Chapter 849 - 848: An Unexpected Incident

Chapter 849: Chapter 848: An Unexpected Incident

In the Old World, within the eerie forest formed by the "Tree Angel," expedition teams cautiously expand the activity range of the Special Service Bureau.

Thick fog floats in the depths of the forest as if tangible, the "thick fog area" and "non-fog area" distinct as if separated by an invisible barrier. The silhouettes of towering trees stand faintly within the mist opposite, countless vines and branches extend from the fog, inexplicably reminiscent of the blood vessels and nerves of this forest.

The slight hissing of power armor joints moving can be heard approaching, as a deep dive team arrives at a barely open clearing in the dense forest. One of the deep divers cautiously releases the load buckle on his armor, slowly placing a device previously attached to the power armor on the ground.

"The diffusion device has been delivered to the designated task location," the squad leader beside him watches closely, reporting the situation to the superiors. "The current time is... the fog zone boundary is stable, activating diffusion in three minutes."

A Spiritual Servant from Algerde approaches the device, beginning to check the device’s container and rune set according to the instructions.

The Elf Girl opens her helmet mask, her starry eyes flashing with curiosity as she feels a sense of closeness drawn from the faint aura emitted by the device’s container. Meanwhile, the mysterious talismans from the Feiyu Star Domain’s artifact refining technology catch her attention.

"It’s truly incredible... I studied their ’artifact refining’ technology as an exchange student at Qianfeng Ling Mountain, but back then, what the Master taught seemed somewhat different from this," the Spiritual Servant murmurs, "the spirituality-guided talismans can be arranged like this..."

"How many years have you graduated now? Perhaps the technology has improved," a nearby deep diver says casually. "Plus, I heard the artifact refining masters cooperating with the travel agency are not ordinary; they’re the secluded kind, burying themselves in some closed facility for over a hundred years..."

Another deep diver comes over: "Hey, I heard those three masters are actually released convicts..."

"Who did you hear that from?"

"Lingdang said it, the Jipro cat headed one who usually runs around with team leader 6, my Spiritual Servant’s second cousin’s third uncle’s nephew is Lingdang’s second uncle’s neighbor, you know, gossip travels at the speed of light among Gyprolians..."

Amid the chatter of the two deep divers, another small figure emerges, a mass-produced Puppet accompanying the team.

The little one keeps a straight face, ignoring the chatter beside him, only meticulously executing the basic instructions in its Mind—these mass-produced Puppets are like this, silently fulfilling tasks, rarely interacting with people, appearing very aloof.

Except when hearing short jokes.

The Little Puppet approaches the diffusion device, activating the rune set atop the container.

Thin wisps of red mist quietly appear in the air, quickly drifting towards a mist wall standing like a sky-high barrier in the forest not far away.

The blood-red swiftly stains the thick fog, then the entire mist wall begins to writhe as if alive and quickly recedes towards the surroundings...

The hum of anti-gravity generators crosses the forest canopy, a medium-sized reconnaissance drone flying close to the edge of the slowly moving mist wall, its camera sweeping continuously over the forest, transmitting data back to the temporary command center in the "vestibule" area.

Further above the forest, more drone lights can be seen penetrating the fog, moving slowly.

"Observed A26 area fog dispersal, dispersal speed meets expectations. No stress reactions in the forest, continuing to monitor..."

"Detected activity heat source in A16 area, small-range activation in the forest, calling the nearest action team..."

"Squad 26 report discovering a cluster of wandering mist, fog range indeterminate, need drone support."

The tense and busy communication signals flow between drones, with occasional orders from the temporary command center. Meanwhile, supplies from the "other side" continue to be transported through the ancient gate to the "vestibule" on this side.

Despite logistical limitations, large equipment and integrated heavy machinery are difficult to transport directly, but by breaking them into parts, the Special Service Bureau and Council have sent a considerable amount of construction materials and modular components to the temporary command center, where the expansion forces construct and assemble locally. The initially simple camp now has taken shape.

Baili Qing stands beside the magnificent triangular gate, gazing at the forest canopy in the distance where the fog steadily retreats, fine scales emerge on her cheeks and arms, gleaming silver-white.

A pair of illusory eyes float a hundred meters above the camp, gazing into the depths of the forest where a massive Mirror Rift stands. The rift reflects blood moonlight and a distant alien land perpetually shrouded in night.

A Flying Carpet hovers beside the giant Mirror Rift, slowly flying along the edge.

Lucrecia sits in the center of the Flying Carpet, a light purple crystal ball floats in mid-air, shimmering with shadows within, containing various parameters that only she can understand.

