A few minutes later, Gu Xi appeared in the main camp outside.

She arrived silently, as if she were invisible. No one noticed her at all.

Inside the makeshift laboratory, Chen Jia and his research team were briefing Zhou Yue and the others on the completion of their mission.

Shen Yue and Qi Xiang were standing on the periphery, watching the excitement. It looked like they had been there for a while.

Gu Xi stood outside the entrance for a moment, listening, before lifting the door flap and walking in.

The moment Zhou Yue saw Gu Xi, he beamed and hurried over to greet her. "Gu, you’ve all worked so hard this time. Mr. Chen just gave his report. Your performance on this mission was outstanding..."

Gu Xi wasn’t good at dealing with officials. Back when their post-apocalyptic squad was still together, Li Ming had always handled these kinds of matters. Now that Li Ming was gone, Shen Yue had taken over the role.

"Mr. Zhou, right?" Shen Yue stepped forward to intercept him, speaking with an even greater enthusiasm than the man himself. "You’ve arrived at the perfect time. We’ve made a major discovery here..."

A thought struck Zhou Yue. Last night, the base had detected via satellite surveillance that the white miasma shrouding the Land of Death had suddenly begun to dissipate at a rapid pace. That was why they had set out overnight, rushing here without a moment’s rest.

They were terrified of missing something important.

But now Shen Yue was talking about a major discovery. ’Could it be...?’

Zhou Yue glanced at Gu Xi, his expression unreadable as his mind raced. ’Have they already been to that place? But when *that person* left...’

Mr. Zhou couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety. After all, he wasn’t entirely sure what lay beneath this swamp. It had been so many years, after all. ’Maybe...’

Before he could ask, Shen Yue spoke up. "Beneath this swamp, we discovered a large underground hall. Inside, there were over a thousand Hibernation Chambers..."

Zhou Yue shot to his feet, his hands unconsciously gripping the edge of the lab bench in tension. It wasn’t just him; everyone else in the room instinctively looked over when they heard Shen Yue’s words.

The atmosphere grew inexplicably tense.

Just then, Gu Xi suddenly spoke. "Unfortunately, all of those Hibernation Chambers were already empty." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Empty..." Zhou Yue repeated unconsciously, then his eyes widened in realization. "Empty?!"

’How could they be empty? Didn’t *that person* say they contained...’

Though shocked, Zhou Yue quickly composed himself. He clearly didn’t quite believe Gu Xi’s words.

"Was there really nothing inside?" Zhou Yue ignored Shen Yue and looked directly at Gu Xi. "Gu, what were the exact conditions down there? When did you go in...?"

He fired off several questions in a row, his urgency obvious.

Shen Yue couldn’t help but give Mr. Zhou a second glance.

Though Mr. Zhou was merely the director of the logistics department at A City Base, the situation in City A was incredibly complex. The fact that a man like Zhou Yue could maintain a firm grip on the city’s entire supply and logistics network, amidst the power struggles of various factions, proved he was no simple man.

One had to understand that the position of logistics director might seem like an unassuming, mid-level role within the city’s administration, but in reality, it wielded immense actual power.

Furthermore, it was a highly flexible position. The average person couldn’t have handled such a role in a place as unique as City A.

’Logically, a man like that should not be so impatient. At the very least, under today’s circumstances, he shouldn’t have revealed his eagerness so completely!’

Shen Yue’s intuition told him that something was wrong with this Mr. Zhou.

Just then, Qi Xiang, who was standing beside him, secretly nudged his arm and whispered, "Don’t you think there’s something off about this Mr. Zhou? He’s... weird..."

For some reason, Qi Xiang just felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance whenever she looked at him.

But she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was...

In the end, Qi Xiang chalked it up to a woman’s intuition.

Shen Yue clearly trusted Qi Xiang’s "woman’s intuition." After hearing her words, he gave Mr. Zhou another thoughtful look.

But at that moment, it seemed as if Mr. Zhou only had eyes for Gu Xi.

Gu Xi, however, felt that this director was asking far too many questions.

She thought for a moment, then said, "The specific situation down there is hard to describe. Why don’t I just take you to see for yourselves?"

Those were the exact words Zhou Yue had been waiting for.

He stared intently at Gu Xi and said, "Then let’s go right now?!"

"We can." Gu Xi nodded. Just as Zhou Yue was breathing a silent sigh of relief, he heard her raise an eyebrow and ask, "But is everyone here yet? Shouldn’t we wait a little longer?"

It wasn’t that Gu Xi was trying to make excuses; she just found it troublesome and wanted to resolve everything in one go.

"What people?" Zhou Yue, however, had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

Qi Xiang just smiled and said to him meaningfully, "The people who’ve come to pick the peaches, of course."

Zhou Yue’s expression stiffened for a moment before he quickly recovered. "You have quite the sense of humor, Qi."

Qi Xiang just smiled and said nothing.

Zhou Yue breathed another silent sigh of relief. He made a couple of casual remarks, trying to gloss over the issue and get back to the main topic.

But just then, Wei Heng stepped forward.

"We should wait on this," Wei Heng said. "At least until Mr. Ye gets back."

Hearing this, Zhou Yue suddenly realized something.

Several hours had passed since his arrival, but the highest military Commander of this convoy—Ye Junhan—had yet to make an appearance!

This was clearly not normal.

Zhou Yue’s heart sank.

’Maybe the reason Ye Junhan hasn’t shown up is because he’s busy moving the things from beneath the swamp?’

’Although Ye Junhan was a military man on the surface, he had in fact been implanted with a Crystal Core Chip after joining the G Project as a child. Rumor had it that this chip, which was infused with special abilities, could directly control a person’s neurons at critical moments...’

The thought made Zhou Yue even more anxious.

"Gu, this matter is of the utmost importance, and this place is far too close to our A City Base. I’m really worried," he proposed tentatively. "How about we go and take a look right now?"

Gu Xi agreed.

The group was just about to set off when a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the camp.

"What’s happening?" The men Zhou Yue had brought with him tensed up and went on high alert. He himself instinctively looked toward Gu Xi.

But Gu Xi and her team didn’t seem surprised at all.

Thinking back to what Qi Xiang had just said... Zhou Yue’s heart sank. He wasn’t stupid; he already had a vague idea of what was happening.

...Since the Land of Death was no longer the Land of Death, if he could come here, then naturally, so could others.

The most crucial thing now... was to race against time.

Zhou Yue looked at Gu Xi again. "Gu, what do you think...?"

Gu Xi didn’t speak, instead looking out beyond the camp.

Nearby, Wei Heng and Shen Yue exchanged a look. ’Just as expected. The moment the miasma here dissipated, everyone who should and shouldn’t come has shown up.’

’Great minds think alike, I suppose.’

Qi Xiang muttered under her breath, "What ’great minds think alike’? They’re just afraid that if they’re late, they won’t even get a sip of the broth."

As she spoke, she shot a mocking glance at the group from City A.

Just then, Zhang Wen walked over with a grim expression. "We’ve spotted a large number of mutants about ten miles from camp. There are also unidentified objects approaching from the east... Something’s not right. Mr. Ye has already taken a team to check it out."

About ten miles might seem like a safe distance, but at the speed of those mutants, they could be here in no time.

When Zhou Yue heard this, his expression turned grim.

Things were getting tricky. Clearly, more than one party had shown up to pick the peaches.

In a situation like this, if a chaotic battle were to break out, there was no telling what might happen...