Squid Who Loves Diving
Chapter 114: Setting Off Again
Shang Jianyao had experienced this situation once before, but at that time, Jiang Bai Mian had indicated that she would remain in the room next to the next one, and would not leave.
In the darkness where he couldn't even see his own fingers, Shang Jianyao seemed to have adapted a lot, and he didn't feel any fear.
He thought for a moment, then left his position, bypassed the corner of the desk in his memory, and came to the relatively empty sofa area.
Then, he slowly sat down, sat on the cold ground, and crossed his legs.
In the solidified darkness, Shang Jianyao maintained this posture, raised his right hand, and pinched his temples.
Soon, his head drooped, and he fell asleep sitting like this.
He definitely couldn't maintain his balance, and his body tilted to the side little by little, leaning against the sofa, his head resting on the armrest.
............
Inside the illusory sea of flowing light, Shang Jianyao once again saw that island of muddy brown soil and jagged rocks.
--As long as he couldn't persevere and woke up due to fear, then the next time he entered, he would definitely not be on the island, but in the "Sea of Origin" next to it.
Shang Jianyao had long been accustomed to the current environment, quickly lowered his head, and looked at the blurry self reflected in the illusory water waves.
He opened his mouth in a low voice:
"The island is very dark, and Room 14 is also very dark;
"There are no sounds other than my own on the island, and there are no sounds other than my own in Room 14;
"So?"
Shang Jianyao paused for a moment and answered his own question:
"Therefore, the island is Room 14."
As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the edge of the island with a deep darkness remaining in his eyes and flipped up.
Without any surprises, his eyes turned pitch black again, and all sounds other than his own disappeared from his ears again.
Shang Jianyao sat down without hesitation, sat on the cold ground, and crossed his legs.
This was exactly the same as the posture he had before falling asleep.
The surrounding darkness and silence made him feel familiar, and he seemed to be able to point out that there was a single sofa on his right, a coffee table in front of him, a chair with a backrest, a bench, and a stool.
And in the room next to the next one, Jiang Bai Mian was waiting for him to shout if anyone was there.
Shang Jianyao's mood instantly calmed down, and like the previous two nights, he began to think about the various things he had encountered recently, guessing what types of sacraments other cult organizations had.
This made him raise his right hand from time to time and wipe the corner of his mouth. Only when he thought that the sacrament of the Monk Order was likely to be engine oil and batteries did he shake his head and express his deep regret.
Time flew by, and Shang Jianyao wanted to stand up and sing loudly or ask if anyone was there several times, but he forcibly controlled himself.
Anyway, Jiang Bai Mian was in the room next to the next one.
When he controlled himself again and again, and no other accidents happened, he began to feel that such darkness and such silence seemed nothing great, and could not destroy him at all.
He even sang softly, content and at ease.
He didn't know how long had passed, but Shang Jianyao was really a little sleepy, so he closed his eyes indifferently to recharge his energy.
Then, he really fell asleep.
Suddenly, a pure light shone into here, making his eyes a fiery red.
Shang Jianyao opened his eyes and saw the surrounding darkness being quickly dispelled, and heard the slight rustling of the illusory sea.
Large swaths of the island's deep brown soil and jagged rocks appeared.
The light then pierced his eyes, causing him to subconsciously raise his right hand and block it in front of him.
After closing and opening his eyes again, Shang Jianyao saw the glowing fluorescent lamp, and the off-white and gray ceiling.
He realized that he was leaning on the armrest of the single sofa, sleeping in a messy posture.
Because Room 14 had light and no longer met the preset conditions, his "Reasoning Clown" had failed.
Shang Jianyao immediately turned his wrist and looked at his watch.
The hands showed that it was now 6:30.
This was the time when the streetlights were restored to power.
Shang Jianyao closed his eyes again, not knowing what he was sensing.
Then, he supported himself on the armrest and looked to the side towards the door.
