Apocalyptic Disaster: I Hoard Billions in Supplies and Kill the Saint

202: Chapter 202 Traces of RestartThe thick fog was like ink, and the world was a dull gray-yellow. The convoy was moving slowly along the wasteland southeast of the Rift Valley Nest when a shadow suddenly emerged from the bend ahead.

Report, road block ahead.

It’s not natural; it’s a detection rig built by someone.

Zhao Wei immediately pushed open the car door, crouched in front of the vehicle, and raised his gun in alert.

In less than half a minute, a light convoy drove out from a side road, consisting of six off-road vehicles spray-painted with faded serial numbers—[Far North Research Group · T-12].

The fronts of the vehicles were covered in dust, mud, and frost cracks, and the rear was towing a large, semi-damaged geological radar truck, its casing covered in scorch marks and patches.

Leading them was a white-haired old man wearing worn-out research gear, his expression cold and stern yet revealing a deep, suppressed rationality.

He caught sight of the vehicle logo at the front—Tianlang Mountain.

His eyes tightened suddenly, and then he slowly cupped his hands in a salute:

Far North Research Group—Yan Jingzhi.

Tianlang Mountain... Ye Nanxing?

Ye Nanxing stepped out of the car, her gait steady. She didn’t say much, merely nodding in acknowledgement.

Chu Yunting approached and whispered, ”The Far North Group? Isn’t that the one that lost contact on the plateau three years ago?”

Zhou Cheng pulled up the files: ”Correct. Group T-12. They were executing a geomagnetic collapse tracking mission during the first year of the Extreme Heat. Their last signal was located in the southern section of the Qingchuan ruins, after which they were classified as a ’resource-depleted lost group’.”

Zhang Tianjin narrowed his eyes, looking at the towed radar truck: ”Surviving three years—these people are tough.”

Yan Jingzhi’s tone was crisp: ”We detected continuous weak fluctuations at the bottom of the Rift Valley Nest. We strongly suspect that early energy nodes have not been completely extinguished.”

”We want to confirm if it... can still be started.”

”This is our last attempt.”

”If we die, it doesn’t matter.”

”But as long as there is a living ’Energy Seed’ down there.”

”Then humanity still has a next step.”

A flash of light passed through Shen Qingyan’s eyes: ”They aren’t here to scavenge; they are here to confirm—whether the world actually has a ’bottom’.”

Flame Born’s flames had just melted the gravel road block ahead, and the Tianlang Mountain convoy had been moving for less than ten minutes when Zhao Wei suddenly raised his hand: ”Stop.”

Five figures appeared on the sandy rock slope to the front right.

It was a five-person squad on foot, their gray cloaks covered in acid rain erosion marks, their equipment crude, and their waterproof backpacks covered in patches.

Their footsteps were steady, yet not chaotic.

Walking in front was a man in his early thirties, dragging a rusty oxygen tank on his back.

He looked up, saw the Tianlang Mountain vehicle logo, his eyes shook, and then he shouted:

”Please let us pass.”

”We aren’t scavengers—we are the surviving squad from ’Cangmang No. 4’.”

Hearing this name, Zhou Cheng’s expression changed drastically.

”Cangmang... hasn’t it been lost for half a year? It was even crossed out on the list back then.”

Between gasps, the man’s tone remained strong: ”Less than one-twentieth of our people are left along the way.”

”But we heard—the Rift Valley Nest might be a remnant of the old energy system.”

”Even if there’s only a one percent chance, we cannot return empty-handed.”

He pointed to the oxygen tank on his back: ”This is the last set of cold-pressed hydrogen cores we brought out from the underground warehouse... If we can trade it for a data packet, a set of coordinates, or even one truth.”

”We are willing to accept that.”

She did not respond immediately, merely looking at this group of people—

Each one of them looked like a survivor dug out from the sand.

Their shoe soles were split open, their gloves were burnt through by acid rain, their hair was matted into strands, yet there wasn’t a trace of begging on their faces.

Only that kind of extreme calmness that comes after staring death in the face.

She finally spoke:

”We won’t take yours.”

”Nor will we block your path.”

”The Rift Valley Nest—does not belong to any one side.”

”It only belongs to—those who are still fighting for their lives.”

Chu Yunting’s voice was low:

”Then we’ll go together.”

”Let’s see what this damn underground... is really hiding.”

That night, three teams, three identities, stepped onto the end of the wasteland together.

And deep within the black fog of the ”Rift Valley Nest”, it seemed to have awakened, waiting for them—to welcome the visitors touching the heart of the old world for the first time.

The night had not yet dissipated, and the horizon had not yet brightened.

The thick fog in the distant mountains was like a beast, crouching upon the earth. The air was filled with an astringent, scorched smell, as if a pot on the verge of boiling was churning beneath the magma.

The Tianlang Mountain convoy stopped at the edge of the fault line. The moment the engines cut out, the only thing left in the whole world was the wind—and that irregular rumbling coming from underground.

Like the breathing of some giant creature.

Within the fog, the residual flame symbols left by Flame Born yesterday had not yet completely extinguished, and circles of pale golden light floated along the edges of the rocks, indicating a relatively ”safe” path forward.

Ahead was a massive, collapsed black opening, shaped like an irregular trapezoid slanted into the ground, bottomless.

The edge of the crust had completely melted into a semi-glassy texture, and cracks like spiderwebs spread along the roots of the three waste mountains, looking like the open mouth of a sleeping giant beast.

The smell of sulfur and rust assaulted the nose, mixed with scorching water vapor, and fog surged ceaselessly at the opening.

This was not a natural fault.

This was the ”restart trace” of some artificial engineering site.

”Prepare for sampling—set up the vibration radar.”

The doors of the Far North Research Group’s vehicles opened first.

The veteran geological expert Yan Jingzhi stepped out of the car with two apprentices, holding a portable deep-layer seismic wave amplitude meter.

They were not in a hurry to approach the Rift Valley Nest; instead, they circled from the side into a section of natural rock fissures, fixed the radar with steel nails and magnetic bolts, and then quickly deployed the vibration sensors.

”Emit waves.”

”Data syncing... locked—”

A few seconds later, the radar emitted an imperceptible ”buzzing” vibration, and the handheld terminal beside it began to jump wildly.

Red lines ”darted” out from the bottom of the screen several times, then tilted into a slope.

”Reflection layer offset... 14.6 degrees.”

”The gravity structure is twisting; something underneath is—moving.”

The young assistant’s voice trembled: ”Teacher, is it—a collapse?”

Yan Jingzhi’s face turned ashen, his voice extremely low:

”Not a collapse.”

”It’s... something is ’inhaling’.”

”The underlying structure hasn’t completely powered down... It is still alive.”

After saying this, he suddenly looked up at the churning black fog in the distance.

”We are not standing on a fault line.”

”We are—standing on a living ’Lung of the Old Era’.”

Ye Nanxing stood on a high rock, her gaze calmly fixed on the fog-surging opening.

Flames condensed in her palm into a needle as thin as a silk thread, gently probing toward the direction of the valley entrance.

Spatial synchronization feedback: [Psionic Disturbance: Mild Anomaly] [Rock Mass Respiration Rate: + 8% / min] [Biological Source Signal: Non-natural Wavelength · Existence of Interference Repetition Frequency]

Her eyes froze for a moment, and she slowly spoke:

”...It is not a collapse.”

”It has awakened.”