Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Therefore, pathfinders like drones that are not afraid of losses are very, very necessary.

"Successful landing, confirming that the opposite side of the door is a forest terrain on the surface...the atmospheric pressure and air composition are normal, the gravity index is low, the radiation index is normal, no deadly microorganisms have been found in the air for the time being, and no traces of human activity have been found around the landing site, and no danger has been found Animals..." The soldier in charge of controlling the drone loudly reported the situation on the other side, making everyone feel a little relieved. This time, they were lucky. At least the door was not opened in some crazy position. place.

"...Is there a forest across the way? How is the vegetation growing? Are it ordinary plants or threatening carnivorous plants?" Sister Zhang immediately asked. As the on-site commander of this operation, she must ensure the safety of all operators. Responsible, so you can't be too careful about these details.

The soldier skillfully manipulated the lens and various instruments on the drone, and gave the answer after a few minutes: "They are all tall trees, and their height and diameter generally exceed the native tree species on the earth. There are not many shrubs found. and vines, and no signs of carnivorous plants were found... Wait, the monitor heard the sounds of animals! ... It should be deer, horses, and birds... Preliminary judgment-the landing site is safe!" Sister Zhang pondered for a while, then waved her hand decisively.

"Send two more teams of aerial drones over there to find out the situation over there!" Before safety is truly confirmed, human lives should never be risked. She and Fang have something in common on this point. .

"...I said, haven't you arranged everything well? Why did you ask me to come?" Fang Yuan lowered his voice from behind and talked about this with Captain Liu and the others. He didn't feel that he was here at all now. What role can it play?

"...Don't underestimate the environment in the secret realm. Even though everything looks normal through the screen, God knows what will happen if we really go in! It is said that it happened once in the UK. Everything happened before we actually entered the secret realm. Normally, once they entered, they all died inside, and none of the dozen or so superpowers escaped! Your role is to provide appropriate help at critical moments. This should be the strength of you spellcasters, right?" Captain Liu! He also lowered his voice and replied.

Fang Yuan: "..." So you mistook me for Doraemon... Fang Yuan thought about his profession as an alchemist, and it seemed that he did have some resemblance to the fat blue guy without ears - well, no. Something wrong! ')028'\u003eChapter 28 A surprising discovery

Dozens of drones were flown to the other side of the door, using the crawler drone that had previously entered behind the door as a relay station to transmit video data back in real time.

The results of aerial observations were similar to before, and no obvious threats were found. Except that the trees and vegetation here grew much taller than on the earth, not even many ferocious carnivores were found.

But just a few minutes later - "Wait! What is that?" Sister Zhang, who had been staring at the screen, seemed to have discovered something.

"Is this... a building?" Captain Liu also moved closer and saw the new discovery on the other side of the camera.

Although it is very dilapidated, traces of human beings or civilization can still be seen from those stone ruins.

"...Will there be humans in the secret realm?" Fang Yuan asked Captain Liu and the others.

"No, there are generally no living humans, at least I haven't heard of them.

But relics that look like human civilization are quite common. "

Captain Liu gave a negative answer, and Sister Zhang nodded in agreement.

"So, do you know where all the humans who once existed have gone?" "Who knows! Maybe they are all dead, or maybe they never existed at all.

After all, this secret realm, like those monsters, appeared out of thin air, and there was no reason at all! "..." Fang Yuan didn't expect such an answer. Looking at the expressions of others, it was obvious that no one had pursued this issue for a long time - because it was useless to pursue it. As they said, the secret realm This kind of thing makes no sense.

The drone on the other side of the lens flew over the large ruins, then passed through a large wilderness covered with shrubs, and then another ruins. Again, there were no new discoveries. Finally, it finally flew before the battery ran out. Come back.

Next, they sent in drones equipped with various instruments to conduct a more detailed exploration of the entire secret realm.