In just a few seconds, slight footsteps approached, and Jiang Bai Mian appeared at the door with her clothes wrinkled.
She rubbed her eyes while looking at Shang Jianyao on the ground, and asked curiously and amusedly:
"What are you doing?"
"Maintaining the unity of internal and external postures." Shang Jianyao said a truth that most people could not understand.
Jiang Bai Mian was stunned at first, and then realized:
"You're trying to face the fear in the 'Sea of Origin' again?
"Did you win?"
"I guess I won, although it didn't admit defeat, it didn't appear again." Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said.
Jiang Bai Mian immediately became very interested:
"Then what changes have occurred in your ability?"
After speaking, she quickly added:
"You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient."
Shang Jianyao said frankly:
"This time it seems that only the range has changed.
"It's improved a bit compared to before, but not too much.
"When you are twelve or thirteen meters away, I can detect your existence, and I feel that I can make your hands miss a movement."
"Hands miss a movement... what was the previous range of this ability?" Jiang Bai Mian asked.
"Ten meters." Shang Jianyao did not hide anything.
"That's an increase of almost thirty percent... this is only the first fear, when you defeat more and find yourself again, your ability might double, or even triple or quadruple." Jiang Bai Mian smiled thoughtfully, "So your sensing range is the range of your ability."
"According to the ability with the largest range." Shang Jianyao pointed out the imprecision in Jiang Bai Mian's statement.
Jiang Bai Mian asked curiously:
"Is the range of other abilities less than ten meters?"
"'Reasoning Clown' was originally three meters, and 'Affected Person' was originally five meters." Shang Jianyao replied seriously.
Jiang Bai Mian immediately felt a little embarrassed:
"Stop, stop, stop, this is your secret, you can't say it so detailed."
Shang Jianyao glanced at her, and said in a deep but not low voice:
"The four of us can be considered companions who have experienced life and death together several times. In most cases, I think we can be trusted, we can protect each other's flanks and backs, and we can charge together..."
"Stop! You're a repeater!" Jiang Bai Mian couldn't help but scold with a smile.
This was the rhetoric she used last night to resolve Shang Jianyao's inner fear.
Not giving this guy a chance to jump in thought, Jiang Bai Mian quickly asked:
"Since you've already won, why haven't you gotten up yet? Is it comfortable to sit cross-legged on the ground?"
Shang Jianyao replied sincerely:
"Because my legs are numb."
"..." Jiang Bai Mian laughed, "Do you need me to help you up?"
"No need." Shang Jianyao responded indifferently.
Jiang Bai Mian was about to say don't be stubborn when she saw Shang Jianyao support himself with both hands, flip his body, and turn upside down.
Turned upside down...
Then, Shang Jianyao used his hands as feet and walked easily and happily towards the door.
"..." Jiang Bai Mian was speechless.
............
The next day, at nine in the morning, in the parking lot of the "Pangu Biology" surface area.
"Still the old partner." Jiang Bai Mian pointed to the spacious gray-green jeep, "It has been repaired."
She glanced over the excited Shang Jianyao, the quiet Bai Chen, and Long Yuehong, who was filled with low emotions, and asked:
"Have you all read the mission plan?
"Do you have any questions about our route?"
"No!" Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen responded loudly.
The restraint that the latter had when he first joined the "Old Task Force" had lessened by more than half.
"No." Long Yuehong was a little weak today.
Jiang Bai Mian ignored him, opened the trunk, and pointed to the items inside:
"Still the same weapons as before, 'Ice Moss' pistol, 'Joint 202', 'Orange' rifle, 'Berserker' assault rifle, and 'Tyrant' grenade launcher, um, to make up for the lack of heavy firepower, this time I applied for an anti-armor shoulder-fired single-soldier rocket launcher, its nickname is 'Grim Reaper'.
"The corresponding ammunition is very sufficient, and in addition, some common specifications of bullets have also been prepared.
