Chapter 870
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Chapter 870: Dispute
Everyone stared at the dead bird on the ground, falling into silence.
“This is…” Bai Li Pangpang stood frozen, watching the scene unfold.
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu quickly looked up at the sky, where four or five birds were entangled in the distance, shrieking and attacking each other. Blood-stained, tattered feathers continuously drifted down from the sky, carried away by the wind…
One by one, the birds were pecked and fell. In the end, only one blood-soaked bird remained alive in the sky.
It let out a sharp cry, flapping its wings unsteadily, gradually disappearing from the sight of the crowd.
“I think I know how these insects died…” Cao Yuan murmured.
“They’re killing each other?” Lin Qiye frowned as he looked at the insect corpses in the pit, confusion filling his eyes. “Why?”
An Qingyu paused for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
“Right.” At that moment, Shen Qingzhu seemed to have thought of something. “You just said that time here is a closed loop, and when it reaches the end, everything and everyone will reset to their original state…
What about us?
Will we also return to the starting point?”
Upon hearing this question, An Qingyu began to think seriously, her expression grave as she spoke. “If the situation here is truly as I suspect—a time loop of continuous ‘endings’ and ‘restarts’—then we most likely won’t return to the starting point of this time.
It’s like an adventure game; when saving at a checkpoint, the system only records and retains the state at that moment. We are outsiders who entered later, and this save does not contain our information. Once time here reaches its end and restarts…
We will be like dust on the loop, directly erased by time.”
Bai Li Pangpang’s face immediately turned grim.
“Erased by time? Is it that serious?”
“The power of the laws of time is something we cannot contend with,” An Qingyu said seriously. “Our only way out is to find a way to leave before the loop ends.”
“But we don’t even know when it starts or when it ends.”
“No, we do know when it starts.” Lin Qiye picked up the inventory list. “The last time the convenience store restocked was the evening before yesterday, which means the starting point of the loop should be yesterday, coinciding with when we entered this fishing village… Perhaps this is also why we accidentally stumbled into here.”
“But the end time of the loop is unknown; it could be tomorrow, this afternoon, or even… the next second.”
“So, while we’re talking here, the loop might have already reached its end, erasing us directly?” Bai Li Pangpang couldn’t help but complain. “Isn’t that too thrilling?!”
“Theoretically, yes, but I don’t think it will happen that quickly,” An Qingyu speculated. “As I just said, I don’t believe this loop appeared here for no reason; its existence must be accompanied by some cause we have yet to discover. Until this ’cause’ triggers a ‘consequence,’ the loop won’t just end.”
An Qingyu’s words were too profound; aside from Lin Qiye and Shen Qingzhu, most others were left in confusion, but they had already realized the urgency of time.
“There’s another question.” Shen Qingzhu spoke slowly. “If this loop started yesterday, then what about the [Mask] team that entered this fishing village several days before us… what happened to them?”
The air suddenly fell silent.
Lin Qiye stood frozen, a thought surged in his mind but was forcibly suppressed.
An Qingyu remained silent for a moment before stating the truth: “[Mask] team entered the fishing village ten days ago; they must have entered the previous or the one before that time loop. Like us, they are also outsiders, not part of the restart queue. Since we haven’t seen them in this loop, it means…
They may have already been erased.”
“Impossible!” Bai Li Pangpang was the first to jump in opposition. “That’s [Mask]! How could they be erased so easily?!”
“I agree,” Cao Yuan quickly added. “Their absence here doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been erased. What if they found a way to leave before the loop ended?”
“If they successfully escaped, why haven’t we seen them in the outside world?” An Qingyu countered.
Cao Yuan was left speechless.
“Maybe they, like us at that time, were sent to another time? Perhaps they were sent to another place and couldn’t make it back?” Bai Li Pangpang’s speech quickened, as if he was getting anxious.
“That’s just your speculation. While it’s possible, the probability is too slim.”
“But your talk of loops and erasure is also just speculation, isn’t it?”
“I’m basing this on reasonable deductions from the existing clues.”
“Regardless, I refuse to believe that the [Mask] team would be wiped out in a place like this!”
“[Mask] are also human; they bleed and die. You can’t deny the facts just because of your subjective impressions.”
“That’s nonsense!”
The voices of An Qingyu and Bai Li Pangpang grew louder, their speech faster. Bai Li Pangpang’s face turned red, as if he was about to explode with anger, while An Qingyu’s brows furrowed tighter, showing no signs of backing down.
“Shut up!”
Lin Qiye suddenly spoke up, silencing both of them.
His gaze swept over the two, authority flashing in his eyes as he angrily said, “What are you arguing about? Is this the time for you to fight? Regardless of whether the [Mask] team is alive or dead, our primary goal is to find a way to leave this place!
If we can’t escape before the loop ends, we’ll all be done for!”
Seeing everyone quiet down, Lin Qiye took a deep breath and continued, “If, as Qingyu said, this time loop was caused by someone or something, it will inevitably trigger some supernatural anomalies. Let’s disperse according to last night’s groups and search. Once we find any clues, immediately notify the others.”
“Dismissed!”
As Lin Qiye’s words fell, Bai Li Pangpang secretly glanced at An Qingyu, seemingly wanting to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and walked alone toward the other side of the fishing village.
“Qiye…” An Qingyu took off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose, her brow furrowed as if she were tired. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to confront Pangpang just now. I…”
“It’s fine, I know you were just speaking the truth,” Lin Qiye patted her shoulder, comforting her. “Pangpang may seem carefree on the surface, but he actually has a delicate mind. In his heart, [Mask] is more than just a special team… he just hopes they can be safe.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” An Qingyu put her glasses back on, her bloodshot eyes looking at Lin Qiye seriously. “I couldn’t control my emotions… that’s very unusual.”