... "The space size of the secret realm over there has just been measured. Opposite the door is an oval island with a size of about 800,000 square kilometers, surrounded by water. Although it should be an ocean based on the reflection of electromagnetic waves, there is no one there. The plane can no longer move forward when it flies about 15 kilometers offshore; there are also height restrictions in the air, and the electromagnetic waves launched into the sky are not reflected, but the high-altitude hot air balloon stays at an altitude of about 10 kilometers, which is probably the troposphere and stratosphere position between."

While introducing the situation to everyone, Sister Zhang sent the electronic briefing she had just compiled to everyone’s tablet, so that everyone could have a clear understanding of the other side of the door.

"It does not affect electromagnetic waves but prevents objects from leaving? What is the principle of this?" I'm sorry that Fang Yuan is not very good at the content of space dimensions, so he has a little difficulty understanding this very strange phenomenon.

"I've already said that secret realms are unreasonable, so there's no need to delve deeper into it!" After hearing Fang Yuan's whisper, Captain Liu replied with great concern.

Fang Yuan: "..." Another unreasonable sentence. You people have no scientific research spirit at all... "Huh?" Suddenly, Fang Yuan let out a surprised cry.

"What's wrong?" Captain Liu, Sister Zhang and others all looked over.

"... I thought those human ruins looked familiar before, and now I'm even more sure when I see the high-altitude aerial view..." Fang Yuan adjusted the screen on his tablet to the map page, then performed some operations on it, and finally The tablet was flipped over to reveal to everyone.

"What do you think this looks like?" He pointed to the red dots marked with red markers. These are the most obvious and best-preserved parts of all human remains.

"Are these... concentric circles?" Captain Liu said with some uncertainty.

"Yes, they are concentric circles, and there are three of them. What did you think of?" Fang Yuan raised his head and looked at everyone.

Everyone else looked at each other in confusion, only Xiao Zhang said hesitantly: "..."The Titan of Advance"?" Obviously, he is also an anime lover, at least he has watched this show.

——In fact, because they have to deal with those fantasy monsters, everyone here has been exposed to the works of the ACGN industry to some extent.

"!" Everyone reacted, yes, it really looks similar! This is really a big discovery! "You mean, this secret realm is actually the kingdom in that cartoon? These three concentric circles are the three walls?" Captain Liu was a little unbelievable, but when he thought about it carefully, it really matched it.

After all, there were some details in that series. For example, the existence of a giant forest was very similar to the tall trees they saw at the landing site. In addition, the three concentric circles on the map became more and more obvious. Fang Yuan This guess is really quite possible! "...Could it be that these so-called secret realms are really fragments of another world, as those researchers speculated?" Someone murmured in a low voice.

Seeing how everyone was discovering this secret for the first time, Fang Yuan couldn't help but ask: "Aren't there similar situations in the secret realms you discovered before?" "In fact, there are not many secret realms discovered in China, and the one in front of us is Actually it's the third one.

One of the previous secret realms was a mountain with various unique creatures and mineral veins, and the other was a garbage dump filled with various abandoned machines that did not exist in reality. There were no obvious features that would allow people to take them. Thinking of these fantasy works..." The answer given by Sister Zhang made Fang Yuan understand. It turned out that the sample was too small, so no one had discovered this before... "I suggest you go back and compare the secret realms carefully. Environment, they should also correspond to certain film and television works or animation works. "

Fang Yuan's suggestion made sense, and someone immediately reported the information to the headquarters, where manpower would be arranged to verify it.

"...However, since the secret realm is likely to be the giant world, then why did the drone not find any trace of the giant?" Someone raised this question.

"Perhaps those giants are still humans in nature, and then they did not appear because there are no rules for humans in the secret realm?" Some people also gave their own guesses.

"No, no, no, this rule itself is just our guess. After all, no human beings were found in the secret realm. It's just the information we obtained. What if humans appeared in the secret realm abroad but concealed it? What's your guess? It’s completely untenable!” “This is just your guess. In the final analysis, my statement is more logical...” Then these people started to discuss (dispute) heatedly (quarrel).

...')029'\u003eChapter 29: Never forget the protagonist of cosp-lay wherever you go

Although a very amazing discovery has been made, the plan to explore the secret realm still needs to be carried out.

