That was the closest shelter, easy to reach, but finding the entrance would surely take time, and since the shelter could only be used once... if it had already been used by other players...
There was no time to lose.
Cheng Shuili and the others immediately took action.
The acid rain began to fall harder, and moving quickly in such an environment was clearly not easy. Although the lizard skin raincoat was useful, moving fast always let streaks of rain splash inside, but the group could not afford to worry about that now.
The shelter marked on the map was located in a partially collapsed residential building; as for the exact entrance, they would have to find it themselves!
The rain blurred their vision, and the road beneath their feet was slippery and muddy, requiring extra caution with every step. Ailin and Xinxue vigilantly brought up the rear with their guns, constantly watching for potential dangers.
Master of Slacking stumbled along in the middle, his face pale, whether from exhaustion or fear, he did not know.
The group finally reached the residential area, where the dilapidated buildings appeared even more ruinous under the erosion of the acid rain.
“Split up and search! Watch your safety, the entrance might be blocked by debris!”
Cheng Shuili wiped the rainwater from her face; it stung, a hot, burning sensation, but she could not worry about it now.
The acid rain showed no signs of letting up, pattering against the broken walls and ruins, steaming with white, corrosive mist. Time slipped away second by second in their anxious search, and the feeling of oppression weighed heavily on everyone's heart like the gray, gloomy sky.
“Nothing over here!”
“The area under this pile of ruins is solid too!”
“I've checked this area; no structures resembling an entrance found!”
Ailin and Xinxue's voices came through the curtain of rain, laced with unconcealable impatience.
Cheng Shuili dug through a pile of slippery, rotting boards with her bare hands, but found nothing but rubble and mud beneath.
The skin around her fingertips was already slightly reddened from the acid rain, and her brow was tightly furrowed beneath the hood of her lizard skin raincoat.
The area marked on the map was not small, and with the visibility being extremely poor, plus the fact that the entrance was deeply buried under collapsed building materials, discarded furniture, and years of accumulated dust, it was impossible to clear and verify everything in a short time.
Master of Slacking's face looked even worse than before, his breathing ragged.
He cursed Fengyun Tianxia in his heart over and over again; if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have been delayed for so long, and they wouldn't be this panicked now.
As for why he didn't blame Crow...
Master of Slacking wasn't sure about other things, but he had figured out one point: without Crow, he would have already died during the first acid rain peak.
It could be considered a blessing in disguise.
It was just... could this good fortune not continue?
“Could it be... could it have already been used by someone else? Or is the map wrong?”
Master of Slacking spoke with a sobbing tone, nearly in despair.
The deafening sound of the rain and the difficulty of finding the entrance were draining his remaining energy.
Cheng Shuili straightened up and scanned her surroundings.
Rainwater dripped from the corners of her lizard skin raincoat, but her eyes were firm and sharp.
They could not panic; there had to be an entrance, and it had to be right here.
What difference was there between giving up now and committing suicide?
Cheng Shuili was not that kind of person, and she would not allow anyone following her to be that way either.
But the one who said this was Master of Slacking, a hostage, so Cheng Shuili did not say much more.
The others did not stop, nor did they say anything discouraging. Even Ginger Candy, who had the least physical stamina, was full of worry, her eyes constantly searching nearby.
It was precisely because of this that she did not pay attention to the path beneath her feet.
The next second, Ginger Candy seemed to trip over a raised stone and lunged forward with a cry of “Ouch!”
“Careful!”
Ailin, standing beside her, reached out instinctively to catch her.
Ginger Candy stumbled and stood steady, patting her chest with lingering fear, and instinctively looked down at the culprit that had nearly made her fall.
It wasn't a stone; it was a metal plate!
The metal plate was mostly buried in the mud, with only one corner exposed. The edges seemed to have an irregular, serrated structure, unlike ordinary waste.
“Eh?” Ginger Candy crouched down, ignoring the mud, and wiped the dirt and rust from the surface of the metal plate with her hand.
Beneath it, a faint pattern seemed to be carved, resembling an arrow pointing downward, with a blurry mark next to it.
This mark was too familiar; the shelter they had hidden in the first time also had this mark at the entrance.
Found it!
“H-here!” Ginger Candy jerked her head up, her voice distorted by excitement, and she waved her arms. “You guys, come look! This symbol! Is it here?!”
Cheng Shuili was the first to stride over, and the others immediately gathered around.
Cheng Shuili looked closely; the metal plate was not just randomly discarded but embedded in a slightly raised concrete base, and the edges indeed showed signs of having been pried by hand.
She immediately made a judgment.
“It's here!” A glimmer of light flashed in Cheng Shuili's eyes. “Ailin, Wanyi, help! Pry it open!”
Ailin and Wanyi stepped forward immediately, inserting their weapons into the gap at the edge of the metal plate. Cheng Shuili also inserted the Night Hunt into the gap to act as a lever.
“One, two, three! Heave!”
Accompanied by a teeth-grinding metallic screech, the heavy metal plate was slowly pried open by the three of them, revealing a dark, downward staircase entrance that could only accommodate one person at a time. A cold breeze mixed with the scent of dust and stagnation surged up from below.
The entrance had really been found!
And it had been discovered by the somewhat clumsy Ginger Candy by pure luck!
Master of Slacking nearly wept with joy.
“Quick! Get down!” Cheng Shuili did not hesitate in the slightest and was the first to turn and step into the darkness.
The group filed in one by one, and the last person pulled the metal plate back over.
Inside the shelter, the light of the flashlight shone quietly.
The rain was still washing crazily over the ruins outside, but at this moment, they had finally grasped a glimmer of survival.
Cheng Shuili didn't know what to say anymore.
The lucky are always lucky!
Whoever said luck wasn't important was wrong; luck was absolutely crucial!
If it weren't for Ginger Candy, Cheng Shuili would have had to use the Totem of Undying this time, and in such an environment, it was likely that all three uses of the Totem of Undying would have been exhausted at once.
Cheng Shuili had always called her a mascot, but this title actually determined that her priority in the team was definitely not as high as the others. But looking at it now, these few people were truly all indispensable.
For killing, look to Ailin; for trading, it's Xinxue; for cooking, it's Wanyi; and when it comes to a desperate situation, it's time for the great mascot to shine!
It was truly magical.
Cheng Shuili thought, looking up to appraise Ginger Candy once more.
The child was not proud at all; her expression held only the relief of having the danger lifted, as well as a hint of...
Ginger Candy turned her head, looking at Cheng Shuili with sincere eyes: “I'm a little hungry... Boss, when are we going to eat?”
Cheng Shuili: “......”
No... that was a bit unpromising, really.
Qi Wanyi, however, smiled and took off the backpack she had been carrying the whole way.
Rate on N.U.
