Chapter 52
"A bunch of old fools, they're still not behaving even though they have one foot in the coffin."
Team leader Yi brushed the dust off his hands, took a mouthful of hot cocoa, licked the cocoa on his lips with satisfaction, and picked up a piece of burnt marshmallow with a teaspoon. The outer layer of the marshmallow was burnt crispy, but the inside was as smooth and creamy as butter.
Sweet and sweet delicacies are Team Leader Yi’s work fuel, but other people can’t enjoy such sugary foods.
The team member just took a sip and put it back.
"You should control your sugar intake," said a team member, looking at Team Leader Yi who had taken a swig of his own. "If you keep eating like this, you'll eat yourself to death without anyone bothering you."
Team leader Yi didn't care what his teammates said. He just drank the hot cocoa in big gulps. Only the excessive sugar could keep his brain functioning.
Team leader Yi rummaged through the drawer, found a document and threw it to the team members.
"What is this?" The team member took the document with a puzzled look on his face and began to read it.
"We've got a backup plan," Team Leader Yi said, chewing on a sweet marshmallow. "If anything goes wrong, we'll follow this plan."
"Accident?" The team member instantly became alert: "You mean there will be an accident during this operation?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm just being prepared," Team Leader Yi said, leaning back in his chair, spinning around with his mug in hand. "Who knows if those old guys will get desperate? It's always better to be prepared."
"Team Leader Yi, how many things are you hiding from us?"
"Alright, alright, go back to your work," Team Leader Yi waved his hand and began to send everyone away. "Focus on your experiment and stop worrying about other things."
The team member took the document and left Team Leader Yi's office. After leaving the office, he found an empty corner and looked around to make sure no one would come. Then he took out his mobile phone, edited a text message to an unknown account and sent it.
The team members' fingers kept tapping on the numeric keyboard, but their eyes were as dark as a pool of cold stagnant water.
Yi Donglin, sooner or later you will bring about your own destruction because of your arrogance.
—————
"Are you sure you're going this way?"
"This doesn't feel right. Have we been here before?"
"Have you encountered this crooked tree before?"
After leaving the beach, several people headed towards their final goal. Everyone wanted to complete the task as soon as possible and return home early.
Things often don't go as planned. After walking a short distance, the group got lost as if they were trapped in a maze.
At this point, the map was no longer necessary and had no practical use. There were thick and dense trees all around. Not only was it impossible to see the sky, but there were also no landmarks. After walking for a long time without seeing anything other than trees, the few people began to wonder if they were just going in circles.
"Yanhong, can't you climb up the tree and take a look?" Lu Shiyu asked.
Yan Hong sighed, not knowing where to start.
"Do you know why we had to walk here instead of just having a helicopter bring us here?"
"Uh, because of insufficient funds?"
Yan Hong was silent for two seconds.
"While there are such factors, the main problem is that the risk is too high."
Yanhong searched around on the ground, picked up a stone, threw it up and caught it again.
"Watch carefully."
After that, Yan Hong used her body to move her arms and threw the stone upwards. Lu Shiyu didn't understand what Yan Hong meant by this inexplicable action. His eyes subconsciously followed the movement of the stone, and then he saw that the stone that was originally moving upwards was suddenly entangled in the air by unidentified objects extending from all directions and thrown down, making a dent on the ground.
Lu Shiyu hurriedly stepped back, fearing that the stone would hit his head and break it.
"What is that?"
When I looked up again while waiting for the road, the people who threw the stones had disappeared.
"Those are just parts of this tree," Yan Hong scratched her head and corrected him, "Well, actually, I don't know if they can be considered as one. After all, I haven't studied it."
"Those vine-like things normally look like ordinary branches, but once they sense something passing overhead, they'll wrap around it and pull the object down in mid-air. It won't have much of an impact on people passing below, but anything flying in the sky will be in trouble."
Shao Xingyang also sighed. "The most troublesome thing is that these distorted trees are impossible to distinguish simply by appearance. Finding them one by one is too expensive, uneconomical, and impractical. There are even some around the base, so forget about using helicopters."
"It's not impossible, actually," Chen Yunliang said, pushing up his glasses. "As long as we fly high enough, we won't be reached by those things. But helicopters need a large open area to land, and there are almost no suitable places along the way. In other words, if you want to use a helicopter as a means of transportation, you have to fly out of the base in one go, fly to the destination, and then turn back. Helicopter gasoline is a scarce commodity. The price is one thing, and whether you can buy enough is another. Using it to rush is simply burning money. Oh, no, even if you burn money, it may not be that fast."
Yan Hong rolled her eyes. "Don't even mention the way they treat money like toilet paper! One trip could bankrupt a medium-sized company. Who would waste money like that?"
"I'm just speaking from a practical point of view. Whether or not anyone is willing to do it, it can be achieved."
"It's impossible to climb up the tree anyway. If we do, we'll be thrown down by those things," Yan Hong said. "Let's try walking a little further."