"There is more food prepared than before. After we finish Shuiwei Town, we have to rush to Wildgrass City as soon as possible. It is best not to delay on the way. Although there have always been intelligence personnel investigating there, it doesn't matter much if we are missing, but we still have to do our part. Saving people is like putting out a fire.
"Moreover, it's almost winter, and it's difficult to find enough food in the wild..."
After explaining various matters, Jiang Bai Mian asked:
"Do you have any questions?"
When Bai Chen and Long Yuehong shook their heads, Shang Jianyao stepped forward and asked:
"When do we set off?"
"...Now." Jiang Bai Mian grinded her teeth.
They entered the jeep as before, with Jiang Bai Mian driving, passed through layers of inspections, went out of the heavy metal gate, and entered the graylands.
Unlike the last time, they all wore sunglasses in advance and were not stung by the morning sun.
While the team members admired the surrounding scenery, Jiang Bai Mian quietly drove the car.
After breaking away from the company's actual control range, she suddenly turned the steering wheel and changed the route.
"Team leader, are we going the wrong way?" Long Yuehong glanced at the sun to confirm the direction.
"No." Jiang Bai Mian responded with a smile.
Long Yuehong asked in confusion:
"But this is different from the mission plan."
Jiang Bai Mian curled the corners of her mouth and smiled very proudly:
"That's to deceive the deputy minister and the others."
"Why?" Long Yuehong was even more puzzled.
Jiang Bai Mian looked at Shang Jianyao through the rearview mirror:
"'Life Ritual' cult must have other members in the graylands, after all, it was introduced from the outside. I'm worried that the cultists lurking inside the company secretly obtained our mission plan and tried to notify their companions on the surface to set up an ambush and intercept us.
"So, from the beginning, I didn't plan to execute the route on the mission plan. Hehe, asking you is to make it more realistic."
Bai Chen in the passenger seat listened thoughtfully:
"Team leader, are you still worried that there are people from the 'Life Ritual' cult among the senior management, and this mission is a trap?"
Jiang Bai Mian smiled:
"It's better to be prepared than not. More planning is better than less."
Long Yuehong unconsciously began to look at the team leader's back with admiration again, while Shang Jianyao hummed a song, seemingly not caring at all.
Under the bright sunshine, the jeep turned another corner and continued to gallop through the wilderness.
............
"Pangu Biology," in a certain unmanned room.
Yue Qifan, who had the ability of "fragmented memory erasure," wore a baseball cap and tiptoed into the room.
There was no light here, but it was not dark, because there were one small LCD screen after another on the surrounding walls, connected together, displaying the situation on different floors and different areas.
As the light changed, Yue Qifan bowed his head to the machine that occupied at least a third of the space here and called out:
"Holy Teacher."
An emotionless electronic synthesized voice sounded through the speakers:
"Tell the members who have not been exposed not to do anything for these three months."
"Yes, Holy Teacher." Yue Qifan answered without hesitation.
Then he raised his head.
Suddenly, he saw the countless LCD screens on the surrounding walls jumping, showing his own figure.
There was him wearing a baseball cap and contacting Xiong Ming; there was him taking the elevator to the 495th floor; there was him confronting Shang Jianyao; there was him humming a song, pretending to be normal; there was him fleeing in a hurry; there was him sneaking into a place and making a phone call...
Yue Qifan's pupils suddenly dilated, and he was so tense that he seemed about to explode, and he even forgot to refute a few words.
A few seconds later, many, many more Shang Jianyaos appeared on those LCD screens:
Some of them were experimenting with their abilities, some were making faces at the camera, some were shining a flashlight upwards, some were chatting with Xiong Ming in the corner, some were making indecent gestures, and some were walking upside down in the corridor...
"Holy Teacher..." Yue Qifan cried out in a low voice with a numb scalp.
That emotionless, cold voice sounded again, echoing throughout the room:
"I said, I am always watching you."
(End of this volume)