Lin Yue gently pushed open the ancient gate in front of him.
A thick mist surged out frantically as he did so.
"Pujii?" The little creature seemed quite excited, raising its front paw gently and standing on Lin Yue's shoulder.
Lin Yue held a round shield in his left hand and a spear in his right, squinting towards the inside of the door, not stepping in immediately.
Secret Realm.
Even after lurking in the group for half a day, no one mentioned what was actually inside or where it was.
Indeed, some people had gone in and found good things, but there were also those who never came out.
What kind of dangers lie within, or are they the deadly kind?
Lin Yue speculated.
Despite being here for four days, with weapons in hand, a round shield and wooden armor on him, and possessing some combat skills, he was more than twice as strong as his past self.
But honestly, he was still an ordinary person of flesh and blood.
At best, his combat strength was just a bit above 5.
To say he wasn't nervous would be a lie.
"Little creature, if you sense danger, remind me, okay?"
The little one let out a "pujii" in response.
Lin Yue took a deep breath.
He didn't pin his hopes on this little thing; talking to it was more like talking to himself, but it did ease his tension considerably.
As Lin Yue took both feet into the Secret Realm, a mechanical sound suddenly rang in his ears.
[Detected player entering an unknown area, automatically disabling all system functions except the inventory]
"Goodness, is it meant to be this tense?"
The mist was extremely thick, and the air was filled with an irritating smell, with silence all around.
The temperature was also much lower than back at the Shelter.
The little creature seemed to quite enjoy this temperature, hopping back and forth between Lin Yue's shoulders.
Lin Yue observed his surroundings, and though the light was poor, it was clear it was daytime.
However, the mist was so dense that nothing could be seen beyond a few meters.
He stomped his foot and crouched down to carefully examine the extra hard ground beneath him.
"Is this... asphalt road?"
Indeed, the ground was covered with a layer of dust, but beneath the dust was a layer of black asphalt road.
Using the Iron Spear to scratch a mark, a series of sparks flew up from the ground.
It's even a little difficult to make a mark.
But what is this place? Why would there be an asphalt road?
With this question in mind, Lin Yue did not proceed forward but took a circle around the place.
This loop led him to see something even more incredible.
"A car? And a niche brand at that!"
He saw on the ground a car of a niche brand, corroded by rust down to just the frame, which shocked him immensely.
How could there be a car in here?
Could it be...
Looking towards the car's front and back, he used the spear tip to sweep off the rust, revealing traces of some familiar numbers.
Lin Yue's heart raced, "Could this possibly be Earth?"
With questions in mind, he continued to search forward.
To mark his route, he placed bits of various materials from the inventory at his feet every few meters.
Whether it was timber or Iron Block, when taken out, they were all standard cubes, some large and some small. The large ones, like the timber, were about half a meter in length, width, and height, making them quite conspicuous in the mist.
He hadn't walked very far before finding his path blocked by a huge obstacle.
Getting closer, this turned out to be a building toppled over almost ninety degrees!
The building's rusted, corroded steel reinforcement was exposed, the outer layer of glass was almost entirely shattered, and various debris was scattered outside.
He found that the surroundings were littered with broken pieces of office desks and chairs, crumbling to dust at the slightest touch.
"Could this be an office building?"
Clenching the Iron Spear, Lin Yue looked towards the dark interior.
Could there be anything good inside?
He approached a broken window frame, feeling the only pane of glass that remained unshattered.
[You have obtained Organic Glass X1]
The system suddenly issued a notification, causing Lin Yue's scalp to tingle.
Had he obtained spoils already?
Looking into the building, he swallowed hard.
What could be inside? If it was an office building... would there be discarded computers or phones?
Lin Yue entered and found the light to be dim.
"I forgot to make a torch earlier; it seems I can't venture too deeply."
Inside, he used the Iron Spear to prod through the debris, finding that almost everything he touched crumbled.
However, Lin Yue also discovered that the documents and materials scattered around were all items he was very familiar with from Earth.
In a corner, he found a broken cabinet with a newspaper in it.
Yet the text on it was not from Tang Country.
As soon as he picked it up, it crumbled like ashes.
How many years had passed on Earth?
At this moment, Lin Yue was almost certain that this place was Earth.
Was the Secret Realm inside Earth?
Was it just him, or did everyone experience the same thing upon entering?
Thinking of Du Ping who sold the bearings, Lin Yue speculated that this person probably entered a similar place as he did.
Exiting the room, Lin Yue returned outside and jumped into another house.
[You have obtained a bundle of wires]
[You have obtained a laptop (severely damaged)]
Inside, Lin Yue found a broken briefcase under a collapsed desk, from which a power cable and a laptop with a shattered screen, resembling a spider web, fell out.
He breathed a sigh of relief, "Not bad luck, at least it's not without gains, right?"
"Pujii!" The little creature seemed to agree as well.
Lin Yue took out a bottle of water, drank a mouthful, and poured some into his palm for the little creature to drink.
This little thing was quite well-behaved, drinking the water obediently and then licking Lin Yue's palm.
"Haha, that tickles a little." Lin Yue's voice echoed in the spacious building.
"Pujii!"
Just as Lin Yue was about to lift another collapsed cabinet to look inside, the little creature suddenly cried towards the room's door.
"Little creature?"
Just as Lin Yue wondered why the little creature suddenly made that noise, he suddenly heard a rustling sound in his ear.
Moreover, the sound was gradually increasing!
Lin Yue quickly took two steps back, crouched slightly, positioned the round shield in front of him and held the Iron Spear tightly.
"Pujii!" The little creature jumped onto the shield in Lin Yue's left hand, shouting towards the open door!
Over there!
Lin Yue swiftly turned around, suddenly seeing a dark shadow rushing towards him from that direction!
Bam!
The thing crashed directly onto Lin Yue's shield, knocking him to the ground!
Lin Yue quickly rolled and got up from the ground, quickly realizing that the dark shadow was lunging at him again!
Once more, he raised the shield and swung the Iron Spear horizontally, something furry biting onto the wooden armor on his arm, snapping it with a crack!
"Squeak!!"
A sharp cry sounded, leaving Lin Yue no time to react as the circular wooden shield protecting his body suffered another violent impact!