In other words, it is precisely knowing this that makes it even more necessary to thoroughly explore the secret realm in front of you.

Giant, the giant in "The Titan of Advance"! Although ordinary Innocent Titans have no brains and Intelligent Titans only have a lifespan of thirteen years, the characteristic that no matter how serious the injury is, it can be healed for you as long as you transform once, is really very attractive.

If some clues about the giant can be found in this secret realm, it will be an extremely huge opportunity for both the Chinese biology and medical circles! "Judging from the condition of those ruins, they have been abandoned for who knows how many years. Do you really think we can find any clues?" Although Fang Yuan was also interested in the giants in that series, especially the kind that The huge transformation ability that was completely inconsistent with the law of conservation of mass made his research soul burn brightly, but he was indeed pessimistic about the results of this exploration.

"You have to try no matter what, right? And even if you can't find any clues about the giant, the secret realm itself is the most valuable existence - it's close to the size of Pakistan!" Captain Liu shrugged.

Her thoughts are very pragmatic. The secret realm itself is a very incredible existence. Any discovery may bring benefits to the country that cannot be calculated with digital money. The matter of the giant only increased the importance of this secret realm.

"In short, don't think too much about carrying out the mission."

She concluded.

Fang Yuan thought about it and it made the same sense.

However, now his focus is on more important things... "...are we going in wearing such a burden?" He was referring to the sets of heavy protective clothing hanging on the wall in front of them.

After confirming the timetable for the action team to enter the secret realm, Captain Liu took him to the maintenance room to collect the equipment he needed to carry.

In this warehouse, which is about hundreds of square meters in size, the most eye-catching thing, besides various types of firearms and ammunition, are the dozen or so sets of protective clothing hanging on one wall like mannequins.

"These are three-proof suits designed in accordance with space mission standards, which are enough to allow the wearer to survive in most harsh environments - after all, the other side of the secret realm is a completely different world, and you don't want to contract anything there. A strange infectious disease or being parasitized by some kind of monster, right? " "Are you talking about the movie "Alien?" Stupid behavior.

But can't you make this protective clothing more beautiful? Or at least make it easier for people to move around! " Fang Yuan pointed to the thick, round limbs and waist of the protective suit in front of him. Apart from the fact that there is air on the other side of the door, so there is no need for an oxygen backpack, this is really in accordance with the specifications of the space suit... "... All of this. It’s time, are you still struggling with this? And we are about to leave now, how can we have time to redesign and re-manufacture it for you! Captain Liu was speechless. She seriously suspected that Fang Yuan’s dissatisfaction with these protective suits was mainly due to their appearance.

After all, it can be seen from the characters in various cosp-lay movies before that this unidentified magician is a guy who likes to act cool and pretend to be cool, and he will be dissatisfied with this bloated protective suit that lowers his personality. It's normal.

"... Just because you can't do it doesn't mean that I can't do it! Give me ten minutes, I'll do it!" Fang Yuan decided to show them his skills - he really didn't want to stuff himself into such bloated and low clothes.

"Ten minutes?" Captain Liu's face was full of black questions. Could it be that the magician in front of him could design a new protective suit in ten minutes? This profession is not suitable at all... , she saw what it means to be a professional.

Fang Yuan just put his hand on a piece of protective clothing and seemed to be sensing for a few minutes with his eyes closed. He didn't see any movement. Suddenly, blue lightning sparks flashed on the protective clothing, and then... ...What appeared in front of her was a piece of Mjolnir powered armor of the same style as the Master Chief, even the number 117 on the shoulder was exactly the same! "This, this...how did you do it?!" Captain Liu's expression at this time was like this: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴ First of all, it must be reiterated that although Fang Yuan claims to be a magician, He is actually the most "scientific" alchemist! This level of transformation is simply child's play! The knock-off Mjolnir armor that he transformed with his own hands is even better than the previous set of bloated protective suits in terms of protection and three-defense performance, and its dimensions have been reduced to the point where it is almost close to the human body. In terms of flexibility alone, it is much better than the previous protective clothing! Although the power assistance part cannot be restored due to lack of basic knowledge, most of them are superpowers and basically do not need this combat power bonus. Overall, it can be said to be a very perfect transformation.

