Long Yuehong felt a chill run down his spine, as if the light within the forest had dimmed considerably.
Could the problem be on our side? he wondered involuntarily.
Jiang Baimian, clad in a military exoskeleton, first leaped onto the jeep's roof, then used the momentum to jump onto a nearby tree, surveying the surroundings.
After a few seconds, she spoke slowly:
"The anomaly isn't just in this forest; it's across the entire Corningmiss.
"The sky here has darkened significantly, and time seems to be frozen. The closer you get to the main urban area, the worse it gets."
It wasn't time that was frozen, but all kinds of movement.
Bai Chen tentatively guessed:
"Wei and Old Ge encountered something in Corningmiss's main urban area that triggered some kind of change?"
"Possibly." Jiang Baimian once again tried to contact Shang Jianyao and Gena via the military exoskeleton's communication system, but without success.
She had no choice but to jump down from the tree and say to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:
"Little Bai, put on the last military exoskeleton. Little Long, get into the 'Black Marsh Iron Serpent' bionic intelligent armor. We need to be on our guard, focus our attention, and prepare for the situation to worsen."
"Okay!" Long Yuehong replied immediately.
As he walked towards the jeep's trunk, he chuckled self-deprecatingly:
"I thought Wei and Old Ge hadn't encountered anyone from the Eighth Research Institute, but it turns out we did..."
In a flash, Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen turned their gazes towards him.
"Hurry up and put on the intelligent armor," Bai Chen urged.
Long Yuehong quickly shut his mouth and strode to the back of the jeep.
...
Shang Jianyao and Gena cautiously ventured deeper into Corningmiss along the street.
The illusions around them gradually increased, from just one or two figures to being all around them.
They were "Heartless," killing each other as if they were insane.
--In the outside world, unless they really couldn't find other food and were about to starve to death, the "Heartless" wouldn't attack their own kind.
"Judging from their clothing styles, this happened some time after the Old World's destruction," Gena communicated with Shang Jianyao through the communication system.
This inevitably brought with it rustling and buzzing sounds, giving the impression that the call could be interrupted at any moment.
"What do you mean by clothing styles from some time after the Old World's destruction?" Shang Jianyao asked whatever came to mind.
Gena honestly replied:
"The fabric is old, and the design has a pieced-together feel or strives for simplicity and practicality."
Shang Jianyao moved his neck up and down as he ran:
"This should be the scene when Corningmiss was destroyed by the 'Heartless Disease.' The chaotic electromagnetic environment recorded it and keeps replaying it."
Gena's main module naturally constructed a rough image of that moment:
No matter the reason, a large channel was opened between Corningmiss and the 'New World,' and the 'Heartless Disease' virus flooded in, accompanied by an electromagnetic eruption.
"How tragic..." Shang Jianyao said sincerely.
The next second, he said expectantly:
"Was the scene of the old tune team creating 'problems' recorded as well?
"That way, we might be able to easily investigate what happened back then!"
"Very likely; it just depends on which segment was recorded," Gena agreed.
Shang Jianyao instantly increased his speed, passing through the "Heartless" crowding the street, and Gena reacted quickly, seamlessly keeping up.
In the process, Shang Jianyao continued to hide his human consciousness to avoid being sensed by the people of the Eighth Research Institute from afar.
He and Gena ran for a while longer, approaching a plaza.
In the plaza, the originally faint mist was noticeably thicker, and the dimness was tinged with some black.
In this environment, a lamp was lit.
It was located in the center of the plaza, on the stone railing beside the dry fountain, surrounded by shadows, as if there were rows of illusory bookshelves.
On the side of the bookshelf, behind the reading desk, sat a man wearing a black t-shirt.
His head was buried low, in his raised palms, and his black hair was slightly messy and parted in a three-seven split.
Shang Jianyao and Gena simultaneously noticed that the "veins" on his neck were bulging, as if twisted earthworms were crawling there, and his entire body was trembling slightly.
This allowed them to intuitively feel the pain he was enduring without seeing his face.
"Another person from the 'New World'," Shang Jianyao slowed his pace, and his voice traveled from the communication system to Gena's "ears."
"Yes." Gena reminded, "But his condition doesn't seem very good, unlike Flora, Barnard, and Wu Meng from before."
