The cave was filled with makeshift homes cobbled together out of scrap metal sheets, resembling box-shaped hovels, and several crude processing factories belching black smoke.
On the walls of the cave, aged life support machines were exposed, making shrill, grating noises that sounded like tractor engines.
Dim bulbs hung from the metal beams on the ceiling, providing faint light.
The murky air was thick with a pungent odor.
Despite such spartan conditions, the place was teeming with people.
A group of bare-skinned children chased each other in spirited play.
Many Holy Army personnel, clothed in old uniforms, were driving decrepit transport carts, hauling collected ores as they drove through winding streets.
"Hurry it up, get the ore to Factory No. 4."
....
"This is our home. Follow me; I'll take you to meet the leader!"
Bair led Su Ming and the others inside.
Su Ming and his companions followed Bair, curiously surveying their surroundings.
