Cave Refuge

The originally unnamed mountain was hidden behind a mountain village. Although transportation was relatively accessible, it was located in a fairly remote suburb. Despite having a water park nearby, the Pengcheng Government never considered developing it.

However, when the flood arrived and submerged all zones below twenty to thirty meters, the areas still above water dwindled, thereby revealing the Unnamed Mountain.

Don't underestimate the fact that the government relocated the Command Center from the West City District to high-rise buildings. In truth, everyone knew that compared to man-made skyscrapers, naturally formed mountain ranges provided more reliable shelter from natural disasters.

The main reason the officials moved from Jade Dragon Mountain was to maintain independence. After the Cold Catastrophe, the government's control over resources reached a new high.

If they were to establish the Refuge Center within Jade Dragon Mountain, unless they prohibited others from entering, the number of regular survivors would undoubtedly outnumber the government personnel. That could lead to problems, creating no small matter.

By moving the Command Post to the office building, controlling it would be as simple as guarding the ground floor entrances. Moreover, even if the Command Post was in the office building, it would not affect the government's control over Jade Dragon Mountain.

Compared to the officials, private parties valued mountain peaks more. After all, whether it be office buildings or residential ones, transforming them into refuge centers would only allow for a minimal amount of planting on rooftops. Widespread cultivation wouldn't be feasible; these refuges would only be capable of growing mushrooms at best.

The mountains within the city were already under government control, the famous Swallow Mountain in the outskirts was early seized by the government, and Spring Mountain was occupied by various authorities. Hence, the Unnamed Mountain that surfaced above the water sparked general attention.

When Dong Tianyu was returning from the office building, several groups of people had arrived on Unnamed Mountain from various directions.

There were only roads on the north and south sides of Unnamed Mountain. The northern route led to the platform outside the main gate of Dong Tianyu's Refuge Center. The end of the southern route was the cemetery located midway up the mountain.

Regardless of whether it was the north or south side, both routes ended halfway up the mountain without reaching the peak.

Despite the Cold Catastrophe, Unnamed Mountain still maintained its trees, but these trees were essentially all frozen dead. After enduring continuous rainy days, these trees slowly began to rot away.

The survivors climbing the mountain from the east and west had a challenging time. Fortunately, the snakes, insects, rats, and ants on the mountain all frozen to death during the Cold Catastrophe. Otherwise, just climbing up could lead to unnecessary casualties.

"Brother Tian, how did you know there was a road up the mountain on this side?"

Upon hearing the question from his sidekick, Ward continued without pausing, casually patting his sidekick's head. "Are you stupid? Have you forgotten that we always take this road to avoid the tollbooth? This road is next to a village. Since the village is built at the foot of the mountain, there must be a road leading up without a doubt. Enough talking, keep observing our surroundings and hurry up to the peak. The boss said that the first team to reach the peak will be rewarded with a canned meat each."

After hearing the reward, the two subordinates behind Ward involuntarily swallowed saliva.

Since they moved underground into the Refuge Center, it hadn't been that they hadn't eaten meat at all. It was just that they could sometimes find scraps from the big shots leftover food. As for the canned meat that no one used to consume in the past, it was now an absolute luxury item for them.

The three stopped talking and continued to climb along the mountain path without realizing that this road didn't lead to the peak, it stopped halfway up.

Looking at the large platform about a hundred square feet ahead, Ward studied the ground material carefully. The torrential rain had exposed the ground material: rock.

It seemed that this area wasn't suitable for planting and could only be used for other purposes.

Just as Ward was preparing to continue up the mountain, one of the sidekicks couldn't resist wanting to climb onto the platform to gaze at the distant view.

The moment this sidekick walked to the middle of the platform and was about to turn around to call Ward, he accidentally spotted the cave door and immediately shouted out,

"Brother Tian, look what I found! There's a cave here! Do you think there's anything valuable inside?"

Upon hearing the sidekick's shout, Ward was also somewhat taken aback. Is there a cave here?

However, after considering that the trail ends here and the addition of a one-hundred-square-foot platform, it wouldn't be too strange to have a cave here.

Ward quickly walked to the cave's entrance, where the entrance was sealed with a solid iron door. He knocked on the door with the back of his hand and based on the sound, he could tell that even if the door was not pure iron, the thickness of the iron sheet should not be thin.

While the three were trying to open the door, Dong Tianyu returned to the foot of Unnamed Mountain and saw the small boat parked near the trail.

Upon seeing the boat, Dong Tianyu immediately knew someone had climbed the mountain. Although he did not know when they had ascended, after the rise in water levels, it was not a considerable distance from the exposed mountain trail to the platform before the cave.

It seemed that his Refuge Center had been discovered by others.

Dong Tianyu had anticipated this situation early on, but as his strengths grew, Dong Tianyu grew more and more indifferent to it.

It was not that he had become more reckless over time, it was merely that as his power grew, many of the matters that once frightened him seemed trivial in retrospect.

After pulling his paddleboat into his Shadow Space, Dong Tianyu did not destroy the boat parked near the mountain path. He did not rush either, he leisurely ascended the mountain instead.

Because Dong Tianyu knew that the others would not only be unable to enter his Refuge Center, they would unlikely even manage to open the cave door.

After all, the door of the cave was custom-made. Although it was not made of pure iron, it was wrapped with reinforced concrete. The original door was electrically operated, and it was only when Dong Tianyu reached the training level 5 that he started to manually operate it.

So, even if the intruders picked the lock, getting past the cave door would be hard.

Just as Dong Tianyu had predicted, when he arrived at the platform, the three, engrossed in trying to open the door, were dizzyingly stumped. They could not find a method to open the door.

The trio was engrossed, they failed to notice Dong Tianyu standing on the platform.

Having been busy for a while, and unable to open the door, they were about to give up. It was then that one of Ward's sidekicks noticed Dong Tianyu by chance.

"Who are you? Why are you standing behind us, watching us?"

After speaking, the three turned around and saw Dong Tianyu with a smile on his face. But in their eyes, Dong Tianyu was mocking them.