Wasteland Version: Lurking and Searching

Pei Shao originally had three subordinates, and Su Mo added three more when they were gathering information for the first time.

A total of seven people.

For a village with only 150 people, having seven people dedicated to intelligence work is already a great deal.

If we include Zhong Qingshu, a marginalized individual, the number becomes as many as eight.

Even without any experience, relying on a thorough search, how could a foreign army that might number 20,000 people have disappeared without a trace? But the fact is, after Su Mo asked the question, not only did Pei Shao remain silent, but Zhong Qingshu, who was a master of intelligence gathering, also looked thoughtful.

"Twenty thousand alien races, that's not two hundred, it's two thousand!"

"A full 20,000, consuming hundreds of units of supplies every day—you won't find a team like that!"

Seeing Su Mo's anger, Pei Shao finally couldn't withstand the pressure and spoke with an extremely ugly expression, "Chief, it's really not that our people didn't search properly, nor that they were infiltrated by alien races. We've been driving the Earth Tiger these past few days, covering every 200 kilometers around here."

"I even secretly withdrew supplies to buy a Recorder Pen and left it in the car, and they didn't notice anything wrong with our people."

"Within these two hundred kilometers, there really isn't a single trace of any alien race. Not to mention human figures, we haven't even found a single food scrap left behind after their march."

After saying that, Pei Shao took out a huge map from his Storage Space and spread it out on the conference room table.

This map fully depicts the terrain within a 200-kilometer radius of the Underground Shelter.

From the undulating terrain to the iconic landmarks, all four directions—east, west, south, and north—are clearly marked.

Even a layperson, standing here looking at this map, can tell just how much effort was put into it.

Furthermore, there are dozens of exploration lines marked with arrows on this map.

These lines represent the routes the intelligence teams have taken over these days, covering virtually all areas within a 200-kilometer radius.

"Chief, I personally drove to check everything marked on this map, and I didn't see a single bird feather!"

Seemingly afraid that Su Mo wouldn't believe him, Pei Shao continued to speak in a wronged tone, starting from thirty kilometers and explaining the terrain and what he saw and heard.

Since receiving the mission from Su Mo to conduct an investigation eight days ago, all work in the intelligence organization has been put on hold.

There is a foreign tribe near the village! Their numbers may be around 20,000! These are Su Mo's exact words. If Pei Shao hadn't been an old warrior, he probably would have wet his pants on the spot when he heard them.

Good heavens, with so many alien races surrounding us, what's the point of gathering other intelligence?

If you can't figure out where the enemy is in a day, you might wake up the next day to find them standing at your doorstep.

Therefore, after Su Mo approved the right to use the Earth Tiger, the intelligence team drove around and began a survey within a 100-kilometer radius of Hope Village.

For three whole days, we took turns driving.

Apart from the necessary meal times when everyone would stop the car to eat some dry rations, the rest of the time was spent either on the road or carefully searching for traces on the ground.

Pei Shao was a veteran intelligence officer who had undergone professional training, so he knew the importance of time in this situation.

Therefore, the seven-person intelligence team worked tirelessly, wandering the wasteland for four days and four nights, managing to cover a hundred kilometers with wheels and footsteps.

But the result was... nothing was found! Not to mention the traces of the 20,000 alien races, not even a single alien scout was seen.

However, what kept the intelligence team going after that hundred kilometers was not Su Mo's confident tone, but rather the "abnormal" aspect within the normal.

Within this 100-kilometer radius, although no trace of the alien race was found, both ordinary animals and Mutated Creature disappeared.

Since Su Mo announced the arrival of the alien army, apart from the depression where life still lingers, the rest of the land is as if it were dead, a silence that inspires fear.

On the fifth day, after spending half a day reporting on all the explorations, the intelligence team slept for half a day. Under the cover of night, the Earth Tiger set off again.

This time, not only the seven-person group, but also Zhong Qingshu joined in, and the group of eight began their exploration of a distance of 100 to 200 kilometers.

With experience, this exploration was much faster.

In just Tian San nights, they not only explored all the areas within a 200-kilometer radius, but also explored dozens or even hundreds of kilometers further in several major directions where ambushes might be planned.

The exploration team returned early yesterday morning, but the result was as disappointing as ever.

Have we explored all of these directions?

Pointing to the terrain of the plains on the map, and after receiving a firm nod from Pei Shao, Su Mo sat down at the table, his brows furrowed.

The news of the combined attack by the alien races was discovered when Connie the Female Lion Man was first bound to her interface.

At first, Su Mo did not take the news seriously.

After all, the firepower of the Underground Shelter has reached a certain level, and a basic battle line has been established.

With this battle line, Su Mo wouldn't be afraid of even three to five thousand alien troops, let alone one or two.

But the problem arose eight days ago. When Su Mo reconnected to Connie's panel as usual, he suddenly noticed something unusual on the World Channel.

