Chapter 1 Slowly Entering

The Sandshark slowly entered a canyon. The terrain ahead sloped southward, with some unidentified plants growing on both sides. These plants were sparse, sickly, and grayish, obviously untended, probably some kind of weeds.

Down the slope was the entrance to a huge cave, the large opening in the rock wall big enough for the entire Titanic to sail through.

This place had clearly been expanded and reinforced by humans and was no longer a purely natural landscape. Thousands of rail-like metal supports covered the mountain rocks, some embedded in them, others connected in mid-air, like a complex steel spider web. Some shanty-like small buildings dotted the rock shelves, and many workers in protective suits walked on the metal frames. If Feng Bujue and his companions could view this scene from afar, they would surely marvel at this magnificent spectacle.

As the Sandshark approached the entrance, it received an incoming communication. An unfamiliar voice sounded, "This is Lookout, please identify yourselves."

Hank, in the driver's seat, glanced at Feng Bujue for guidance. The latter simply spread his hands, making a "go ahead" gesture.

"Scavenger Team, number twenty-four. I'm the pilot, Hank," Hank said, trying to remain calm. "We left the village this morning, the password is 'bow and arrow.'"

In Divine Grace Village, records were kept of teams going out, and they would receive an updated password upon departure. When they returned, they had to state the password to enter the village. If they couldn't provide the password and there was no record, it meant they had sneaked out, or even that they were imposters from outside.

The person communicating with them was silent for a moment, presumably checking the number and password. Before long, he replied, "Password correct. Welcome back, Team Twenty-Four. Please proceed to the berth corresponding to your number, supply personnel are on their way."

The Sandshark smoothly entered the cave, passed through a winding tunnel, and arrived at a very large space. It was like a three-dimensional parking lot, with one side of the wall like a honeycomb, densely packed with hexagonal compartments. With the help of the navigation system, Hank drove the craft into one of the compartments.

As the two players officially crossed the "gate" of Divine Grace Village, a system prompt rang in their ears:

[Hidden Quest Triggered]

[Find "Son of God" York Corbyn in Divine Grace Village]

"Brother Feng, do you still insist that this script is a sci-fi setting?" Mad Rampage asked after reading the quest.

"Yes, absolutely certain," Feng Bujue replied.

By this time, they had each put on a set of protective suits and were heading out of the Sandshark with Hank.

The scientific system of Divine Grace Village was very strange. In many ways, their level was unbelievably low, lacking even basic knowledge. For example, biology, medicine, and astronomy were at the cognitive level of a primitive tribe. However, they were very advanced in energy, construction, and agriculture, and possessed the technology to manufacture anti-gravity devices and smelt metals.

Why these guys had skewed their technology tree would be explained later. For now, let's talk about Feng Bujue's situation.

The plan was simple: put on protective suits, impersonate scavengers, and sneak into the residential area of the village.

In practice, the difficulty was not too great, because there were no photos or similar things in this village.

Perhaps some would ask, what about electronic devices that could transmit or record images? Like smartphones or something. Unfortunately, there was nothing like that either. The technology tree of Divine Grace Village was similar to that of the Germans in *Iron Sky*. It was hard to say whether they were advanced or backward, only that they were a special civilization produced by a special environment.

Perhaps someone else would ask, wouldn't it be very difficult for the people in this village to identify each other? Indeed, it was. But that wasn't much of a problem. Human civilization had begun long before the invention of cameras and ID cards, and people had gotten along just fine for so many years.

Of course, Feng Bujue and Mad Rampage's disguise obviously still had many problems. First of all, although there were people of all races in this village, Caucasians accounted for the vast majority, so the two of them, as Asians, would be more likely to attract attention. Secondly, there was the height issue. The men in Divine Grace Village were generally no taller than 1.7 meters, while both players were around 1.8 meters. Even if they consciously hunched over and shrank their necks, they would still appear very tall. Thirdly, according to Hank, it was not necessary to wear protective suits in the residential area, but if the two of them took off their protective suits, one a strange man in a suit and the other a martial artist in cloth, they would definitely cause a commotion if seen.

However, Feng Bujue's idea was: as long as they weren't exposed in a short period of time, it would be fine. Anyway, the time he had to explore was limited. After that guy named Doomsday Assault searched to the exit of the laboratory, he would give up after at most two more hours. By then... even if his survival points could hold out, his mental state wouldn't. So, the top priority was to get into the residential area first.

Squeak—

The sound of mechanical movement came from afar. A lifting platform carrying a wheeled disc device and five people in protective suits arrived at the platform where Feng Bujue and the others were.

"Scavenger Team... number twenty-four, right?" the leader asked, holding a metal plate with a stack of paper pinned to it. He was currently looking at one of the sheets. Naturally, there were no portraits on the paper, only some basic information recorded: the time the team left the village, the password, the reason for departure, the destination coordinates, and the number of people in the Sandshark, as well as their names.

"Yes," Hank replied. Because they were wearing protective suits and separated by a distance, it was difficult for the other party to see his expression clearly. In fact, the guy was very nervous at the moment, his face covered in sweat.

"Why are there two less people?" the questioner said, shifting his gaze to Feng Bujue and Mad Rampage.

"Dead... killed by monsters while exploring the 'Outsider' ruins," Feng Bujue took the initiative to answer the other party's question, and he deliberately put on a rather sad tone.

The questioner continued, "Were the bodies brought back?"

Feng Bujue shook his head. "No, the three of us barely managed to escape. Those monsters were very fierce, there was no way to bring anything out."

The other party was silent for a few seconds. "Your name?"

"Jiawei," Feng Bujue replied. "This is Hank," he pointed, "and that's Joey."

Feng Bujue had asked Hank for the names of the five people on the scavenger team beforehand, and he had also made it clear that the people in Divine Grace Village, regardless of their skin color, used English names. Also, the documents in the hands of these "supply personnel" only recorded names. As for skin color and facial features, these overly detailed information were not included.

"Alright, I understand," the man also sighed, making a few marks on the paper. "Hoo... two more deaths... a terrible day."

"Yeah..." Feng Bujue responded. He could also see that, for these people, one or two deaths of people returning from outside the village seemed to be commonplace.

The man paused for a few seconds, then opened his mouth again, "So... in terms of recovered items, it's zero, right?"