Chapter 119 Where Did the Dense Forest Go?
You were woken up by screaming.
Even the slightest movement produces a rattling sound, like plastic film.
besides--
The sounds included light bird calls, deep, continuous roars like those of wild beasts, and even the rustling of something crawling.
You suddenly open your eyes, but everything in front of you feels like it's covered in a layer of fog, making you feel nauseous.
Not just your eyes, your whole body is drenched in sweat. You're not fully awake yet, but you already feel unbearably hot and humid, and a sense of unease weighs on your mind.
The scream continued, followed by a low, hushed murmur that sounded very harsh, like a reprimand…
You wiped your face and then realized that you were sleeping in a tent.
You slowly sit up, fully awake, but feel as if you're still dreaming.
Through the tent, a lush green canopy falls upon you.
Your bangs clung tightly to your skin, and the back of your shirt was soaked with sweat.
You numbly put on your clothes, knowing that every breath feels like you're inhaling paste, and you can hardly breathe.
The chorus of mosquitoes and birdsong was even clearer, overlapping and densely packed together.
Where...where were you thrown?
While rummaging through the tent to see if they could figure out what was going on, they found another smelly sleeping bag next to their own in this small tent.
If I'm not mistaken, the person sleeping there was probably your roommate?
You were lost in thought when you heard a "whoosh!" from one corner of the tent.
You were so startled that you assumed a fighting stance, and only when you cautiously approached did you realize it was a walkie-talkie.
"Get up quickly, put on your clothes, something's happened to Carlos!" Amidst the crackling of electricity, the woman's whimpering voice had no human quality whatsoever.
this…
We have no choice but to go out and take a look.
Without time to look for any other clues, you hurriedly put on your shoes, grabbed what you didn't even know was your backpack, and cautiously walked out.
The moment your head peeks out of the tent, your eyes widen instantly.
Surrounded by dark green leaves, with water mist clearly visible at knee height, the light overhead seemed to shine through the water.
This is a dense forest.
You were tilting your head back, mouth slightly open, looking a bit dazed, when suddenly someone tugged at your arm.
? ?
The newcomer was a white woman with her golden-brown curly hair tied up, wearing a jumpsuit that—you don’t know how to categorize it, but it looked like camouflage.
Seeing you standing there dumbfounded, she snapped her fingers in front of your face with one hand urgently: "Move quickly, they need our help over there!"
As she spoke, she pulled you along and started jogging on the slippery ground.
You try asking, "What happened?"
As she pushed aside the bushes, she said urgently, "Carlos left the group without permission after only being away for a short while. He insisted on climbing that fault line, saying he could take 'panoramic views of the earth', and now he's fallen right down! The professor hasn't arrived yet; we need to get him out first and find out if his bones are broken!"
She spoke quickly, but you already have a general idea of the situation.
"What kind of scenery is what kind of land?" Professor?
So, since I'm a geology student, and if I'm not mistaken, I'm currently on a field expedition with my professor.
But what worries me more is this: your babbling has been honed to a high level, but in the sentence that girl just said, you used several technical terms that I couldn't understand.
If it's a scientific expedition, you'll inevitably have to discuss a lot of specialized knowledge with others. If you're completely clueless at that point, you're doomed.
I'm not sure if I'll have enough personal time to memorize vocabulary.
Looking at the environment right now, the thought of potentially having a language barrier with your close "companions" in this wild nature gives you a huge headache.
As you run, you traverse extremely damp vines and dense forests, the bark of the trees along the way covered in moss, and some sections are not paths at all, but rather tracks left by countless footsteps.
You pretend to be calm, stick close to the blonde girl, don't speak first, and rely on her constant chatter to piece together the current situation.
"I hope he didn't break his spine... Seriously, how did he even pass the pre-registration selection?? How could he be so stupid..." She suddenly turned to look at you, "Hey, did you remember to bring a tourniquet or something?"
You reacted quickly, flipping open a corner of the backpack, hoping there might be something useful inside.
Unfortunately, there is no first-aid kit here.
With a quick glance, you pulled out a quick-drying towel that looked used but had been carelessly tossed into your backpack—you rubbed your fingers together with a hint of disgust—and held it up to the blonde girl with a nonchalant air, saying, "The first-aid kit isn't with me. I couldn't find it, so I rushed over and grabbed this. It can be used to temporarily press on the wound."
She glanced at you with a helpless expression, and didn't say anything, which was considered an admission.
After crossing the last slope, you arrive at the site.
Ahead lay a steep, sloping cliff, clearly the collapse having occurred recently. The soil had been violently torn apart, vines hung precariously, large trees had fallen, and their dense root systems were exposed.
You have arrived at the scene of the incident.
A young man with dark tan skin was hanging from something that looked like a vine or a tree. Sigh, this vegetation is too complicated for you to understand.
His left leg was stuck in a collapsed layer of soil, and he was hanging in mid-air like a monkey that had accidentally fallen into a trap.
You're almost feeling like a homeless person because of this humid and hot weather, but this guy, who I think is called "Carlos," is very well-groomed. He seems to have styled his hair in a side part early in the morning and is wearing a neck full of finger accessories.
At this moment, all the ornaments were hanging haphazardly on the tree branches, and he looked as if he was about to be strangled even if he didn't fall.
Seeing that more people were coming, he moved excitedly and let out a howl of pain.
"Don't move! I'm recording this to give to the professor as evidence!"
A chuckling voice rang out, and you then noticed a tall, thin boy with messy blond hair filming a video.
Beside him, a girl with an Asian face stood like a ghost, silently watching you and the blonde girl.
You notice the walkie-talkie clipped to her waist, which is probably the message she sends to you.