However, after calming down, Captain Liu also realized something - "You changed this way just to satisfy your hobby of cosp-lay! You can also look cool by the way, right! That's right!" Already talking to Fang Yuan After getting used to it, she was no longer as reserved as before, and just spoke out.

"No, this is not called looking cool, but to boost morale! Think about it, wearing that kind of garbage protective clothing or wearing this handsome battle uniform, which one can arouse the fighting enthusiasm of the soldiers more? It's definitely me. This is better!" Fang Yuan said plausibly.

"... Listen to your nonsense!" Captain Liu rolled his eyes.

...However, after calling several relevant engineers to test Fang Yuan's new protective suit, she had to admit that the magician did give her a surprise. This high-imitation Mjolnir suit could It was said that it was inferior to the original protective suit in all aspects, and the soldiers who came after hearing the news, just as Fang Yuan said, expressed their praise for this majestic and handsome suit. focus on.

Then after learning that Fang Yuan could easily complete this kind of transformation, these soldiers, although they did not say it publicly, privately all strongly demanded equal treatment. Captain Liu and Sister Zhang really had no choice but to do it in the end. Let him go... In short, before the action started, a group of people, including Fang Yuan, all wearing Mjolnir of various sizes and standing in a row with various guns and weapons in their hands, the scene looked like a team of Sri Lankans. The Bada warriors looked as if they were preparing to go into battle, they were so mighty and domineering! ')030'\u003eChapter 30 Entry \u0026 Accident

"Please move faster, please? ... And, didn't you say not to bring anything cumbersome? What's that box on your back?" Before leaving, Captain Liu saw Fang Yuan, who was late on time, and the extra box behind him, and said with some dissatisfaction.

"This, this is the micro drone recommended to me by your logistics department. I think it's very useful, so I brought a box here."

Fang Yuan opened the box and showed her the neatly stacked walnut-sized spheres inside.

"Has the logistics department come up with any toys again?" Captain Liu muttered.

"Also, as a magician, what do you need a drone for? For reconnaissance, there are car-mounted drones. We are not carrying out a secret mission this time, so you don't need to bring these, right?" Fang Yuan: "... These are my spellcasting materials, right?" "Spellcasting materials?" Captain Liu couldn't help but sneered: "What kind of magic needs a drone? You, a magician, are really following the trend!" Fang Yuan didn't explain much, just left a sentence: "This is your own ignorance. When you see me use it, be careful not to drop your jaw!" ... Finally, it was time to set off. The group boarded two armored vehicles that had also undergone three-defense modifications and drove directly to the other side of the door.

After passing through the space door that was like a black curtain, what appeared in front of everyone was the giant forest that they had seen from the camera before.

"Seeing it up close, these trees are really tall and unbelievable!" A soldier saw the scene outside the car through the observation window and couldn't help but sigh.

"It's probably because of gravity. The gravity index here is smaller than on Earth, which has an impact on the growth of plants..." someone answered in agreement.

"But it seems that the vegetation in other places has not grown so exaggeratedly. Is there something special here?"　　Because they were still some distance away from their first destination, the idle people began to discuss these issues in the car, while Fang Yuan closed his eyes tightly under his helmet, as if sensing something.

Captain Liu, who was sitting next to him, seemed to have sensed something, so he came over and whispered: "Did you find anything?"　　"No, nothing."

Fang Yuan opened his eyes and shook his head slightly: "I'm just doing a small experiment. It's my private matter and it won't affect you."

"...Although you are the foreign aid we invited, please act according to the plan and don't make any trouble to the entire action team!"　　Captain Liu was a little dissatisfied with Fang Yuan's approach and lowered his voice to admonish him.

"Don't worry, it really won't affect you!" Fang Yuan assured again and again.

"It's better this way..." After more than two hours of driving, the two armored vehicles finally arrived at the first destination - a building ruin that was almost completely covered by vegetation.

