New Gods of North America.

Chapter 591 Warehouse
The abandoned train station that Inessa discovered is located north of Richmond, about 30 kilometers from the edge of the city.
If you start from the Beaton family's plantation and follow the steam train line north, the journey will be about half as long.

If we roughly divide Virginia's terrain into three types: "mountains," "mountains," and "plains," then Richmond is actually built on the boundary line between the "mountains" and "plains."

The steam trains naturally followed roughly along that boundary line. The advantage of doing so was that it could take up as little land as possible from the coveted East Coast Plains, but the disadvantage was that the terrain would inevitably be slightly undulating.

midnight,

The horses were tethered in a grove of trees beside a slope, and three heads soon emerged from the hill, furtively peering at the abandoned station a little further away.

At first glance, this place doesn't seem particularly eye-catching. It's basically just a few parallel railway tracks built on both sides of the main steam train line for changing gauges, about a few hundred meters long. There are also some unremarkable rows of wooden houses next to it, strung together in a shape somewhat like the Chinese character "中" (zhong).
Inessa's description of the place was quite accurate; it really resembled an ordinary duty or maintenance station along a railway line, the kind that was usually deserted.

Since the area was close to mountainous terrain, the land along the steam train line was, in a sense, also considered as supporting "construction land".
So, after leaving the city for a while, the greenery here is quite good. The railway looks like it's built in a forest. The trees along the way might have been cut down to make sleepers back then, but after the steam train line was built, the trees were probably left unattended for many years and gradually grew back.

Lina looked left and right and quickly found a suspicious spot. "That looks like a small valley, the trees are quite dense, and there seem to be side paths leading in there. The so-called 'secret base' should be there?"

Inessa nodded. "If there is one, it seems most likely to be in that area."

Once the approximate location was determined, the three of them neatly put on their makeshift masks and quietly continued to approach—if this really was an official secret facility, conducting an unauthorized investigation would be a violation of the law, and basic security awareness was still necessary.

The masks were made from leftover wood and paint from the workshop; one had a red face, one a white face, and one a black face.
The detective agency still had some ready-made masks that they had previously seized from the indigenous community. Those were more comfortable to wear, but they were extraordinary items with unknown usage methods and too obvious features, so there was no need to leave clues for others unnecessarily.

Although it's called an "abandoned station," it actually means that it doesn't usually serve passengers. At both ends of the abandoned station, there are still things like traffic lights and railings.

These days, railways often have problems. When steam trains see something like this while traveling a certain distance, they will slow down or even stop temporarily. Train schedules are not very punctual to begin with, so occasional delays are not a big deal.

Inessa discovered that the regularity of train delays was probably due to these factors: ordinary people usually take daytime passenger trains, and if there's a temporary stop at night, they're unlikely to specifically get off to look around.

Some freight trains may exhibit patterns at night, but these patterns occur every few days, and the delays are not long. It's likely that they can be excused with reasons like "routine inspections," giving off a "hidden gem" vibe.

Bypassing the abandoned station, follow a side path at a distance towards the small valley. The trees here are relatively denser, easily giving one the illusion of having entered a "wilderness."
The relatively flat terrain also provides another layer of deception. Just like when people from modern society travel to the grasslands, they may feel that they can see everything for dozens of miles around, but in reality, there are ups and downs. After the tour bus turns to some relatively low-lying areas, tourists often suddenly realize, "Wow, there is such a big tourist area hidden here. Was I blind before?"

The secret facilities attached to this abandoned train station seem to use a similar principle.
There were likely sentries along the branching railway, so the three of them didn't get too close. But after walking a distance into the woods, they soon saw a barbed wire fence, which was more than two meters high.

Compared to the wooden or brick walls commonly found in the United States, barbed wire fences are not only more concealed in the wild, but also look more dangerous. Furthermore, their construction costs were not low at the time, so even an ordinary passerby would know that the area inside was a "no entry" zone.

However, for Wayne and his two companions, discovering this thing meant that Inessa's previous predictions were at least 70-80% accurate—the only remaining question was whether Connor and the others were inside, but that didn't matter at the moment.

Lina's extraordinary ability was a natural counter to the barbed wire. When she touched it, the barbed wire didn't "hide a hole" as she expected; instead, it gradually "coiled itself into a cocoon" like a python. The thick wooden stakes on both sides used to tighten the barbed wire were pulled askew, changing from "two vertical lines" to an "eight," almost causing a huge commotion.

However, the result was more or less the same. The amount of barbed wire was limited; once it was coiled up in one area, gaps appeared on the other. Since it was all about drilling, it didn't matter which way you went. Continuing past the barbed wire fence, after about a few hundred meters, they started to see "people" in the woods.

This didn't affect the three of them much. Peter the Spider scouted ahead, while Lina led the way, saying "wait" and "take a detour" along the way. After crossing the last small hill, they looked down again.

Wow, there's a little "block" hidden inside.

There didn't seem to be many people in the small "block," perhaps because it was late at night; at least, there were very few people in sight, and not many lights were still on in the houses.

The lighting here is quite sophisticated. The windows of the houses are covered with small sheds, and there are streetlights at intervals outside. However, these streetlights also have mushroom-shaped tops, so the light is not very bright and can only illuminate a small area of ​​the ground. If an owl flies overhead, it might notice something unusual, but it would be difficult for a normal person to perceive the light from the outside.

Wayne quickly started speculating: "Could that largest-looking room be the entrance to the secret base? And underneath, there's a maze with over ten layers of walls, filled with strange extraordinary beings and evil spirits?"

Ms. Inessa actually continued her analysis, "Normally, it shouldn't be the case. A deep underground palace would be too much of a project and would be prone to collapse. Unless we happen to find a suitable natural cave, what we see here should be all there is. Richmond is, after all, a mountainous and plain area with abundant water systems. Even if there are caves, they would probably be filled with groundwater and unusable in that way."

Lina ignored Wayne's wild imagination. "The railroad extends all the way to that big house. That should be a warehouse, right? Shall we go down and take a look?"

"Since we're already here, we definitely have to see it."

Wayne pulled his mask down. "Inessa, you stay here to provide backup? Let's check out that warehouse first, and then that house with the iron bars on the windows looks like a prison. If we don't find Connor in either of those places, he's probably not here anymore."

Inesa nodded first, then said, "There's probably no need to check that big house. Normally, a wooden structure like that shouldn't be able to hold an extraordinary person."

"That won't do." Lina put her mask back on, her voice becoming a little mumbled, "We came here just to see it, it won't interfere with anything."

Inessa didn't try to persuade her further. A figure quickly reached the tree and stopped in the canopy.
The two sneaky individuals quietly descended the slope, never taking the main path and occasionally crossing it.

The large house was surrounded by walls and guards, but perhaps because the place was already "secret" and "inside" enough, there seemed to be less activity than in the woods. Although no one was drinking or sleeping at the sentry posts, they weren't too tense either; some even seemed to be chatting.
After spending almost an hour dodging and weaving, with Peter the giant spider sneaking in ahead to check the situation and Lina keeping watch nearby, Wayne dared to "drill holes" in the outside of the big house through the wooden wall, like spot welding, connecting the small holes one by one, and finally "tearing down the wall to enter".

It really was just an ordinary warehouse, almost completely filled with large wooden crates of the same design.
Wayne and Lina excitedly pried open one of the doors, and immediately understood why this secret "big house" was still a "wood warehouse".

Holy crap, the stuff in that pile of sawdust was actually a gun...

This is a weapons depot.

(End of this chapter)