209: Chapter 208 Handing Over the Gold

The people inside attempted to use the firepower of heavy machine guns to break out, but once the Vulcan Cannon was set up at the cave entrance, and after a team was lost for nothing, the gunfire inside immediately fell silent. Those nearly one hundred Japanese people seemed to have accepted their fate. Even when everyone cut many green branches to start a fire, there wasn't the slightest movement from within. Cao Xiao was inspecting the timber being moved out of the cave when Niu Zhen came over to tell him that the situation inside was not right. Only then did Cao Xiao investigate; he immediately had the bodyguards extinguish the fire and prepared to enter the cave in pursuit. It turned out those Japanese people had already left the cave entrance base and headed into the depths.

"Ohno-kun, many of our ancestors died in there. Have you truly decided to go in?"

"Yes, we've already sent a distress signal, and a rescue team will arrive before long. We spent so much time on that path and sacrificed nearly a hundred lives yet still couldn't break through. For us to go in now is just seeking death. Ohno-kun, please reconsider!"

"Yoshida, Eto, and all of you, listen up. We don't know who the enemy is, but more than two hundred people in the camp have been wiped out by them. Those of us left outside the mountain won't be spared either. The distress signal is a shortwave signal, and electromagnetic interference in Yeren Mountain is very severe, so the transmission distance is limited. Even if it was sent, no one would receive it. Even if they did, by the time the higher-ups organize a rescue team to arrive, we would all be corpses!"

"Then we could blow up the cave entrance to collapse it and find a place to hide while waiting for rescue. There are so many caves here, like a maze; even if they open the entrance, they won't find us in a short time..."

"Shut up! You coward! As long as we find the place where our ancestors stored the treasures, there will be an exit. Otherwise, after losing so many people, if we don't get the items, how can I explain this to the home country! Keep moving! Hurry up! I'll shoot anyone who says another word!"

Cao Xiao observed the movements of the Japanese people, thinking to himself that these people were simply seeking their own deaths. If they looked for another exit, there might still be a slim chance of survival, but they insisted on heading there. Even he, relying on the industrial mother machine, was somewhat wary of that place, let alone a group of ordinary people. The situation there had long since changed over the past half-century. Their ancestors had already warned them with a ground full of white bones, yet that leader, Ohno, ignored the lessons of the past and remained headstrong, leading his companions down a path to death. For this, Cao Xiao could only mourn for them in advance.

"Go search and collect all the fuel and flamethrowers; we might need them in a while," Cao Xiao ordered.

"Boss, what do we need these for? There's a lot of fuel here, and it's a hassle to carry. If we get hit by a bullet later, we'll be finished," Li Quanshuo asked, puzzled.

"Then tell me, why would the Japanese prepare so much fuel and so many flamethrowers?" Cao Xiao asked back with a smile.

"Uh! I don't know! Why?" Li Quanshuo was stunned by the question and asked reflexively.

"Their goal is inside this cave. Since they prepared so much, it means it will be used extensively inside. Don't ask me such obvious questions next time; it will lower my IQ!" Cao Xiao said with a face full of disdain.

"Hahaha!"

Cao Xiao's words amused the others, who looked at Li Quanshuo with schadenfreude, while the latter glared at Cao Xiao with gnashing teeth. Cao Xiao completely ignored him; in fact, this was his consistent strategy. In the eyes of others, he acted without any apparent logic. If he had to explain everything, it would only foster others' curiosity, so every time he didn't want to explain, he would use his sharp tongue to stifle their curiosity.

"Zheng Hui, Huang Sheng, and Elder Huang will stay outside to prepare some food and wait for us to come out. Everyone else, carry a tank of fuel and a flamethrower and follow me in. Bring all your weapons as well." Once the bodyguards had collected everything, Cao Xiao shouldered a flamethrower himself and spoke to everyone.

The flamethrowers were all small models, weighing less than ten kilograms, so carrying them wouldn't affect physical movement. A tank of fuel weighed twenty kilograms, and with weapons and equipment, each person's load was around forty kilograms. Except for Cao Xiao, everyone found it a bit strenuous, but there was no other way. If he went in alone, he wouldn't need to bring anything, but with others, he had to make sufficient preparations to provide a cover. Otherwise, if it were inconvenient for him to take action, he wouldn't be able to guarantee everyone's safety.

