Steel steam and flame

"We discussed this issue with the captain not long ago," the signal soldier replied. "The source of the interference comes from the enemy, and it has lasted for so long, and the scope is extremely wide. With the sensitivity of the machines in the volcano base, even if it is not within his inspection range But it’s been a few hours now, and we think the base should have noticed it very early.”

"The source of this kind of interference itself is also a kind of signal. It can be tracked, and it is the easiest one to capture. It should be easy for the base to deal with it." The tone of the communications soldier was very puzzled, "But currently That's the fact. There was no response from the base. Maybe something else happened that delayed this side?" He thought that was the case.

"We basically have the same idea." The captain agreed. "The capture of the volcano base is impossible in peacetime. Although many bases have been destroyed by enemies in the history of the empire, they were all during wars, and now It has nothing to do with it at this moment. The place we are going to next may be one of the abandoned bases. We need to gather there."

The communications soldier looked over from the side: "Is it there at Xuefeng? It makes people miss this place."

The captain cast a strange look and felt a little interested in the fact that the signal soldier knew the name "Xue Feng".

"A few years ago, there was a major review of a senior official in the base. Xuefeng served as a transfer station for that senior official at that time, and many things that had not yet been sold were piled up and stored there. There was one A team of hundreds of mercenaries were guarding the area, and when they went to clean it up, I was one of them." The communications soldier saw the captain's eyes and explained.

"It is indeed there. In the base at that time, the senior officer's matter was still a big deal. Almost everyone knew about it and didn't know what his fate would be." The captain sighed at this time, "Xuefeng is the closest to here. , is also a landmark location known to several other captains. The communication machine is not available now, so we can only leave marks on the route we have traveled, and when they see it, they will all gather towards the snow peak. Maybe we can do it on the road Met one or two teams.”

After listening to the captain's words, Cassia found some impressions in his mind. A few nights ago, he had crammed in some knowledge about the surroundings of the volcano base. Xuefeng is the predecessor of the volcanic base. It was created a hundred years ago and was destroyed in the war. Most of the mountain used for defense was blown open, and it no longer has the terrain advantage as a base. So after the war subsided, the entire base underwent a major relocation and became the current volcano base.

"There are still a lot of old machines in the abandoned base that have not been moved out. I don't know if those things can still operate normally. And at our current speed, we can get there in about three or four days. It's not that big of a deal. Far away." The captain continued, "According to the tracking results of No. 3 and No. 11, the general direction of the traces left by the enemy includes the ruins of Xuefeng Base. I just heard from the correspondent that creating interference The signal machine does not need to be very big, but it is not something that one person can carry around in the mountains. There should always be several fixed positions."

At this time, the captain looked at Cassia and the signal soldier beside him and whispered: "You can feel it, too. The number of enemies is not small, and they are from the Far Sea Commonwealth, so..."

"They can come to us from the border of the Far Sea Commonwealth. There is no other option except taking an airship. Building a railway line on the battle line is very eye-catching, and they cannot build the railway line to Here in the empire, a train is absolutely impossible." The signal soldier continued the captain's words, but seemed to be talking about unrelated things, "It is impossible for the airship to land inside the battle line. The field of vision on the battle line is wide and it is easy to be discovered. Therefore, the captain believes that the enemy's airship is very likely to be parked in Xuefeng's abandoned base. There are other destroyed bases around, but the closest one to the volcano base seems to be Xuefeng's."

"That's probably what I think. This can be regarded as a trace left by the enemy." The captain nodded. "Things have not progressed, but we can't just return to the volcano base. I am going to try my luck there, and by the way, I will also meet other people." The team rejoins. We continue to spread out, the danger multiplying as we get further and further away from the base of the volcano."

Because of what happened around ten o'clock in the morning, everyone did not get enough rest. At this time, the captain slowed down a little and took more breaks. When the sky darkened, strong winds began to blow in the mountains, making the movement more difficult. Because of the headwind, each step will take more energy. The general direction of the route now also has a gentle upward slope. In one night, the actual distance traveled is not much at all.

The next morning, the wind still didn't stop. Cassia and the others crossed a mountain range at this time, and their vision suddenly became extremely wide.

Now, they were halfway up a mountain range, surrounded by dense ancient pine forests, and the ground was covered with several pine cones the size of an adult's fist. There is no sign of human activity, only the most ancient plants.

The snow peak mentioned by the captain and the signal soldier could now be clearly seen in front and right of the team. It is one of the few high mountains surrounding the volcano base, and the dark gray clouds stopped just halfway up the mountain. The snow-covered peaks were completely submerged in the deep clouds, and no shadow could be seen.

The wind started to be mixed with ice particles, which caused a slight pain when it hit my face. The temperature dropped a few degrees overnight and it won't be long before it starts snowing for real. It will definitely be a mountain-closing blizzard, and the extremely stressful clouds in the sky indicate that such a thing will happen soon.

The mood of a group of team members also began to become like the clouds in the sky, and they were out of breath. Heavy snow in the mountains will have a great impact on their movements, and more importantly, food. The high-energy food in the backpack only lasted for five days. After five days, they had to find a way to survive in the mountains. For a group of veterans, this was originally a very simple matter, but the premise was that there was no snow in the mountains.

"I haven't seen the shadow of snow here in the volcano base for a long time. In previous years, it only drifted down a little symbolically. This year is really an unusual start." The captain sighed, but he was not surprised. He knew that the red star was coming, and it would be normal for the weather in some areas to become strange. According to historical records, every time before and after the arrival of the Red Star, this is the result of its influence.