2025, Southern Hua.
"Damn, where the hell have we ended up?"
Chen Jian held up the VECTOR 23 binoculars, looking at the unfamiliar city ahead, completely engulfed in doubt.
It wasn't just him; the expressions of his teammates were equally grave.
Communicator Shen Yue opened the radio once more, and after trying countless channels, came to a conclusion.
"All communications with the rear have been cut off, even the LF long-wave channels have no response."
"All satellites are out of contact, including Beidou and GPS."
"Using a sextant to triangulate, by latitude and longitude, we should be about a kilometer outside of Chuansha District."
"But clearly, this city is definitely not the Chuansha we're familiar with."
After he spoke, Chen Jian slowly nodded.
In fact, reaching this conclusion was quite simple.
Because the city in front of them couldn't possibly be Chuansha, nor any large city they remembered.
The large cities he knew of, especially domestic ones, could never be so overgrown with weeds, so dilapidated.
But bizarrely, judging by the surrounding terrain and the Xiang River flowing through, this was indeed Chuansha.
So what exactly went wrong?
Chen Jian turned to look at the other three team members, each sporting the same puzzled expression.
Clearly, they couldn't figure out why a simple training mission had become such a mess upon their return.
The unfamiliar environment put immense pressure on Chen Jian, and the only thing that offered him any sense of security was the 191 loaded with live ammunition in his hand.
He put down the binoculars, flipped down the Type 20 quad-eye thermal fusion night vision on his helmet, and after a moment's careful observation of the city, said:
"I can't see anything."
"He Shuo, can you see anything on your end?"
Upon hearing the question, sniper He Shuo lifted his face from the thermal sight, shook his head slowly, and replied:
"Currently, no active heat sources detected."
"No lights, no heat sources, this city... it's like a Dead City."
At his words, the hearts of everyone in the four-member team sank.
Everyone realized the severity of the situation, but under such extreme pressure, Shen Yue actually managed a smile.
"I'm starting to believe this isn't a full GZ conspiracy."
"Even if he had heaven's abilities, he couldn't evacuate an entire city."
After Shen Yue spoke, the others couldn't help but laugh too.
Indeed, just a few hours ago, when they first discovered the loss of signal and communication breakdown, they thought it was another sudden confrontation exercise.
But now, it clearly wasn't the case at all.
"So there are only two possibilities now."
The demolition expert Lei Jie said thoughtfully:
"Either the enemy struck while we were training and took a city within 24 hours without us noticing, or we've traveled to another place; this isn't Earth, or at least not our time period. So which do you think is more likely?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Chen Jian answered without hesitation, and upon hearing the answer from his mouth, the others surprisingly also breathed a sigh of relief.
They are all highly trained special ops, with acceptance levels for unexpected situations far beyond the ordinary person.
Moreover, they feared the dead-end far more than the unfamiliar environment.
Clearly, this wasn't a dead-end.
After a brief observation, Chen Jian continued to speak:
"Prepare to approach the city, find valuable cultural information, we need to understand the current situation first."
"I'll take the lead, Lei Jie will cover the 30-meter flank, Shen Yue will follow Lei Jie to establish electromagnetic shielding, He Shuo will stay 100 meters behind to observe and follow."
"Objective: Occupy the tallest building ahead, promptly spread out and set up defense upon entry."
"Now, move out!"
At the command, everyone promptly sprang into action.
Chen Jian carried a 191 assault rifle equipped with an HM3X sight in his hands, with a heavy LG-6 semi-automatic grenade launcher slung over his back.
These weapons were originally meant for live-fire exercises after the training, but it was clear now that there wouldn't be any targets to shoot at.
Perhaps these weapons might need to be used against a new enemy?
This thought flashed through Chen Jian's mind but was quickly dispelled.
He continued advancing, his pace not particularly fast, steadily determining the location of the others via real-time information displayed on the 18-style AR smart tactical goggles.
Although all satellite positioning systems had failed, the long-wave triangle positioning module on their IFF recognition system still allowed them to display their approximate locations on the glasses in real-time, allowing Chen Jian to spare more attention for the unknown area ahead of him.
From their previous location, the team took seven minutes to slowly advance to within 500 meters of the target building.
Chen Jian's breathing quickened slightly, and his right hand, holding the gun, began to feel slightly sore.
The night vision still revealed no valid information, and he made a gesture with his raised hand, instantly translated into a command through the image recognition function of the individual PAD, which was then sent to the glasses of the other team members.
The positioning of the four-man squad silently shifted, with Chen Jian moving further forward, Shen Yue and Lei Jie spreading to the sides, and He Shuo trailing behind Chen Jian, forming a wedge-shaped assault formation.
Their pace quickened, and after one final confirmation of no abnormalities, they began rapidly advancing toward the target building.
200 meters.
Chen Jian switched off the safety of the 191 and advanced briskly.
100 meters.
Chen Jian could already see the large doors of the building, and the desolate, decayed street lay bare before him.
Lei Jie and Shen Yue controlled the sides of the street, and as per the planned tactics, he was now to breach the door and enter.
----But just at that moment, an abrupt loud noise rang out.
"Bang!"
Everyone immediately halted and went on guard, and simultaneously, the counter-sniper radar automatically identified this sound as originating outside the four-man squad, marking its location on their goggles with millisecond response speed.
Chen Jian turned his gun toward the source of the noise, his thermal fusion night vision making night as clear as day.
"Something fell over there, a mid-level residential building, 150 meters away."
He Shuo from behind spoke:
"A big sofa, fell from the rooftop."
"There might be someone inside!"
"Stay alert!"
Chen Jian immediately ordered, gripping the handguard tightly with his left hand.
Almost simultaneously with his command, another barely detectable, faint sound emanated.
This time, everyone was locked on the exact direction the sound came from.
But then, everyone froze in place.
"What the hell is that??"
He Shuo's horrified question came through the headset, but Chen Jian ignored it, crouching quickly, his fingers half-pressed on the trigger, ready to shoot.
Meanwhile, Shen Yue had already hit the ground, deploying the tripod for his Type 201 general-purpose machine gun.
Everyone realized there must be an enemy ahead.
----Because it was a creature over three meters tall, its body covered in keratinous spikes, jumping silently but swiftly towards them on mantis-like reverse-jointed legs!
Chen Jian squeezed the trigger, shouting simultaneously:
"Fire!"