In the vast interior of the fortress, Hayato and his three companions cautiously made their way down a long, shadowy passage.
After walking for some time, they came upon a sealed room.
A Sky Ninja stood guard outside the door, his gaze sharp as an eagle's.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the guard asked in a low voice, suspicion evident in his tone.
Hayato stepped forward calmly. "We're a procurement team. We'd like to find out what everyone needs so we can prepare for our next supply run."
The guard gave a slight nod. "I see."
"Then, could we go in and take a look?" Hayato asked, seizing the opportunity, his eyes bright with anticipation.
The guard hesitated briefly, then stepped aside and opened the door.
"Go ahead."
As the door slowly swung open, Hayato and the others followed the guard inside.
It turned out to be the fortress's granary, packed with all sorts of nonperishable food.
They looked around, wearing serious expressions as though they were genuinely assessing the food reserves.
"It looks like the food will last for quite a while. We might not need to buy any on our next trip," Hayato remarked thoughtfully.
The guard said nothing, simply watching their every move to make sure they didn't cause trouble in the granary.
"Thanks. We still have some other places to check out." Hayato politely took his leave, then led his team out of the granary.
Over the next two and a half days, they visited every department in the fortress under the same pretext.
They checked out everything from the Aircraft research department and the Aircraft Carrier research department to the production departments for daily necessities.
In the process, they gradually learned the layout of the fortress and spoke at length with the heads of