably Lin Fan."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything else. He waved his hand and four deep cracks appeared on the door, with a faint light coming through.
Just as Ning Gu was about to go over to take a look, Lian Chuan said, "It's empty inside."
Then he kicked the door.
The door suddenly seemed to be blown open, and a large hole was revealed after a splash of debris.
Ning Gu didn't care about anything else and immediately stuck his head in.
The last time he came, this gate was full of huge iron cages, and many of them contained travelers, some with just one, and some with several.
All the travelers were silent. They didn't react when they saw him, and didn't even make a sound.
But after Ning Gu got through, he found that what Lian Chuan said was true.
It's empty inside.
The iron cages were still there, but the doors were all open and the travelers in the cages were gone.
Ning Gu walked to a cage and checked the lock on the cage door: "Someone opened it with a key."
"They have been relocated," Lian Chuan looked around. "So many people can be relocated at this time. This at least means that the people who came to relocate are safe."
"Where did it go?" Ning Gu was a little anxious. He originally thought that if Dingzi didn't go to the border, then he must be here.
This room full of cages is very large. Lian Chuan made a rough estimate and found that if all the cages were used, it could hold several hundred people.
He raised his hand and touched the cage.
The material of this cage should be the same as the chain that tied the old ghost, but you can still feel grooves on it, I don’t know if they are scratches or scratches.
"Are all the people imprisoned here travelers?" he asked.
"Well, actually..." Ning Gu turned and looked at him, "Uncle Feng said that they are no longer travelers."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
I am no longer a traveler.
The team leader is much more ruthless than imagined. Although these people may not be successful experimental subjects, even if they are materials, the main city may not have so many of them.
Lian Chuan walked around the room, stopped, and took a few steps back.
Ning Gu had been watching him, and when he saw his action, he immediately reacted: "Is there space below?"
"Yes." Lian Chuan looked down.
"Is anyone there?" Ning Gu asked again.
"I can't feel it," Lian Chuan said, "Do you want to go down?"
"Go down." Ning Gu said.
It was more difficult to open the downward passage than the previous small door because it was too thick.
After slashing with his brass knuckles a few times and kicking several times, which caused sparks to fly everywhere, he finally created a hole in the ground that was just big enough for a person to fit in.
Ning Gu stretched out his legs and was about to go down, but Lian Chuan pulled his legs back: "Someone is here."
"A living person?" Ning Gu immediately lowered his voice.
"In theory, yes." Lian Chuan lay down at the entrance of the cave and stuck half of his body down.
Ning Gu stared at him. Although no matter what the situation was, with Lian Chuan's reaction and speed, it should be no problem for him to retract his head, he was still a little nervous.
After a few seconds, Lian Chuan retreated from the cave entrance and looked at him: "I'll go down first."
"What's down there?" Ning Gu asked.
"They are all... travelers," Lianchuan said, "but..."
Before he could finish his words, he jumped down.
When Ning Gu jumped down, the space below was already illuminated.
The scene before him made Ning Gu stagger a few steps and almost fall when he jumped down from this supposedly easy height.
people.
Traveler.
All of them.
An underground cave was filled with travelers.
I couldn't count how many there were. All I could see was people, like the people from three shelters huddled together in a brawl...
But there was no sound around.
It was so quiet that it seemed like no one was around.
All the travelers stood with their heads bowed.
Ning Gu stood there in a daze, looking at the strange scene in front of him, unable to recover for a long time.
It was not until Lian Chuan reached out and pulled him that he suddenly took a step back, leaned against the wall, and took a few deep breaths.
"This is..." He said hoarsely, "The commander's army..."
“Not all of them are travelers,” Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu closed his eyes, allowed himself to calm down, then opened his eyes again and began staring at every face in front of him.
There are familiar faces, people who went to the main city and never came back.
There are also people I have never met before.
besides…
Not a traveler.
They were wearing travelers' clothes, but their faces were noticeably gray. When you got closer, you would notice that their eyes were also gray.
"It must be an experimental subject whose integration with the indigenous people failed." Lian Chuan said.
"Nail," Ning Gu's voice was a little unstable, "Look for the nail... I want to see if the nail is there..."
Lian Chuan followed Ning Gu and slowly walked among these people.
All the people were like machines that had been cut off from the power supply. They were motionless, but they were all breathing.
