The Mysterious 【Director Chen】
"I was almost seen..."
Chen Ling concealed his figure amidst the clouds and fog. Treading with 【Cloud Step】, he walked straight towards the outside of the mountain range.
【【Audience Expectation Value】 +2】
【Current 【Expectation Value】: 22%】
Chen Ling also hadn't expected that just making eye contact with someone could hook a small portion of the audience's expectation. Could it be because his whereabouts were exposed? Or perhaps there would be some butterfly effect later on?
Chen Ling only thought about it briefly before putting the matter aside. It was just a coincidence that he was seen when returning to the "【Stage】". It shouldn't have any major impact...
However, through that one glance just now, he also saw the process of the search and rescue team rescuing the 【Nine Monarchs】 and leaving. He knew that the trajectory of history was still advancing in its original direction. His and 【Ying Fu】's existence didn't seem to have been discovered by the world.
"I finally shook that guy off..." Chen Ling turned his head to look at the mountain peak where 【Ying Fu】 had escaped, letting out a long sigh.
Initially, Chen Ling entered the 【Timeline Save File】 just to see what happened during the 【Nine Monarchs】' exploration back then. But after personally experiencing all this, he found that things were far more complex than he imagined. Not only was there the intervention of the 【Path of the Sovereign】, but the 【Nine Monarchs】 themselves were also full of mysteries.
Chen Ling wrote down several lines of characters on the notepad in order:
【Yang Xiao】 (【Lord of the Aurora】), PhD in Magnetic Field 【Domain】;
【Su Zhiwei】, PhD researching "【String Theory】", has a unique understanding of parallel worlds, suspected to be able to manipulate the "string" movement that created the world;
【Lu Xun】, PhD in 【Astrophysics】, initiator of the 【Red Star Fragment】 exploration project;
【Wu Tongyuan】, PhD in Mathematics, weak personality, the mascot forcibly dragged here by 【Lu Xun】;
Dr. Lou, PhD in 【Material Science】, proactively asked 【Su Zhiwei】 about her understanding of "parallel worlds", left the team without authorization during the exploration process, behaved abnormally, and even attempted to kill mathematics PhD 【Wu Tongyuan】. Suspected to also be a 【Transmigration】er who used unknown methods to return to this era;
【Dr. Ji】, PhD researching the "【God Particle】", suspected to possess the power to create a 【Wormhole】 to traverse time. Chased after Dr. Lou immediately after he left the team, and subsequently a massive battle broke out in the forest. Intervened to protect 【Wu Tongyuan】 when Dr. Lou attempted to kill him, confirming his hostility towards Dr. Lou. Also suspected to be a 【Transmigration】er.
Chen Ling listed the six doctors he had interacted with during this event and recorded all their actions. He fell into deep thought as he looked at these names.
Leaving 【Yang Xiao】 aside for now, 【Su Zhiwei】 didn't seem to have any abnormalities either. 【Lu Xun】 seemed to have noticed his special nature. As for 【Wu Tongyuan】... there was even less to say about him. Ultimately, Chen Ling still used his pen to heavily circle the names of Dr. Lou and 【Dr. Ji】.
These two guys absolutely harbored incredible secrets.
After thinking for a long time, Chen Ling added another line below:
【Ying Fu】, 【Path of the Sovereign】, suspected to be the eleventh monarch. Possesses the same 【Timeline Save File】 【USB Drive】 as himself, yet lacks a standard serial number. Suspected to have entered the 【Save Point】 using some special 【Path】...
After writing this line, Chen Ling used his pen to connect "【Ying Fu】" and "Dr. Lou", drawing a "?" on their relationship.
Chen Ling clearly remembered that when Dr. Lou attempted to kill 【Wu Tongyuan】, he shouted towards the forest, "What are you still waiting for?", and then 【Ying Fu】 appeared. This indicated that there must be some sort of cooperative relationship between these two people.
"This is truly thorny..." Chen Ling let out a long sigh as he looked at this note.
"Regardless, I still have to find 【Yang Xiao】 first."
Among these nine people, the only one Chen Ling could trust right now was the 【Lord of the Aurora】, 【Yang Xiao】. No matter what Dr. Lou and 【Dr. Ji】 were planning to do, he had to first find a reliable companion and then try his best to win over the other 【Nine Monarchs】.
Having a clear goal, Chen Ling's gaze fell on the search and rescue team that was gradually retreating from the mountain range. A figure draped in red concealed itself in the clouds and fog, vanishing from sight.
...
Several hours later.
When 【Wang Xinye】 saw Search and Rescue Team Three walking out of the mountain forest carrying stretchers, the stone hanging in his heart was finally set down.
"Medical team, quickly!"
At 【Wang Xinye】's command, the accompanying professional medical team hurriedly stepped forward to take over. There were also white tents specifically prepared for medical purposes in the base camp. The crowd moved the nine people on the stretchers inside and began to busily check their physical conditions, turning on all sorts of instruments.
As bursts of busy testing sounds rang out from within the white tents, the atmosphere in the base camp became somewhat suppressed. The other staff members, just like 【Wang Xinye】, had personally seen the 【Exploration Team】 off and witnessed their group photo before departure. But at that time, they never imagined that a single meteorite fragment exploration would end up like this... The entire team was practically wiped out, with only these nine people surviving.
"Have the others... all been accounted for?" 【Wang Xinye】's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"We have checked the corpses of the armed escort personnel one by one, and they all match the roster from when they set out... There is only one person whose corpse hasn't been found, nor are there any traces of survival."
"Who?"
"The 【Guide】, Chen Li."
"The 【Guide】..." 【Wang Xinye】 frowned and began to ponder. "He's a local and is relatively familiar with the situation inside 【Shennongjia】. Could he have taken advantage of the chaos and escaped?"
"But we didn't find any footprints of him escaping. Moreover, even if he did escape, he should have returned here. It makes no sense for him to go missing."
【Wang Xinye】 rubbed his chin with one hand, sinking deep into thought.
Right at this moment, a figure hurriedly ran over, his face incomparably pale!
"Commander! Commander!!"
Both of their gazes looked over at the same time and found that the person running over was a staff member of the base camp. 【Wang Xinye】 spoke in a deep voice, "What's the matter, why in such a rush?"
"I... we, we found the 【Guide】 Chen Li in the mountain forest out back!"
"Oh?" 【Wang Xinye】 raised a brow and smiled. "Then it seems this 【Guide】 also survived... That's a good thing."
"No, Commander! His entire body was tied up with ropes and hung from a branch in the forest, and a cloth was stuffed in his mouth... If he hadn't struggled and broken the branch, falling directly to the ground, we wouldn't have discovered that there was a person in that forest at all..." The staff member swallowed his saliva, his next words causing the smile on 【Wang Xinye】's face to instantly freeze:
"He said that he was knocked unconscious and tied up before they even set out! He never entered 【Shennongjia】 at all!!"