CHAPTER 341: CHAPTER 338: [BASE] (PART 1)

Chapter 338: [Base] (Part 1)

The seats inside the snowmobile weren’t spacious, especially the passenger seats. They were clearly designed to optimize space for slanted cargo transportation, compressing the room for passengers.

However, the driver’s seat was quite large; the complex instrument panel was clearly meant to be operated by a professional.

The vehicle Chen Nuo was in was Snowmobile No. 8.

Yes, Number 8.

The convoy entering the Red Circle consisted of eight snowmobiles. Three of them carried three groups of Ability Users.

The remaining five snowmobiles had external cargo modules mounted, ostensibly for equipment. These vehicles carried various supplies, personnel from the Octopus Monster Company like Nolan and Vanel, several technicians, and ten fully armed combatants.

God knows what high-priced mercenaries they’d hired this time. But judging by their builds and accents, they seemed to be Russians, resistant to cold and frost. Very likely, they were Davarishi’s Siberian compatriots.

Sitting in the vehicle, the snowmobile swayed gently as it traveled at 50 kilometers per hour.

Visibility wasn’t very good. The wind was strong, and the uneven ground caused the vehicle to jolt continuously.

Chen Nuo noticed a screen on the vehicle’s instrument panel, clearly some sort of radar device.

Ten minutes into the Red Circle, all was well.

The driver was an aloof man, visibly strong, his technical skills and operation proficient. Chen Nuo didn’t ask whether this man was a mercenary or part of the Octopus Monster Company’s crew.

The man wasn’t much of a talker; he just drove silently, occasionally operating the instruments.

The eight snowmobiles traveled across the ice field. The lead vehicle carried the Wizard’s group of Ability Users, with Lillian’s group in the middle.

Chen Nuo’s group brought up the rear.

A perfectly normal distribution.

The temperature inside the vehicle wasn’t high, maintained at around 10 degrees Celsius, but the ride was quite bumpy.

The Captain continued to maintain his aloof silence, and Kamisou Ichiro, the Neon, was also quite quiet. However, Kamisou Ichiro’s cold-weather suit was unzipped, revealing a bright green track jacket underneath, which was rather eye-catching.

The woman named Rebecca kept looking around, apparently curious about the various functions displayed on the vehicle’s instrument panel.

Gradually, the snowstorm intensified. Condensed ice crystals began to form on the small side windows—which were only the size of a bowl to conserve heat and reduce energy expenditure.

"We will reach the base in ten minutes. The current outdoor temperature is minus 59 degrees Celsius," the driver informed the passengers coldly after contacting the lead vehicle. "It’s colder than expected, but within the normal fluctuation range."

Chen Nuo stayed silent.

He saw that although the Captain’s face remained calm, his narrowed eyes betrayed a hint of tension. Chen Nuo thought for a moment, then lightly touched the Captain’s leg and murmured, "Boss, need a drink?"

This was their prearranged code. ’Need a drink?’ meant: Don’t worry, everything’s fine.

The Captain glanced at Chen Nuo, shook his head slowly, and said lightly, "No need."

Chen Nuo was actually quite confident. Even if something unexpected happened, he had ways to get himself and the Captain out safely. If all else failed, he could use his "Teleportation" skill; they could certainly jump out of the Red Circle’s extremely low-temperature range.

Rebecca turned her head and glanced at the two of them—the Controller and his subordinate.

In truth, Rebecca always felt something was off. Of course, this wasn’t just some woman’s Sixth Sense but rather Rebecca’s own ability. She possessed a special ability, a keen sense to detect hostility and murderous intent in her surroundings. This was a rare but often very useful branch of Spiritual abilities. And this ability didn’t require active use; it was a passive sensory power. It was one of the abilities she was renowned for.

After getting close to these two, Rebecca was surprised to find the Captain seemed fine, despite his aloofness. On the other hand, this lackey named Anderson... Rebecca always felt very uncomfortable when she was near him. She always sensed that this Anderson fellow exuded a faint, yet deeply unsettling, ’killing intent’! Even when he put on a harmless, cheerful smile, in Rebecca’s eyes, it was as if she were standing before a psychopathic killer.

But Rebecca still chose the Captain’s group—she really didn’t want to be in the same group as the Wizard. Every time she got close to him, she felt the Wizard emanated a vague, terrifying aura directed at her... probably a response due to their Spiritual abilities. Lillian wasn’t an option either; she had previously clashed with a short-haired black woman among Lillian’s subordinates. Hmph, some ’assistant’ she was—nothing more than a dog clinging to the Controller’s thigh. Furthermore, Rebecca acutely sensed that the short-haired black woman and Lillian shared a somewhat unusual relationship. It disgusted her.

