"Could it be we have to gather every chip, then combine them to open the final something, finish the mission, and go home?" Captain Zhang was unsure. After speaking, he looked around at everyone. Captain Zhang felt no one truly trusted him. Even if they followed his lead, it was only because they all belonged to a base and het happened to be this mission's commander.
Captain Zhang sighed and firmed his tone. "It should be like that."
Shen Zhiyu said, "It is like that. And the direction the map points to is exactly the route we need to take."
Everyone followed Shen Zhiyu's gaze toward the direction marked on the map. Pei Xin asked, "How do you know we can get out now? That red light was only from the box. What if even after blowing up the cabin, we still cannot leave?"
Shen Zhiyu said firmly, "We can. Did you not notice the road ahead has changed?"
"It changed? Where?" Lao Gao blurted. When Lao Gao truly looked, Lao Gao's voice rose with excitement. "Hey, it did change. That big tree was not there before. But if the cabin was just a normal cabin, how did it create an illusion?"
Zhou Zhiye picked up a splinter of wood and sniffed it. "I am not an expert, but maybe it was the wood. Maybe the scent made us hallucinate."
Lao Shi said, "Did any of you feel this? We walked for over an hour, yet I didn't feel tired at all. Maybe we were turning in place the whole time and never moved."
Pei Xin shook her head. "No, I am tired."
Xi Yu said, "I am tired too."
A member of the professor's team gave a bitter smile. "I nearly died from exhaustion. How could I not be tired?"
Lao Shi felt awkward. Those who had undergone special training didn't share the same endurance as ordinary people. They had also hiked up a mountain to get here. Whether or not they had actually walked that hour, they felt wrung out.
In truth, not only those three ordinary members, but many of the women present, including those who had trained, were exhausted. Shen Zhiyan said, "Lao Shi, no. I am tired too. You might be overestimating women's stamina. Leave that aside. The second time, why could we hear each other but not see each other? Is that not the strangest part?"
Along the way, anyone else might keep quiet, but Lao Gao could not. Lao Gao didn't talk much in normal times, yet under danger and stress, Lao Gao talked to ease the tension. If they had not gone far, why had no one heard his voice?
"If it will not untangle, stop tangling it," Lan Jin said. "Let us move. If this map does not point to the end, we will meet more of the same."
"Right."
…
Earlier, because of the virus risk, everyone had avoided touching Professor Pei.
Now, after so many bizarre events, Captain Zhang was less afraid. Captain Zhang said, "Professor Pei's bag is still here. Split what is in Professor Pei's bag into our packs. Then bring Professor Pei's bones along."
Hearing that, Pei Xin was grateful.
No one objected. They packed Professor Pei into a bag, and Huang Jinghe carried it on his back.
Captain Zhang took the lead with the map and set off to find the next destination. Soon they passed the big tree that had not been there before.
After passing the tree, they walked for over an hour and truly came out of that stretch of road.
…
Then the frightening thing happened.
They crossed another stand of trees and came upon a perfectly intact wooden cabin. That should have been good news. But once everyone saw the cabin clearly, their faces cooled at once.
Because in front of the intact cabin lay a set of bones in exactly the same position as before, identical to where they had placed Professor Pei.
Identical was no exaggeration. The position on the ground had not shifted by even a hair. The pen Lao Gao had stuck upright earlier was planted at the same angle in the same spot. The high tech insulated suit that covered Professor Pei carried his printed name, and when they packed Professor Pei into the bag, they wrapped that very suit around Professor Pei. Each person had one suit, no spares. So where had this second suit with Professor Pei's name come from?
No one moved. Ling Jiang said, "Open the door. See if the ice is still inside."
Lao Shi stepped up and pushed the door open. As expected, the ice inside stood whole and unbroken.
Pei Xin stared in disbelief. "This… this… how is this possible. My grandfather. Who is my grandfather."
Right then, Pei Xin could not help doubting whether the corpse in the bag on Huang Jinghe's back was truly her grandfather.
Even Huang Jinghe began to doubt. After placing Grandpa Pei into the bag earlier, Huang Jinghe had retrieved the pen that had been stuck in the ground and put it back in his pouch.
Huang Jinghe took out the pen and pulled up the pen in the ground. Comparing the two, the scratches matched line for line.
Huang Jinghe said in shock, "It feels like someone copied this. Look, these scratches are from before the apocalypse. And this dent from when I dropped it. But I clearly took this pen back. Even if I hadn't, it couldn't have had the same scratches and drops."
"So maybe earlier we were not caught in a looping maze, or space folding, or a simple illusion," Shen Zhiyu said. "Maybe the space itself was copied."
"I don't know, but any of that could be true." Then Lao Gao brightened. "But why think so much. We are blowing it anyway. Fall back. We blast first."
"Do it."
This time Lao Gao actually warned them first. After everyone had retreated a long way, Lao Gao tossed an energy orb into the wooden cabin.
The cabin was not large. A small orb was enough to reduce it to rubble. The explosion boomed. The cabin collapsed at once. Fine splinters flew far, but as long as they didn't hit anyone, it didn't matter.
Unlike last time, they waited a long while and saw no stink bugs crawl out.