Chapter 149

149 An Unmanned Base

Selma Payne’s POV:

A thick wooden door sealed the gate of the second base. No one answered, even after knocking for a long time.

We looked at each other and realized that something was not right.

“No matter what mission, we must leave someone to guard the base. This is an iron rule.” Aldrich said, “With his rich experience, it’s impossible that he didn’t emphasize this to his subordinates.”

At this moment, the tightly shut door seemed so strange, as if there was an unpredictable danger hiding behind the door, ready to give us a fatal blow.

However, it was almost dark now. We couldn’t return to the first base or find a place to camp for the night. The wind and snow could easily kill us in our sleep.

Frank’s expression was grave. No one knew what he was thinking.

In the end, he decided. “We have to force our way through the door. It’s going to be dark soon. We can’t wait any longer.”

The wooden bolt was very strong, and we took a long time to break in.

The situation in the base was shocking. As expected, there wasn’t a scene of wolves or a river of blood. All the wooden boxes containing supplies were neatly stacked together. Sleeping bags, blankets, jackets, and other warm items were stacked on wooden boards hanging on the rock walls. Simple tables and chairs formed a simple meeting room. There was even a steaming cup on the table as if someone had just finished a routine report.

There were even a few bonfires with sparks, hot dried meat, and congee on wooden shelves.

Everything was in order, as if there was a group of people living here that we could not see.

I shivered, and all the hair on my body stood up.

No one rushed in rashly. Even the youngest team member could feel the strangeness of this place.

“It’s snowing,” Master Kevin suddenly said.

He was at the end of the group, so he was the first to feel the snowflakes.

As expected, a layer of dark clouds had unknowingly gathered in the already dark sky. The whistling north wind became even sharper, and the snowflakes that grew larger and larger cut into our exposed skin like sharp blades.

We were in a dilemma, and the blizzard was more deadly than the strange cave base before us. We had no choice but to take refuge in the base.

The werewolf grandmaster’s restoration spell restored the lock to its original state, just like how it had caused us trouble in the beginning. It had used its solid body to withstand the whistling wind for us.

Right now, we were like lamb chops in an oven. If anyone tried to do anything to us, we had the underhand.

No one let down their guard. Although they were exhausted, they still held on to their weapons tightly.

“From now on,” Frank ordered. “Everyone is to move in groups of at least three. Find your groups and report to me in one minute!”

Aldrich, Dorothy, and I formed a team. From now on, we would temporarily be the seventh team.

“The base is only developed in the shallow layer of the cave. Starting from a quarter of it, it’s completely wild. Although the advanced party has done a sweep, you can see for yourself the current situation. No one can guarantee that the cave’s depths are safe, and we can’t conduct any checks rashly,” Frank emphasized.

“So, everyone’s activities must be limited to the base’s boundary tonight. Anyone who sees the cordon inside the cave must return immediately. Don’t touch any of the supplies. Save some of your emergency rations! Every three hours, at least two groups will be on night watch. Now, the person in charge of each group, come to me to draw the night watch lots!”

I’d drawn our group’s time slot from midnight to three in the morning. Fortunately, and unfortunately, the group that would be keeping watch with us had both Frank and Yuri.

I didn’t know if it was dangerous at night, but it was ‘lively’.

Yuri looked like he wanted to provoke me, but under the stern gaze of Frank and Linda’s dissuasion, he could only gnaw on his dry food.

The dry air spread throughout the base. Most people who didn’t have a turn to keep watch had already gone to sleep. Dorothy and I snuggled up together while Aldrich sat beside us with his eyes closed.

“The snow here is really heavy,” Dorothy mumbled. “And it’s also quite strange. The climate of the snowy mountains is ever-changing.”

I had a bad feeling gnawing at my heart. “Maybe it’s not the strange climate, but someone who created this strange phenomenon.”

“I can use my prophetic ability to check,” Dorothy said. “To see what will happen in the future, or at least to see what kind of danger there will be tonight.”

I’d thought of this, but with Dorothy’s current physical condition, it was too much of a waste for her, so I immediately disagreed with it. “Better not. You’ve not used your power after the engraving. It’ll be bad if something goes wrong.”