Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Traces of humanoid creatures..."

"No feces or scent left by large wild beasts..."

"No traps..."

Based on the discoveries made so far, which were not too deep into the area, You made her current judgment.

"Perhaps traps are laid a bit deeper inside?"

"Or perhaps this isn't their primary living space?"

The cavernous terrain covered a vast area, and the scouts who had explored previously had only speculated about the rough living range of those migrants through scattered clues.

If the scouts had made a mistake or if their presence had alarmed the migrants, causing them to move, it couldn't be certain.

You frowned, having her judgment, "Even without signs of traps being set, if it were to guard against wild beasts from the wilderness, there would already be traces. Placing them too close to their dwelling would also risk accidental injuries. Maybe... we are going in the wrong direction."

Those migrants didn't dwell in the areas that their current exploration pathway could reach, so naturally, there was no need to lay traps along this passageway.

As for the sparse humanoid traces she had found... they couldn't be taken as solid evidence.

The network of caves and tunnels here was extensive; it was quite possible for some passages to be less frequently traversed by people.

Song Ying looked towards Tiger and asked softly, "Captain?"

After pondering for a moment, Tiger made a decision, "Continue exploring a bit further."

The distance they had entered wasn't far; the discoveries at this time couldn't serve as definitive evidence for a judgment.

If they reported this, the members of the other two squads wouldn't accept it; instead, it would make the already somewhat awkward situation even more embarrassing.

Since there were signs of human activity, it meant the intelligence on the migrants in this area was generally correct.

Even if they had changed their residence due to the disturbance from the previous scouts, it was necessary to locate and confirm their original dwelling place.

The clues in the tunnels could only prove limited things, but the actual living site could yield more useful information, including the number of people, living standards, and so on.

In this era, firstly the technological level was limited, and secondly, human life was cheap; information explored through human efforts often relied on bravery and physical endurance.

"Okay."

You nodded gently and continued to clear the way ahead.

The team proceeded as quietly as possible, not making any unnecessary noise.

Silence ensured that everyone was able to acutely perceive everything in their environment.

To listen to the wind that sounded like wailing ghosts and howling wolves, to listen to the rustling footsteps constrained by the limited vision, to listen to one's own heartbeat that felt like the only thing left in the world, to listen to... the fear that comes from the primal darkness.

'Why do I feel a bit creeped out...' Big Mountain rubbed his hands together and looked over his teammates.

For some reason, even though everyone was moving together and the physical distance hadn't changed, he always felt his teammates were drifting further away from him.

Further and further away... Further and further away...

So far that his breathing became slow and drawn out, so far that each blink of his eyes felt extremely heavy, so far that voices stretched into several syllables to the point of distortion, so far that his heart seemed to forget how to beat.

He felt like an unfortunate swimmer who had drowned, watching his companions who were still afloat on the surface, silently sinking down to the seabed...

"..." He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to break the panic-inducing sensation.

But he couldn't make a sound.

It was unclear whether it was reason preventing him from making noise, fearing that his own noise might disturb or mask potential information or dangers in the darkness;

Or whether it was emotion suppressing his body's instincts, stopping him from using his mouth and vocal cords.

He could only watch as he drifted further and further away from his teammates, slowly being submerged into the darkness...

"Beep beep beep~"

A series of signals suddenly came through the earpiece.

Even when there was no need to share essential information, everyone would press a button at regular intervals to signal to their teammates that they were alright.

The sudden noise made Big Mountain's body tremble violently, and the feelings he had just experienced retreated like a tide.

Regaining his senses, Big Mountain felt his back drenched in sweat, not realizing when his cotton undershirt had been soaked through.

Raising his hand to press a button on the side of his earpiece, Big Mountain also signaled that he hadn't encountered any abnormalities.

Turning to look at his teammates, everyone seemed to be fine.

Did he not sleep well last night?

Big Mountain shook his head as if to shake off the sinking sensation he had felt, as if to cast it off along with the motion.

"Look over there..."

You, who was leading the way, whispered, made room by stepping aside, and stopped in her tracks.

As everyone caught up and peeked, an underground cavern that suddenly broadened in their field of vision appeared before them, evident through their green-tinted night vision devices.

Tiny spots of an even more luminescent green dotted the entire inner wall of the underground cavern, making the sight in their vision as splendid as a starry sky.

"Is this... some kind of fungus?"

"Cultivated by humans, it's either food or a weapon..."

They were either exploiting the natural toxins in these materials as traps or weapons or the fungi were edible...