After several people's unremitting efforts, they were finally completely lost.
"I didn't expect to get stuck so close to our destination," Chen Yunliang sighed and shook his head. "Life is so unpredictable."
"What should we do now? Walking around without knowing where to go isn't a solution."
Just as they were standing there thinking about countermeasures, they suddenly saw a four-legged animal with a pair of curved horns, about the size of a rabbit.
Shao Xingyang pointed at the deformed creature and said jokingly, "If all else fails, we can just follow it. If we're lucky, it can get us out. If we're unlucky, it'll still guarantee us dinner."
As a result, the next second, the deformed creature just jumped forward twice, stepped into the trap, and was hung up by a rope.
Everyone immediately dropped their casual demeanor, surrounding Lu Shiyu, who had no ability to protect himself, and looked around vigilantly with their hands on their weapons.
The deformed creature had obviously stepped into a trap designed and prevented by humans, which meant that there were definitely other people here, and they had arrived here earlier than them.
Tang Zeyu looked at the deformed creature hanging in the air and still struggling, and began to analyze the possibilities.
Unless they have permission from the base, only the exploration team can go out, but he can be sure that only their exploration team has come here. If other exploration teams have arrived here before them, there is no need for the base to let them come.
Since they are not an exploration team, they can only be people like Lu Shiyu who have gone through a special application process to obtain permission to go out. This kind of application process is cumbersome and the review is strict. Ordinary people have probably never heard of it, let alone applying, so the person who came must be an internal member of the base management.
Most of the base's management are afraid of death. After all, no one would give up their luxurious and privileged life and run outside the base for a life-and-death adventure. This can rule out most people.
If all the conditions were met and he arrived here earlier than them, then it could only be...
"Huh? You caught him so quickly?"
A middle-aged man bent down and walked out from behind the tree and stretched. He seemed to have just woken up, and the leaves camouflaging on his body fell off one after another.
Chen Yunliang aimed his crossbow at the middle-aged man, while Yan Hong and Chen Yunliang had already drawn their swords and rushed towards him.
Tang Zeyu's pupils suddenly narrowed when she saw the man's face clearly.
"stop!"
Chen Yunliang and Yan Hong froze in their tracks, their four knives already on the middle-aged man's neck. If the man moved again, blood would immediately gush out of his neck.
Although the two were puzzled, they did not object to Tang Zeyu's order. They just couldn't figure out what Tang Zeyu wanted to do and didn't know whether to put down the knife in their hands.
"Where did these kids come from?" The middle-aged man pushed the blade in front of him away with disdain and said, "What did your parents teach you? Pointing knives at people right away. You have no manners at all."
"You two put down your knives," Tang Zeyu said, pressing down Chen Yunliang's crossbow. "You put it down too."
Several people did as they were told. After Yan Hong and Shao Xingyang put down their knives, they were caught off guard by a slap on the back of their heads by the middle-aged man. Although it didn't hurt, it was completely beyond their expectations. They could see shock and confusion in each other's eyes.
"Professor Chen, why are you here?" Tang Zeyu took the initiative to walk up and say hello.
"Why can't I be here? Is this your house? Why do you care so much? I can go wherever I want."
"I did not mean that……"
Professor Chen completely ignored him, and Tang Zeyu was not surprised. After all, Professor Chen has always had this bad temper since he met him. He can't get along with anyone and never says a nice word. It's as if he is talking to people to deliberately piss them off.
Professor Chen looked at the people in the team, glanced at Tang Zeyu and said, "Are these the members of your team?"
"yes."
"Hmph, that's not very good."
From an angle that the middle-aged man couldn't see, Chen Yunliang, Shaoxingyang and Yanhong were exchanging glances. Shaoxingyang was shocked by the sudden appearance of this unknown uncle, while Yanhong disliked this weird uncle who spoke in a sarcastic tone. Chen Yunliang listened to his conversation with Tang Zeyu and felt that the two seemed to have some personal relationship, and he felt troubled.
Professor Chen's gaze suddenly stopped when it fell on Lu Shiyu who had been standing behind Tang Zeyu.
"Is this girl also a member of your team?"
"She's not," Tang Zeyu said truthfully, "I invited her to come along, and she went through a special application process. She's not a member of the exploration team."
Professor Chen immediately looked at Tang Zeyu with disdain: "Do you still think you are a three-year-old child? You are so reckless! How dare you bring ordinary people from the base out!"
Tang Zeyu sighed, "Let's not talk about me for now. Why are you here? This is so far from the base, and you don't have anyone with you..."
"Go away, who said I didn't bring anyone with me?" Professor Chen said, smoothing his graying hair with his hand. "I did bring my real apprentice with me."
Tang Zeyu looked around but didn't see anyone, so he asked, "Where's your apprentice?"
These words were like a fuse that instantly ignited Professor Chen.
"Whether my apprentice lives or dies is none of your business!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
