Chapter 492 Time Island

I looked at the old-fashioned kerosene lamp.

It looked like just a clean iron lantern, but the light inside was extraordinary. It was a flame radiating a pure white glow. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it wasn't even a flame, but rather a concentrated white light that resembled a flame.

Even when he was unscrewing the nearby steel pipes, the draftsman hadn't put the lantern down. He'd only hung it on his cloak, keeping it constantly by his side. This shows how much he valued the lantern.

I could sense a strange and faint fluctuation emanating from the lantern. Unlike the magical fluctuations of a witcher, it was more like the rhythm of nature. To be able to sense such a fluctuation in this land where nature itself had died was truly rare.

"What is this?" I asked.

“This is a blessing,” the cartographer said.

“Blessing…” I said, “is it the ‘blessing’ of the monks?”

Is this lantern, emitting white light, related to the source of the blessing monk's power?

"I don't know, I just remember it's called Blessing, and that's what other people call it too," the cartographer said. "Blessing refers to the white light inside this lantern, and there's also a Blessing light in my safe house."

"Blessings attract each other. In other words, as long as we hold this lantern, even if we don't know where the way back is, as long as we keep walking, we can be lucky enough to return to our safe house. This is also the only way for us to return."

“Once we lose this blessing, we will be lost in a chaotic space.”

"Then... what about time?" I asked. "Based on my vague memories, time after the apocalypse should also be chaotic. It's possible that you walked outside for a few hours, and when you returned to the safe house, several years had passed..."

As I spoke, I glanced at his back. He was carrying a large, dark yellow backpack, which was now flat and didn't seem to hold much.

"The reason you left the safe house to venture outside was probably to gather supplies, right?" I continued. "Even if you gather supplies as quickly as possible, your companions waiting inside the safe house might not see you return. By the time you see them again, they might have already starved to death, or even turned into skeletons... That's entirely possible, isn't it?"

"You mentioned before that the time it took us to arrive at the safe house had nothing to do with the time it took us on the way. Is that what you meant?"

“Half right. Chaotic time is also a great enemy of us survivors.” The cartographer answered patiently, “Sometimes, the person you met not long ago may be very old the next time you meet them; or the person you are meeting for the first time may have met you many times and acted very familiar with you.”

"If you get separated from your partner, they may not recognize you when you meet them again. This may not be because they have forgotten you, but it may be because you have met a partner you knew before."

“In extremely rare cases, you might even encounter your past self or your future self… Although I don’t remember ever having that happen to me, I’ve heard that others have.”

I had only mentioned it based on my own understanding of the apocalyptic era, but I never expected the cartographer to bring up so many possibilities that I hadn't considered before, each one sounding so incredible.

In other words, even if I find Xiaowan in the post-apocalyptic era, she might not even recognize me as "Number Three"... Could I even encounter Xiaowan back when she was still teaming up with Asahi?

Could it be that even though Asaha has already traveled to the modern world, I could still encounter Asaha in the post-apocalyptic era?

Thinking about the worst-case scenario, whether I can find Xiaowan before she dies doesn't seem to depend on how quickly I act, but rather on luck and fate... However, in terms of luck and fate, Xiaowan and I have plenty, so perhaps there's no need to worry so much in this situation...

All sorts of possibilities blossomed in my mind, giving me a new understanding of the incredible nature of the apocalyptic era.

"If you see a living person who looks exactly like you, I suggest you don't get close. Regardless of whether it's a monster impersonating you, even if it really is you from a different time, it might not be friendly to you," the cartographer said in a cautionary tone. "The apocalypse will lead everything to madness and destruction. Even the established past will become uncertain under its influence, and then be distorted into a morbid shape, not to mention the future with its countless possibilities."

"At different times, you might try to destroy everything you have now, or you might pretend to cooperate but actually intend to lead you to destruction and twist you into a morbid personality just like your own... It's better to just treat it as some kind of weirdness."