The group got off the car and divided into four action groups according to the plan before the action, and searched the ruins separately.

Fang Yuan was still in the same group with Captain Liu. Although he said that his guns and close combat were very good, Captain Liu and his team still stubbornly placed him in the center of the team - it is common sense for everyone who plays games to put the caster in the safest position! Fang Yuan had no choice but to follow them.

However, in order to ensure safety, he continued to turn on the ability of mental scanning to monitor everyone's movements - if something happened in that place, he could rush there as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the journey was very calm. In the entire ruins, except for some small animals such as snakes, insects, rats and ants, and a sika deer that jumped out in the middle of the road and scared a few people, no danger was found.

"It really looks like just an ordinary ruin... There are no useful clues at all!" Xiao Zhang's muttering came from the communication. Fang Yuan looked back at him, then pointed to a pile of stones in front and said, "The area ahead is probably the wall that sealed the giants in the anime plot. Let's go up and see if there are any remaining traces!" Everyone looked in the direction Fang Yuan pointed. Indeed, it looked like two walls that were not far apart collapsed together. If the giants used by the first king to paste the walls in the plot all crawled out of the walls, it would probably cause the same result.

Walking into the ruins, although most of the areas have been covered by collapsed bricks and stones, and those without brick and stone fragments have been covered by green vegetation, some very obvious traces can still be seen - such as huge footprints! Captain Liu: "It seems that it is almost certain that this is part of the giant world... and it is also the island where the main plot develops."

"But those giants have disappeared!" Fang Yuan took over the conversation: "Where did they go? Is it really because of the rules of the secret realm that they do not exist?"　　"Who knows? You have to ask those researchers..." Xiao Zhang responded indifferently. In his opinion, this is really a problem that cannot be explained and does not need to be explained.

"But, except for this footprint that can prove that this secret realm is indeed related to giants, we can't seem to find any other clues..." Captain Liu carefully checked around and found nothing else.

"Let's see what the other groups have gained..."　　...　　While everyone was discussing, suddenly, the birds that originally lived in the ruins began to fly away with restless chirping, and the various small animals on the ground also rushed out from all corners in panic and fled. Everyone was immediately alert after being surprised, pointing their guns at all suspicious corners.

"This is..." Captain Liu and others felt a little puzzled. This scene didn't look like a good sign at all! 　　Only Fang Yuan, whose five senses were better than ordinary people, seemed to have noticed the reason-　　"...It's an earthquake! Everyone go to the open ground, quickly!"　　Turn the communication volume to the maximum, Fang Yuan conveyed his warning to everyone in the ruins.

And this group of people are worthy of their status as elite soldiers. After receiving the warning, they didn't say a word at all, and took direct action and ran to the open ground closest to them.

Just a few minutes later, there was a slight vibration on the ground, which became stronger and stronger, and soon it was so violent that people could hardly stand still. Everyone felt like they were standing on a super huge drum head - and it was the kind that was playing heavy metal music.

... The vibration lasted for several minutes.

When everything settled down, everyone looked up and looked around, only to see the ruins that were already very dilapidated became even more dilapidated with the sound of bricks and stones falling.

Fortunately, everyone ran to a safe place before the last moment, so no one was injured.

However, this sudden earthquake still cast an indelible haze on this secret exploration trip.

What will happen next? ')031'\u003eChapter 31 The increasingly Cthulhu-like development trend

"Is everyone okay? Is anyone injured?"　　"We are fine here!"　　"We are fine here too!"　　... After confirming that everyone was safe in the communication, everyone had to temporarily stop the exploration work and return to the parking spot one by one.

"What is going on? I've never heard of earthquakes in secret realms!" Sister Zhang, as an experienced person, has entered two other secret realms in China more than once, but she has never experienced something like today.

In theory, natural disasters such as earthquakes should not exist in secret realms as independent spaces! Captain Liu also shook his head and had no idea: "God knows, this exploration is very special. After all, the world in the anime has come directly to reality, right?" But then she turned to Fang Yuan: "Magician, you are the first to notice the earthquake. Did you find anything?" "..." Fang Yuan hesitated, but after thinking it over again and again, he decided to say it: "I did feel something, but I'm not sure what it is now - this earthquake is probably not a natural phenomenon."

