Chapter 467: Exploration Team
"Can you guarantee our personal safety?"
An elderly researcher asked.
"No, this anomalous zone is extremely dangerous. Once we enter, no one can guarantee your personal safety. If you're worried about that, I suggest you withdraw right now."
The Captain replied quite bluntly.
"Then there's no problem."
Dr. Wells said with satisfaction.
"?"
The Captain looked at Dr. Wells with a face full of question marks; he couldn't quite understand what the other was saying.
"My meaning is, if you cannot guarantee our personal safety, then we'll have to rely on ourselves. I hope you won't mind if we make some small preparations in advance."
Dr. Wells explained with a smile. Several researchers behind the doctor left the command center early to go to the ship interior to make preparations before departure.
"...?"
Looking at the smile on Dr. Wells' face, the Captain felt a twinge of foreboding.
After the tasks were assigned, the research vessel quickly docked next to the newly built port on the coastline ahead.
Lin Ye tried to sense the extent of the land, but this landmass was very large. He couldn't determine whether this was a continent or a large island.
The four squads disembarked at ports at different locations along the coastline. The fourth squad was the last to disembark.
The Captain looked at the researchers wearing full protective suits and driving multi-functional enclosed off-road vehicles, his expression showing some pain.
Outside the port was an open expanse of wasteland. The researchers controlled unmanned pathfinding vehicles to scout ahead, the off-road vehicles followed behind the pathfinders, and the combat squad walked near the off-road vehicles.
For these high-level spiritual energy users, flexibility was far more important than the meager protective effect of the off-road vehicles.
There were two off-road vehicles. Lin Ye blended into the front one, chatting quite amiably with the researcher driving.
"By the way, little brother, what exactly do you do again?"
The driver, Logan, suddenly realized a blind spot.
"I'm a professional explorer, very skilled at exploring these dangerous areas."
Lin Ye said with a smile.
"Oh, oh, so you're an explorer... um, then don't you need to go outside and act with those combat personnel?"
Logan asked, puzzled.
"I'm generally responsible for overseeing the overall situation, no need to go out and take risks."
Lin Ye casually explained.
"Oh, I see, that makes sense, just like us..."
Logan slammed on the brakes, forcibly stopping the off-road vehicle.
"Explorer One, report status, why the sudden stop?"
A communication from the rear sounded through the vehicle's communication device.
"I just saw a figure wearing a yellow enclosed protective suit ahead! That's right, the same kind of suit we're wearing! But it disappeared quickly! The explorer next to me should have seen it too!"
Logan said seriously.
Compared to a moment ago, he seemed like a different person; his casual expression had completely vanished.
"I didn't see anything, but there seems to be a faint trace of mental energy lingering ahead, probably some kind of mental influence."
Lin Ye said into the communication device.
At that moment, a system message appeared before his eyes:
[The phantoms of the past overlap with reality, causing a displacement of location]
'Is this information related to this place? Overlap...'
Lin Ye pondered the meaning of this message seriously.
"It might just be some kind of mental influence. Reduce speed, try to bypass the locations where those phantoms appear."
Dr. Wells gave the order over the communication.
"I think we should leave this area as quickly as possible without hitting the phantoms."
Lin Ye said into the communication device.
"Reason?"
Dr. Wells didn't directly reject Lin Ye's suggestion but instead asked him for the reason.
"Are there any other people wearing this kind of protective suit here besides you?"
Lin Ye countered.
"...No."
Dr. Wells seemed to understand Lin Ye's meaning.
"These phantoms simulating your appearance must have a reason. If we continue staying in this area, this situation will likely intensify, or some more dangerous phenomena might appear, like actually transporting you to the phantom's location. Of course, this is just my speculation."
Lin Ye deduced this possibility based on the explorer's hint; he couldn't reveal the source of the information.
"You're right. Accelerate, leave this area as quickly as possible without hitting the phantoms."
Dr. Wells accepted Lin Ye's proposal.
"Yes!"
Logan began to accelerate. His driving skills were excellent, but phantoms frequently appeared before his eyes, forcing him to constantly slow down.
"Wait! Stop! Aiden has disappeared!"
A panicked voice sounded over the communication device.
Aiden was the driver of the Explorer Two off-road vehicle. Previously, only he and Logan had seen phantoms.
"Damn it, I see a phantom too!"
After the off-road vehicle stopped, several researchers saw a phantom wearing a protective suit in the distance.
"Co-driver, take over! Keep moving forward! Don't stop!"
Dr. Wells shouted over the communication.
Logan hurriedly started the off-road vehicle, but at that moment, he saw a phantom appear in front of the vehicle.
This time he didn't brake, because Dr. Wells' order was to keep moving forward. If he stopped now, other researchers might disappear because they saw the phantom.
It was better to let him try what would happen after hitting the phantom.
Logan pressed down hard on the accelerator, but when he pressed it halfway, the accelerator under his foot suddenly disappeared.
The off-road vehicle appeared in front of him, mercilessly crashing towards his body. At that moment, he realized the figure appearing ahead wasn't a phantom—it was himself.
Lin Ye used the Spiritual Energy Driving Technique to forcibly change the direction of the vehicle's front, making the headlights brush past Logan. As the off-road vehicle passed by Logan, Lin Ye opened the door and pulled him into the passenger seat.
"Better let me drive. We need to leave here quickly."
Lin Ye originally wanted to turn around to find that unlucky driver, but he found that a member of the combat squad had already grabbed him and brought him back to the middle of the group.
This area had some kind of position-swapping power. Lin Ye really wanted to experience what swapping positions felt like, but neither he nor the high-level spiritual energy user squad had seen their own phantoms.
With the help of the Spiritual Energy Driving Technique, they successfully left this wasteland. A few unlucky individuals were swapped outside the group, but they were all eventually retrieved by the combat squad.
After exiting the wasteland, Lin Ye received another system message:
[Checked in: Withered Wasteland]
'...Withered Wasteland? Does it mean the plants on the wasteland have all withered?'
Lin Ye didn't quite understand the meaning of this name.
After leaving the Withered Wasteland, the off-road vehicle entered an area filled with circular pools.
They were perfectly circular pools with diameters of several dozen meters. The edges of the pools were extremely smooth, as if dug out by a machine. The pools were filled with colorless liquid, but the depths were pitch black; even Lin Ye couldn't sense the bottom.