Could someone like me, who possesses some degree of temporal and spatial transcendence, possibly be distorted into a morbid and insane form at different times? Although it's not easy to imagine, I'll reserve my opinion for now and keep it in mind as a precaution.

“There’s no need to be so nervous. With the guidance of the blessing, we won’t get lost in the chaos of time, and we won’t be so likely to encounter those absurd time distortions.” The cartographer said, holding the lantern. “The problem you just raised can also be solved with the light of the blessing. With this lantern, we can return to the safe house at the right time.”

After thinking for a moment, I asked, "You mean... there's a connection between the blessing of this lantern and the blessing of the safe house, allowing the flow of time on both sides to be stably synchronized?"

“The speed of time flow… is not like that.” The cartographer seemed to be carefully choosing his words. “No matter how much time we spend outside, when we return to the safe house, our companions inside will definitely not be starving to death.”

"It sounds like a virtual game." I tried to understand this narrative of time in my own way.

"A virtual game?" the cartographer wondered.

In most virtual games, once a player receives a main quest such as "rescue the hostage from the kidnappers," the kidnappers will not kill the hostage, no matter how much time is wasted on the journey or how many irrelevant side quests are completed. Only when the player advances the main quest to the next stage will the game enter the phase where the kidnappers intend to kill the hostage, at which point the player will have ample opportunity to rescue the hostage.

I used to think that the flow of time in the post-apocalyptic era was different in each region, but in reality, time might not "flow" at all in the post-apocalyptic era; instead, it might all become fragmented and isolated.

Survivors can move from one fragment of time to another, but this movement is random and beyond their control. This is why they sometimes enter the past and sometimes the future, resulting in a chaotic situation.

Only by relying on the guidance of blessings, and the connection between blessings, can one leap to the right island in the endless ocean of fragments of time.

However, these are just my subjective speculations. Perhaps the chaos of the apocalypse will surpass even this "time island theory" that I just came up with.

The more I thought about it, the more invigorated I felt. It was as if I had entered a truly unpredictable magical realm that transcended everything in the past.

While exchanging ideas, the cartographers also led the way by exploring abandoned amusement parks.

He seemed able to determine the direction he should move by observing the flickering of the blessing lamps, much like a Taoist priest using a compass to assess feng shui. Along the way, one could see restaurants and other establishments located inside abandoned amusement parks. At this point, the cartographer would go in and scavenge for supplies, looking for any unexpired or spoiled ingredients or canned goods.

Food and water are a matter of life and death for survivors, so I certainly wouldn't ask the other person to skip even this short period of time. Although I didn't need food or water, I still helped scavenge for supplies. The cartographer hadn't completely let go of his scrutiny and suspicion of me yet, so I tacitly maintained a basic safe distance from him, taking the opportunity to exchange ideas and brush up on my knowledge of the post-apocalyptic world. It was quite a meaningful amount of time.

We scavenged and moved along, and after a while, we arrived at the pirate ship ride. Just like I had before, the cartographer noticed that the bloodstains around us were mixed with fresh blood, and he also discovered the shoe print.

"Were there any living people passing by here recently?" the cartographer pondered.

"Are you planning to find another person to join the team?" I asked.

“Of course, even with you joining, there will only be four people in our safe house, while a healthy squad should ideally have five,” the cartographer said.

I just wanted to get clues about the small bowl from his companions; I didn't really intend to join their team.

"Do you have a way to trace the owner of the shoe print? As far as I can see, the shoe print seems to have disappeared," I said.

"We'll have to try our luck," the cartographer muttered to himself, "regarding this direction..."

His voice became soft, and his eyes slowly closed as if he were entering a meditative state.

At the same time, he raised the lantern and held it very close to his face, as if to allow the blessed white light to penetrate his eyelids and enter his meditation.

I didn't disturb him. After a moment, the cartographer opened his eyes and said with certainty, "Go in this direction."

He took a step forward, and I followed closely behind. As we moved, the surrounding scenery began to shift strangely once again.

(End of this chapter)