As everyone was discussing, a sharp, urgent cry suddenly came from behind.
"Ah!"
Swish, swish, swish—
Everyone turned to look and saw that one of the team members' feet had somehow become stuck in the ground.
It was so sudden that it completely terrified the team member, leaving him distraught.
When Zhou Yu walked over to check the situation, the team member's face was still pale!
"How is it?" Zhou Yu asked.
The team member took a deep breath and said, "It's... it's nothing."
His foot had suddenly sunk into soft mud and sand, startling him.
Zhou Yu nodded slightly and looked down at the small pit.
The team member had already managed to pull his foot out with the help of others.
All that remained on the ground was a fist-sized pit. From the outside, there was nothing unusual, as if it were a hole dug by a mouse.
Zhou Yu crouched down and gently pressed the sand around the pit.
"The sand is still flowing, which means there's a larger space underneath."
"Let's not go to the factory building for now. Let's start digging from this spot."
The others raised no objections to Zhou Yu's orders and immediately began to dig.
The soil here was very loose, and it didn't take much effort to excavate an opening large enough for a person to enter.
Just as Zhou Yu had suspected, there was indeed a larger space below!
"I never expected there to be such a hidden world underneath!" Da Xiong exclaimed, peering into the opening.
It was dark inside, making it impossible to see clearly what was there.
However, judging by the surrounding marks, it was evident that the opening was man-made.
"Da Xiong, take Ouyang Feng down first. The rest of you, keep watch up here."
Zhou Yu immediately gave the order.
This area was the territory of the Shadow Organization, so this cave was likely dug by them.
They had to explore the depths to find out what the Shadow Organization was up to.
Da Xiong complied with the order, and along with Ouyang Feng, they secured safety ropes around their waists.
This was to ensure that if anything unexpected happened, those above could pull them up at any time.
Once preparations were complete,
Da Xiong eagerly said, "Dr. Zhou, I'm ready."
Zhou Yu nodded slightly and handed them a flashlight, indicating for them to descend immediately.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
As Da Xiong was being lowered, he could hear gusts of wind in his ears.
They were coming from the cave entrance.
The wind was so strong that it was impossible to hear anything the people above were saying.
As the rope was slowly lowered,
The sound of the wind gradually faded, and Da Xiong's eyes adjusted to the darkness!
"This place was indeed built by the Shadow Organization." Da Xiong looked around and soon his feet touched the ground.
He took out his walkie-talkie to report the situation below.
"It's a warehouse down here, all sealed with boxes. We don't know what's inside yet."
Those still guarding the pit above all heard Da Xiong's words.
They were immediately overjoyed!
It seemed that the underground area was where the Shadow Organization stored their belongings.
However, for some reason, when the Shadow Organization retreated, they didn't take their belongings with them!
Just as others were eager to go down and see for themselves,
Zhou Yu stopped everyone and asked sternly, "Da Xiong, is anyone down there?"
Da Xiong scanned the surroundings, using the dim light of the flashlight to look around.
After a while, Da Xiong's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"No one. It looks quite dusty, as if no one has been here for a while."
Hearing this, Zhou Yu finally felt relieved.
He immediately instructed the remaining team members to put on their gear and descend one by one.
They had brought searchlights for this mission,
So once the equipment was transported down and the searchlights were turned on,
The entire warehouse was illuminated as if it were daytime!
"Hiss!"
Everyone gasped in surprise upon seeing the scene inside the warehouse.
The warehouse was incredibly vast.
Wooden boxes were packed tightly together, appearing dense and numerous.
However, a small section was empty.
There were imprints of boxes on the ground, but the boxes themselves were gone.
They had likely been taken by the Shadow Organization when they retreated.
"What treasures did the Shadow Organization hide here?" Da Xiong murmured to himself.
When he first came down, the limited light from his flashlight had prevented him from seeing the entire warehouse.
Now, looking at it, there were so many items!
If there were gold bars or other valuables hidden here by the Shadow Organization, they would be rich today!
"Open the boxes and see what's inside."
After surveying the surroundings, Zhou Yu gave the order.
Da Xiong immediately rushed over, selected a box that looked the heaviest, and pried it open with a wrench.
A creaking, grating sound filled the air.
As dust stirred, the box was opened.
Inside, rows of small glass bottles were neatly arranged.
The bottles contained a pale blue liquid!
Zhou Yu picked up one bottle, examining it carefully in his palm for a moment, and finally frowned.
"These are likely potions developed by the Shadow Organization," Ouyang Feng gulped.
Labels were affixed to the bottles, bearing codenames.
However, they had no idea what these codenames signified!
"Since the Shadow Organization stored the potions here, why didn't they take them?"
Da Xiong was utterly perplexed.
According to the ledgers they had found earlier, the Shadow Organization still relied on these potions to trade with certain families for money.
Therefore, even if these potions were useless to them, they represented considerable wealth to the Shadow Organization.
Logically,
They should have taken them when they retreated.
Even if they were too rushed to take them, they should have sent people to secretly transport them later.
Yet, these boxes of potions were still sitting in the warehouse.
Did the Shadow Organization believe the warehouse was so well-hidden that no one would find it, and thus were too lazy to move them?
Or was it because they were unable to transport them?
Ouyang Feng shook his head and opened the second box.
As expected, it also contained rows of glass bottles.
All of them were reagents!
After opening twenty consecutive boxes, they were all the same.
Other than the different codenames on the bottles, they were essentially identical.
This indicated that this warehouse was used by the Shadow Organization to store their potions.
"Ouyang Feng, go inform Elder Lin and have the Dragon Group come over."
"Da Xiong, take two men and continue exploring further inside."
Zhou Yu made a swift decision.
Ouyang Feng nodded and immediately headed back the way they came.
Da Xiong, along with two men, carried searchlights and ventured deeper into the warehouse.
The warehouse was estimated to cover an area of at least three to four hundred square meters.
However, due to the complex structure inside, its exact size could not be clearly determined.
They could only go by feeling.
As Da Xiong proceeded further, the number of boxes gradually decreased.