"Indeed... It aligns with father’s judgment, the Old World’s information cycle has emerged, although still fragile, it indeed is ’running’," Lucrecia speaks quietly while monitoring the readings within the crystal ball. "In this way, it possesses the basic conditions required for fusion with the calibrator."

Yu Sheng gazed around, noticing that many areas in the forest previously shrouded in fog had now been "cleared out." In the distance, he occasionally saw reconnaissance drones from the Special Service Bureau flying across the sky, but the forest below remained unchanged. According to Erin, "The old trees still sleep like vegetable people."

... Yu Sheng thought that the little puppet’s statement about the forest being like a vegetable itself seemed a bit delusional.

"Though I can’t see how this ’operation’ you’re talking about works, I’m guessing the calibrator can’t just be deployed here directly, right?" Yu Sheng withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked at the Star Sea Witch beside him. "It’s not as simple as just extending the Boundary Bridge Crystal Tree over here, is it?"

"Of course, it’s not that simple," Lucrecia shook her head. "Right now, the preliminary judgment is that the Old World might have the conditions to integrate the calibrator. However, to truly achieve this, we first need to ensure that the Old World becomes a complete, stable, and most importantly, truly controllable ’sub-universe.’

Erin grabbed the fox’s tail with one hand, cautiously leaned over the edge of the flying carpet, and muttered softly while looking at the forest below: "At the very least, the state of the old trees doesn’t seem very controllable right now..."

"That’s right; the first thing is the state of the Tree Angel." Lucrecia nodded slightly. "The changes in the Old World may have started because of it, but its current ’hibernation’ state makes the situation a bit tricky.

"Our first step is to find a way to establish a dialogue with the Tree Angel. Even if it means forcibly ’transforming’ it, we must ensure that this unstable factor is controllable.

"Secondly, there are those Historical Fragments leaking from the Boundary Land Fault."

Lucrecia said, as her gaze swept over the mirror rift in the sky beside them.

"This is the second major instability factor, and it must be resolved before the calibrator can be deployed."

Erin thought for a moment, then raised her hand to grab the Omen Wandering Star orbiting her head: "First and foremost, we still need to find a way to contact the old tree..."

Saying this, she was about to start rubbing her stone ball on the flying carpet, but before she could begin, Lucrecia’s eye twitched—Miss Witch couldn’t hold back this time: "Can you please stop rubbing that on my flying carpet? Last time, I found a patch missing after you were done, and it’s quite a hassle to repair."

Yu Sheng was bewildered: "Huh? Doesn’t it magically repair itself when you cast a spell using magic?"

"Magic and miracles both have their costs, Uncle Yu," Lucrecia glanced at Yu Sheng. "Mainly in hair, sleep, dark circles, and staying up late to prepare spell materials—for every stylish snap of the fingers by a wizard or mage before the world, there’s a battle of wits and courage with mathematical formulas, geometric models, and material preparation behind it."

Yu Sheng blinked and found it hard to imagine the elegant and mysterious Star Sea Witch in front of him repairing the flying carpet late at night instead of sleeping...

Just then, the little puppet who was holding the Omen Wandering Star, still wanting to rub the stone ball on the flying carpet, suddenly froze and then quickly looked in a direction in the forest: "Huh?"

Yu Sheng immediately tensed up: "What’s wrong?"

"Suddenly heard some sound, but..." Erin hesitated, then her tone suddenly changed. "Wait, an exploration team has encountered an issue!"

Almost the instant the little puppet’s words fell, Yu Sheng caught a flash of fire in the forest from the corner of his eye. It seemed to be the flash of an explosion, followed by rising smoke, and then a distant rumbling sound.

There seemed to be a firefight in that direction.

At the same time, Baili Qing, located in the "foyer" area of the temporary command post, received the report immediately—

"... The 7th Deep Dive Team is engaging in a firefight with an unknown enemy. An unexplained active change occurred in the forest in area B22, with a city-like area suddenly appearing in the forest... The nearest action team has already been dispatched to provide support..."

Baili Qing briskly entered a temporary barracks, where the holographic device above displayed the current forest sandbox projection that had been mapped out. The massive mirror rift stood in the center of the projection, and the forest section marked as area B22 nearby was flashing with ominous red light.

A slightly tense report voice came from the side: "Report, unknown interference has been detected in the target area! Optical signals are also being affected!"

Baili Qing looked up at a corner of the barracks, her gaze penetrated the walls and roof, sweeping across the mirror rift and the forest direction where the incident happened.

Then she unhesitatingly pulled out her phone. As soon as she dialed the number, before she could speak, she heard Yu Sheng’s voice from the other end:

"Seen it, seen it; we can already see the place where it happened, and we’re flying over there!"

Baili Qing: "... Okay, be careful."