The last ray of sunset vanished from the horizon as Xiao Xiao finally drove her off-road motorcycle to an armory with significantly fewer zombies.
"Big brother, we're at a safe place~"
"Big brother?"
Seeing Ye Feng slumped on her back without responding, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but turn her head in confusion. She discovered that Ye Feng had fallen asleep at some point...
...
The next day,
Ye Feng slept until noon before getting up. Xiao Xiao had already prepared ten dishes and one soup, and even roast lamb chops...
Ye Feng, ravenous, soon began to feast. Xiao Xiao watched him quietly, her small face filled with happiness.
"Whew!~"
After finishing nearly all ten dishes and a soup by himself, Ye Feng let out a soft sigh and looked at Xiao Xiao. "Xiao Xiao, you're only eating that little bit, aren't you hungry?"
"I ate breakfast, and there was no fighting this morning, so I'm not hungry!"
Xiao Xiao shook her head slightly.
...
Half an hour later,
Inside a building ruin,
"Big brother, you said yesterday not to go too far from here because of this!"
Xiao Xiao looked at the Rank 3 mutated zombie, the Deceiver, that Ye Feng had pinned to the wall yesterday and suddenly understood.
"Mm!"
Ye Feng nodded and began to survey the surroundings. *Read*, *read*...
"Altar... altar... altar..."
The Rank 3 mutated zombie, the Deceiver, pinned to the wall by Ye Feng, kept repeating the words Ye Feng had heard yesterday.
"Clang ~ click ~"
Ye Feng carefully took the Deceiver zombie down from the wall. He and Xiao Xiao leaped to a higher vantage point to observe.
"Big brother, are we looking for something?"
Xiao Xiao asked curiously, watching the Deceiver zombie slowly walk away.
"Mm!"
Ye Feng observed the surroundings as he spoke. "This place is quite special. There are very few ordinary zombies, but many Rank 3 and Rank 4 zombies, and even quasi-high-level zombies like Experiment Subject 17, a peak Rank 6!"
"That Experiment Subject 17 is probably the zombie king of this human forbidden zone. It seems to care a lot about this place and kills all intruders. There must be something attracting it..."
"And yesterday, Ghost Spider's exploration team, they probably came here to find something too... possibly related to the 'altar' that the Deceiver zombie was muttering about!"
Ye Feng quickly analyzed his speculations.
"Indeed~"
Xiao Xiao agreed. "Ghost Spider was flying away in a hot air balloon at first, so it was indeed unusual for him to suddenly appear in this place!"
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Ye Feng quickly ran forward because he noticed that the Deceiver zombie he had released had entered a blind spot.
"Altar... altar... altar... warship..."
"Angel... altar..."
"Power... hope..."
"Stone of Hope... altar... Stone of Hope..."
Ye Feng quickly ran to the top of the blind spot where the Deceiver zombie had entered and heard two somewhat mechanical, echoing voices.
"Big brother, it's two Deceiver zombies!"
Xiao Xiao looked down at the Rank 3 mutated zombies, the Deceivers, swaying below, quite surprised.
"Mm!"
Ye Feng nodded, his curiosity piqued. "Altar... warship... angel... power... Stone of Hope..."
Hearing the constantly repeated words of the two Deceiver zombies, Ye Feng was reminded of the altar he had seen in the Goblin Kingdom, which also featured warships and angels...
"This direction... is where Ghost Spider's group was chased by Experiment Subject 17 yesterday..."
Ye Feng frowned slightly and continued to observe the two Deceiver zombies below.
His experience of fighting numerous zombies countless times told him that besides constantly repeating what they had heard, Rank 3 mutated zombies like the Deceiver had another important characteristic.
That is, without interference, Deceiver zombies generally only moved within a certain area, specifically the area of the person who spoke the phrase they were repeating...
"Xiao Xiao, is there any nuclear radiation nearby?"
Ye Feng looked at the large cooling towers of the nuclear power plants not far away and recalled what Shotgun Che had said about a possible nuclear leak. He immediately asked.
"No!"
Xiao Xiao checked the radiation meter in her backpack again and shook her head.
"Xiao Xiao, let's search around here... hmm, look for places that look like basements, secret rooms, or something like that..."
Seeing that the two Deceiver zombies weren't moving elsewhere but were swaying and calling out in place, Ye Feng frowned and said to Xiao Xiao.
"Okay~!"
...
Over an hour later,
Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao returned to the building above the two Deceiver zombies.
Ye Feng was somewhat disheartened because he had searched for a long time but found no entrance to a basement or any place where an altar might be.
However, he did find many traces of explorers searching the area. Some traces were old, while others were quite new...
Clearly, people, and likely more than one group, had been searching this place for a long time, probably for something of considerable value...
"There used to be tall buildings here, but the ground experienced a massive collapse... The tall buildings collapsed and directly sank into the ground."
"The nuclear power plant didn't just have a leak, it exploded. But there was no nuclear radiation... Was it absorbed by Experiment Subject 17? Was Experiment Subject 17 attracted by a large amount of nuclear radiation?"
"Just now, I found a large pit that had collapsed by more than half. Could the altar be inside... and has someone already taken it? What the hell is the Stone of Hope?"
Ye Feng scanned his surroundings, muttering to himself.
Looking at the two Deceiver zombies still swaying and calling out, Ye Feng was a bit annoyed. He threw two pebbles, hitting their heads...
The Deceiver zombies looked up at Ye Feng and immediately clawed at the pillars to pounce, but quickly fell back and continued to sway and call out...
"Big brother, you said... basements... don't they necessarily have to be underground..."
Just as Ye Feng was feeling disappointed and about to give up searching for treasure, Xiao Xiao spoke.
"Not necessarily underground? What do you mean?"
Ye Feng looked at Xiao Xiao with a puzzled gaze.
"Big brother, look over there, that upside-down building... doesn't it look a bit like a box for storing things..."
"That structure is a bit like the underground secret room we explored in the Red Shore Ruins!"
Xiao Xiao pointed to a ruin of buildings in the distance and explained.
"A box... Xiao Xiao, that pile of building ruins... modern buildings are all steel and concrete frames, they all look like boxes..."
Ye Feng observed for a while, looking somewhat bewildered.
"No!"
Xiao Xiao shook her head, took out her drawing brush, and began to draw on white paper.
"This..."
Ye Feng was quite surprised.
Because the building Xiao Xiao had highlighted with her brush truly resembled a box for storing things, but it was difficult to find amidst the large area of building ruins.
"Wait, the size of that building..."
Suddenly, Ye Feng's eyes narrowed. He realized that the structure and size of that building matched the large pit he had just discovered, which he suspected might have once held the altar.
"Let's go, Xiao Xiao, let's go take a look!"
...