Chapter 1 The Brooding Calm Before the Storm

The bumpy road did nothing to disturb the group's sleep. Jiangcheng, Fatty, Yao Shunyu, and Li Bai were all sound asleep, their varied snores blending into a symphony.

Since learning that Wu's current strength was enough to protect everyone, Jiangcheng felt a surge of confidence.

They had already killed the Night Watcher's chairman. Based on Wu's fight with the chairman, as well as the analysis of the previous battle in the mountains, the remaining remnants of the Night Watchers no longer posed a threat.

Around noon, they arrived at a town nestled in the mountains, in a rather remote location.

The scenery along the way wasn't great either. The surrounding mountains were barren, scarred by man-made mining, some reduced to mere halves, exposing large patches of yellow rock like gaping wounds.

According to the driver, this unremarkable town was called Jinxiu Town. Despite its current state, it used to be a scenic wonder for miles around. Sadly, developers had set their sights on its resources.

After more than a decade of exploitation, the townspeople's pockets had fattened, but the surrounding green hills and clear waters were ruined. Back then, hundreds of trucks carrying rocks and timber rumbled through here every day.

Once the resources were nearly exhausted, those developers packed up and left, failing to deliver all the promised compensation to the town. The worst part was that, due to the processing plants built here, many townspeople developed strange illnesses, and the remaining children were abnormal. In this vicious cycle, anyone who could leave the town did, leaving behind only the elderly, weak, and disabled barely eking out a living.

Later, to silence the townspeople, those unscrupulous merchants invested some money to build a welfare home on the site of the former processing plant, specifically to care for the town's various patients, the helpless elderly, and homeless children.

Fatty glanced outside and couldn't help but ask, "The Night Watchers didn't build District 13 in the welfare home, did they?"

The driver grimaced and chuckled, "You guessed it. Who would have thought they'd pull such a stunt? But it's not inside the welfare home, but underneath it."

"These guys are really going all out. They've practically hollowed out the ground beneath. We now suspect that the developers who exploited the resources around this town back then had the Night Watchers pulling the strings. They used development as a cover to secretly find the best location to build District 13."

After hearing this, Jiangcheng thought the man was being too conservative. It was obvious to anyone with eyes.

Jiangcheng had looked at a map of the area in the car on the way here. To choose this location, the Night Watchers must have put in a lot of effort.

After getting out of the car in the town, a middle-aged man in camouflage, with a rugged appearance, greeted them. After verifying Jiangcheng's identity, the man led them to the roof of a building. Following the man's gesture, they could see a grayish-white building in the distance.

The building's size was considerable for this desolate town, with six floors in total, surrounded by a high wall.

The building's construction was rather rough. After years of weathering, the exterior walls were mottled. Between the 5th and 6th floors, the words "Jinxiu Town Welfare Home" were painted in striking yellow paint.

At each intersection surrounding the welfare home, Jiangcheng saw barricades constructed from vehicles, completely blocking the roads. There were also many figures moving about nearby, obviously on guard.

The dark iron gate of the welfare home was wide open, but not a single person could be seen inside, giving it the ominous feeling of a dragon's lair.

"The current situation is that we have completely surrounded the entire welfare home. No one inside can get out, but there is evidence that a small team of Night Watcher remnants entered the welfare home before we completed the encirclement," the middle-aged man with stubble introduced.

Jiangcheng sensed the unease in the man's tone and asked, "What do you mean by 'before'?"

"We also sent a small team not long ago, hoping to sneak in secretly, but..." the man paused, "they went in and disappeared without a trace."

"You don't know who's inside?" The man in front of him seemed quite stable, but Jiangcheng didn't expect him to be so reckless. That was the new generation of the Crimson's base. This welfare home was indeed a dragon's lair.

"I know, so... so those who went were those people, people different from us," the middle-aged man explained uneasily. "And we had no choice. It is said that there are very important materials inside."

Jiangcheng understood. The people who went in were all Disciples. But Disciples are not all the same. Those who went in were probably all dealt with by the other side. Jiangcheng took a deep breath, "How many people went in?"

"Including the leader, a total of seven people."

"When did they go in?"

"This morning, at 4:00 AM. That's when people are the sleepiest and least vigilant," the middle-aged man explained.

"How much space is there below? I mean, below this welfare home," Jiangcheng asked in a deep voice.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man turned and waved. A young man with a buzz cut trotted over and took out a map from his briefcase.

Calling it a map might not be accurate. It was just a sketch, completely hand-drawn, with smudges and corrections, indicating that the person who drew the map was not entirely sure.

Jiangcheng couldn't help but frown. Judging from this map, there was a huge space under the welfare home, even larger than the welfare home above.

And the facilities were complete. If they were just defending, holding out for three to five months would not be a problem.

"Are there any passages below that can escape to the outside?" Many of the markings on the sketch were not very detailed. Jiangcheng had to ask the man. This question was crucial.

The middle-aged man shook his head decisively, "No, we have confirmed this. We are also very strange. Such a large project, so secretive, yet no secret passages were left behind."

As if worried that Jiangcheng and the others wouldn't believe him, the middle-aged man explained that they had brought in specialized engineering personnel to use instruments to detect the surrounding underground areas, confirming this.

Jiangcheng nodded. "Then if we want to go in, how do we get from the welfare home to the underground?"

The middle-aged man took the sketch and pointed to it with his finger. "Here, and here. These two are the main passages. There is an elevator at each. The one on the left is a passenger elevator, and the one on the right is a freight elevator for transporting supplies. Both elevators can reach the underground through special operations."