The migrants living in such a place, without normal conditions for cultivating crops or synthesized food production lines that could utilize proteins, starches, and the like, only had the option to grow such things as a source of sustenance.

```

Everyone tended to agree with the latter.

Wearing gloves, You carefully picked a mushroom and examined it closely.

After a moment, she matched the target species with the "Encyclopedia Atlas" recorded in her mind, "Flavor-heart Mushroom, edible between 23 and 60 days of growth, containing mild hallucinogenic toxins, mild addictiveness if consumed over a long period. The toxicity gradually increases and it starts to lignify after 60 days of growth..."

After crouching down and observing for a while, You confirmed, "These Flavor-heart Mushrooms are basically about thirty days old, they probably haven't come to harvest them yet."

Zhou, with his arms crossed, had completely recovered from the "illusion" he had just experienced, "But this patch of Flavor-heart Mushrooms wouldn't be enough to sustain those two hundred people mentioned in the intelligence reports..."

"There must be more than one plantation..." You looked around and said, "The growing conditions for Flavor-heart Mushrooms are very low, they must have planted a lot. If we keep moving forward, we should see more."

"Let's go, keep moving forward."

With a somewhat exhilarated tone, Tiger expressed that finding human-cultivated food also meant that at least part of their prior intelligence was correct.

As expected, several nearly adjacent caves were found to contain large swathes of Flavor-heart Mushrooms, brilliant as the stars.

"They're here!" You stated confidently.

In the absence of any guards

In the absence of any guards, such a plantation could easily be ravaged and eaten by various wild animals.

The cultivated area couldn't possibly be too far from the real dwelling place of the refugees, or even if they were moving, they wouldn't leave so many Flavor-heart Mushrooms unharvested.

"They haven't left."

"Good!" Tiger nodded in agreement, fully trusting his team member's judgment, and then speaking into the microphone said, "This is Team A97, we have discovered their plantation, repeat, we have found their plantation."

As Tiger reported their findings to the other two teams, You was still looking in the direction they had come from, continuing to doubt to herself, "But why are there no traps?"

Surviving in the wilderness, using traps for warnings and defense is a basic requirement, the refugees couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

This wasn't something that could be easily explained by whether the city dwellers had hostile intentions or not.

Unless... they're not afraid?

Come to think of it, since arriving at this underground nest, they really hadn't encountered any small wild animals.

It seemed that the entire cave system was unnaturally quiet.

Bai E, closest to You, heard her muttering to herself.

"Did you find a problem?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"There shouldn't be an absence of traps..." You said softly, expressing the doubt circling in her mind.

"Zzzzt—"

After some static, the familiar voice of another team leader came through, "How large is the scale, approximately how much can it supply for daily consumption?"

Inwardly calculating, Song Ying quietly reminded Tiger at his side, "Probably just over a hundred people."

Tiger nodded and responded, "Based on what we've found so far, it's enough to support the daily consumption of about a hundred people."

"Understood..."

"Zzzzt—"

Another voice joined the conversation, "We've found some too, and it's not small... wait, we think we've seen someone. He's running! Chase!"

Suddenly, the voice became chaotic, hurried breathing momentarily dominated the conversation.

While two teams continued their exploration, they awaited the outcome on the other side.

Only until the commotion coming through the open mic subsided did the waiting team leader calmly ask, "Did you catch him?"

"He got away..." After regaining some composure, the voice responded steadily, "There are too many branching paths here, we're not familiar with the environment, and he lost us after a few turns."

Team Leader 1 fell silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating the next move, before finally saying, "Continue moving forward to explore. Since we've found the plantations, the target group can't be far. Our side... has found them too."

It might be a scale larger than two hundred people.

Everyone understood the implications of that statement.

"Received."

"Received."

Tiger and Team Leader 2 responded softly and then muted their mics.

"Continue the exploration." Tiger looked at his teammates and waved them forward.

Walking on the rugged terrain, the group once again fell silent as they moved forward.

Since a squad had seen a figure, it meant they were heading in the right direction. Besides being wary of possible attacks from the refugees, they also had to be careful not to startle them.

If only they had been a bit quieter and closer, could they have caught him?

Capturing one would likely lead to finding the main body of the refugees effortlessly, provided communication was possible.

But...

"There are so many forks in the path."

"We have the same situation here." Tiger reported seriously, pressing his earpiece.

In front of them, several dark tunnel mouths resembled the gullets of beasts, waiting for them to step inside voluntarily.

"Let's split up to explore, two people per group." Team Leader 1 was somewhat aggressive.

He believed in the individual combat abilities of his team members, "As for you... do as you see fit."

```