Chapter 113: Huangyan Base
The morning mist had yet to disperse, and as the sky gradually brightened, Zhou Ming had already slung a backpack over his shoulders and, dressed in protective gear, headed toward the Southern District.
Compared to the two city gates in the Northern District and Eastern District, the Southern District opened much earlier.
This was because to the south and west, within dozens of kilometers of the Qinshan Base, several small bases had been established.
These bases mainly collected various resources for the Qinshan Base or produced essential living supplies.
Therefore, every morning, vehicles departed toward these small bases.
And in the Huangyan small base to the south, there was a factory belonging to Yang’s Paper Industry. Back then, the son of the Yang family’s boss had left the Qinshan Base under the pretext of bringing classmates to visit the factory, then quietly slipped from the Huangyan Base to Ghost Cavern Ridge.
“Vehicles heading to the Huangyan Base are about to depart. Passengers who haven’t boarded yet, hurry up.”
“One thousand per person.”
“The vehicle heading to the Red Sand Base is about to leave, seven hundred per person.”
……
Before the blazing sun had fully risen, the entrance of the Southern District city gate was already exceptionally lively.
In the distance, beside passenger vehicles that resembled heavy trucks—fitted with alloy barricades, reinforced glass, and metal mesh—several middle-aged burly men were actively soliciting customers.
There were still at least ten minutes before the city gate officially opened, yet they already put on an appearance as if they were about to depart.
“Brother, leaving the base? Need a gun?”
The moment Zhou Ming stepped into the city gate area, someone immediately sidled up to him to start selling.
Starting work before dawn could only be described as diligent.
“No need.”
Toward the salesman who came close, Zhou Ming displayed an unapproachable demeanor and directly rejected the introduction.
Because as long as he showed even a hint of interest, these salesmen would cling on like sticky glue.
Moreover, Zhou Ming truly did not need firearms.
With a Spatial Ring, during his previous trips to the Black Market, he had already fully prepared the firearms and ammunition he needed.
Aside from weapons, Zhou Ming had also purchased food, purified water, antidotes, emergency syringes, and a whole series of items required for wilderness survival the day before.
The little remaining funds he had were completely spent.
However, these were preparations that absolutely had to be made.
If he did not return alive, leaving behind any amount of money would be meaningless—after all, Zhou Ming had no family to consider.
The reason he carried a backpack on his back was merely to mislead others and avoid attracting unnecessary suspicion.
Seeing Zhou Ming’s exceptionally cold attitude, with a faint killing intent in his expression, the experienced salesman immediately shifted his target.
When Zhou Ming arrived beside the passenger vehicle heading to the Huangyan Base, the vehicle owner promptly stepped forward to greet him.
“Little brother, heading to the Huangyan Base?”
He sized Zhou Ming up from head to toe. Leopard Type-2 protective gear, and a sharp, capable aura in his expression—clearly someone who frequently ventured into the wilderness, a hunter.
“When are you leaving?”
“At most half an hour. If it’s later, we won’t be able to return before nightfall today.”
After guessing Zhou Ming’s identity, the vehicle owner did not dare to deceive him and directly stated the latest departure time.
“Then give me one ticket.”
After saying that, he directly handed over one thousand Alliance Coins to the vehicle owner.
Under normal circumstances, aside from personnel working in small bases, those who traveled to small bases were either company or factory managers, or hunters hitching rides.
As for ordinary employees, they would only travel back and forth two or three times a year at most.
If it was a business trip, a ticket was still needed for reimbursement.
After receiving the ticket, Zhou Ming entered the passenger vehicle. Compared to its rough and wild exterior, the interior looked fairly normal.
Zhou Ming casually swept his gaze around. Only about half the seats were occupied, with roughly thirty to forty people in total.
Judging by the ticket price—one thousand per person—the vehicle owner was definitely operating at a loss.
Whether it was fuel consumption, vehicle wear and tear, or various safety measures, the owner needed to earn over a hundred thousand a day just to avoid losses.
As for how to earn that, it was naturally by helping companies transport documents or necessary production materials to factories within the small bases along the way.
After a quick glance, finding no one who required special attention, Zhou Ming directly sat down in an empty seat in the third row.
Twenty minutes later, accompanied by a thunderous roar, the heavy armored passenger vehicle that looked like a metallic monster slowly departed from the Qinshan Base.
Leaving the safe zone where crops were planted, the wilderness—lush with vegetation yet concealing danger—came into view.
A slightly winding, meandering secret dirt road appeared and disappeared under the cover of trees.
Compared to the wilderness north and east of the Qinshan Base, the southern and western wilderness was much safer, as this already belonged to Alliance territory.
High-risk Ferocious Beasts would be cleared by the Alliance the moment they were discovered.
Moreover, with the defensive capability of the passenger vehicle and a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun installed on the roof, it was more than sufficient to fend off attacks from low-tier Ferocious Beasts.
After all, if safety could not be guaranteed, the vehicle owner would not be in this line of work.
Of course, if they encountered an attack from a high-tier Ferocious Beast, then it could only be blamed on terrible luck.
Amid the bumpy journey, the passenger vehicle successfully arrived at the Huangyan Base after noon.
Covering forty to fifty kilometers in four to five hours—back in his previous life, the driver would have been beaten to death on the road, but on Blue Star, where Ferocious Beasts roamed, this was completely normal.
As the passenger vehicle slowly approached the Huangyan Base, Zhou Ming saw a small base with his own eyes for the first time.
Covering several square kilometers in area, situated near a river, with various pipelines, water towers, and other structures inside……
Entering the Huangyan Base looked more like an industrial park, which came into Zhou Ming’s view.
Arrival. Get off.
Following the contact information, Zhou Ming located Yang’s Paper Industry factory within the complex industrial-park-like base.
After explaining his purpose to the gate guard, he smoothly met the person in charge of the factory—a middle-aged man with a well-fed figure, but with obvious dark circles under his eyes.
From the looks of it, it was likely because the boss’s son had secretly slipped out into the wilderness from his factory, placing considerable pressure on him.
“Manager Wang, I’m a hunter from the Hunter Guild. I accepted the search-and-rescue mission issued by your boss. Do you have any clues about Yang Yi? Or did he show any abnormal behavior here?”
Taking out his hunter emblem to prove his identity, Zhou Ming directly asked. As for whether it would be useful, that was another matter.
“Little brother, several waves of hunters have already come to ask me about this. If I knew anything, I would have reported it to President Yang long ago.”
Although Zhou Ming looked young, Manager Wang did not dare to underestimate him and immediately stated everything he knew.
“Then did he say anything particularly unusual? For example, where he wanted to go.”
Zhou Ming was still somewhat unwilling to give up.
“Unusual words……”
“Manager, Young Master Yang seemed to mention something about a bet—something about what would happen if he won.”
At this moment, Manager Wang’s secretary suddenly spoke up with a reminder.
“Anything else?”
Manager Wang’s expression lit up with joy. Before Zhou Ming could even speak, he directly pressed for more.
“No, that was all. Young Master Yang just mentioned it casually, and I didn’t pay much attention.”
Hearing this, the anger in Manager Wang’s heart instantly flared up, but he still forcibly suppressed it and did not scold his secretary because of it.
Having risen from an ordinary employee to his current position, he naturally understood that once he scolded someone, he could forget about ever learning anything from subordinates again.