Walking into the cave entrance, ignoring the corpses left on the ground, they reached the base built by the Japanese years ago after advancing less than twenty meters. However, now there were only scattered pieces of engineering machinery. Cao Xiao took the lead; there were too many tunnels inside, and the others didn't know where the Japanese had gone, so it would save trouble if he led the way. This cave was likely formed by water erosion and weathering of gaps in volcanic magma. The cave walls were all hard rock, and the ground was damp, loose sand and gravel. Logically, given the abnormal environment in the cave, there should be a large amount of moss and plants growing, but the cave walls were covered in scorch marks everywhere. This was likely the work of those Japanese people, showing they were extremely wary of any plants in the cave, leaving not a blade of grass where they passed.

Without Cao Xiao saying a word, the bodyguards also realized something was wrong. Duan Hong and the others walking behind Cao Xiao exchanged looks, finally fixing their gaze on Niu Zhen. The meaning was self-evident. Niu Zhen could only reluctantly and cautiously ask Cao Xiao, "Boss, can I ask a question?"

"Speak," Cao Xiao replied with a single word.

"What exactly are we going to do? Did you know all along that there was a problem here? Has that expert also come?" After finishing his sentence quickly in one breath, Niu Zhen paused his steps, slightly distancing himself from Cao Xiao and hiding behind Duan Hong.

"What? Have you seen this kind of situation before?" Cao Xiao didn't answer but stopped in place and turned back curiously to ask.

"I've seen similar places in Miaojiang where plants have mutated, but we always stayed far away from such places. Mr. Cao, if that expert hasn't come, let's not take the risk. Those things aren't something ordinary people like us can deal with. Conventional thermal weapons are ineffective; no matter how many people there are, it's of no use." It was Duan Hong who spoke. He was the longest-serving and most steady person present, having experienced more dangerous situations than the others. In the current scenario, a sense of danger had already arisen in his heart, and disregarding Cao Xiao's sharp tongue, he solemnly advised.

The people inside attempted to use the firepower of heavy machine guns to break out, but once the Vulcan Cannon was set up at the cave entrance, and after a team was lost for nothing, the gunfire inside immediately fell silent. Those nearly one hundred Japanese people seemed to have accepted their fate. Even when everyone cut many green branches to start a fire, there wasn't the slightest movement from within. Cao Xiao was inspecting the timber being moved out of the cave when Niu Zhen came over to tell him that the situation inside was not right. Only then did Cao Xiao investigate; he immediately had the bodyguards extinguish the fire and prepared to enter the cave in pursuit. It turned out those Japanese people had already left the cave entrance base and headed into the depths.

"Ohno-kun, many of our ancestors died in there. Have you truly decided to go in?"

"Yes, we've already sent a distress signal, and a rescue team will arrive before long. We spent so much time on that path and sacrificed nearly a hundred lives yet still couldn't break through. For us to go in now is just seeking death. Ohno-kun, please reconsider!"

"Yoshida, Eto, and all of you, listen up. We don't know who the enemy is, but more than two hundred people in the camp have been wiped out by them. Those of us left outside the mountain won't be spared either. The distress signal is a shortwave signal, and electromagnetic interference in Yeren Mountain is very severe, so the transmission distance is limited. Even if it was sent, no one would receive it. Even if they did, by the time the higher-ups organize a rescue team to arrive, we would all be corpses!"

"Then we could blow up the cave entrance to collapse it and find a place to hide while waiting for rescue. There are so many caves here, like a maze; even if they open the entrance, they won't find us in a short time..."

"Shut up! You coward! As long as we find the place where our ancestors stored the treasures, there will be an exit. Otherwise, after losing so many people, if we don't get the items, how can I explain this to the home country! Keep moving! Hurry up! I'll shoot anyone who says another word!"

Cao Xiao observed the movements of the Japanese people, thinking to himself that these people were simply seeking their own deaths. If they looked for another exit, there might still be a slim chance of survival, but they insisted on heading there. Even he, relying on the industrial mother machine, was somewhat wary of that place, let alone a group of ordinary people. The situation there had long since changed over the past half-century. Their ancestors had already warned them with a ground full of white bones, yet that leader, Ohno, ignored the lessons of the past and remained headstrong, leading his companions down a path to death. For this, Cao Xiao could only mourn for them in advance.

"Go search and collect all the fuel and flamethrowers; we might need them in a while," Cao Xiao ordered.

