Chapter 476: Escape from the City
Lin Ye didn't speak. Instead, he leaned against the window, observing the city below.
As the aircraft continued to climb, the city below gradually became blurred. Chaotic colors and lines entered Lin Ye's field of vision. These chaotic pieces of information slowly seeped into his consciousness, making it impossible for him to think normally.
"Don't... look... below..."
Lin Ye forced out a few words with great difficulty.
But by now, no one could answer him. The transmission of some information doesn't require a medium; simply being near it is enough to be contaminated.
The out-of-control aircraft began to tilt, about to plunge into that sea of colors and lines.
Lin Ye could only barely maintain his ability to think. Relying on memory, he squeezed his way near the Driver's Seat, then manipulated the control panel to continue pulling the aircraft up.
But at this moment, Lin Ye couldn't receive external information. With all five senses and his mental energy affected, he also couldn't determine the aircraft's status.
Moreover, he had only watched Logan operate the aircraft once just now. This was his first time piloting this kind of vehicle.
'I hope the spatial positioning isn't affected, otherwise we're really done for.' Faced with this situation, Lin Ye had no other methods. Even the mental purification technique was affected. Due to the information pollution, he simply couldn't properly use such a complex technique now.
Fortunately, the Nameless Armor seemed to be adapting to this extreme environment. The pollution Lin Ye was suffering was lessening, though the rate of reduction was quite slow.
Lin Ye also didn't know their current predicament. Perhaps they were leaving this area. Perhaps the aircraft had already crashed, and they were just struggling in their death throes.
Due to the information pollution, Lin Ye couldn't accurately judge the flow of time now. He didn't know how long had passed before the surrounding information pollution finally began to recede.
Lin Ye looked around. They were still inside the ascending aircraft. Lin Ye was skillfully piloting the aircraft, having squeezed Logan to the side.
'Good thing I'm a Veteran Driver.'
Seeing they hadn't crashed, Lin Ye also breathed a sigh of relief.
"...What is this?"
As the aircraft left the city's range, Logan and the others gradually emerged from the polluted state.
"You're awake? The surgery was a success."
Lin Ye handed the control panel back to Logan, then leaned his head near the window, taking a quick glance below.
Below, there were only white clouds. The outline of that city was completely invisible.
"What surgery? We really survived? Stabilizing the aircraft in that situation... Mr. Lin, are you really just an Explorer?"
Logan couldn't help but exclaim.
"I've done other jobs. Explorer is more of a side gig."
Lin Ye slightly used his mental energy to sense his surroundings. He discovered that using supernatural powers here would no longer incur backlash.
The aircraft continued its ascent. Above, a shadow appeared, blocking the sky.
"There's something up there!"
"It looks like a city?"
"It's an upside-down city!"
"Is there a portal in the city center?"
"That's right! Excellent!"
Lin Ye used his mental energy to sense the area above. He found an upside-down city ruin there. The city's scale and structure were very similar to the one below.
"Find a spot to land. Over there, there's a hollow building. You should be able to land inside it."
Lin Ye pointed at a derelict building within the ruins and spoke.
"Roger that... Uh, that building doesn't look very sturdy. It won't suddenly collapse, will it?"
Logan looked at the building not far away, speaking with some worry.
"It's fine. Even if we fall, it doesn't matter."
As long as he could use spiritual energy and mental energy, Lin Ye could even temporarily lift the aircraft and fly it upward for a distance.
Logan landed the aircraft inside the building. The group disembarked and began to survey their surroundings.
"It's too quiet here."
Regina couldn't help but speak up.
"This area shouldn't have much danger. I'll go down now to pick the others up. Do you want to stay here and wait for the others, or enter the portal first?"
Lin Ye found that this ruin didn't seem to harbor any dangerous entities. The treasure was on the other side of the ruined city; he planned to go take a look later.
"Are you sure you'll be alright alone?"
Even though she knew she'd just be a burden if she followed, Regina still couldn't help but ask.
"It's fine. Even if I'm affected, I can still pilot the aircraft normally."
Moreover, the Nameless Armor was gradually adapting to the extreme environment below. As long as he made a few more trips, Lin Ye would become immune to that information pollution.
"Then we'll wait up here. We don't know what's on the other side of the portal yet."
Regina made the more cautious decision.
"Alright. Be careful yourselves. This ruin might not be completely safe either."
Lin Ye piloted the aircraft away from the ruin. After that previous period of practice, he could now skillfully operate the aircraft.
Before descending, Lin Ye left a note beside the control panel.
Not long after, the aircraft re-entered that area. Colors and lines once again appeared in Lin Ye's vision. This time, Lin Ye directly piloted the aircraft based on memory. Soon, he parked the aircraft in the Underground Space from his memory.
But at this moment, Lin Ye was still in a state of information pollution. He also wasn't sure what the others were doing now.
Fortunately, he had left the note.
The note detailed his current state, when he would take off next, and the precautions to take after takeoff.
As long as they didn't look down, they wouldn't suffer particularly severe information pollution.
With the help of the Nameless Armor, Lin Ye could now grasp the approximate flow of time.
After a period of time, Lin Ye piloted the aircraft to take off. Another stretch of time passed before the information pollution gradually faded.
The Captain and Dr. Wells were both inside the aircraft. At this moment, they were in a state of information pollution.
A while later, as the aircraft gradually left the city area, the Captain and Dr. Wells gradually shook off the information pollution state.
"That was terrifying."
The Captain clutched his head. For spiritual energy users like them, the stronger their mental energy, the more susceptible they were to information pollution.
Therefore, both the Captain and Dr. Wells were now suffering from extremely deep mental contamination. This kind of mental contamination wasn't something that could be resolved quickly.
Lin Ye was a special case. He had experienced far too many mental influences.
The aircraft quickly approached the upside-down ruins. It was only then that Dr. Wells managed to barely open his eyes.
"...We actually stayed in a place like that for so long."
Dr. Wells exclaimed with lingering fear.
"Thank you so much this time. Without you, we might all have died in that area."
The Captain took over piloting the aircraft from Lin Ye. Wearing the Nameless Armor, Lin Ye could only barely squeeze into the Bridge.
"No need for thanks. You should be more grateful to the exploration squad ahead. Without the machines and materials they left behind, we might all have been trapped down there."
Even with the Nameless Armor, Lin Ye wasn't confident he could have escaped that area below alone.