One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Beneath the dust was not a smooth metal floor, but rough rock with obvious signs of human excavation! The rock surface had chisel marks, some horizontal, some vertical, some deep, some shallow, as if someone had carved it out inch by inch long ago.

Moreover, at the junction of the launch pad base and the rocky ground, there was an inconspicuous circular gap about one meter in diameter, which seemed to be a passage for wiring or ventilation. At this moment, the cover plate at the gap seemed to have come loose due to the vibration from the prying door earlier or its age, and leaned crookedly to one side, revealing a dark, downward-extending gap.

A cold, damp wind, carrying a faint fishy smell, was blowing out from the cracks. The fishy smell wasn't that of blood, but rather an ancient odor, like something rotting for many years, or perhaps the smell of an animal's den.

"This is..." Zhao Qiming crouched down, pulled a powerful flashlight from his waist, and shone it down into the crevice. The light pierced the darkness, revealing a vast space below—at least the size of two large halls—with jagged rocks, stalactites, and stalagmites growing intertwined, some hanging downwards, others rising upwards, like an inverted forest. It seemed to be a naturally formed cave!

Moreover, there appear to be man-made pipes and lines embedded in the cave walls—there are cables as thick as a thumb, ventilation ducts as thick as an arm, and optical fibers as thin as a finger. They extend downwards along the cave walls like gray and black snakes, disappearing into the deep darkness without end.

"Report! A suspected natural cave entrance has been discovered beneath the base, at an unknown depth, exceeding the effective range of the detector. Traces of human intervention and power lines have been found! The lines are ancient, but some still retain a weak current!" The technicians reported quickly, their voices filled with barely suppressed excitement and tension.

The group exchanged bewildered glances. Beneath this underground base, there was a cavern? And it seemed this cavern wasn't discovered accidentally, but rather intentionally utilized—the man-made pipes and wiring were proof. Even the missile launchers were built above its entrance? This was no coincidence.

The parliament probably didn't just establish a base here to hide missiles!

Just as everyone was filled with doubt and speculation, pondering the purpose of this cave—

A sudden change has occurred!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several sharp, piercing sounds suddenly rang out! The sounds were fast and urgent, as if something was tearing wounds in the air.

Suddenly, the suited elite (the leader from the UK) and the woman with gold-rimmed glasses, who had previously announced their withdrawal and led their men to the entrance of the hall, along with Fujiwara Sousuke and Hattori Chizo from the UK, all moved at the same time!

They seemed to have planned this all along—with lightning speed, they suddenly flung several spherical objects from their arms! These spheres were only the size of billiard balls, entirely black, with fine veins on their surface. They traced arcs through the air before landing on the crowd in the center of the hall.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The spherical object landed and exploded, instantly unleashing an extremely dazzling burst of light and a deafening bang! The light was brighter than lightning, a blinding white expanse that stung the eyes, leaving only a white void before them. The bang was like thunder in their ears, making their eardrums ring and their minds go blank.

It's a high-powered stun grenade! And it's military-grade, with a power far exceeding that of ordinary ones.

At the same time, thick, acrid smoke billowed out! This wasn't ordinary smoke; it carried a pungent chemical odor, and inhaling it felt like swallowing chili water – a burning sensation in the throat. The smoke spread extremely quickly, enveloping most of the hall within seconds, obscuring everything in a blinding white light.

"Be careful!"

"Enemy attack!"

Exclamations erupted! No one expected that these two sides, who had just seemed to have surrendered and left, would suddenly launch an attack at this moment! Moreover, their target was clearly not the missile that had already been dismantled—but the newly discovered entrance to the cave!

In the chaos, Zhang Chulan instinctively activated the Golden Light Mantra, golden light illuminating the smoke and enveloping himself and Feng Baobao beside him. Zhang Lingyu reacted just as quickly, black and white Qi flowing around his body to protect him. Daoist Wang Ye's Qimen formation instantly unfolded beneath his feet, the Bagua phantom appearing and disappearing in the smoke. Chen Duo, holding Xiaoyun tightly, retreated behind the nearest pillar, arching her body to completely shield Xiaoyun in her embrace.

A strange energy emanated from both the suit-wearing elite and the woman with gold-rimmed glasses. A pale blue halo appeared beneath the elite's feet, within which faint patterns of spatial distortion could be seen; the woman's body blurred, as if viewed through a veil of water. The two seemed to have used some kind of short-distance spatial jump or ultra-fast movement ability, their figures flashing like ghosts, ignoring the bright light and smoke, and instantly reaching the opening in the cave!

Despite losing an arm, Fujiwara Sousuke unleashed astonishing speed. He used his remaining arm to grab Hattori Chizo—who seemed to have also used some secret technique to temporarily suppress his injury, his face flushed an unnatural red—and the two of them moved like wisps of smoke through the mist, their steps unpredictable, swaying left and right as he followed closely behind.

