Beat them to it? First exploration of the ruins!

Stopping his steps, Su Mo began to survey his surroundings.

Following the path he had taken, he lay on the ground, feeling a distinct sense of undulation.

"If I'm not mistaken, I should be in a basin."

Standing three kilometers away and looking back at the path he had come from, the distance had become blurred, and the horizon obscured some of the scenery.

Looking west, he could clearly feel the terrain sloping upwards.

After carefully examining the area, Su Mo located the Ruins.

"This is where the Prehistoric Ruins are located?"

It was a terrain similar to the Shelter.

The underground Ruins were located on a small Hill, and around the Hill, due to the terrain, there were no proper drainage facilities, resulting in large areas of accumulated water.

Of course, without the map markings and the existence of the Ruins, choosing this place as the foundation for a Shelter, and then draining the accumulated water with pipes, would also be an excellent location for building a Shelter.

"Woof woof woof!"

Oreo retreated from the distance, seeking its master's opinion.

Because of the heavy rain for more than a day, the water near the Ruins was very deep, and even with Oreo wearing a raincoat, it was difficult to wade through.

Looking at Oreo's fearful expression, Su Mo said without hesitation, "This Shelter must be thoroughly explored. This is the only known treasure spot nearby. You wait for me here, and I'll go over alone."

"Woof?"

Oreo wagged its tail, not wanting to be separated from its master.

Bending down, Su Mo rubbed Oreo's head, comforting it:

"Don't worry, keep watch for your master outside. The Acid Rain inside is terrifying. If you touch it..."

"Hiss! Your fur will be gone!"

Oreo, who was still eager to try, was immediately startled by Su Mo, its eyes revealing a mixture of fear, grievance, and reluctance, and could only obediently squat in place, wagging its soft, big tail.

Standing up, Su Mo took a deep breath and took out a raincoat from his storage space, starting to put it on.

The fluid-type raincoat did not hinder normal activities at all. After checking that there were no damaged or leaking areas, Su Mo began to walk forward, one step at a time, wading through the water.

At this time, he was still about two hundred meters away from the Hill.

The water level had already passed his ankles.

As a precaution, Su Mo decided to go around, to the back of the Hill, and try to approach from a direction less prone to water accumulation to scout the area first.

The soil of the plain was not solid to begin with, and under the soaking of the rain, it had all turned into mud.

Every step was very difficult for Su Mo.

Sometimes he would even sink half a leg into it, and it would take a lot of effort to pull it out.

Wading through the water, it took him twenty minutes to walk about one hundred and fifty meters.

As the terrain increased in height, the soil began to harden, and the accumulated water gradually disappeared.

However, the scattered footprints on the ground made Su Mo's heart tighten.

These footprints looked very "fresh," and even under the scouring of the heavy rain, the shapes could still be clearly seen.

Among them were footprints with two toes, and also footprints of feline animals.

In the cracks of the soil, a few hairs could occasionally be seen.

Squatting on the ground, Su Mo carefully picked up the hairs from the cracks and examined them closely.

"It looks like cat hair indeed. This flexibility is definitely not from ordinary animals."

With an uneasy heart, Su Mo opened the game panel and pressed the Monster Compendium for the second time today.

[No Mutated Beasts detected within a thousand meters of the player]
[Today's uses: 1/3]

"Strange, logically speaking, feline animals should have a very strong sense of territory. If they can come here, it doesn't make sense that this isn't their territory."

Felines use claw marks and urine to mark the boundaries of their territory, also to inform other animals of their passing time, to avoid accidental encounters and conflicts.

After looking around, Su Mo shook his head, not finding any nearby markings.

"Is this blood?"

Reaching the side of the hill, Su Mo shockingly discovered a pool of crimson already merged into the soil.

Lowering his head, he smelled the ground. Apart from the earthy stench after the rain, he could smell a faint bloody scent.

Moreover, there was still a large amount of fur near the bloodstain.

And a blasted spot.

"What is this? Holy shit, was this blown up by a grenade?"

The further he walked towards the side of the hill, the more animal traces there were.

After going around to the left, Su Mo was astonished to find a patch of scorched earth.

The grass next to the mark was still lush and green, but the center of the mark was barren.

This blasted spot was extremely unusual. According to the diffusion diameter of the explosion point in the center, it was only about 50cm.

Moreover, the topsoil hadn't even been blown up, which was very unreasonable for a fixed-point blasting explosive, or a hand-thrown grenade.

A sense of foreboding came from Su Mo's heart.

He quickly walked back to the middle of the hill, walked along the highest point, and when he was almost at the end, there were several more blasted marks.

And at the very front, a dark hole had been blasted out.

"???"

"Has someone already beaten me to it?"

Taking out a flashlight from his storage space, Su Mo turned on the light and looked into the hole.

From the opening to the ground, it was about four meters high, similar to the floor height of the Shelter. The architecture here gave Su Mo a sense of familiarity.

"Why do I feel such a strong sense of familiarity? Is this definitely not a human Shelter?"

If this were an RPG game, countless question marks would definitely float above Su Mo's head.

Go down and explore? After a bold idea popped up in Su Mo's mind, it began to grow wildly.

Everything here was too strange. The inexplicable feline fur, several small-area fixed-point blasts, and the design structure similar to a human Shelter all added a layer of mystery to this underground Ruins.

Opening his storage space and searching, Su Mo decided to use the most primitive method: weaving a rope.

It was more than four meters high, easy to jump down, but difficult to get back up.

Taking out two units of plant fiber, Su Mo sat at the opening and began to weave the rope seriously.

Repeatedly twisting several strands of tough plant fiber together, he went down, and in less than twenty minutes, Su Mo had woven a grass rope about three meters long.

He took out two units of iron blocks and placed them on the ground, tying one end of the rope to the iron blocks, completing a simple up-and-down device.

At this moment, Su Mo was extremely grateful that he had participated in the DIY handicraft club in college.

Otherwise, this simple task would be a bit difficult for ordinary people.

With everything packed up, Su Mo tried throwing small stones around to make sure there were no traps, and then began his first exploration of the Ruins.

He had read a lot of tomb raiding novels, but the actual operation was difficult.

Awkwardly biting the flashlight in his mouth, Su Mo grabbed the rope and began to slide down.

The rough texture of the plant fiber greatly increased the friction during the slide. Each time he slid down, Su Mo had to spend a lot of effort to hold on tight.

When there was one meter left, Su Mo relaxed his hands, and his whole body naturally fell to the ground.

He had been holding his breath for a long time, and as soon as he relaxed, Su Mo immediately gasped for breath.

But when he raised his head and looked ahead with the light of the flashlight, his heart skipped a beat.

A person (×) a skeleton (√) Even though he had just dealt with five thugs last night, at this moment, watching the skull lying on the ground looking at him askew.

A chill rushed up his back.

Thanks to Solitary for Ten Thousand Years for the 500 coin reward, thanks to Qinglian Dao Ge for the 1500 coin reward, thanks to Yantian Qingfeng for the 500 coin reward, thanks to the Wild Boar of Nanshan Mountain for the reward, and thanks to all the readers who rewarded 100 coins. Thank you for voting. It's a new day, so please continue to vote and favorite!