The shark coach slowly drove into a valley, where the ground sloped downward. Unknown plants grew along the path. They grew sparsely and looked ashy and wilted. No one tended to them, and they were like some kind of free-growing weeds.
At the end of the slope was a giant cave. The cave was large enough to allow a whole Titanic to sail through. This place had obvious signs of human expansion and strengthening; this was not something born out of nature. Thousands of metal scaffolding poles covered the rocks. Some were encased into the cliff face, while others were connected in midair, forming a complicated iron-web. Some tent-like objects decorated the web, and many workers in protective gear walked along the scaffolding. If Feng Bujue and Flashes of Sword could view this from afar, they would be impressed by this phenomenon.
When the shark coach neared the entrance, an outside communication came. A stranger’s voice asked, “This is the observation deck. Please identify yourself.”
Hank, who sat in the driver’s seat, turned to toss Feng Bujue an inquisitive gaze. The latter merely shrugged and made a ’go ahead’ signal.
“Scavenger Team, number 24. I am the driver, Hank.” Hank tried to keep his composure as he rattled off the rest. “We were ordered to leave the village this afternoon. The command was ’bow and arrow’.”
Whenever a team departed from the Village of Heavenly Blessing, there would be a record, and when they left, they would be given a command code. When they returned, they would need to provide the corresponding command code before being given entry. If they could not give the command code and there was no entry, it could only mean that these people had escaped without order or were perhaps outsiders in disguise.
The man who communicated with them went silent for a while. He seemed to be checking the number and the order. Soon, the reply came, “The command is correct. Welcome back, team 24. Please enter the hangar that corresponds to your number. The supply members are already on the way.”
The shark coach entered the cave successfully. They passed through a meandering tunnel to arrive at a large space. This was like a three-dimensional parking lot. The walls to the side were like a beehive, filled with hexagonal cubicles. With the aid of the autopilot, Hank drove the craft into one of the cubicles.
When the two players officially entered the Village of Heavenly Blessing, the system echoed in their ears.
“Hidden quest activated. Find the ’God’s Child’, York Corben, in the Village of Heavenly Blessing.”
Flashes of Sword saw the mission and asked, “Brother Feng, are you sure this is still a sci-fi scenario?”
“Yes, I am certain,” Feng Bujue answered. By then, both of them were in the protective gear, and they followed Hank out of the shark coach.
The Village of Heavenly Blessing’s scientific system was strange. From many perspectives, their technological level was so low that it beggared belief. They were lacking in common sense, especially in the field of biology, medicine, and astronomy. They were no different from a prehistoric tribe of human beings. However, they were very advanced in fields of energy, architecture, and agriculture. In fact, they possessed the technology to produce anti-gravitational devices and smelt.
Feng Bujue and Flashes of Sword’s plan was simple—put on the protective gear, disguise themselves as scavengers, and mix into the village. And it was surprisingly simple when put into action because the village did not have anything like photographs.
What about electronic devices that could record or transmit recorded images, something like a mobile phone? Fortunately, there was nothing like that either. The technological tree in the Village of Heavenly Blessing was similar to the moon base in Iron Sky. It was hard to say whether they were backward or advanced. If anything, one could only say that they were a special civilization born out of a unique environment.
Would it not be very difficult for the villagers to confirm identities? Indeed, that was the case. But that was not a big problem. After all, human civilization had started before the advent of cameras and identification cards, and for so many years, had human beings not survived?
Of course, there were still plenty of issues with Feng Bujue and Flashes of Sword’s disguise. Firstly, even though this village contained various types of people, Caucasians were the majority. Therefore, their Chinese faces attracted attention. Secondly, their height was an issue. The males of Village of Heavenly Blessing rarely went over 1.7 meters, and the two players were around 1.8 meters. Even if they tried to keep their backs stooped, they still towered over the others. Thirdly, according to Hank, one did not need to wear protective gear in the residential area, but once the two removed their gear—since one was wearing a suit and the other a wuxia swordsman outfit—if they were seen, it would cause a ruckus.
However, Feng Bujue’s thought was, as long as they were not exposed immediately, it would be fine. After all, the time for exploration was limited anyway. The player called Doomsday Assault would hold on for another two hours after finding the lab entrance before giving up. By then… even if he could still maintain his Life Points, he would be crushed mentally, so the immediate concern for Feng Bujue was to mix into the residential area.
Zhi!
The sound of robots approached. An elevator carried circular equipment with wheels and five people in protective gear to the cubicle where Feng Bujue’s group was situated.
“Scavenger team… 24, is it?” the leader asked. He had a metallic board in his hand, and a stack of paper was attached to it. He was looking through one of sheet now. The paper naturally did not have the pictures of the team members; it merely recorded some basic information like the time the team left the village, the command code, the reason for their departure, the destination, the number of members on the craft, and the members’ names.
“Yes,” Hank replied. Since he was in the gear and there was a distance between them, the man had trouble seeing how nervous Hank actually was.
“How come two are missing?” the person asked as his gaze moved to Feng Bujue and Flashes of Sword.
“They died… When we were exploring the ruin of the ’outsider’, they were killed by monsters.” Feng Bujue volunteered the answer, and he managed to make himself sound saddened.
“Did you bring back the bodies?” the man asked again.
Feng Bujue shook his head. “No, the three of us barely managed to escape that place. The monsters were ferocious. We were unable to stop and bring anything back with us.”
The man was silent for a few seconds. “And your name is?”
“Jarvis,” Feng Bujue replied before pointing at Hank and Flashes of Sword. “This is Hank, and that’s Joy.”
Feng Bujue had already asked Hank about the names of the five members beforehand. Plus, he had made sure to confirm that the people in the Village of Heavenly Blessing all used English names and the document in the hands of these ’supply members’ before them only recorded the member’s names. Other details like skin color and appearance would not be recorded.
“Okay, understood.” The man sighed as he left a few marks on the paper. “Phew… Another two deaths… This is a horrible day.”
“Hmm…” Feng Bujue concurred. He realized that for these people, whenever people returned from outside, having one or two killed was commonplace.
The man paused for a while before adding, “Then… the amount of things salvaged is also zero, right?”