Looking back at the ruins of the Experimental Base behind him, Lin Yuan let out a sigh and wiped his forehead, which was not actually sweating. "Wow, this is way more thrilling than delivering takeout! A five-star review doesn’t even begin to express how I feel right now; I have to give it a super VIP seven-star review plus a tip!"
Su Jiu'er’s face was pale, clearly still recovering from their recent harrowing escape. However, upon hearing Lin Yuan's carefree remarks, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What are you talking about at a time like this? If it weren't for your quick thinking, we’d be roasted pigs by now!"
"Come on, we made it through life and death; shouldn’t we celebrate a little? Besides, I’m just finding joy in hardship—it's a manifestation of my optimistic spirit, you know?" Lin Yuan said as he pulled out the last pack of crispy noodles from his pocket and started munching on them. His nonchalant demeanor even made the usually serious Zhou Haoran chuckle.
"Enough of that. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think you were having a picnic while escaping for your life," Zhou Haoran teased. "Let’s hurry up and find a safe place to sort through the treasures we brought back from the base—the data—and see if we can extract any useful information."
They found a temporary secret base set up in an abandoned warehouse, the atmosphere heavy like an old hot pot bubbling ominously. Lin Yuan, Su Jiu'er, and Zhou Haoran sat around a projector, all wearing grim expressions that made them look like three frostbitten eggplants.
Su Jiu'er took out a small projector from her backpack and cast a light screen. The data displayed was dense and dizzying, reminiscent of cramming notes the night before final exams.
"What... what is going on?" Zhou Haoran pointed at an unusual peak on the screen, his voice trembling as if he had seen something terrifying. "This thing looks like an ECG curve when my heart races!"
"Time-Space Disturbance," Su Jiu'er said in a low voice, tinged with disbelief as if announcing the end of the world. "Just before the base collapsed, an unprecedented Time-Space Disturbance was detected. And it’s not just ordinary energy leakage; it points to spatial coordinates in another dimension. It’s like... someone has drilled a hole in the walls of the universe!"
"Another dimension? A parallel world?!" Lin Yuan dropped his crispy noodles with a thud, his eyes wide as saucers. "No way! This stuff really exists? I thought it was just something authors made up in novels!"
Su Jiu'er nodded and rummaged through another backpack to pull out an ancient bound book with yellowed pages that exuded an air of antiquity. It contained strange symbols and patterns written in archaic script, resembling alien codes. "I’ve studied some Ancient Texts before and found that certain classics vaguely describe similar parallel worlds—like treasure maps hidden in riddles. This aligns perfectly with the base data; it’s practically double confirmation!"
Lin Yuan scratched his head, feeling overwhelmed like an old computer running too slowly to keep up. "So… that weird world we saw earlier—the one that looked like a game scene—is real?"
"Very likely," Su Jiu'er replied solemnly. "Moreover, the Qi Gong Association has been secretly researching parallel worlds. What are they planning? Are they looking to form a travel group to another world? Or are they aiming for interdimensional colonization?"
Lin Yuan suddenly recalled the Time Manipulator he had seized from Nan Gong Xuan, and a bold idea surged into his mind, illuminating it like a shining light bulb. "Wait, I want to give it a try! Perhaps this thing can come in handy!"
He pulled out the Time Manipulator, which resembled a high-tech pocket watch, emanating a mysterious glow. He began to attempt simulating the Time-Space Disturbance of the Base Passage, adjusting various parameters like a DJ. The Time Manipulator buzzed with energy, and the air around him seemed to warp, resembling a funhouse mirror world.
Suddenly, a blurry image appeared on the projection—a fantastical world starkly different from reality, as if plucked straight from a fairy tale. Rare Beasts darted about, participating in what looked like a fashion show of magical creatures. The architecture was steeped in ancient charm, with intricately carved beams and golden splendor, as if he had traveled back to an imperial palace of old.
"Wow! This is truly another world!" Lin Yuan exclaimed, excitement bubbling within him as if he had discovered a new continent. He quickly increased the energy output, and the image gradually sharpened into high-definition clarity.
At that moment, Li Honghe's communication came through. Her voice was tinged with urgency, as if she were in a race against time. "Lin Yuan, I've obtained secret documents from the Qi Gong Association! They... they are really conducting the Parallel World Project! This is no joke!"
"What plan?" Lin Yuan asked quickly, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
"They... they want to open the door to parallel worlds to acquire resources and... power from there!" Li Honghe's voice trembled slightly. "Like a band of greedy robbers looking to plunder another world's wealth! And they've already found a way! These guys are insane!"
Lin Yuan gasped in shock; things were more serious than he had imagined. If the Qi Gong Association succeeded, the consequences would be dire—potentially sparking a world war or even leading to the destruction of both worlds. "This is no joke; these people are playing with fire!"
"We must stop them!" Lin Yuan declared firmly, his eyes shining with determination like a warrior preparing for battle. "Jiu'er, Hao Ran, let's discuss our next steps. We can't let these guys run rampant!"
The members of Squad began discussing their next course of action; the atmosphere was tense and heated, bustling like a marketplace. Some members leaned towards reporting the information to the government, hoping to leverage their power to thwart the Qi Gong Association's conspiracy. Others preferred to continue investigating independently to uncover the specifics of the Qi Gong Association's plans and find ways to stop them. Both options carried significant risks, but they had to make a choice—standing at a crossroads in life, they had to decide which path to take.
Just then, while sorting through data, Lin Yuan stumbled upon an encrypted message. The content was unclear but instilled an inexplicable unease within him, pricking at his heart like a thorn. It seemed to foreshadow an even greater crisis looming ahead... What was this message? Could it be the Qi Gong Association's ultimate weapon? Or perhaps a warning from the parallel world?
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