In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

The Xuan Nu fighter jet tore through the thick clouds over Siberia.

The tactical terminal screen emitted a soft "beep" sound, and a glaring red dot flashed wildly on the holographic map.

"Brother Su, we've reached the target coordinates."

Ye Xiao, sitting in the back row, leaned out and glanced at the screen.

Su Ran didn't say anything, and pushed the control lever flat.

The fighter jet's engines emitted a deep roar as it hovered in mid-air.

Below lies a continuous black mountain range, the largest open-pit coal mine in Siberia.

Satellite images provided by the Daxia Information Command Center show that there have been recent activity patterns involving nearly a thousand people in the area.

"Prepare to disembark."

Su Ran gave the order.

The pneumatic latch popped open, and the hatch slid outwards.

Ye Xiao unbuckled his seatbelt, picked up two long knives, and walked to the edge of the hatch. Without any hesitation, he jumped down.

The white deer followed closely behind, its movements swift and agile, and it plummeted down.

Su Ran braced himself against the edge of the hatch with one hand, and the instant he leaped out, his mental energy swept backward.

"receive."

The massive Xuan Nu fighter vanished into thin air, disappearing into infinite space.

Three figures crashed into the coniferous forest in a triangular formation.

Just five meters above the ground!

The white deer suddenly opened its eyes, and a deep blue light exploded in its pupils.

boom!

An invisible, powerful force of thought formed a huge, invisible air cushion beneath the three of them.

The violent downward force was instantly dissipated by most of it. The three landed smoothly.

Two kilometers ahead, the outline of the mining area was already visible.

Ye Xiao drew his long sword, rubbing the hilt with his thumb, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust and excitement.

"Brother Su, with our strength, do we even need to infiltrate?"

Su Ran coldly glanced at the faint network of fire ahead.

"We are the vanguard."

Su Ran's voice was very low, yet it conveyed absolute rationality.

"If it's a group of bandits occupying this place, then we can storm in and rob them without any guilt."

If it's a group of pitiful survivors huddling together for warmth, and we just storm in, they will definitely fight to the death out of their instinct to protect their food.

"So, are you planning to turn your knife on those poor people who can't even get enough to eat?"

Bai Lu stood beside Su Ran, her gaze fixed on the distance.

"What if they're just a bunch of pitiful survivors huddling together for warmth? What should we do then? Rob or not?"

"If that's the case, then we'll just take them in."

Su Ran looked at the terrain map on the tactical terminal.

"We still need to take the coal mine with us, and then report the coordinates to the Great Xia Frontline Legion."

We first helped Great Xia capture a bridgehead stronghold.

The Great Xia war chariot is about to leave the country, and a supply line is needed along the way.

Taking a resource point without bloodshed is naturally the best strategy.

He paused, his gaze turning deep and cold.

"Of course, the premise is that the people inside are worth being incorporated into the Great Xia."

"Let's go. Let's find out their situation first."

Su Ran gave a tactical hand signal.

Under cover, the three men quickly advanced toward the edge of the mining area.

Ten minutes later, they lay in ambush behind a high ridge on the outskirts of the mining area.

Below is a wide main road leading to the bottom of the mine.

Three T-90 main battle tanks are parked across the choke point of the main road.

Behind the tanks were crossfire positions constructed from sandbags and scrap steel. Four heavy machine guns were mounted on high ground.

At least two hundred guards patrolled in front of the position.

They were dressed in thick protective gear, holding automatic rifles, and ready for battle.

"Wow, they've even gotten the T-90?"

Ye Xiao lowered his voice and glanced at the tanks.

"This firepower is comparable to that of a regular army. Has he really become a warlord?"

The white deer closed its eyes.

An invisible spiritual force surged forward like a tide, covering the entire mining area.

Three seconds later, she opened her eyes.

"There are many survivors inside the mine, more than five thousand people."

Bai Lu speaks extremely quickly, her voice completely flat.

"I have detected six unusual energy sources, all of which are Awakened Ones."

The energy fluctuations are all around the second tier, with the strongest one already approaching the peak of the second tier.

They must be the absolute rulers here.

She paused, then added.

"As for the guards with guns on the perimeter, they are all ordinary people who have not yet awakened."

"Six Awakened Ones were found at a gathering point of over five thousand people..."

Comparing the Awakened Team of Great Xia, Su Ran sighed with a pang of sadness.

Six second-tier awakened individuals command a hastily assembled army and govern a camp of five thousand people.

A standard wasteland warlord structure.

Bai Lu frowned slightly, but did not withdraw her spiritual power. Instead, she continued to probe deeper.

There's a problem.

She looked at Su Ran, "Su Ran, deep within the settlement, there is an extremely chaotic mental fluctuation. That definitely doesn't belong to a human."

"Not human? It's a high-level mutated beast?" Su Ran's eyes narrowed.

"That should be it."

Bai Lu concluded, "The energy response is stronger than that of these human awakeners."

But they're still within our capabilities; they're probably just peak-level second-tier mutated creatures.

Upon hearing this, Su Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

In the deepest part of a dilapidated camp, which is barely maintained by six second-tier awakened beings, there is actually a mutated creature at the peak of the second tier.

This completely contradicts the survival logic of the early post-apocalyptic world.

These wasteland warlords don't have much of an industrial base, so how could they possibly manufacture large alloy capture cages?

"Are these foreigners keeping mutated beasts in their own homes?"

Ye Xiao spoke with a suspicious look.

"Or did they discover the monster when they occupied this place, but because they weren't strong enough to kill it, they could only barely trap it below?"

"It can't be that they're trapped."

Su Ran shook her head, her tone resolute.

"If it were a threat that couldn't be eliminated, who would be foolish enough to build their lair right next to its mouth?"

A smile played on his lips. "This is actually quite interesting."

"Brother Su, I'll sneak in and check things out first. Let's see what these foreigners are up to."

Ye Xiao sheathed his longsword with a backhand motion, his sharp eyes gesturing forward.

"Okay. Be careful to stay hidden and don't alert them."

Su Ran nodded in agreement.

Upon receiving the command, Ye Xiao darted out like a black panther eyeing its prey.

He bypassed the patrol's line of sight, hugging the abandoned conveyor belt at the edge of the mining area, and silently climbed into the blind spot of a towering watchtower.

The tactical terminal screen lit up, and Ye Xiao transmitted the image from the helmet camera back in real time.

Even knowing that his current combat power was comparable to a dimensional reduction attack in the outside world, Ye Xiao still remained extremely vigilant.

The system of Awakened Ones within the Great Xia territory is organized and structured.

But these Wasteland Awakeners who crawled out of piles of dead bodies have all sorts of strange abilities. Who knows if they have any insidious killing moves?

He absolutely refused to let himself capsize in this ditch.