Chapter 65: The Wildland
Within the 3D map, every location within a one-kilometer radius was fully revealed to Maximilian. No matter how far he wanted to zoom in or what angle he wished to view, as long as it was within that radius, he could examine everything in precise detail.
Even underground structures, normally hidden from the naked eye, were clearly displayed. As Maximilian scanned the surroundings, he noticed several teams of rookie scavengers searching the areas near the city.
Since the ruins around the outskirts had already been stripped clean over the years, most of these teams were actually recovery units sent by the city, tasked with retrieving the equipment of fallen patrols or victims lost during past expeditions.
Only a handful of them were actual scavengers hoping to get lucky, dreaming of stumbling across a hidden cache or a forgotten basement. But even those had long since been looted, making these scavengers rookies among rookies.
He also detected several groups of raiders hiding among the ruins, waiting to ambush any scavenger teams that got too close, or even targeting patrol teams, provided they were well-armed enough to stand a chance.
The APC had been driving along the old road toward Manhattan for over two hours now, and the density of dangerous elements, mutated beasts, raiders, and mutants, was steadily increasing.
From inside, Maximilian continued observing through his internal map. He saw mutants and raiders watching the APC from their hiding spots. Most simply looked on with clear disappointment, recognizing the vehicle as too well-protected. A few, however, showed visible greed in their eyes, but none made any move.
Eventually, the APC veered off the old road and took a beaten path. Maximilian remained with his eyes closed, tracking the journey through the GPS feed overlaid with the 3D map in his mind. It was obvious to him what threats the team was trying to avoid.
Along the way, they passed multiple forts and barricades constructed by both raiders and mutants, designed to trap or halt expedition and scavenger teams.
By now, it was already noon. The APC came to a stop near some ruined buildings. Maximilian had already checked the The System GPS, these ruins were dotted with numerous green and yellow indicators, signifying that this was some sort of friendly outpost in the wild.
"Mr. Graham, we’ll rest here for an hour and refuel the APC before continuing," said Honiahaka. "I estimate we’ll arrive at Sector A-7 in Old Manhattan by tomorrow."