The sight of mountains was deceptive, making travelers overestimate distances. By the time Gu Ya and his group reached the foot of Black Star Mountain, it was already late afternoon, a full day behind schedule.
The majestic main peak, hidden behind the surrounding mountains, was still quite a distance away.
The vast mountain range was characterized by sheer cliffs and dense forests, with no paths to be found.
It would be difficult to find any trace even when looking down from the sky in a mecha, let alone searching on the ground.
Night fell quickly, and the temperature began to drop, soon approaching zero degrees Celsius.
Gu Ya gazed at the clear starry sky and mused, "Strange, it's too quiet. Do the cities in this mountain not communicate with the outside world?"
Ye Ying replied calmly, "Could there be an underground passage directly connected to the Black Star Grand Capital?"
Given Black Star's national strength, creating an underground passage connecting to the Black Star Grand Capital, nearly a thousand kilometers long, would not be difficult.
However, this was the heartland of the Black Star Empire, with the boundary of the Grand Capital's military defense zone less than 300 kilometers away.
The Black Star Empire had no reason to spend a fortune building an underground passage.
Gu Ya shook his head, deeming it impossible.
Along the way, he had been observing their surroundings and had not detected any surveillance equipment.
In such a desolate area, unless there were other means of communication, logistics, and supply, it would be impossible for it to go undiscovered.
"There must be other roads, we just haven't found them yet," Gu Ya said faintly.
"Bai Ying, use your abilities to find a suitable location for building a secret base."
Bai Ying's expression was calm, her voice devoid of emotion. She said softly, "I need topographical, three-dimensional, geological, and crustal activity data for the past fifty years, as well as groundwater distribution maps, and dozens of other schematics of the Black Star mountain range."
"Everything has been prepared for you," Gu Ya said confidently.
Among the intelligence copied from the Military Intelligence Department, there was indeed a detailed report on Black Star Mountain.
The report contained all the parameters, extremely detailed.
Gu Ya moved behind Bai Ying and gently pressed the back of her head. The synthetic skin lifted, revealing the internal transmission interface.
He plugged one end of the communication cable into Bai Ying's interface and the other into Hei Yang's forehead.
The slender cable emitted a faint blue-white light, which flowed slowly from Hei Yang's brain into Bai Ying's brain.
White light frequently flickered in Bai Ying's eyes, indicating that she was utilizing her super-computer brain for calculations.
Within a mountain range spanning over a hundred thousand square kilometers, finding the most suitable location to build a secret base would indeed require significant time.
Even if Bai Ying calculated the results, it would take a lot of time to reach them.
Gu Ya was also not idle, constantly contemplating a perfect strategy that could evade Black Star's surveillance and allow for rapid travel.
The mountain night arrived particularly early.
Before five in the afternoon, the sun had already hidden behind the peaks.
The air gradually turned cold.
Suddenly, Gu Ya's wrist radar emitted a faint alert sound.
A deployed miniature surveillance device transmitted a signal: [Approaching!]
Gu Ya quickly stood up, donned his exoskeleton armor, flew onto a tree trunk, and peered in the direction of the signal.
"Hello!"
From within the dense forest, the voice of a young boy greeting them echoed.
Gu Ya thought he was hallucinating and didn't respond.
Immediately after, another clear "Hello!" reached Gu Ya's ears.
At this moment, Bai Ying's search concluded.
She blinked and softly said, "A total of seventeen locations suitable for building underground secret bases have been identified."
Ye Ying moved to shield Bai Ying, adopting a combat stance. Her arms transformed into mechanical limbs as she gazed in the direction of the voice.
"Hello, I mean no harm," the boy's voice came again!
Gu Ya turned and whispered to Hei Yang, "Go and see!"
Hei Yang's body instantly split into dozens of pieces, each becoming a micro-drone that flew towards the source of the sound.
Not long after, the boy's voice was heard again, "Wow, so many flying machines!"
Hei Yang's voice entered Gu Ya's mind, "Master, it is indeed a young boy, around ten years old. He is alone. Preliminary assessment indicates he is human."
Gu Ya turned to look at Ye Ying and Bai Ying, then leaped over, conjuring exoskeleton armor for them.
He then said to Hei Yang, "Bring him here."
Soon after,
Hei Yang walked ahead, followed by a boy with a very ordinary appearance.
He wore a rough cloth cloak, patched trousers, and large boots.
His hair was messy and still contained grass clippings.
His face was smudged with dirt, likely from falls and not having washed it for a while.
The young boy curiously observed Gu Ya and the others, fully armored, showing no fear. He smiled and said, "Hello!"
Gu Ya asked cautiously, "What is your name? Who are you, and why are you alone in the mountains?"
The young boy, without any reservations, replied with a smile in pure Black Star dialect, "My name is Gou Dan! I live with my grandpa in the mountains, and our home is on the mountainside not far from here. I am the electronic shepherd of this area."
"Electronic shepherd?" Gu Ya didn't understand the meaning of the term.
"It means relying on nearby power cables to raise electric robots to help us farm," Gou Dan explained with a smile. "Many people in the Black Star Mountains live this way."
Gu Ya was suddenly startled and asked, "Are there power cables nearby?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Gu Ya's wrist radar suddenly blared with alarms!!
More than a dozen unidentified objects were rapidly approaching!
Gou Dan burst into laughter, turned, and quickly ran into the forest.
Gu Ya immediately prepared for combat.
Indeed, here, no one could be trusted!
Soon, eight mechanical wolves darted out of the forest and surrounded Gu Ya and his companions, within ten meters of them.
Their eyes were all blood-red, growling and exhaling puffs of white steam.
It wasn't over yet; a few seconds later, seven robots also charged out, wielding metal staffs and staring at Gu Ya and the others.
"Hahaha!" Gou Dan's laughter echoed again.
He was riding on a slightly larger robot, slowly emerging from the forest.
"Don't be afraid, they are robots I raise! They won't harm you without my command!" Gou Dan said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Gou Dan suddenly shouted, "Ji Yi! Bite him!!"
A mechanical wolf suddenly sprang up, opening its maw and lunging towards Bai Ying!
Ye Ying swiftly intercepted, her arms instantly expanding. A steel blade extended,
The blade flashed, sparks flying.
The mechanical wolf, from its mouth backward, was neatly bisected.
"Hahaha! Amazing, amazing!" Gou Dan laughed wildly. "Man Er! Fan San! Geng Si! Attack!!"
Before the mechanical wolves could pounce,
Gu Ya's hands suddenly extended light swords. Two crimson light beams slashed, instantly cutting three wolves into pieces.
He then blinked in front of Gou Dan, "Buzz—!" The light sword slashed down fiercely, severing the robot's waist.
Gu Ya grabbed Gou Dan by his cloak with one hand and lifted him to his face, coldly asking, "Do you want to die?"
Gou Dan showed no fear, instead exclaiming with greater excitement, "Fun, fun! Big brother, you're even more amazing!!"
"Let's stop playing! I haven't been home for three days either, let me take you back to my place!"
What a wild child! Gu Ya had never encountered one like him.
If Gou Dan hadn't possessed potentially useful intelligence, Gu Ya would have killed him without hesitation.
As it was, he could spare his life for now and question his grandfather, hoping to extract more information.
However, Gu Ya remained uneasy.
This was a classified territory belonging to Black Star; even if there were ordinary mountain residents, they shouldn't be roaming freely all over the place.
Perhaps this child was a Haishun transformation, or a Haishun pupa-person.
It seemed testing was necessary.