Chapter 1 The High Tower in the North

The towering main building of the Huan Ta (Ring Tower) in the north stood majestically before everyone. This once glorious structure, representing the pinnacle of human technology and the future of civilization, was now mottled and decaying. The concrete exterior walls were riddled with potholes and cracks caused by wind and sun, and the once-bright paint had faded into a dirty yellowish-brown. Large patches of wall skin had peeled off, forming a disgusting, loose soil layer around the tower. However, its main structure remained solid, and the reinforced steel frame supported the aging tower well, seemingly ensuring it wouldn't collapse.

"No traces of nanite swarm erosion," Nolan said, looking up at the nearly vertical wall. "And no changes since I was last here, looks like no other adventurers have been here this year."

Hao Ren was curious about what Nolan had been doing here a year ago, but now didn't seem like the time to ask. Ulanov led the group, searching for the tower entrance. After bypassing a section of the circular outer wall, they found a shattered gate, judging from the marks around it, it had been blown open.

"Over the past sixty-five years, more than one group has come to this place. The attraction of pre-war technology isn't new," Nolan said, turning to the mercenaries who were here for the first time. "Fools wanting to dig up treasures here have come one after another, most of them didn't make it back alive, so if you want to go back alive, listen to orders and don't touch things you don't recognize."

"Isn't this place supposed to be free of nanite swarms?" Hao Ren casually asked.

"You think the nanite swarms are the only danger here?" Nolan raised his gun. "We're carrying guns for more than just dealing with nanites. This place has security robots—originally used to guard the underground containers, with a theoretical lifespan of a hundred years. Who knows what their programming has become by now."

Ulanov nodded slightly in confirmation of Nolan's statement.

Hao Ren looked down at the weapon in his hand. It was a light assault rifle with laser projections displaying the remaining ammo, current user, component status, and a gray fox marking. This weapon was given to him by Nolan, although Hao Ren hadn't officially joined, Nolan couldn't let his companion go to the battlefield empty-handed.

Before entering the building, Ulanov nudged Hao Ren's arm: "How's your marksmanship?"

Hao Ren vaguely replied: "About the same as my hand-to-hand combat."

"Good, you and I will walk together later, we'll clear the way for the lads behind us."

The mercenaries guarded the two researchers from Baihe Trading Company as they carefully stepped through the gate, revealing a desolate and collapsed interior corridor. Paint and concrete debris fallen from the walls littered the floor, and the direction signs hanging from the ceiling were covered in rust. The building, abandoned for decades, was filled with a desolate and eerie atmosphere. Under the pressure of this atmosphere, some mercenaries nervously swallowed, the gulping sounds clearly audible in the silent corridor.

All around was quiet, only the cautious footsteps and breathing of the group echoed. Nolan walked at the front of the group, Hao Ren and Ulanov guarded the surroundings to the left and right. The further they went, the darker the corridor became. The limited windows on the outer walls of the Huan Ta (Ring Tower) couldn't provide enough light to the depths of the building. Several mercenaries who hadn't undergone visual modification put on night vision devices. In the pale green night vision, the eeriness of this place was even greater.

Hao Ren looked at the people around him. He could still see things clearly in this place, but considering his "natural" status, he put on night vision goggles like the others.

"Do you know how to get to where you're going?" Nolan stopped slightly, turning to ask the Baihe Trading Company researcher not far behind him.

"The main control room, the number one control terminal of the master computer," the thin researcher replied calmly. Although just a clerical worker, he was as calm as the soldiers in this environment, which made Hao Ren take another look at him.

Hearing the words "main control room," Ulanov couldn't help but hold his breath. He took a step forward, "I know the shortest route."

Nolan nodded: "Good, lead the way."

The team continued to move deeper into the building, and found a spiral staircase winding upwards to the main control room. Hao Ren and Ulanov went to check if the stairs were still solid, but halfway there, he suddenly saw a skeleton lying on the stairs.

Ulanov immediately crouched down to check the condition of the skeleton, and identified the person from the fragments of clothing: "...it's a staff member from the Huan Ta (Ring Tower). Looks like they fell and died."

The nanite swarm didn't attack the Beidi Huan Ta (Northern Ring Tower) after it lost control, so the people in this building lived longer than others in the disaster, but their fate was no better than those outside who were dissolved. In that disaster, this building was sealed off as a completely isolated island, without supplies, without rescue, without hope—they were trapped to death in this place, and as researchers and controllers of the nanite swarm, they knew that it was impossible for anyone to break through the rampant swarm outside to rescue them. No one knows how the people in the Huan Ta (Ring Tower) spent the last days of their lives. For twenty years after the disaster, the situation inside the Northern Ruins was completely unknown to the world. When a group of soldiers finally braved the great casualties to enter this place, they only found corpses.

According to the surviving soldiers, the people in the Huan Ta (Ring Tower) had various causes of death. Most died of starvation, a few committed suicide, and the rest were basically killed in fighting—perhaps to grab the last of the food, a riot broke out. There were also many more terrifying rumors, such as someone seeing cooking utensils containing human bones in the kitchen of the Huan Ta (Ring Tower) ruins, and a large number of dismembered corpses in a certain room...

Each one was chilling.

Hao Ren looked down at Ulanov, who was inspecting the skeleton. He didn't know if this man was recalling the dark rumors about the Beidi Huan Ta (Northern Ring Tower) at this moment. In order not to waste time, he patted the other man's shoulder: "Let's go, the people behind are waiting."

Ulanov slowly stood up.

The group went up to the second floor via the stairs, and after bypassing a narrow passage, a wide corridor appeared ahead. Ulanov pointed to a large door not far away: "That's the control room you're looking for."

"The door is actually intact..." Nolan looked at the door with some surprise, "I thought the guys who came here before had smashed every door."

"This door is probably still connected to the alarm system of the security robots," a Baihe Trading Company researcher stepped forward to check the state of the door, "...incredible, the locking device is powered! The power supply in this place hasn't been cut off!"

Nolan gave the researcher a meaningful look, it seemed this person knew a lot about the situation in the Huan Ta (Ring Tower).

Ulanov turned to look at the dark end of the corridor, he seemed to see something that concerned him: "You guys busy yourselves here, I'll go take a look."

After he said this, he walked straight ahead. Seeing this, Nolan instructed the mercenary beside him: "Karl, you go with him."

The tall mercenary Karl nodded silently, quickly followed Ulanov's pace, and the two figures quickly disappeared into the dark end of the corridor.

Hao Ren didn't pay much attention. He figured that Ulanov was taking this opportunity to look for clues about his wife, and it wasn't appropriate for an outsider like himself to join in the fun. He turned back to watch the Baihe Trading Company researcher fiddle with the locking device on the door. Some of the electronic equipment on this door could still be used today, which was incredible.

And just then, a piercing gunshot suddenly broke the silence in the building.

Hao Ren instantly looked up at the direction of the gunshot—it was the direction Ulanov and Karl had left in!

Nolan's voice rang out at the same time as the last gunshot: "Second team, go check the situation."

Hao Ren didn't know what team he was in, and he didn't consider that much. When Nolan spoke, he had already rushed towards the other end of the corridor.

Whether it was a hallucination or not, he suddenly saw the surrounding corridor walls fluctuate like water as he lifted his leg, although it was only a brief moment, it was particularly concerning.