Are There Really Gods?
This made 【Wang Xinye】 shudder with fear.
He had gone through great lengths to gather these doctors. If they just disappeared in the mountain range like this, he would have no way to go back and explain... Just when 【Wang Xinye】 was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, a voice suddenly rang out from the 【Walkie-talkie】:
"This is Search and Rescue Team Three, we've found something!"
【Wang Xinye】 immediately picked up the 【Walkie-talkie】. "Speak."
At the same time, at the foot of a mountain range tens of kilometers away from the base camp, a figure in camouflage uniform slowly crouched down. While observing the tracks on the ground with the surrounding team members, he spoke in a deep voice:
"Judging from the number of footprints and the weight of the supplies carried, these are the tracks of the exploration team... But how is this possible?"
"What do you mean?"
"This exploration team had numerous personnel. Aside from the nine doctors and a 【Guide】, there was also a fully-staffed armed fireteam. The movements of an exploration team of this scale would inevitably leave tracks. But here, we didn't find any tracks of them coming here... It's exactly as if..."
"It's exactly as if, after they set out from the base camp, they suddenly crossed tens of kilometers of distance and appeared here out of thin air."
【Wang Xinye】 froze for a moment. "Are you saying... they instantly passed through tens of kilometers of mountain roads and arrived at the deepest part of 【Shennongjia】?"
"Currently, it looks like this."
That search and rescue 【Captain】 stood up, his gaze looking in the direction the numerous footprints were advancing. "We will continue to follow the tracks and search."
In the hazy thick fog, the search and rescue team constantly moved forward, following the exploration team's footprints. After an unknown amount of time walking, a rich stench of blood drilled into everyone's nasal cavities. Their expressions instantly turned grave.
Before long, malevolent, mangled corpses were displayed in their vision.
These corpses looked as if they had been attacked by some kind of fierce beast, with bite and tear marks all over their bodies. What was even more bizarre was that there were burn marks on a few of the bodies. But in this kind of deep mountain and old forest, what could possibly burn a person to this state?
"We have found the corpses of the exploration team members." The 【Captain】 took a deep breath before continuing to report their progress. "The armed fireteam responsible for escorting them has been completely wiped out. All the firearms show signs of being fired. A fierce battle took place here..."
"Battle? With who?"
"I don't know, no other corpses were found at the scene... However, whatever their enemy was, it definitely wasn't human."
"Have you found the corpses of the scientific researchers at the scene?"
"No, and the 【Guide】's corpse hasn't been found either."
Hearing this, 【Wang Xinye】 let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Those survivors seem to have been scattered... We will split into groups and follow their tracks to search and rescue. If no accidents happen, we should have results very soon." The 【Captain】 didn't specify what the "results" might be. After all, judging from the tragic scene before them, even the armed fireteam had been completely annihilated. The few researchers, lacking weapons and training, would likely have a very hard time surviving.
Under the 【Captain】's orders, this search and rescue team split into three groups and began to search in different directions, maintaining contact via 【Walkie-talkie】.
But what they didn't expect was that these three groups, running in different directions, ultimately all converged on the exact same location... When the 【Captain】 led a few team members out of the forest and saw the scene before them, everyone's pupils unconsciously contracted!
On the barren clearing, a huge crater, as if created by a falling meteorite, spanned several hundred meters. The cracks caused by the impact's debris spread frantically outwards like a tortoise shell, uprooting even the surrounding trees...
And within that terrifying 【Meteorite Crater】, the crowd couldn't see the slightest trace of a meteorite. Instead, there were only nine figures, adopting nine completely different and bizarre postures, floating in mid-air. An indescribable 【Aura】 filled the entirety of the 【Meteorite Crater】.
There was no meteorite in the 【Meteorite Crater】, only nine people floating in the air?
At this moment, all the members of Search and Rescue Team Three were dumbfounded. Even the 【Captain】, who had seen big scenes before, stared with wide eyes in disbelief, doubting if he was dreaming.
A few seconds later, the 【Captain】 finally recovered his wits and immediately spoke:
"What are you all still standing there for?! Hurry up and save them!"
After speaking, he seemed to remember something. He turned his head to a team member and said, "Quick, take a picture of this scene."
Search and Rescue Team Three immediately leaped into action. A few people were specifically tasked with taking photos, while the rest swarmed forward to save the people. They used rock-climbing ropes to lasso the nine figures in mid-air, pulling them down to the ground one by one and checking their vital signs.
The good news was that all nine of these people were alive; they had just fainted.
Receiving the news transmitted from the front lines, 【Wang Xinye】 felt it was incomparably bizarre on one hand, but secretly rejoiced on the other... No matter what, it was good that they were alive.
When the search and rescue team had saved all nine people and began transporting them out of 【Shennongjia】 on stretchers one by one, the 【Captain】 didn't leave immediately. His gaze fell on another huge crater not far away. He walked over to its edge and began to observe it carefully.
"【Captain】, what's wrong?"
"Something isn't right... That big one just now was definitely a 【Meteorite Crater】, no doubt about it. But these craters here look more like they were blasted out by cannons... No, that's not right either. The fragmentation points aren't big. It's more like some kind of slender object with tremendous kinetic energy was forcefully smashed into the ground, exactly like a..." The 【Captain】 imagined it in his mind and spoke uncertainly,
"...A spear?"
"A gun?" That team member subconsciously touched the 【Handgun】 at his waist. (T/N: In Chinese, "qiang/槍" can mean both spear and gun.)
"Not this kind of gun, a spear, the cold weapon." The 【Captain】's gaze swept his surroundings and quickly locked onto the nearest short mountain peak. "Let's go take a look from up there."
Under the 【Captain】's lead, the two rapidly began to climb the short mountain peak. After all, they were members of a search and rescue team, so their physical fitness was quite good. In no time, they reached the summit.
When they stood at a high vantage point and clearly saw the surrounding situation, their mouths unconsciously hung open wide...
There wasn't just one crater.
The cold mountain wind whistled past their ears. They only saw that the distant mountain range looked exactly as if it had been poked into a sieve by something. There were craters of all sizes everywhere. One mountain peak had even been swept horizontally from the center, leaving only a solitary half standing in the distance. As far as the eye could see, the entire mountain range was shattered...
It was exactly as if a massive battle had just taken place here not long ago, fighting so intensely that the earth moved and the mountains shook, completely destroying the terrain. In the distance, there was even an entire mountain peak completely covered in some strange plant, giving it a magical and illusory hue.
"This... here..." The team member spoke in shock. "What's the situation? Have immortals descended to the mortal realm??"
The 【Captain】 didn't speak. His gaze seemed to have noticed something. Just then, a piece of paper resembling a red butterfly fluttered down from the clouds... He subconsciously reached out and caught it. The next moment, that piece of paper spontaneously combusted in his palm, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
The 【Captain】 froze. He immediately lifted his head and looked towards the sky.
He only saw that amidst the hazy fog and cloud layers, a figure draped in red was walking out from among countless red butterfly-like pieces of paper. Stepping on the sea of clouds, he walked away high in the air... He seemed to have also noticed the 【Captain】's gaze and leisurely cast a glance downwards.
Those were a pair of apricot-colored eyes. Just a single glance made the 【Captain】's mind fall into a momentary trance.
By the time he recovered his wits and looked again, that figure in red had already shuttled into the sea of clouds, disappearing without a trace...
"Could it be... are there really gods in this world?"