They are all alive.
I just don't know under what circumstances they will be activated.
He looked around.
This is a very ordinary huge cave, much cruder than the room above. It should be temporarily activated, and no activation device can be seen.
There were no black metal circles around these people's necks that he speculated could be used for control.
It can be roughly judged that these are all experimental subjects that have not yet been successful.
Semi-finished product.
Ning Gu's eyes swept across the expressionless faces.
Although most of the time there is an expressionless face next to him, these faces are completely different from Lian Chuan's. There is no trace of life, which makes people shudder when looking at them.
When he reached the middle, a face made him stop suddenly.
Not a nail.
But compared to the few faces that he had occasionally seen before and were merely familiar, he felt a strong sense of familiarity with this face.
It only took him a second to react.
This is the crazy uncle without the beard.
Lian Chuan behind him also stopped at the same time.
This is a face that is almost exactly the same as Fan Lu's.
Ning Gu didn't dare to say anything, but his breathing was a little unstable. He slowly turned his head and looked at Lian Chuan.
Although he looked almost exactly like Fan Lu, Ning Gu still determined that this was Uncle Feng from a small scar on his lip. This scar on Uncle Feng could be seen even when he had a beard.
Lian Chuan's gaze suddenly fell back on Crazy Uncle's face.
Ning Gu immediately turned around.
Suddenly, my eyes met Uncle Crazy's.
Crazy uncle is sober!
Ning Gu opened his mouth in shock and was about to speak, but Uncle Feng's mouth moved first, but no sound came out.
Walk.
Crazy uncle mouthed it.
Go now.
Suddenly, there was a "crack" sound in the cave, as if something was stepped on and cracked.
"Hurry." Uncle Crazy spoke in a very low voice.
When Lian Chuan stretched out his hand to pull Ning Gu away, a dozen gray-white shadows suddenly jumped out from the motionless crowd around them.
Are indigenous people.
The limiter reduced Lian Chuan's speed and judgment. At this moment, facing the natives whose speed far exceeded that of ordinary travelers, he had no time to pull Ning Gu away.
The hand he stretched out immediately changed direction and pressed it on Ning Gu's shoulder. Using him as support, he suddenly leaped into the air.
Ning Gu only felt his shoulder sink. Lian Chuan had already turned half a circle in the air. A blue light flashed in his hand. Several natives were kicked away. Several others were struck by the light of tiger fingers and broke into two pieces when they landed on the ground.
Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, indigenous people suddenly appeared among the crowd on the ground.
Ning Gu jumped up and kicked the two nearest natives hard, hitting them in the head.
When Lian Chuan blocked the first wave of attacks and landed, more than a dozen natives jumped out from the crowd.
There were still a few people around who Ning Gu hadn't been able to kick away.
Ning Gu knew that Lian Chuan couldn't possibly block this round.
When they walked all the way from Uncle Crazy's cabin, Lian Chuan's hands were still warm, but the hand that had just supported his shoulder was already cold.
Lian Chuan raised his hand, and several beams of blue light tore through the natives next to him. At the same time, he grabbed Ning Gu's hand and threw him out of the encirclement.
When Ning Gu suddenly jumped up from the ground, he saw several natives falling down at the same time, and their raised arms hit Lian Chuan hard on the head.
Lian Chuan knelt down on one leg and supported himself on the ground with his hands.
Then he rolled to the side and avoided the next few punches.
Ning Gu didn't hesitate, jumped up and rushed back into the crowd.
He said he would not look back and that he could ensure his own safety.
Do what you say.
When he rushed back to Lianchuan, the nearest few natives had already been swept away by Lianchuan.
Ning Gu saw a deep black wound on his neck.
Just when he was about to pull Lianchuan up, debris suddenly fell from above.
Ning Gu looked up and saw three cave entrances appearing at the top of the cave, and a group of natives were entering the cave entrances and leaping into the air.
The despair at this moment brought about unspeakable anger.
He didn't know what was happening before his eyes, nor could he understand why the ghost town, which was once a peaceful haven in the darkness, had become like this.
I just feel angry.
Anger that comes from confusion.
It comes from the anger in the heart that cannot be faced but has to face the facts.
Ning Gu stood up, stared at the group of natives rushing towards them, slowly raised his left hand, his voice almost hoarse with anger.
"All of you go to hell."