Chapter 207
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Chapter 207: Campfire Conversations
The end of the wilderness?
The team members were momentarily stunned. Wang Xiao quickly donned his helmet, utilizing the visual assistance system integrated into his armor to scan the horizon.
Indeed, at the boundary where the earth met the sky, the division was no longer merely between the desolate yellow and the azure blue. A gray-black line had emerged on the horizon, sending a wave of astonishment through everyone.
At that moment, a mix of excitement and tension surged within them. The excitement stemmed from the fact that they were finally nearing the edge of the seemingly endless yellow grass, while the tension arose because the Nian team’s report had not mentioned this development.
Optimistically, they hoped that the Nian team had simply lost their way, but if they considered the worst-case scenario…
“Let’s proceed; no matter the danger, we must investigate. It’s our mission,” Fresnel encouraged his teammates, taking the lead as they moved forward.
No objections were raised, and the group advanced toward the distant horizon.
As evening fell, Fulan, still wearing her helmet, suddenly sensed Lin Qingliu’s thoughts—a new ability she had acquired after receiving more blood.
From afar, Lin Qingliu was inquiring about the current distance covered by the Fresnel team.
Fulan concentrated, leveraging her keen observational skills and the computational power replicated from her armor’s helmet to deduce the answer:
It had been thirty-six hours since their departure, and thanks to their extraordinary stamina, the Fresnel team had reached a point ninety kilometers north of Hope City.
Upon receiving this information, Lin Qingliu offered no further comment, signaling Fulan to continue as planned.
In Hope City, Lin Qingliu opened his eyes in the basement’s bed.
A new question surfaced in his mind.
It was known that the Sea lay to the east of Hope City, while the remaining three sides were land. The Fresnel team was exploring directly north.
Setting aside the rapidly disappearing coastline, the distance of ninety kilometers was already approaching the span between a major city and its satellite towns.
Moreover, there were additional questions, such as:
None of the exploration teams had been provided with official maps from Hope City upon departure, and the precise maps indicating locations only extended about five kilometers beyond the city limits.
In large-scale explorations, such a distance was practically negligible.
The terrain north of Hope City was unnaturally flat, resembling a vast plain, and this plain seemed excessively uniform—devoid of lakes, rivers, or any signs of seawater intrusion.
Recalling his rudimentary knowledge of geography from his past life, Lin Qingliu felt that no location could align with Hope City.
However, this was an alternate world; no one could definitively predict the nature of another world…
Lin Qingliu hesitated to draw any hasty conclusions.
After some contemplation, he formulated a few hypotheses but had no means to verify them. Grabbing two blank psychological test sheets, Lin Qingliu jotted down his speculations.
Hypothesis 1: This world possesses unique characteristics unknown to him, rendering the geographical principles of another world inapplicable here.
Hypothesis 2: The mycelium ecosystem has a distinctive ability to reshape the environment, altering the terrain in ways that surpass his understanding while consuming nature.
Hypothesis 3: An unknown force once flattened a vast region to such an extent that it seemed utterly implausible to him, an outsider from another world.
Additionally, the humans in this world might have to contend with the loss of most maps during disasters, or the map information might no longer hold any reference value, potentially misleading exploration teams…
Only under such circumstances could the current state of the Exploration Plan be explained; otherwise, Lin Qingliu began to suspect that certain officials might not want the Exploration Plan to succeed…
Could such humans truly exist?
He was very curious.
Perhaps he should find an opportunity to capture a council member to test.
—
In the Fresnel team, everyone once again began to consume the nutritional paste that could only sustain vital signs.
This stuff was hardly palatable; whether eaten cold or hot, it had an overwhelmingly sweet taste, akin to… chewing on some shellfish.
To alleviate their tension and the discomfort from the food, the members of the Fresnel team started chatting aimlessly.
“Do you all remember the last psychological treatment?”
Fresnel initiated the topic,
“I don’t know what kind of advice Dr. Lin gave you, but since it’s just us here and the Listening Device in Hope City will also be ineffective, why not share?”
The Puppet Master frowned upon hearing this:
“Why bring it up now? It feels odd to me.”
“What’s so odd about it?”
Shi Jin, somewhat slow in this regard, asked.
“Do we have to talk about it today? We’ll be arriving at that strange forest tomorrow, and it sounds like if you don’t ask now, you won’t get another chance…”
The Puppet Master’s face showed clear displeasure. She was somewhat superstitious; while she didn’t really believe in the idea of setting flags, she also didn’t dare to dismiss it, it was just that such notions didn’t exist in this world.
“That’s not what I meant. I just noticed that everyone looked a bit down. If you don’t want to share, that’s fine.”
Fresnel waved with a smile. When there wasn’t a battle task, this Superpowered Team Leader always wore a cheerful expression, as if surrounded by sunshine.
“It’s not that we can’t talk.”
The Puppet Master’s eyes shifted mischievously as she said,
“If you’re willing to share first, then I can share too. What do you think?”
The two looked around, and Wang Xiao and Beacon nodded in agreement, while Shi Jin seemed unaware of what everyone was talking about, looking dazed.
After an explanation from everyone, Shi Jin quickly calculated the days and finally showed a relieved smile:
“Then it’s not strange. It was back then when I was in jail.”
Everyone suddenly understood. After this period of interaction, Shi Jin’s image had already been established in the minds of the other four.
This girl, although only eighteen this year, had a very calm demeanor. Whether in daily habits or in combat coordination, she quickly synced with the team.
Only now did they remember that she seemed to be an inmate, having awakened her superpowers before the verdict, leading to the subsequent developments.
If it weren’t for Shi Jin’s reminder, they would have almost forgotten this matter, especially since her performance was so unlike the stereotypical impression of someone with a criminal record.
“Hehe, so does that mean I can get a secret from each of you for free?”
The others fell silent, and eventually, it was Fresnel who spoke first:
“That doctor said I carry too much pressure as the Captain and need to find a suitable way to release it.”