Those three seemed relatively relaxed. Although the former two had their respective inconveniences, at least they didn't show obvious pain.
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"Are you trying to tell me not to interact with him?"
Gena didn't deny it:
"Yes. It's dangerous here. You've temporarily given up identifying corpses and only plan to quickly confirm the root of the problem. There's no need to create unnecessary complications."
"Understood," Shang Jianyao said with a smile, "Do I look like such a rash person?"
Gena didn't answer him.
Shang Jianyao then quickened his pace, proceeding somewhat stealthily.
His intentions were so obvious and simple that Gena saw through them at a glance:
He wanted to sneak across the plaza filled with "Heartless" illusions without attracting the attention of the "New World" man.
He can't see you or hear you, and you're still hiding your human consciousness, so he can't sense you... Gena wanted to say that this wasn't necessary, but ultimately chose to let him be.
Shang Jianyao, wearing the military exoskeleton, jogged towards the other side of the plaza, and Gena mimicked him, making himself look more like he fit in.
Suddenly, the black-haired man sitting behind the reading desk raised his head.
His expression was twisted into a grimace, and his slightly red eyes looked towards Shang Jianyao and Gena.
...
On the edge of Corningmiss, at the entrance to the western mountain area.
Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen, each wearing their gear, vigilantly monitored the distant and surrounding situation, guarding against accidents.
"I wonder when Wei and Old Ge will be able to return. This place gives me the creeps," Jiang Baimian said casually while maintaining a high degree of vigilance.
She didn't want her teammates to overexert themselves and snap the string in their minds.
Bai Chen pursed her lips and said:
"It's best to camp in the mountains later, putting some distance between us and Corningmiss."
This season, it was still snowing heavily outside the mountains, so the environment inside the mountains was more suitable, so Bai Chen didn't suggest retreating to the ice plains.
"Hmm..." Jiang Baimian had just made a nasal sound when her head suddenly became dizzy.
Although she had never been drunk, she had read relevant experimental reports and various books and had a certain understanding of similar situations. She felt that she was currently in a state of drunkenness.
"Enemy attack!" Jiang Baimian managed to shout.
At the same time, she quickly analyzed the current situation:
In this sparsely wooded area, the effects of催眠气体 (Hypnotic Gas) won't be too good. If the wind hadn't "stopped," it might not have any effect at all, and I'm wearing a helmet with a mask for protection. Even if I haven't activated the "Anti-Poison Filtration System," the situation shouldn't be this serious as soon as I noticed it...
It should be an Awakened ability, but I can't sense the other party's human consciousness or detect their bioelectric signals. This means that the enemy is likely an Awakened at the "心灵走廊 (Mind Corridor)" level, with a range of abilities far beyond mine...
How should I respond...
In her "drunk" state, Jiang Baimian's thinking gradually slowed down. Although she still clearly knew what she was doing and what she had to do, both her reactions and the speed at which her thoughts turned were noticeably slower.
Grasping a thought born from experience and inspiration, she shouted to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:
"Hide behind the jeep!"
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen also noticed the anomaly. Following Jiang Baimian's orders, they staggered towards the back of the jeep.
They behaved as if they were practicing drunken fist.
Two or three seconds later, Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen, aided by the military exoskeleton's "Comprehensive Early Warning System," simultaneously turned their bodies and heads, focusing their gazes on a certain spot outside the forest.
More than a hundred meters away, a figure emerged.
They were wearing equipment similar to the "Chameleon" series bionic intelligent armor but with certain differences, and they were approaching Jiang Baimian and the others.
This concealed their appearance and gender, and their height was around 1.7 meters.
Bang bang bang! Boom boom boom!
Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen fired their guns and launched grenades, simultaneously covering the enemy's direction with firepower.
But whether it was because they were in a "drunk" state or for other reasons, their bullets and grenades were incredibly off target, failing to effectively strike the target and only creating one bullet hole and shell crater after another in the distant mud.
The enemy wearing the bio-intelligent armor smiled:
"It seems you don't have any '心灵走廊 (Mind Corridor)' level Awakened on your side, which had me worried for a while."
The person had a female voice and spoke in Red River dialect.