Chapter 401: Derrick
"You're only a fourth-tier spiritual energy user..."
The man still wanted to resist, but several compressed spiritual energy piercing blade swords stabbed through his body from various directions.
"You're indeed not weak."
Lin Ye decomposed the man's body and found three oddly shaped stones on him.
These stones felt like ordinary rocks to his senses, but the man had kept them in a pocket close to his body.
Lin Ye put the stones into a small bag and continued walking toward the center of the ruins.
Some adventurers were standing in the middle of the road, but when they sensed Lin Ye, they quickly moved away from the road.
Lin Ye paid them no mind. These people hadn't provoked him, so there was no need to take action.
After walking a while longer, a seventh-tier spiritual energy user appeared in the middle of the road.
"So it's you who came?" The seventh-tier spiritual energy user said with some surprise.
"Hmm, are you going to get out of the way? Or are you planning to fight me and then die here?"
Lin Ye asked calmly.
"I won't get out of the way, but I also don't want to fight a spiritual energy user I don't understand."
After saying that, the seventh-tier spiritual energy user turned and ran toward the center of the ruins.
"...Why run?"
Lin Ye, puzzled, followed behind the other person.
The two of them quickly reached the center of the ruins. Other adventurers also emerged from various strange places.
All one hundred spiritual energy users had gathered at the center of the ruins. Among them, fourteen were high-level spiritual energy users, and the strongest was an eighth-tier spiritual energy user.
Lin Ye quickly sensed Researcher Derrick. He was surrounded in the middle by several armed personnel wearing heavy armor, covered in wounds all over his body. Those people had left him with just a breath of life.
The strongest among those armed personnel was a seventh-tier spiritual energy user. With the armor, the person was a full four meters tall, looking extremely imposing.
While Lin Ye was sensing those armed personnel, they also noticed Lin Ye, but they made no move, as if they were guarding against something.
"Ms. Carnot has entrusted me to bring Researcher Derrick back to Free City. Can you hand him over to me?"
Lin Ye walked up to those people and spoke.
"Our mission objective is also to bring him back to Free City. How about we take him back together first, then settle the issue between us outside the city."
The armed squad leader spoke up.
"Don't listen to him! I've researched that experimental subject that escaped from the Pasture! They just want to rely on me to escape this area from the Pasture! They'll kill me once we're out! You deal with them, and I'll take you away from here!"
Derrick suddenly roared loudly.
The adventurers around clearly didn't understand Derrick's situation. Now hearing him say this, they all focused their attention here.
Everyone wanted to escape this area.
"Hey! Is what he's saying true?"
A seventh-tier adventurer asked.
"Then you have to ask him. We are willing to disclose the method to escape this area. I'm just afraid he doesn't know it at all and is just trying to trick us into fighting."
The armed squad leader lightly kicked Derrick, not caring about the surrounding mental energy at all.
Those who had survived until now here were no fools. Without any substantial content, no one would casually make a move.
Now all the mental energy in the area shifted onto Derrick. If he didn't say something useful, these people wouldn't let him off.
"Are you sure you want me to say it? This is Carnot Heavy Industries' confidential information. If it gets out, Ms. Carnot won't let you off!"
Derrick turned his head and said to the armed squad leader.
"I'm about to be trapped to death here, what's the point of talking about confidentiality? Besides, I'm not from Carnot's side."
The armed squad leader said disdainfully.
"Fine, you forced me.
One month ago, this area appeared at a depth of 2475 meters in the Bottomless Pit. Since then, all explorers who crossed the 2475-meter depth have disappeared.
You all are probably adventurers sent by various major forces to investigate the situation, and you're also on the missing list.
This situation continued until two weeks ago.
Someone escaped this area and took away a very important piece of material.
That material could help us research this area. Unfortunately, that person swallowed that material into his stomach.
So he became an important experimental subject.
And I was one of the first researchers to make contact with him.
I have a method to leave here, but I can only take two people out, and we have to go to the Pasture first. Are you sure you want me to say it directly? If the news gets out, those people in the Pasture might directly use this method to leave, and then this method will become useless."
Derrick said with a serious expression.
"Stop the nonsense, speak quickly!"
"Heh, pretending quite convincingly. I've seen through these kinds of tricks long ago."
"You don't actually know anything, do you?"
...
However, those who spoke up were all mid-level spiritual energy users. Although the high-level spiritual energy users also thought Derrick was talking nonsense, they were willing to try as long as there was even a sliver of possibility to leave here.
Moreover, if Derrick didn't have a method to escape this area, there was one inconsistency here: Derrick would also have to enter the Pasture.
"Hand him over."
That eighth-tier spiritual energy user stepped forward. He wanted to hear the method to escape this area alone.
"I can hand him over to you, but I want to hear the escape method together."
The armed squad leader didn't want to fight the other party.
"Then you'll still have to fight later, and the information might still leak out."
Derrick interjected.
"I said give him to me!"
Martin glared at the armed squad leader, and the surrounding spiritual energy began to gather toward Martin.
"Then make your move. Since you also have to go to the Pasture, I'll send you on your way!"
The armed squad leader pulled out a portable compressed spiritual energy impact cannon from a spatial item and aimed the cannon mouth, the size of a human head, at Martin.
Since neither had confidence in defeating the other, the two fell into a stalemate.
Right at that moment, a crack suddenly split open in the center of the ruins. On the other side of the crack was a pasture with two-meter-high pasture grass.
"I want to enter the Pasture!"
Derrick suddenly shouted loudly.
By the time the armed squad leader wanted to stop him, it was already too late. A layer of spiritual energy shield enveloped Derrick and pulled him into the Pasture.
Once inside the Pasture, Derrick quickly disappeared into the pasture grass.
Immediately, more than ten adventurers chose to follow and enter the Pasture. These people were so decisive that even Lin Ye had to express admiration.
If he hadn't realized Derrick was completely talking nonsense, Lin Ye would have followed them in.
Those tricked into entering were all mid-level spiritual energy users. None of the high-level spiritual energy users moved from their spots. The armed squad leader and Martin, who were just about to fight, also put away their weapons, as if the earlier stalemate had never happened.
"More than ten idiots are gone, we can have some peace again for a while."
"Yeah, that's the Pasture. Only fools would go to such a place for that bit of hope."
"Boss Martin, were you and the Carnot Heavy Industries squad leader just putting on an act? After all, the rules of each selection are different. Were they also afraid of being chosen?"
"Shh, don't say it out loud. Don't they have any face to save?"