In the past, when the aliens chatted, even in the quietest times, they would occasionally mention Su Mo a few times, showing a sense of fear.

But today, surprisingly, several races that were once afraid of Su Mo have suddenly "jumped up" and started spouting nonsense on the World Channel.

This small change might have been overlooked by others, but Su Mo's keen senses detected a ominous odor.

Then, after observing for nearly an hour and compiling all the statements containing Su Mo, a big problem arose!

The alien races were no longer afraid; during the time that Su Mo hadn't checked, they had obtained some information.

It was this information that emboldened them.

Immediately feeling a great threat, Su Mo took a risk and did something.

Contact Clark! For an ordinary alien to add a member of the royal family as a friend is naturally extremely difficult, but after acquiring the identity of a Lowland Alien, it becomes exceptionally easy and simple.

Taking advantage of her identity, Su Mo, disguised as Connie the Female Lion Man, finally established basic contact with Clark after adding him as a friend and revealing some insignificant information about the lowlands.

After a brief conversation, Su Mo not only learned why the other alien races no longer feared him, but also obtained an important piece of information that even the other alien races were unaware of: 20,000!

There are as many as 20,000 alien races that want to attack from the vicinity of the depression, and there are three races with a strength rating of over 1.

Compared to the Female Lion Man's 0.003, this number is already quite astonishing.

Even if Su Mo was stubborn as a mule, he dared not sit still and wait for the alien army to attack.

No sooner had Su Mo agreed to Clark's request to quickly evacuate him from within 200 kilometers of the depression than he relayed the message.

So, the intelligence team set off!

Two reconnaissance missions, covering two hundred kilometers. Following Pei Shao's route, they had almost traversed the entire two hundred kilometers. If they still hadn't found a trace of the alien race, was Clark lying? In a conference room large enough to accommodate more than twenty people, as Su Mo pondered and Pei Shao explained, all the scenes within the two hundred kilometers gradually formed a three-dimensional image in the minds of the three.

Su Mo had already thoroughly examined the terrain extending outwards from the depression within the Time Ruins.

Moving outwards from the depression, the terrain runs north-south, with higher elevations in the south and lower elevations in the north. Given this terrain, there are only two places where a force of 20,000 men could be hidden.

The first point is that, through several geological activities, a Great Rift Valley of nearly 200 kilometers gradually extended North 12 the depression.

At the end of the rift valley near the depression, the water depth is 26 meters, but once you enter the rift valley, the water depth will reach 52 meters.

Furthermore, there are many Earth and Stone Mountain about 10 to 20 meters high around this rift valley. If Su Mo wants to reach the Tundra Shelter in the future, it will most likely have to take this route to ensure that the bottom of the ship does not come into close contact with the nearby Earth and Stone Mountain.

If the alien race can discern the direction Su Mo left in, then this place is the easiest place to set up an ambush and the easiest place to hide.

The second place, 135 kilometers to the south, is a large natural underground cave, filled with strangely shaped rocks and many winding passages.

If the alien races didn't know that Su Mo was going to find his sister and instead headed to the New Continent, this cave could easily accommodate 20,000 aliens, making it an excellent hiding and ambush location.

Unfortunately, despite Su Mo's insistence, even though Pei Shao and his group traversed the entire Great Rift Valley and explored half of the cave on foot, they didn't see any trace of the alien race, let alone any aliens among them.

Now that the two main points for exploration are gone, the remaining areas will be very difficult to find.

After a 40-minute explanation, the conference room, which could accommodate 20 or 30 people, fell silent once Pei Shao finished explaining the last part.

Su Mo was deep in thought, as was Zhong Qingshu, leaving only Pei Shao with a bitter expression, glancing out the window from time to time, lost in thought.

For veteran Reconnaissance Troops, the inability to find any trace of the enemy suggests only three possibilities: First, there are no enemies at all, and the intelligence we received is false. Second, the enemy's infiltration methods are extremely sophisticated, and with current technology, it's impossible to pinpoint their exact location.

Third, the enemy is not yet in position and is still on its way. The reconnaissance radius is insufficient, so naturally, we cannot detect them. "Now, we should no longer dwell on whether this alien race truly exists or is a hoax used to deceive us."

"There is definitely something unusual near the depression!"

After a long silence, Zhong Qingshu, who had been thinking, finally spoke, immediately rejecting the first possibility.

There are no signs of biological activity within a 200-kilometer radius of the depression, which is unusual.

Even without enemies, this is enough to arouse suspicion, and there is a need to find out why.

"As for whether this considerable number of alien race members are on their way or have already completed their infiltration..."

"I prefer the latter!"

"But in terms of quantity, our initial assessment may have been flawed!"

"Oh?"

Seeing that Zhong Qingshu was about to begin her reasoned deductions, Su Mo immediately sat up straight and became highly attentive.

There are still three chapters to catch up on, but I will make up for them as soon as possible!