The girl with golden-brown hair ran up to him: "Carlos, it's me, Becca. Can you still recognize me? Are you still conscious? Can you move any part of your body?"
"I...I'm fully conscious, but I'm about to pass out! My left leg...is stuck...I—I can't move!" Carlos screamed desperately, perhaps because Becca, who seemed anxious to save him, had finally arrived. His decibels were loud enough to alarm the burglar alarms on the entire street.
"Max, stop recording and come help me," Becca called out to the boy holding the camera.
The latter muttered "okay" but didn't actually do anything.
What about you? Do you want to join?
You have a feeling that leaving your companion in distress is a bad omen, and you don't even know your own identity yet. Becca says that coming here requires a selection process, and what if one of the criteria for being chosen is that you have strong survival and emergency response knowledge and skills?
You can't let your public image crumble.
Watching Becca frantically trying to reach the slippery tree trunk with a rope you had no idea what it was for, you immediately looked around and saw several thick vines wrapped around the edge of the cliff. You weren't sure if they were sturdy, but they might be used for temporary support.
He said to Becca with delight, "I'll go check if the vines can support the weight."
"Are you sure?" She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know how to test these things?"
You immediately flash a knowing smile, but don't say much. You turn around, grab one end of the vine, and pull it down hard to see if it will break—you don't really know what a stress test is, but you know that "pretending to know" is sometimes safer than actually doing it.
“It’s still tight,” you said.
Becca immediately chimed in, "Then try to go down a little and see from behind how deep he's stuck."
? ?
"You?" You tried to hide the astonishment on your face.
“Put this on,” Becca said, taking out a safety rope and tying it around your waist. “Be careful when you go down.”
You nodded, resigned to your fate, and carefully pulled yourself down along the vine.
You appear calm, composed, and confident, but in reality, your heart is pounding so hard it's almost deafening, yet your muscles remain firmly taut.
You know—Becca is watching you. Any sign of weakness now would not only make others think you "don't belong here," but more importantly, it could cost you your life.
Take a deep breath, take a deep breath, stay calm... If Carlos can stay down for so long, you won't be in danger either...
You don't know if you're comforting yourself or simply brainwashing yourself.
Fortunately, everything went relatively smoothly.
You slowly slide down to Carlos's side.
In just a short while, his face began to turn pale, his lips turned even more purple, and his eyes rolled back. He looked like a cluster of blood vessels about to burst.
“I’m to your left,” you whisper, beginning to quickly observe his positioning.
The rock strata were interlocking, and his left leg was stuck very deep, but there were no obvious signs of twisting. You gently padded his knee with a towel, pressing down on a sharp rock edge.
"Could you move your foot a little?" you asked.
Carlos was a little slow to react. You had to raise your voice: "Wake up! I'm here to save you, now move your foot!"
He seemed to finally wake up: "I'll try—Aaaaaah!!"
He cried out in pain, and the sound was even more alarming in your ear.
Your head was throbbing from the noise, so you finally let go: "Don't move, let me calm you down first."
You notice a pale red mark below his ankle, as if something had scratched it, but you don't say anything, you just frown.
“Becca, I’ve made contact with him,” you shout, as you struggle to put the safety rope around Carlos as well.
Seeing Carlos's pained expression, you could only continue calling out to them, "He can't move! People up there, come and help pull us both up!"
Becca's voice came through immediately: "I've grabbed him, try to pull him up slowly! Mina is holding his hand too!"
Looking at this tall, strong yet incredibly fragile boy, you sighed inwardly, but outwardly continued to comfort him to prevent him from yelling again.
With great effort, you lift Carlos up, using the vines and his own upper body weight to guide him to sit up slightly.
The whole process felt psychologically slow, almost like it had stopped. You were afraid of being dragged down by this person, and you were also afraid of the people above causing trouble.
Half an hour later, you and Becca finally pulled Carlos back to the edge.
You slump down on the wet ground, exhausted and covered in mud. Becca pats you on the shoulder and hands you a small energy drink: "You did a great job... I remember you studied geological information analysis, I didn't expect you to be so capable in practice."
You nodded, intending to be modest, but then you thought that since you didn't know whether it would be better to be seen as a capable person or the other way around, you simply gave a polite smile.
Becca walked away to contact the professor. You swallowed the water, turned your head and glanced at Carlos, who was leaning against the ground with his eyes half open, groaning in pain.
Max, who was holding the camera, was very excited, and now he's using his phone to take pictures like crazy.
You see him recording a "quick shot"—a type of instant video posted on the Pink Camera app.
You were really exhausted, which is why you were in a daze for a moment.
But they soon realized something was wrong.
The place you're in looks really primitive.
There's a network signal here?
You walk over, feigning curiosity: "Do you also use the pink camera? We can take some quick photos together, and I'll tag you in the comments."
“Okay.” Max was very outgoing and immediately put his arm around your shoulder, taking five or six quick photos of you grinning with big teeth on his phone, the screen filled with “arms | muscles” effects. “Add me quickly, so I can tag you.”
"I rushed over in such a hurry that I didn't bring my phone," you said casually. "But your signal is so good! I seem to have trouble connecting to the internet."
Max burst into laughter.
"I remember you're from the Flower Country, right?"
You nodded, not quite understanding what was going on.
“No offense intended.” Max shrugged. “Our government is committed to ensuring that every American citizen, wherever they are, has access to the digital economy. That’s why I can connect.”
“And if you’re using a smartphone, it’s even less likely you’ll be able to connect to the internet, since we in the US are already using 6G technology,” Max said cheerfully.
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Author's note: Hehe, I bet you'd never guess! :P
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