In the final analysis, earthquakes are a kind of geological activity in which the stress potential energy in the crust accumulates to a certain extent and releases energy in the form of vibration. Therefore, alchemists who use crustal energy as the source of power can predict the occurrence of earthquakes and even directly determine the source as long as the method is correct.

But Fang Yuan did not receive any warning in the earthquake just now. Instead, he detected the signs of the earthquake with his five senses that were far superior to ordinary people - just like those panicked animals.

"..." After hearing Fang Yuan's statement, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The earthquake was not a natural phenomenon... Could it be caused by humans? 　　"... It's impossible that someone detonated an underground nuclear bomb!" Someone joked, trying to ease the solemn atmosphere.

"No, it could also be some kind of monster!" Fang Yuan said seriously.

"Monster? What do you mean?" His words made people more and more confused.

"I don't know if you have ever paid attention to the setting of the comic "Attack on Titan".

It was mentioned in it that the ancestor of the giants gained power from a being called "Earth Devil", so what exactly is this Earth Devil?" Fang Yuan's hint was already very obvious, and everyone immediately understood what he was hinting at.

"This... Are you trying to say that the Earth Demon that was not mentioned in the plot is the thing that caused the earthquake just now?" Xiao Zhang had also read the original comic, but he had never thought of linking the Earth Demon that was purely used as a background with this earthquake.

"... Forget it, this is just my guess after all, it doesn't matter if you don't believe it.

But we should be more careful next time, I always feel that something is wrong..." However, everyone did not disbelieve Fang Yuan's words like the stupid teammates in those movies. Instead, they all became alert with serious expressions. They understood that Fang Yuan, who had magical powers that were more mysterious than superpowers, would not talk nonsense in this regard. The best choice at this time was to believe him! 　　-Although they made some subtle mistakes in some places, the conclusion they came to was not wrong.

Fang Yuan's outward spirit seemed to have indeed come into contact with something, a kind of chaotic consciousness that he had never seen before and could not be described in words. It was crawling, lurking, and peeping deep under the earth... This feeling was very bad. If the Gate of Truth, which had not existed for a long time, had not suddenly cut off his mental power, he would probably have to go through a round of SanCheck.

...Is it another Cthulhu-type monster this time? The Cthulhu monster that can cause earthquakes...could it be an earth-burrowing demonic insect? But that is inconsistent with the description of the earth demon signing a contract with humans - after all, I have never heard of earth-burrowing demon insects that can turn people into giants... No, no, all the Cthulhu monster designs we know of They must all come from the novels and various secondary designs of Mr. Ai Craftsman, but in the final analysis, the Cthulhu monsters themselves are chaotic and unpredictable, and they cannot blindly follow the settings... The more Fang Yuan thought about it, the more he felt that he had no clue. I can give up and continue to speculate - anyway, as long as you continue to explore, there will always be opportunities to come into contact with it.

As for saying that this mentality is purely a death-seeking attitude... He is not one of those investigators who have no power and can only rely on external objects. He is an alchemist with material power. Even if some unbeatable monster does jump out, Believe it or not, he will rub a big Ivan with his hands and die together! ——Here, he tried not to think about whether a fucking Old One or something like that would pop up.

"Anyway, this secret realm is indeed a bit weird. Let's go back to the outside to fix it first. We have to be more prepared next time we come here..." "That's fine!" "I have no objection."

"That's good advice indeed."

... Unlike ordinary movie plots where the protagonists and supporting actors would choose to continue to be reckless when the plot reaches this stage, out of a responsible attitude towards everyone's lives, Sister Zhang made a suggestion to suspend the exploration, and everyone agreed, even if Fang Yuan, who wanted to see what that thing was under the ground, was no exception.

After all, no one was fully prepared this time, at least not enough to face this kind of monster that could cause earthquakes.