"You've taken the missiles. According to the agreement, we have nothing to say." The voice of the suited elite came through the smoke, carrying a hint of suppressed excitement and determination. "But what's down there... Free time is over! We're taking what's inside!"

Before he finished speaking, he and the woman with the gold-rimmed glasses jumped into the dark cavern opening without hesitation! Fujiwara Sousuke and Hattori Chizo followed suit without delay! Their figures disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the sound of their clothes fluttering and a faint trace of their aura.

It all happened so fast—from the explosion of the stun grenade to the four people jumping into the cave, it only took two or three seconds! By the time everyone recovered from the effects of the bright light and the explosion, and rubbed their eyes to clear away the smoke, the four people had already disappeared into the darkness deep inside the cave!

"Damn it!" Gao Lian roared, about to lead his men to give chase. His face was flushed red, his fists were clenched so tightly they cracked, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing.

"Wait!" Master Wang Ye stopped him, his brows furrowed. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, a divination image flashing in his pupils, as if he were calculating something. "The situation below is unclear; the earth's energy is chaotic, and the divination images are blurred. If we pursue rashly, we risk an ambush."

"Are we just going to let them get away like that? Who knows what's down there?!" Gao Lian said urgently, his voice trembling. Although the missile was safe, judging from the desperate actions of the UK and Japan—even the one-armed Fujiwara Sousuke was risking his life to jump down—what was down in the cave was probably equally valuable, and possibly even more dangerous!

Just then, the bald bear, who had been silent all along, suddenly walked over.

He stood at the edge of the crowd, his face extremely grim. It was an expression of mixed struggle, fear, and hesitation; his features were contorted, as if he were making a life-or-death decision. He glanced at the bottomless entrance to the cave—the dark opening resembling an open mouth—then looked at Nie Lingfeng and the others, opened his mouth as if to speak, but then stopped himself.

Nie Lingfeng's gaze fell on him.

From the moment he started, he noticed the unusual behavior of the burly man from the Bear Country. When the people from the Eagle Country and the Sakura Country jumped down, the bald bear and his few remaining men also showed surprise, but their reaction was not astonishment, nor was it greed for a share of the spoils—it was fear.

The fear was so deep, so profound, that it wasn't something that only arose when facing immediate danger. It was a fear etched into the depths of memory, fermented by time, and engraved into the very bones. Bald Bear, in particular, was trembling slightly, like a leaf shaking in the wind. The way he looked at the cave entrance was as if he were gazing at a grave where his deceased loved ones were buried.

"You know what's down there, right?"

Nie Lingfeng looked at Bald Bear and asked calmly. It wasn't a question, but a statement. His voice wasn't loud, and his tone was flat, but his eyes seemed to see through all pretense.

Bald Bear's body trembled, as if he had been stabbed. Meeting Nie Lingfeng's calm yet all-seeing gaze, the struggle on his face intensified, and his lips trembled twice. Finally, he sighed dejectedly, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted. That sigh was long, as if he were exhaling years of pent-up anger.

"Yes... I know." Bald Bear's voice was somewhat dry, filled with barely concealed fear. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, as if he were swallowing something.

"The council... the 'Polaris Council'... They're not just hiding missiles here. This base was originally established to conduct a series of... strictly prohibited and extremely dangerous biological and genetic modification experiments."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, or perhaps recalling some horrific scene. His gaze became somewhat unfocused, as if he were looking back through time at something from a long ago.

"The cave below is natural, but the council has transformed it into a massive underground laboratory and...containment facility." His voice was low, as if afraid of being overheard. "Inside...inside are stored the 'failed products' left behind from various inhumane experiments they've conducted over the years, or rather, the 'experimental subjects' they couldn't control or destroy. And...most importantly, the raw data from those experiments and some...unfinished 'genetic sources'."

"Experimental subjects? Genetic sources?" Zhang Chulan felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sweat creeping down his neck. He subconsciously rubbed his arms, which were already covered in goosebumps. "That sounds really creepy! Those experimental subjects...are they very strong?"

"Strong?" Bald Bear's face showed a bitter smile, a smile more painful than crying. His eyes revealed deep fear, as if he had seen something he shouldn't have seen.

"Some... can no longer be described as strong. They are monsters forcibly twisted, spliced, and modified—some are spliced ​​genes from humans and animals, some are fusions of superhumans and ordinary people, and some... I don't know what materials they used. They possess the instincts of beasts, bizarre superpowers, and... an extreme hatred and devouring desire for living things."

His speech grew faster and faster, like a tap that couldn't be turned off. "Back then, due to a major experimental accident, some of the test subjects went berserk, devouring and evolving each other in the underground caverns, resulting in heavy losses—hundreds of researchers and security personnel died. They were forced to abandon this place, using missiles as a final 'cleanup' and 'lockdown' measure—if the test subjects broke through the blockade and escaped the base, the missiles would be detonated to flatten the entire area."