"Boss, what do we need these for? There's a lot of fuel here, and it's a hassle to carry. If we get hit by a bullet later, we'll be finished," Li Quanshuo asked, puzzled.

"Then tell me, why would the Japanese prepare so much fuel and so many flamethrowers?" Cao Xiao asked back with a smile.

"Uh! I don't know! Why?" Li Quanshuo was stunned by the question and asked reflexively.

"Their goal is inside this cave. Since they prepared so much, it means it will be used extensively inside. Don't ask me such obvious questions next time; it will lower my IQ!" Cao Xiao said with a face full of disdain.

"Hahaha!"

Cao Xiao's words amused the others, who looked at Li Quanshuo with schadenfreude, while the latter glared at Cao Xiao with gnashing teeth. Cao Xiao completely ignored him; in fact, this was his consistent strategy. In the eyes of others, he acted without any apparent logic. If he had to explain everything, it would only foster others' curiosity, so every time he didn't want to explain, he would use his sharp tongue to stifle their curiosity.

"Zheng Hui, Huang Sheng, and Elder Huang will stay outside to prepare some food and wait for us to come out. Everyone else, carry a tank of fuel and a flamethrower and follow me in. Bring all your weapons as well." Once the bodyguards had collected everything, Cao Xiao shouldered a flamethrower himself and spoke to everyone.

The flamethrowers were all small models, weighing less than ten kilograms, so carrying them wouldn't affect physical movement. A tank of fuel weighed twenty kilograms, and with weapons and equipment, each person's load was around forty kilograms. Except for Cao Xiao, everyone found it a bit strenuous, but there was no other way. If he went in alone, he wouldn't need to bring anything, but with others, he had to make sufficient preparations to provide a cover. Otherwise, if it were inconvenient for him to take action, he wouldn't be able to guarantee everyone's safety.

Walking into the cave entrance, ignoring the corpses left on the ground, they reached the base built by the Japanese years ago after advancing less than twenty meters. However, now there were only scattered pieces of engineering machinery. Cao Xiao took the lead; there were too many tunnels inside, and the others didn't know where the Japanese had gone, so it would save trouble if he led the way. This cave was likely formed by water erosion and weathering of gaps in volcanic magma. The cave walls were all hard rock, and the ground was damp, loose sand and gravel. Logically, given the abnormal environment in the cave, there should be a large amount of moss and plants growing, but the cave walls were covered in scorch marks everywhere. This was likely the work of those Japanese people, showing they were extremely wary of any plants in the cave, leaving not a blade of grass where they passed.

Without Cao Xiao saying a word, the bodyguards also realized something was wrong. Duan Hong and the others walking behind Cao Xiao exchanged looks, finally fixing their gaze on Niu Zhen. The meaning was self-evident. Niu Zhen could only reluctantly and cautiously ask Cao Xiao, "Boss, can I ask a question?"

"Speak," Cao Xiao replied with a single word.

"What exactly are we going to do? Did you know all along that there was a problem here? Has that expert also come?" After finishing his sentence quickly in one breath, Niu Zhen paused his steps, slightly distancing himself from Cao Xiao and hiding behind Duan Hong.

"What? Have you seen this kind of situation before?" Cao Xiao didn't answer but stopped in place and turned back curiously to ask.

"I've seen similar places in Miaojiang where plants have mutated, but we always stayed far away from such places. Mr. Cao, if that expert hasn't come, let's not take the risk. Those things aren't something ordinary people like us can deal with. Conventional thermal weapons are ineffective; no matter how many people there are, it's of no use." It was Duan Hong who spoke. He was the longest-serving and most steady person present, having experienced more dangerous situations than the others. In the current scenario, a sense of danger had already arisen in his heart, and disregarding Cao Xiao's sharp tongue, he solemnly advised.

The people inside attempted to use the firepower of heavy machine guns to break out, but once the Vulcan Cannon was set up at the cave entrance, and after a team was lost for nothing, the gunfire inside immediately fell silent. Those nearly one hundred Japanese people seemed to have accepted their fate. Even when everyone cut many green branches to start a fire, there wasn't the slightest movement from within. Cao Xiao was inspecting the timber being moved out of the cave when Niu Zhen came over to tell him that the situation inside was not right. Only then did Cao Xiao investigate; he immediately had the bodyguards extinguish the fire and prepared to enter the cave in pursuit. It turned out those Japanese people had already left the cave entrance base and headed into the depths.