"Get in contact with the base, report our situation, and confirm unknown contact! All border bases must switch to silent mode. If they make contact with unknown individuals, they have the green light to eliminate them with anti-aircraft weapons."
"Zz… We confirm your location. All border bases will be alerted."
Just as the two heard the sound of the helicopter, footsteps echoed in the hallway, and several members of the group rushed into the room with disheveled clothes.
"Sir, it seems there are survivors!"
Before they could finish speaking, several people had already seen the two lying by the window, watching intently. They immediately exchanged knowing glances and fell silent.
Because the sky was already very dark, the two could only see the faint outline of buildings when looking outside, but they kept searching the sky—their purpose was different.
Jason first thought of the CRM, but Welles leaned more toward the possibility that they were military.
After looking out the window for more than ten seconds, they could not find the helicopter's location, but the distinctive sound had not disappeared. Jason quickly turned around and ran toward the roof.
At the same time, he shouted to the few people who had rushed into the room behind him.
"Welles, tell everyone not to turn on any kind of light and to put on their gear—move now!"
This was the first time everyone had seen Jason so agitated, so after hearing these words, they immediately sprang into action.
After saying this, Jason rushed into the hallway and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Welles, however, felt uneasy, so after alerting everyone, he ran up the stairs.
The two quickly stood on the rooftop. Because the sound of the helicopter was not easy to pinpoint, they had to observe for quite some time before confirming its position.
"Right there!"
Jason, standing on the rooftop with his gear on, sharply pointed toward the sky, and soon a helicopter passed by a building.
However, the aircraft's lights did not reveal its position.
"Is it someone from the military?"
Welles' question was not answered immediately. Jason, carefully observing that direction through his binoculars, was eager to find out.
Due to the obstruction of buildings, they could only hear the sound but not see the helicopter clearly. Soon, however, a blurry flying object appeared again in the scope.
The fuselage was black, with a trace of a white logo at the rear, but Jason was not sure whether it was a CRM helicopter due to the lighting conditions.
"What did you see?"
Seeing that he remained silent, Welles' tone became slightly anxious.
Jason shook his head and lowered the binoculars, feeling somewhat uncertain.
"If I'm not mistaken, the helicopter's targets should belong to another organization—not the military."
"But I have an idea…"
Jason quickly took out his radio and began switching channels, waiting a few seconds on each. After changing channels several times in a row, there was no response—only white noise filled the communicator—but Jason was not worried at all.
"Zz… Wh… N…" After many attempts, Jason's effort paid off, and voices from other people came through the communicator.
Hearing this, Jason's focused gaze sharpened to its peak, and he fine-tuned the frequency, making the voices clearer.
A woman's voice came through the radio, and the conversation made Welles frown.
"…Nothing found, but I can confirm there are survivors here. Requesting instructions."
"Zz… Ava, ignore the survivors. You must focus on the mission."
"Understood!"
After the brief exchange, the communicator returned to silence. Then, a few minutes later, the helicopter could be heard again, the sound growing louder and louder.
Hearing the sound, it was obvious they were about to pass over Jason and his group. The two hid in the shadows on the rooftop, and Jason raised his binoculars toward the direction of the sound. The dark silhouette became clearer, and soon the three-ring logo appeared before his eyes.
Jason handed the binoculars to Welles, who looked at the helicopter and saw the slightly blurred mark.
"Is this the organization you mentioned?"
Jason nodded slowly in confirmation, while thinking about the conversation he had just heard.
Although it had only been a few simple words, it revealed some very useful information. Thinking about it, he turned his head and said, "You're right… This is the organization I've been telling you about. Did you hear what they said just now?"
"Well, the conversation was too brief…"
Jason sighed and pointed out, "They ignored the survivors, which means they just arrived here, and whatever they are doing here is for a specific purpose. They must have heard the music we set up. In those words, it was stated that the mission is more important. If we speculate, the other party might be here for the same reason as us."
Welles opened his mouth, suddenly feeling that he had nothing to say. Reaching such conclusions from just those two sentences was something he could not do. Thinking about it this way, the organization actually made sense—just as Jason had said, it was mostly composed of military personnel.
"You mean these people may have found the military supply warehouse here?"
Jason could not fully confirm his own speculation, but even though it was weak, he nodded and said, "That's probably the case…"
"Then what should we do? Do we still need to find those supplies?"
Jason's expression returned to normal. He curled his lips slightly and said, "Why should we leave? Think about it—if even you know about those hidden military supply points, do you think someone in the military with a higher rank than you wouldn't know? Judging by the details and the base locations on the map, we should have more detailed information than they do."
"Otherwise, we wouldn't have even seen them long after the country went to hell."
That was the truth. Welles nodded after thinking about it, and as the two walked toward the corridor entrance, they saw a crowd standing below.
Welles was momentarily confused, but then realized they were the soldiers who had just woken up. He sighed in relief and gestured for them to relax.
The originally calm night had been interrupted, and everyone felt somewhat uneasy. Jason thought for a moment and took out the map from the basement.
Under the light of a flashlight, everyone formed a circle and looked at the small markings on the map. Pointing to one of the red dots, Jason said:
"Everyone, remember this… We already know that the black dots are weapons and ammunition, and the green dots are food, but we haven't seen the red dots yet—and there is one that is the closest to us."
The place he pointed to was a red dot located on the north side of the city, where Jason and his group were.
Jason raised his head, looked around, and tapped the map again with his fingers.
"We still don't know exactly what is in this place, but based on what I know about that organization, they shouldn't be lacking weapons and ammunition in general. So I'll make a bold guess—this point stores something they need badly. And if there is something they need, it's probably something we also need."
Jason paused, his tone becoming more serious, his expression turning cold.
"So… listen. I think it's time for us to move. If these things are important, we need to get them quickly. In other words, we must start moving now."
"But no one knows if their objective is the same as I assumed. Going out in the middle of the night could be dangerous—it could cost you your lives. So I want to see in your eyes that you are willing to follow me, even if I'm heading straight into hell."