Game: Civilization Paradise

Not long after, Luoxue and her team gave the first sublevel a cursory search and returned to Long Ming and the others.

Luoxue went straight to assigning tasks.

"The Rat Group will begin searching the first sublevel. We’ll head down to search the second. If you don’t run into any trouble, just keep clearing the floors below."

"Yes!" An Qing and the others replied grimly.

Having given her orders, Luoxue turned and left.

An Qing and the others immediately fanned out, cautiously making their way toward different areas.

Even though Luoxue’s team had already done a cursory sweep, everyone still felt uneasy, terrified of running into any hidden monsters.

Long Ming also chose a direction and began his search.

「Several minutes later.」

Long Ming walked down a dim corridor.

The main lights in the corridor were broken. A few of the damaged fixtures still sputtered with electrical sparks.

Just then, Long Ming stopped in front of a closed door, reached out, and tried the handle.

CLICK~

The door swung open.

Gripping his submachine gun, Long Ming cautiously entered.

It was a single-occupancy room, sparsely furnished with a single iron bed, a desk, and an iron locker.

Hooks were hammered into the wall. A 30L tactical backpack and a tactical belt hung from the first two; the rest of the hooks were empty.

Long Ming immediately went forward and swapped out his backpack, then strapped the tactical belt around his waist.

Next, he walked over to the desk and started rummaging through it, quickly finding a yellowed journal.

He immediately opened it.

Epoch Year 1456, March 1.

This goddamned weather is just getting colder. Long-distance transportation has completely shut down, and the people in the city are growing more restless. A crowd of them even blocked the entrance to the city administration building. I had to bust my ass to get the situation under control.

...

Epoch Year 1456, May 16.

City Lord Akovi announced that he was adopting Dr. Cadiduo’s proposal. He would gather all available funds to initiate the final plan: the construction of the superweapon—a Climate Control Instrument—and the doomsday underground shelter.

Long Ming was startled when he read this.

’No wonder this shelter felt so strange. So it’s a combination of a weapon and a bunker.’

Epoch Year 1461, November 7.

Today is a day of despair. The ice tide has returned.

City Lord Akovi has decided to open the unfinished shelter ahead of schedule. The entire city is relocating!

Due to the shelter’s limited capacity, anyone over forty without technical skills or specialized knowledge has been left behind.

Those poor people...

...

Long Ming flipped through the rest of the pages, but they were blank.

It seemed the journal’s owner couldn’t bring themselves to write any more.

Long Ming lifted his wristband and scanned the journal. It was actually a purple-grade item. He promptly stuffed it into his backpack.

He pulled open the desk drawer and continued his search, eventually pulling out a manual.

Falas Body Technique Training Manual.

Long Ming’s eyes lit up. The Military Combat Arts manual he’d found earlier had led to a huge improvement in his skills; he hadn’t expected to find another one.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he lifted his wristband and scanned it into his safe. As for the red card, he tucked it into his pocket.

Long Ming continued searching and quickly swept the entire room, but unfortunately, he didn’t find anything else.

He turned and left, continuing to search other places.

Meanwhile, Luoxue and the others continued their descent. By the time they reached the seventh sublevel, they still hadn’t seen a single monster or any of the original inhabitants.

Jing Chuan spoke up, perplexed.

"What’s going on? Did we hit the jackpot or something? Not a single monster or person here?"

"Don’t let your guard down. This isn’t normal."

Luoxue did not let down her guard.

"Then should we continue searching downwards?"

Jing Chuan looked at Luoxue and asked.

"Let’s hold here. Wait for the Rat Group to catch up with their search."

Luoxue wasn’t about to recklessly push deeper.

"Right."

Jing Chuan nodded in agreement.

At that moment, the members of the Rat Group, who had fanned out to search, were also finding plenty of good loot. Having not encountered a single enemy, the tension they’d been feeling began to ease.

They immediately cast aside their caution and began searching everywhere!

Some Rat Group members were even lined up on the aerial walkways, calling to their companions below.

"Chen Qi, what did you find?"

"Haha, I got a red-tier drop!"

"Holy shit, wait for me."

...

Several Rat Group members rushed into an elevator, tried pressing the buttons but got no response, so they ran towards the main staircase.

The entire underground base had only one main staircase and sixty-four elevators.

None of the elevators worked, though.

...

「More than two hours later.」

An Qing and the others gathered on the seventh sublevel, their faces alight with excited smiles.

"We’ve struck it rich."

"This time we’ll definitely complete our quota."

...

Cloud Fish and the others said excitedly.

Long Ming was in a great mood as well. His new backpack was stuffed full. Although he hadn’t found any more red-tier items, he had managed to loot several purple-grade ones.

Just then, he noticed Luoxue standing alone a short distance away, gazing down toward the base’s depths, her eyes glinting with shifting thoughts.

Long Ming hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to walk over.

But just then, Luoxue turned and started walking toward them.

Seeing Luoxue approach, Zhihan called out excitedly.

"Sister Luoxue!"

"How’s the search going?"

Luoxue said calmly.

"It’s been a huge haul, and there are still plenty of places left to search."

"Very good. I plan to continue searching downwards with Jing Chuan. Zhihan, you take all the combat personnel and stay here to protect the Rat Group."

"No problem, but Sister Luoxue, isn’t that a bit too risky?"

Zhihan looked at Luoxue, confused.

"It’s fine. We know our limits."

"Then you should be careful."

"Mm. Jing Chuan, with me."

"Okay."

Jing Chuan immediately followed Luoxue.

But the two hadn’t gone far when Luoxue suddenly stopped.

Jing Chuan looked at Luoxue, confused.

Luoxue, however, turned her head to look at Long Ming, who was mixed in with the Rat Group.

Seeing Luoxue looking at him, Long Ming raised a finger and pointed at himself in surprise.

Luoxue nodded slightly.

With a look of resignation, Long Ming walked over.

"Let’s go."

Luoxue led the two of them, Long Ming and Jing Chuan, down the stairs.

Soon, they had cleared their way down to the tenth sublevel. The space on this floor was exceptionally wide, and signs were posted on the walls of the corridors branching off in every direction.

Military Controlled Area. Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.

"Hsss... Looks like we’re about to hit the jackpot," Jing Chuan said excitedly, looking at the signs.

Luoxue took one look and said,

"Let’s spread out and search. If there’s a problem, fire a shot to alert the others!"

"Understood."

Long Ming and Jing Chuan both nodded in agreement.

The three of them then split up and headed toward different areas to search.

「Several minutes later.」

Long Ming followed a corridor deeper into the facility, passing one checkpoint after another.

However, they were all unguarded, and there were no bodies to be seen.

’Where did everyone in this base go?’ he grew increasingly curious.

’Judging from the journal he’d found, a sizable population had migrated into this shelter—at least several hundred thousand people.’

’But so far, he hadn’t seen a single body.’