Incoming Call
For the next few hours, Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng both traveled on foot along the train track.
And during this process, Chen Ling never gave up on using various strange methods to activate his Domain... Although he forgot the password to enter the treasure vault, if he guessed randomly, perhaps it was still possible to guess correctly. But the bad news was, his luck wasn't that good.
As Jian Changsheng walked, he yawned repeatedly. This day and night of hiking had already made him extremely bored. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a train track from another direction in the distance extending over, gradually overlapping with the train track they were walking along, merging into a "人" (person) shape.
Jian Changsheng froze slightly:
"Over there... seems to be another track converging?"
"It should be a track connecting from another domain to the Tianshu Domain." Seeing this, Chen Ling replied calmly. "I heard the materials for this realm train are extremely rare. In order to save resources, many sections of the track lines overlap, this isn't strange."
"Then does that mean we aren't far from the Tianshu Domain?"
"How would I know."
[Current Expectation Value: 22%]
Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Ling swept past the two lines of prompts, and his gaze looked again at the train track extending all the way to the end of the horizon, his heart somewhat conflicted.
The current Expectation Value was already unhealthy. If it dropped below 20%, it would be very troublesome, and the actual distance to the Tianshu Domain was unclear... After weighing the options, Chen Ling felt it was better for him to play it safe.
"I need to find a place to rest for a bit." Chen Ling glanced at the surroundings and walked straight towards a patch of jagged rocks.
"I've wanted to rest for a long time." Jian Changsheng rubbed his eyes and immediately agreed, "This broken place looks exactly the same everywhere. Walking is making my eyes go blurry..."
Chen Ling arrived at the center of the jagged rocks. After confirming there was no danger around, he sat down on the ground.
He pulled out a USB Drive from his pocket.
"No wait, you're doing it again?!"
Jian Changsheng, who was just planning to close his eyes and sleep for a while, saw this scene and was instantly scared into a shudder. "If you shatter in a while, I won't be able to save you alone!"
Jian Changsheng clearly remembered the last time in the Gray World when Chen Ling used the Timeline Save File, and then blew into pieces in front of everyone. Seeing Chen Ling pulling out this deadly thing again at this moment, he was instantly somewhat terrified.
"Don't worry, it won't happen this time." Chen Ling replied calmly.
"... Really?"
"Really."
While speaking, Chen Ling slowly inserted the USB Drive into the earth in front of him under Jian Changsheng's suspicious gaze.
Lines of deep green code floated in front of Chen Ling's eyes:
[ID Number 129439]
[Loading...]
[Loading Complete]
...
Chen Ling opened his eyes again.
The first thing that entered his sight was a sky with continuous drizzle, and beneath this sky, a cold and elegant face was looking at him doubtfully.
"You... came back?" Su Zhiwei spoke uncertainly.
Chen Ling came back to his senses and looked around. "How did you tell?"
"A second ago you were still telling me that you look forward to meeting in the next era... Then in the blink of an eye, I felt your aura had changed." Su Zhiwei paused for a moment. "It became even stronger than before."
To Chen Ling, Advancing from the Third Tier to the Fourth Order was a long process, but in Su Zhiwei's eyes, it was just a flick of the finger. Anyone would find it strange.
"Mhm... I'm back."
"So, did you see me in that era?"
Su Zhiwei's eyes were full of anticipation and curiosity.
"... I did." Chen Ling's eyes were full of helplessness. "But, I didn't have the chance to speak with you."
Seeing this, Su Zhiwei seemed somewhat disappointed. At the same time, Yao Qing's voice faintly sounded from the distance, and the other two figures also seemed to sit up from the bed.
Chen Ling and Su Zhiwei exchanged glances and returned the way they came.
"Grandmother! How do you feel?"
Yao Qing supported that Aged Figure, slowly sitting up straight from the bed, his eyes full of worry. "Is there anywhere uncomfortable? Are your lungs okay? Do you want to go to the hospital for a checkup?"
Xiao Chunping was elderly after all. After overdrawing her Spiritual Power, her face was haggard and deathly pale, making Yao Qing incredibly anxious watching her.
"Good grandson, Grandmother is fine... Just resting for a bit will do." Xiao Chunping squeezed out a smile from the corners of her mouth while rubbing Yao Qing's head.
Immediately after, Xiao Chunping saw Chen Ling walking over from the distance, and seemed to have also noticed the change in his Rank. Her eyes were full of surprise:
"Little friend Chen Ling, it's only been a short while since we last met, and you've actually progressed so fast... truly extraordinarily gifted."
Chen Ling smiled slightly and didn't offer an explanation, only helping her examine her body once again.
"There's indeed no major issue, but the body's overexertion is relatively severe. You'll need at least a few months of bed rest."
"I'm getting old, I can't toss about anymore." Xiao Chunping smiled and shook her head. "If it were when I was young, just relying on that kid... Sigh, better not mention it, better not mention it."
Chen Ling's gaze then fell on the hospital bed next door.
Yang Xiao was seen propping up his body with both hands and had also sat on the edge of the bed. One hand supported his forehead, seemingly still having a headache, but he was a young man after all, and after resting for a while, he returned to normal.
Chen Ling walked straight forward:
"How do you feel?"
"Like I haven't closed my eyes after doing experiments for three days and three nights straight... However, I feel that my connection with the magnetic field seems to have become even closer."
Yang Xiao closed his eyes and sensed for a while. As if predicting something in advance, he suddenly turned his head to look at the phone by the bed.
A second later, the phone screen automatically lit up, and an incoming call notification silently vibrated.
Is he already able to sense the transmission of communication messages... Seeing this scene, Chen Ling's heart was incredibly surprised.
Yang Xiao glanced at the caller, froze at first, and after hesitating for a moment, still answered it and placed it by his ear:
"... Hello?"
"..."
"Mhm... Yes, I didn't go back, some accidents happened midway."
"..."
"How did you know??"
It was unknown what the other side of the phone said, but surprise suddenly surfaced on Yang Xiao's face. After a long while, he looked at Chen Ling with a subtle expression...
He handed the phone over.
"It's for you."
"For me?" Chen Ling froze. "Who is it?"
"Lu Xun."
Hearing this name, Chen Ling's eyes slightly narrowed.
Lu Xun, a PhD in Astrophysics, and also the initiator of the Red Star Fragment Exploration Team... In a sense, he was the pivot connecting the Nine Monarchs, the core figure of the Exploration Team.
Theoretically speaking, him not returning together with the Exploration Team would indeed make the other people in the team suspicious, and the original Guide who was knocked out and swapped by him wouldn't be able to hide it for long either... From the very beginning, Chen Ling was prepared to be suspected. Anyway, he was using a fake face, and wouldn't be tracked at all.
But right now, Chen Ling was somewhat puzzled... How did Lu Xun know he was together with Yang Xiao?
Chen Ling's thoughts spun rapidly. After a moment, he still took the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, I am Lu Xun."