Bai Qi glanced at his watch after finishing his conversation with Savage. "It's about time. Let them rest for a bit."
Savage nodded, picked up the walkie-talkie, and announced to the entire convoy, "Everyone, take a fifteen-minute break."
He then quickly opened his car door and got out, lighting a cigarette to relax.
After smoking for a short while, Savage frowned, threw his cigarette on the ground, drew the pistol from his waist, disengaged the safety, and scanned his surroundings with a tense expression.
After confirming there was no one suspicious within sight, Savage quickly got back into his car and grabbed the walkie-talkie to issue orders to the entire convoy, but Bai Qi stopped him.
"I know what you're thinking, but there's no need. The other party has already left."
"So, my feeling was correct. Someone was indeed spying on us."
Bai Qi nodded. "Yes, they've been there since a while ago. But doesn't that just prove our route is correct? We're getting closer to the lost continent."
Hearing Bai Qi's words, Savage also broke into an undisguised smile.
The fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the refreshed convoy set off again.
"Wow, what is that? It's so beautiful."
According to the compass, the convoy was getting closer to the lost continent. Just then, Daly, who was driving at the front, was attracted by a huge, lamp-like luminous stone hanging overhead. Ahead was a seemingly unstable stone bridge. Daly decisively hit the brakes.
"Why did you stop?"
Savage and Bai Qi came to the front of the convoy to investigate. Bob and Artemis also ran over, but unlike the others, they were both mesmerized by the giant stone lamp overhead, while Savage and Bai Qi were more concerned about the reason for the stop.
Daly explained, "We've been driving for a long time. The vehicles and people need a rest."
Bob, retracting his gaze, asked, "Can't we hold on a little longer? We're already very close to the lost continent."
As he spoke, he took out the compass and showed it to everyone.
"No," Daly flatly rejected Bob's suggestion.
"Even if people can endure it, this stone bridge, look at it, it's very old. We can't be sure if it will collapse when the convoy passes. This will take time."
"Alright."
Savage knew that at this point, they couldn't rush things. Caution was necessary.
Savage took out his walkie-talkie and said, "Everyone, take a break, set up camp, and await orders."
He then turned to Daly and said, "You and Gayton, take some people and quickly calculate the specific load-bearing capacity of this stone bridge."
"Yes, sir."
It had been thirteen hours since their last rest. After a simple dinner, everyone settled down for the night. Some set up tents and spread out sleeping mats, while others simply reclined their seats and fell asleep in their vehicles.
After a short rest, Daly and Gayton found a few quick-handed individuals to start measuring the stone bridge's load-bearing capacity.
While everyone was resting, dark figures flashed across the rock walls on both sides. Then, several figures, using the darkness, crept into the camp. They searched everywhere, trying to understand the purpose of these strangers by going through their personal belongings.
These subtle movements, of course, did not escape Bai Qi's eyes. It could be said that Bai Qi had detected their presence when they were still more than ten meters away from the camp.
If Bai Qi guessed correctly, these people should be members of the so-called Gatekeeper tribe.
Bai Qi did not take much action against these infiltrators. After all, all the important information was stored in his mind. Anything they found would be insignificant or fake intelligence used for disguise. It was fine if they were discovered.
Bai Qi also deliberately transmitted a message to Harry, telling him and his men not to act, to pretend they didn't know, and to continue sleeping.
It was inevitable that they would interact with the Gatekeeper tribe after entering the lost continent. Giving them a little taste of success and a small gesture of goodwill now might yield unexpected rewards later.
Thus, under Bai Qi's deliberate arrangement, this reconnaissance team of the Gatekeeper tribe moved freely through the camp. More than ninety percent of the luggage was searched by them, but they only found food, daily necessities, diaries, and photos. Bai Qi had long ago instructed the Shadow Ninjas to quietly hide all the explosives and firearms.
"Hmm? They actually came to my tent?"
Bai Qi sensed that someone was approaching his location.
A weak psychic wave passed through, and Bai Qi obtained the person's appearance and other characteristics.
According to the feedback, these people were wearing large totem masks, with faint blue light emanating from their eye sockets. They held metal spears, the material of which was unclear.
Soon, the Gatekeeper approached Bai Qi's tent.
It was clear that she was unfamiliar with the structure of a tent. After searching for a long time, she couldn't find a door. Finally, she simply cut an opening in the tent with her spear and crept inside.
Once inside, she immediately spotted Bai Qi's backpack placed beside him. However, the position she entered from was incorrect. To reach the backpack, she would have to step over Bai Qi.
Without much thought, and perhaps emboldened by her skill, she stepped over Bai Qi to grab the backpack. Just as she was about to succeed, the pendant around her neck accidentally slipped down, brushing past Bai Qi's nose.
The sudden incident startled her, and she held her breath, her hand reaching for the bag freezing. She remained in a very awkward position over Bai Qi.
Bai Qi, giving her a pass, pretended to rub his nose and then turned over, continuing to sleep.
Seeing that she hadn't been discovered, she finally relaxed. She took the backpack, quickly withdrew from the tent, unzipped it, and began to search.
When she saw that the backpack contained nothing special besides some daily necessities, she was a little disappointed. Just as she was about to put the backpack down to look for another target, she accidentally discovered a diary placed in a hidden pocket.
Driven by curiosity, she opened the diary. But as soon as she opened it, the text on it greatly surprised her.
The reason was simple: unlike the other diaries she had seen, the text in this diary was written in their language.
"Could it be... he is also a member of the Gatekeeper tribe?"
Just as she was about to go inside to question Bai Qi, a light suddenly appeared in the distance. To avoid being discovered, she had no time to think too much. She dropped the backpack and the diary she was holding, turned, and left.
"Did she leave?"
Bai Qi, who had been sleeping soundly in the tent, suddenly opened his eyes. Sensing the person gradually moving away, and then seeing the diary left open outside, a sinister smile appeared on his lips.
Although there were some deviations, at least his objective had been achieved.
Judging by the other party's reaction, she must have mistaken him for a member of the Gatekeeper tribe who had been living in exile.