"Five minutes to the base! Convoy slowing down. Radar at full power. Entering Level One Alert status!"

The driver once again relayed the command he had received through his headset.

The convoy’s speed noticeably decreased.

Outside the window, visibility was dropping, the wind and snow creating a vast, featureless expanse.

The front windshield offered the widest view, but throughout the journey, Chen Nuo could only see the external cargo module of the vehicle ahead.

However, as they neared the base, the convoy changed formation, shifting from a single line into a dispersed, wedge-like shape.

Soon, a mysterious outline appeared on the horizon. Chen Nuo identified it as the low, modular buildings of the base.

From a distance, the base appeared eerily silent, completely still.

But in an instant, several streams of spiritual power swept over it. Chen Nuo felt the spreading fluctuations of Spiritual Force Tentacles and quickly deduced that the Wizard had made the first move, using his spiritual power to scan the base.

The Wizard’s spiritual power was indeed formidable. With a single sweep, it branched into over a hundred tentacles, stretching into the base.

The convoy stopped at the outer perimeter of the base—though such bases didn’t really have walls or fences.

Observing the terrain, however, the site selection for this base was quite clever.

Two slightly elevated ice and snow slopes, perhaps only about a dozen meters in vertical height, formed a large base area, appearing to stretch for hundreds of meters in length and width.

The base was situated in a natural depression between these two slopes—though "valley" might be an overstatement, as the drop wasn’t significant and the area was quite open.

The base was built against the eastern slope. This meant it was backed by a hillside, which, from a defensive standpoint, effectively cut the required effort in half.

Low bunkers, resembling guard posts, could be seen built into the snow on either side. However, they were unarmed. In such ghastly weather, a real guard post with an open machine gun emplacement would mean freezing to death from the cold wind.

Thus, these guard posts likely served only for observation and early warning. Indeed, their primary purpose was just that.

The convoy came to a halt.

Soon, green lights illuminated inside the vehicles. Everyone knew this was the signal to disembark, as explained during training and equipment familiarization.

Everyone in the vehicles donned their cold-weather suits and checked their communication equipment.

They had guns, of course, but no one used them—the Ability Users had all refused to carry firearms. It was a joke, really. The Ability Users here were at least Destroyer level or close to it, and there were three Controllers leading them. Firearms? That was stuff for ordinary people.

Chen Nuo was perhaps the only exception. He had a holster strapped to his thigh with a pistol in it, covered by his cold-weather overcoat.

Wearing thick protective goggles and hats, everyone looked rather bulky as they jumped out of the vehicles.

Still, distinctions could be made.

The Octopus Monster Company had made precise distinctions so that comrades could be quickly identified in the snowy terrain.

The armed personnel wore black cold-weather suits.

The Ability Users wore red.

The technicians wore yellow.

The personnel gathered, and Nolan immediately assumed command, issuing orders without preamble, "Proceed according to the pre-operation plan! Move in!"

The Captain remained silent. Chen Nuo nodded, also saying nothing.

Two Octopus Monster Company technicians quickly approached Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo turned to Kamisou Ichiro and Rebecca, "You two, take one each. You’re responsible for their safety!"

Four Ability Users, plus two Octopus Monster Company technicians—that was the configuration for each Ability User squad.

No one wasted words. Firstly, this was the pre-established plan. Secondly, their window of opportunity was only an hour and a half, and every minute was precious.

They had already used twenty minutes on the journey here.

The Red Circle’s diameter was indeed only five kilometers, with a radius of two and a half kilometers, but that was the straight-line distance.

Traversing the ice field, it was impossible to take direct routes. They had to account for terrain variations like hills, snow slopes, ravines, valleys, and zones with ice fissures. This meant they had to wind their way along, which was why it had taken so much time.

If they deducted another twenty minutes for the return journey, they had just over an hour left to inspect the base.

It was precious time.

The three Ability User squads, each escorting two Octopus Monster Company personnel, entered the base and headed straight for three different areas to conduct their inspections.

Nolan led the armed personnel and two technicians toward the base’s main command tent.

All the drivers and four armed personnel remained with the convoy. Vanel was also left with the convoy. His task was no less demanding: he was responsible for all radar surveillance and for maintaining contact with the personnel inside the base, relaying the latest information.

Setting aside the other two teams for now, the Captain’s group entered directly from the front of the base.

They headed straight for a section of modular warehouses in the southeastern part of the base. That area housed the base’s supply depot and the living quarters that connected the staff of what seemed to be two separate base contingents.

The ground was hard and dry, frozen solid by the extreme cold, making their anti-slip boots feel quite heavy.

The four Ability Users didn’t seem to mind, but the two technicians were clearly struggling to keep up.