Inside the new safe zone.
Seeing the fog dissipate, the building complex reappear, and figures walking inside once again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems it's not targeting us."
"Strange, what just happened?"
Everyone was puzzled.
Commander Jia Weixin was equally confused. They had been here for two or three days and this was the first time they'd encountered such a situation.
"Those things likely have another enemy, an enemy that can pose a threat to them."
Suddenly, an elderly voice sounded among the crowd.
Everyone quickly turned around to see an old man who had somehow appeared in their midst.
This old man was sixty or seventy years old, but he had a powerful presence. Without a word, he commanded respect, making people instinctively lower their voices.
"Chief."
"Hello, Chief!"
Everyone hurriedly and respectfully greeted him.
Because they all knew that this old man was the true authority within the whole safe zone.
Commander Jia Weixin also quickly saluted, then asked, "How could you tell?"
The old man said calmly, "Those things don't pay us much attention. They only react when we intrude. But now, for them to suddenly change their behavior, they must have encountered an enemy that poses a threat to them."
"An enemy that poses a threat to them?"
Jia Weixin asked suspiciously, "To threaten those things, it would at least have to be something of Earth's Limit, maybe even the legendary Heaven-level, or some other bizarre entity? Could we somehow leverage their power to break through this strange space?"
"That's something you'll need to figure out yourselves. This space is layered. Send more drones out, and with some luck, you might find them."
After saying this, the old man disappeared into thin air.
Everyone was already accustomed to the old man's mysterious comings and goings, and they weren't surprised at all.
Jia Weixin quickly sought out Li Liangcai, "Can you foresee what's going to happen next?"
Li Liangcai replied helplessly, "Commander, my ability isn't foresight."
"Don't be coy. Can you sense the coming fortune or misfortune?" Jia Weixin rephrased.
Li Liangcai used his ability on the spot, then shook his head, "It's all mundane, nothing significant."
Jia Weixin frowned, then called the technicians, "Can we launch the new hot air balloon satellite yet?"
"No, the pressure difference is too great. The hot air balloon will have problems as soon as it leaves this area." The technician shook his head.
Jia Weixin frowned even more. They had explored the ruins during the day and found a lot of useful information.
But that information was of no help in their escape.
In the past, when encountering Ancient Ruins, it was almost always jointly developed and excavated by the entire Earth Alliance.
But now, their lone team encountered Ancient Ruins, and got trapped here. Forget excavation and development, they couldn't even think of leaving.
"It's impossible to dig a well here; the underground is protected by some kind of force. We can't access underground water. Even if the temperature doesn't continue rising, the water we have left will only last a month. We must leave within that month!"
Jia Weixin issued an ultimatum to everyone, "I've contacted headquarters. They will issue a bounty to attract powerful Demon Hunters registered in the Demon Extermination Division to assist us. But we can't just sit around; we must find a way out. If the temperature rises again, we'll have to use the Marvel 'Cloud Soaring' to cool down, but using 'Cloud Soaring' requires sufficient water..."
...
"Those things have quieted down. Damn, that scared me."
Under the night sky, the withered trees cast ghostly shadows. San Zhen Huang Mao grumbled, "The space is overlapping again, and we can't find the safe zone. What's going on here?"
"The Ancient Ruins we've visited before didn't have this kind of situation. Moreover, most of the Ancient Ruins excavated by the Alliance are buried underground. This one being above ground is really strange."
Da Zhen also had a serious expression, "The safe zone is supposed to be here; we shouldn't go too far lest we can't find it when returning to the previous space."
...
"The ground here isn't cracked, so the temperature in this area probably hasn't reached very high levels before. There might even be groundwater here."
'Alien settlement' a kilometer away.
The three of them walked along what seemed like a road weathered over countless years.
Zhao Jiayan muttered to herself in confusion as she walked, "But why are the trees here all withered? Is there really something to the idea of erosion by yin energy?"
With such a large ghostly presence nearby, it's not surprising there would be something like yin or ghost energy.
But can yin or ghost energy really kill plants?
Or is there another reason?
Even though the cooler was packed in an airdrop box, the sealed box couldn't isolate the cooler's radiation.
As a result, in the external temperature of over fifty degrees, the three of them even felt a little cold.
Of course, Yang Yuan only felt a bit chilly, but it didn't affect him much. Right now, he was almost impervious to heat and cold, practically a small superhuman.
The main ones affected were Zhao Jiayan and Jiang Yiyi, both of whom had donned the clothes they'd changed out of in the safe zone, wrapping themselves up tightly.
"The trees didn't wither long ago, and the ghostly presence ahead should be some kind of Ancient Ruin. The existence of the ghostly presence probably dates back equally as long as the ruin. If it were really because of ghost or yin energy, plants wouldn't grow at all here."
Yang Yuan also said, "There's probably another reason. In any case, let's be cautious."
"Hmm. What we're standing on... is this concrete? This world also has concrete?"
Zhao Jiayan cleared away the thick layer of decaying leaves and tried to cut the severely weathered surface with a rusty little knife she found, only to discover it couldn't be cut through, "Such solid concrete."
Though covered in thick decaying leaves, underneath was a very hard, weathered surface, clearly showing signs of human construction.
"It might not actually be concrete, or maybe some force is protecting it."
Yang Yuan didn't waste time studying it, "Let's find a place to settle for now."
This area had very few trees, one every few hundred meters, incapable of forming a forest.
In such an environment, a tornado would most likely form.
If the external temperature soared again, the collision of hot and cold air currents could definitely create another devastating tornado like before.
Finally, Yang Yuan came up with an idea. He placed a Safe House on a large open flat area and lowered the Firepower Flying Disc to about the height of the Safe House, as if pressing it down.
This way, with the heavy Firepower Flying Disc stabilizing the wind and partially preventing tornado formation, even if a tornado were to form, it wouldn't blow away the Safe House.
"The temperature here isn't that high, so we don't need to place the cooler inside the Safe House; otherwise, it would be both humid and cold."
Yang Yuan said, "Keep the cooler in the box. This box can collect water, so we'll use it as a water tank for now."
He took all the materials out of the box, then moved the box about a dozen meters away.
Thus, with the external temperature's effects buffered, the spot where the Safe House was located remained at a comfortable twenty-some degrees, neither hot nor cold, just right.
The amount of water vapor in the air was significant. Over this period, the box had already collected about ten pounds of water.
Before long, possibly by tomorrow night, the box might be full.
Any extra water could be used for bathing or laundry.