Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Temporary Camp

As two dazzling beams struck the sentry towers, violent explosions ensued, clearing out the upper levels of both structures. With the towers eliminated, the convoy broke through the barriers at the entrance, following the road deeper into the military forbidden zone. At the head of the convoy was Chen Six’s King Humvee, leading the way. Xu Qiang remarked, “This is only the outer perimeter of the military zone, not the forbidden area proper, so there are no defensive installations like intelligent weapons.” He pointed to a dense patch of grass nearby. “See that? It’s a surveillance camera. It relays every movement around here back to the command center.”

The landscape here was markedly different from what they had seen earlier. Gone were the sand and rocks; in their place was a scene teeming with life. The flat horizon was almost entirely covered in wild grass. Perhaps due to its designation as a restricted zone, the grass had cycled through countless seasons, withered and alive intertwining, and everywhere one looked, clusters of wild growth prevailed. Occasionally, a few trees appeared, but they did little to dispel the sense of utter desolation.

The convoy pressed on for nearly an hour before finally stopping at the inspection station marking the true entrance to the military forbidden zone. If the area before was merely a quasi-military zone, this was the genuine article. Beyond the wire fence, sentry towers stood every hundred meters, and behind them, intelligent retractable beam towers loomed faintly. The air was thick with a deadly, forbidding aura.

With experience gained from the highway checkpoint, the three leading armored vehicles immediately aimed their weapons at the inspection station upon stopping. However, no soldiers guarded the station; only a handful of zombies—once the staff—emerged at the sound of the engines, numbering no more than twenty or thirty. These few posed no threat; the armored vehicles opened fire simultaneously, and within seconds, the zombies were shredded to bits.

The roar of machine guns echoed across the empty terrain, and from the grass, more zombies crawled out. Xu Qiang said, “These are the hidden lookouts. Look at the guns in their hands: G-1-22 sniper rifles, capable of hitting targets a mile and a half away with ease.”

There weren’t many such hidden sentries here. If they retained their consciousness, their long-range abilities would pose a formidable threat to the convoy. But now, as mindless zombies, their weapons were useless to them.

Xie Han drew his Star of Explosions, opting not for explosive rounds but standard pistol bullets, and fired rapidly at the approaching zombies. He was confident in his marksmanship; he didn’t know how the Mother Entity had made this possible, but it felt as though the skills were etched into his mind, as if he had actually trained for this before.

Once the hidden sentry zombies were cleared, Xie Han glanced at the array of intelligent retractable beam towers scattered about, exhaled, and said to Chen Six, “Going further means entering the real forbidden zone. These beam towers are probably intact; we’re not equipped to break through them right now.” He pointed to the inspection station and smiled. “There’s a ready-made building here. Let’s set up a temporary camp; it’ll save us much trouble.”

Chen Six thought it over and agreed. After all, it was just a temporary camp, in a place far from civilization, and there was little risk of hordes of zombies appearing. There was no need to enter the forbidden zone just yet. “Alright,” he replied, and began directing everyone to disembark and clear away the obstacles near the station.

All around was flat wild grassland; the hundred or so trucks parked directly onto the grass.

Once everything was arranged, Chen Six pointed to the low building of the inspection station. “Let’s go in and take a look.” In Xie Han’s imagination, buildings in such a military area should exude a modern feel, but this inspection station was surprisingly ordinary. From the outside, it looked no different from a civilian house.

For Xie Han, places like military forbidden zones had always seemed deeply mysterious. Now, with the chance to approach them up close, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. He mused, “Brother Chen Six, do you think there might be a huge underground base beneath this unremarkable inspection building?”

Chen Six and Xu Qiang looked baffled, then amused. Xu Qiang explained, “This is just the edge of the forbidden zone. Even if there were an underground base, it wouldn’t be here—it would be somewhere deeper inside. This is just an ordinary experimental site. I don’t think there’s an underground base; at most, there might be a simple underground storeroom for experimental materials.”

Xie Han blushed, embarrassed. “I can’t help it. The words ‘military forbidden zone’ are so mysterious, it’s hard not to let your imagination run wild.”

The inspection building was indeed plain, with only a simple coat of paint on the walls and little decoration. The office furniture—tables and chairs—was much like any modern office, making it hard for Xie Han to believe that such a mundane place existed within a military forbidden zone.

While Xie Han stood in awe, Xu Qiang went to rummage through piles of scattered documents. Chen Six seemed to understand his intent and headed straight for the filing cabinet, which held hundreds of folders. Perhaps due to the zone’s restricted status, the folders were left openly, without any security measures.

The office’s power system appeared unconnected to the forbidden zone’s grid; none of the computers on the desks could be powered up, so inspection records could not be accessed electronically.

Soon, Xu Qiang pulled a damaged file from the pile, frowning as he read. Three and a half years had caused significant deterioration; the file in Xu Qiang’s hands was mottled with yellow stains and riddled with small holes, rendering many words illegible. Fortunately, Xu Qiang wasn’t seeking precise details—just an overview.

Chen Six, with little effort, retrieved several folders from the cabinet. These documents were largely intact, merely yellowed with age. “These are the entry and exit records from the month before the XR virus outbreak,” Chen Six observed. “Through them, we can learn what was being experimented with here.”

Xie Han cautioned, “The markings indicate this is just a regular weapons testing ground. Don’t get your hopes up about the experiments.”

Chen Six conceded the point. The files he held referenced experimental weapons meant for ordinary units, most listed by code names. Without familiarity with military codes, it was hard to decipher what they were. Still, Chen Six was not disappointed. He raised the files and said, “Even if it’s only a standard testing site, the weapons developed here should still be more advanced than those available outside.”

Xu Qiang, drawn from his reading, smiled at Chen Six’s remark. “You’re right, Brother Chen Six. There are indeed some good things here.” He handed Xie Han a file. “Take a look—this is the entry and exit record from three days before the XR virus outbreak.”