Natural Disaster: I Started By Hoarding Tens Of Billions Of Supplies

Chapter 285: Snow-white Tube

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The soldiers nodded and began climbing the mountain while remaining vigilant as they checked for dangers along the way.

After climbing for over an hour, Wu Lian spotted a cave in the distance. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he said, "There is a cave up ahead. We will rest there."

The soldiers' eyes brightened at his words, and they quickened their pace.

Upon reaching the cave's entrance, Wu Lian commanded, "Five of you, follow me inside. The rest will stand guard outside."

"Yes, Captain." The soldiers responded in unison.

Raising his gun, Wu Lian carefully stepped into the cave, accompanied by five soldiers.

Finding the cave empty and just large enough to accommodate his team, Wu Lian relaxed slightly, lowered his weapon, and said, "Go inform the others to come in and rest."

"Yes, Captain." One soldier replied before hurrying off to relay the message.

While the soldier went out to inform the others, Wu Lian and the remaining four soldiers sat on the ground to rest. After sipping some water, they began checking their remaining bullets, food, and water supplies.

When the other soldiers joined them, Wu Lian asked, "How much water, food, and ammunition do you all have?"

One soldier replied, "Not much. I've only had a bottle of water, five packs of compressed biscuits, and 200 bullets left."

After tallying their supplies, Wu Lian realized they were only enough for three days.

Noticing his deep frown, one soldier asked, "Captain, what should we do now?"

Wu Lian was silent for a moment before replying, "Let's rest for now. We will make a plan once we have recovered our energy."

The soldiers exchanged glances before nodding. "Yes, Captain."

While Wu Lian was making plans to safely bring his remaining teammates back to Juncheng Military Base, Yao Ran had just completed her daily training and decided to patrol the area surrounding the air base shelter.

Built inside a mountain, the air base shelter remained cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Thanks to the central air system, even when the outside temperature was 50 degrees Celsius, the indoor temperature was only 42 degrees Celsius.

Since Ling Yi and Yuan Rihui wouldn't suffer from heatstroke, Yao Ran put on her heat- resistant clothing, carried her backpack and long sword, and left the shelter after adding more water and ice to the portable air conditioner in the infirmary.

Stepping out of the air raid shelter's entrance, Yao Ran frowned as a wave of hot air hit her face. She scanned the surroundings, seeing only the blackened soil and barren mountains.

After locking the shelter door, Yao Ran started walking without a specific destination. Her goal for the day was to patrol the area and search for edible mutant plants.

In her previous life, she had survived harsh conditions by eating mutant plants and mutant animals' meat.

Although the taste was hard to describe, with the right spices and preparation methods, the meat of mutant animals and the edible parts of mutant plants were still highly sought after by ability users.

It wasn't because ability users couldn't afford normal food. Instead, the meat of mutant animals and edible parts of mutant plants had the unique property of enhancing ability levels. This made many people risk becoming hunters despite the danger of this job, which was one of the highest at the end of the world.

As she recalled the characteristics of various mutant plants, Yao Ran slowly descended the mountain.

After walking for a long time, her eyes suddenly lit up. She spotted a small protrusion in the ground not far ahead and quickly approached it with excitement.

Squatting down, Yao Ran began using her fingers to clear the soil around the protruding object. Her excitement grew as she uncovered a long, tube-like structure growing in the ground.

"It really is the snow-white tube! With this plan, I can openly help Han Yixue quickly improve his abilities." She exclaimed excitedly.

After confirming that the mutant plant was indeed the snow-white tube, Yao Ran retrieved a small hoe from her storage space and began digging carefully around it. While she was busy collecting the snow-white tube in the area, Wu Lian and his team finalized their plan.

Their mission was to locate and eliminate the mutant rat king responsible for gathering and controlling the mutant rats infesting Juncheng City. After losing half of their teammates and six vehicles, they couldn't go back without completing their mission.

Sitting in a circle, Wu Lian looked at his teammates and said, "The mutant rats are afraid of heat, so most of them will hide underground during the daytime. If we want to lure the mutant rat king out, we will have to wait until nighttime."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "We only have enough ammunition for one chance. Whether we succeed or fail will be decided tonight. I know we must complete this mission, but I want all of you to prioritize your own lives. Do you understand?"

The other soldiers looked at Wu Lian and responded, "Yes, Captain."

After their meeting, Wu Lian picked up his backpack and gun.

"I'm going out to scout the area. You all will take turns guarding the cave." He instructed.

One of the soldiers stepped forward and said, "Captain, let me go with you."

This soldier had joined the army just a month before the typhoon struck Juncheng City, making him the youngest member of the team. Wu Lian knew that the best way to protect his team members was not to shield them but to help them gain experience as quickly as possible. After a moment of thought, Wu Lian nodded and said, "Let's go."

The young soldier's eyes lit up at his captain's approval. He quickly grabbed his backpack and gun before following Wu Lian out of the cave.

After leaving the cave, the two began circling the area around the cave. After walking for

about ten minutes, Wu Lian suddenly heard faint scraping sounds. He raised his hand and gestured for the young soldier not to make a sound.