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

The night wind howled, carrying with it the pungent smell of blood.

They wore fully enclosed tactical helmets and had the gray "E-17" number printed on their arms.

An agent removed a cylindrical device from his tactical vest.

"It's time. EMP ready."

He pulled out the safety pin and used his hand to attach it to the steel column.

The red light on top of the device is flashing rapidly.

A silent pulse, invisible to the naked eye, swept across the entire mining area, centered on the ore dressing tower.

Just as Jon Chen was about to call the reserve team over the walkie-talkie, a pungent, burning smell emanated from the equipment in his hand.

All communication terminals in the camp went black at that moment.

"They made their move."

Shen Ning hid behind a shipping container, looked at the terminal in his hand that had turned into scrap metal, and made a hand gesture.

Several members of the Sharp Sword team immediately disappeared into the darkness, deliberately leaving the western defense zone undefended.

"action."

The E-17 squad slid down from the tower, avoiding the beast horde's attacks and using the shadows of the ruins to head straight for Ye Xiao and his companion.

Ye Xiao was raising his knife to block the jaw of a hyena when he caught a glimpse of three dark figures rapidly approaching.

"Two on the left, one on the right."

Ye Xiao reminded him in a very low voice.

Before the words were finished, a stun grenade exploded at their feet.

The bright light and piercing noise instantly turned everything into a blinding white.

The agents' tactical coordination was extremely smooth, giving them no time to react.

A faint whooshing sound cut through the air.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!"

Two specially made metal anesthetic needles were fired from the high-pressure air gun and accurately pierced the back of Ye Xiao and Zhu Jingye's necks.

This high concentration of nerve anesthetic can even knock out a second-tier mutated beast within three seconds.

Ye Xiao felt a slight chill on his neck.

When the medicine entered his bloodstream, he experienced a moment of disorientation.

But that's far from enough to take him down.

But he immediately swayed twice and knelt heavily on one knee on the sand.

"Oh no, there's... a sneak attack..."

He made a muffled shout, trying his best to appear as if he was struggling against the effects of the drug.

Zhu Jingye's performance was even more vivid and convincing.

He grabbed Ye Xiao's arm and activated "damage transfer," drawing all the remaining drug effects from Ye Xiao's body to himself.

With two doses of high-concentration anesthetic combined, Zhu Jingye felt dizzy for a moment.

"Hold……"

His eyes rolled back, and his body went limp as he collapsed, the fire axe crashing down beside him.

Three agents, guns at the ready, strode out of the shadows.

One person held a silenced pistol on guard, while two others pulled out portable bio-scanners and scanned the necks of the two men.

"Vital signs are stable, but the central nervous system is paralyzed, and the patient has entered a deep coma."

"Apply the restraint rope."

The agents pulled out restraints made of polymer material and tightly fastened the wrists and ankles of the two men.

At the same time, another two-person special agent team ran out from deep within the camp.

They were dragging an unconscious Asian youth along. He was the same strength-type awakened individual who had originally been in the camp.

"All the goods are ready."

The lead agent glanced at the distant horde of beasts and, without hesitation,...

"retreat."

The group slung their three spoils over their shoulders, quickly disappearing into the darkness, and raced along their planned route towards the desert outside the camp.

Two kilometers away.

Six all-terrain stealth vehicles were parked on the back of the dunes, their body coatings blending perfectly into the night.

The agents roughly threw Ye Xiao and the other two into the hibernation pods at the back of the carriage.

"Lock the hatch and inject inert maintenance gas."

The commander glanced at the results of the operation and nodded in satisfaction.

"The mission went very smoothly."

The heavy metal hatch closed.

In the darkness, Ye Xiao closed his eyes and breathed evenly.

He silently counted down the seconds in his mind, feeling the vibration frequency inside the carriage.

"Connect to base and request the opening of the B-4 access tunnel," the commander ordered.

The communications soldier entered a long string of instructions on the control panel.

The vehicle-mounted signal tower rises, and a multi-encrypted frequency band connects to a geostationary satellite in North America, establishing a direct communication node with the underground bunker.

At the same second.

The miniature positioning beacon beneath the skin on the inside of Ye Xiao and Zhu Jingye's wrists began to function.

The chip operates without the need for an external power source; the body's bioelectricity sustains its operation.

It did not actively emit any signals that would expose itself, but instead silently attached itself to the encrypted communication link that the tank had just established.

Following this data stream, the beacon begins to transmit the location code in reverse.

……

Kunlun Base. Awakened Headquarters Main Hall.

Amidst the chaotic static on the big screen, a faint yet clear green line emerged.

"They're here!"

Zhou Hang suddenly stood up and began frantically typing on the keyboard.

"The communication nodes in the North American underground bunkers have just been activated! Our beacons have successfully sprung into their data streams!"

Mo Yun strode forward. "Can you pinpoint the node's location?"

Give me some time.

Zhou Hang stared at the firewall code that kept refreshing on the screen.

"They used pre-cataclysmic military-grade physical barriers, and they were very cautious."

I need to perform multiple stripping operations using the Pangu supercomputer, without alerting the enemy.

Su Ran sat in the chair behind, her gaze fixed on the moving red dots on the holographic map.

"Stay calm, don't rush."

Su Ran's voice was calm and steady, "Old Ye and the others are already in the car."

As soon as the vehicle enters the gate of the underground bunker, their physical defenses will be forced to open inward.

That will be the time when Pangu takes complete control.

Let's shift our focus back to the North American desert.

The stealth vehicles advanced at full speed into the night.

Inside the train carriage, agents are inspecting weapons and equipment.

"Captain, these two Awakened Ones with Great Xia faces have a rather special physique."

An agent responsible for monitoring hibernation pod data frowned.

"They absorbed such a high concentration of anesthetic, yet their heart rate was still able to remain within the normal threshold."

This does not conform to the physiological data of typical awakened individuals.

"That's Dr. Steven's problem."

The commander glanced at the screen, seemingly unconcerned.

"Our task is to get the materials into the lab. As long as they don't wake up, there's no threat."

He turned his head to look out the car window at the desolate wasteland.

"We need to act quickly; in another half hour, we'll be able to enter the safe zone."

Once the doctor successfully develops the drug, this wasteland will ultimately belong to our Federation.

Inside the hibernation pod, the cold metallic touch pressed against Ye Xiao's back.

A rat hole a thousand meters underground…

He scoffed inwardly, "I hope your bones are a bit tougher than that mutated wild boar's."

In the cabin next door, Zhu Jingye snored softly.

He was really asleep.

The two doses of high-concentration anesthetic had some effect on him, but he only slept for about twenty minutes at most.

The roles of hunter and prey were completely reversed the moment the metal hatch closed.