There were a total of 86 radiation zones on the Immortal Weaving Star, and the one that Fan Chengying had chosen was exactly what Xiao Ai had predicted. There was at least a 45% chance that this place was closest to Heavenly Dream City. It was located 465 kilometers northwest of the city.
Fan Chengying did not bring his subordinates with him. His idea was that if he was infected again, at least he would not infect more people. It was true that the resistance army needed him, but the resistance army needed Wang Zhu and Zhang Jian more. Therefore, only he and Ding Meng were sent to investigate this time.
In order to avoid alerting the rebels, Fan Chengying and Ding Meng even chose to travel on foot. They only arrived at the so-called radiation zone 30 hours later. It was already nighttime, and under the dark night, there was a vast expanse of ruins. The ground was covered with molten yellow rocks, and the air temperature reached 75 degrees. Normal humans would not be able to stay here for a long time …
However, Ding Meng's heart sank. He had seen this before. Was this the last map of the Starlight exam, Dark Night Abyss?
There was a strangely shaped castle in the center of the map. It looked like a tortoise shell embedded in the ground, and brown liquid would occasionally spurt out from the cracks in the ground … This was almost exactly the same as Dark Night Abyss. It was a completely realistic version. It could be said that this map had been transplanted from Dark Night Abyss.
Little Rascal suddenly said, "I understand now. The quantum detectors in space scanned the terrain here based on the radar's blind spots, but because the signal was blocked, they didn't know the specific situation below. That's why they deliberately created a map to test you."
Little Rascal's analysis was undoubtedly very reasonable. Ding Meng now understood why the final stage of the examination had ended so abruptly. It was because everything below the ancient castle might not be as Feng Chen had predicted, so he had designed a Strange Shadow Tree in advance.
Fan Chengying led the way alone. "Brother Ding, do you know about the Devouring War?"
Ding Meng followed closely behind. "Elder Fan, are you referring to the war 80 years ago?"
80 years ago, Fan Chengying was 100 years old. From the perspective of an Origin Ability user, she was at the prime of her life. Sure enough, Fan Chengying's tone was somewhat emotional. "At that time, Linda's faction was the rear of the Federation and had not yet fallen. However, our Dawn Army also volunteered to fight against the invasion of the Devouring World, so I have some understanding of the Devouring World."
Ding Meng was able to participate in the war against the Devouring Realm and survive until now, which meant that he knew a lot about it. Therefore, Ding Meng said, "Elder Fan, please give me some pointers."
Fan Chengying nodded and stopped. He pulled out a sharp military knife from the side of his leg, then squatted down and used the military knife to pry open a piece of rock slag on the ground. Finally, he picked up a little grayish-brown powder. "Brother Ding, can you recognize what this is?"
Ding Meng also squatted down and carefully observed the small pinch of powder. Actually, he wasn't the one observing. It was mainly Little Rascal and the others analyzing its composition.
After a while, Ding Meng showed a serious expression. "Poison?"
Fan Chengying nodded. "Brother, you have a good eye. This is indeed the poison of the Devouring World."
Ding Meng hesitated and said, "As far as I know, the poison of the Devouring World shouldn't appear here. At least, it shouldn't appear in Linda's faction."
His statement was also based on Linda's position. Although the Holy Grail Federation was adjacent to the Devouring World, there was still the buffer zone of the Zeratul Star Field between them. Linda's faction, on the other hand, was located at the rear of the Federation. This place was at least ten light years away from the Devouring World. How could the poison of the Devouring World appear here?
Fan Chengying said, "We've also ruled out the possibility of human factors because there aren't many mutation-type doctors in this place, let alone mutation-type doctors."
Ding Meng also understood this logic. The so-called human factor was that poison experts like Meng Yan had released the poison. However, this place was full of poison. If there were really so many poisons, how could experts waste them on such a large area?
One had to know that the poison of the Devouring World was an extremely precious material in the eyes of experts like Meng Yan.
Fan Chengying continued, "There's another problem. The Devouring World must exist in a low-temperature and humid environment, but this is a high-temperature environment. The water in the poison has completely evaporated and turned into crystal powder."
Ding Meng frowned and said, "Elder Fan, what do you mean?"
Fan Chengying nodded. "I think it's the work of an expert."
There was nothing wrong with this analysis. At the very least, it was done by a thermodynamic expert. However, Ding Meng felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
"Let's go in!" Fan Chengying suggested.
The interior of the castle was completely different from Dark Night Abyss. There was only one passageway here, spiraling downwards in a spiral shape. The passageway was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass through at a time. Furthermore, the passageway was neither dark nor damp, nor eerie. The interior of the passageway was extremely dry, filled with rock walls and sand.
Little Rascal analyzed, "It seems that Feng Chen's hypothesis isn't correct."
Xiao Ai said, "But the surroundings are also filled with poison, which greatly weakens the detection of signals from the outside world."
It was normal for Fan Chengying and Ding Meng to be able to sneak in because the two of them were not afraid of poison. Fan Chengying was a champion, so normal poisons were useless against her. Meanwhile, Ding Meng had the K virus, so almost all poisons were ineffective against him.
Ding Meng observed the walls as he walked. "These passages seem to have been dug out by someone?
And they didn't use any tools … "
His tone suddenly became surprised. "They were actually dug out with their bare hands."
Fan Chengying praised, "Brother, you have a good eye. I think you must have spent a lot of time in the underground mines."
Ding Meng smiled bitterly. "There was a time when I did this on the exile planet."
Fan Chengying did not ask about his experience. Instead, she asked in return, "In your opinion, why didn't they use any tools and insisted on digging with their bare hands?"
Ding Meng smiled even more bitterly. "I really can't imagine it."
Fan Chengying continued, "A year ago, these passages didn't exist. They were all created gradually."
In other words, they were slowly dug out by someone. Ding Meng asked curiously, "Who were the people who dug them out?"
Fan Chengying also smiled bitterly. "I'm also curious about that, but the problem is that I've never discovered the people who dug them out. Of course, during the time I was frozen, the changes in the situation here far exceeded my initial understanding."
When he said that, Ding Meng felt the temperature around them suddenly drop. Furthermore, the passage finally branched off. This branching was very strange. First, Ding Meng and Little Rascal arrived at a relatively large cave. The cave's floor was very flat, but it was already a little damp. There were traces of poison in the air, and there were at least 15 entrances all around the cave.
If they entered any of the 15 entrances, they would arrive at a slightly wider passage. However, after walking for a while, they would arrive at the same cave again. It was still the same as before as they continued to walk down. However, the passage's width kept increasing, the temperature kept dropping, and the poisonous gas kept getting denser.
After passing through seven or eight caves, a very dense light green liquid indeed appeared on the ground. This place was indeed the border of the Devourer's World. It was exactly as Ding Meng had guessed in Dark Night Abyss. The wrist device's signal was already very weak, but his telekinetic vision was not affected at all. Ding Meng's telekinetic wave could detect a distance of 500 meters below the ground.
"It's the Devourer's World!" Ding Meng's tone was no longer doubtful this time. He was completely certain.
Fan Chengying also stopped in her tracks. "I was infected at this level."
"Oh?"
Ding Meng was even more curious. Even with his Warrior-level foundation, he was not affected by the poisonous gas around him. It was really incredible that he was attacked by telekinesis instead. "But Mr. Fan, I can't feel any telekinetic fluctuations now."
As soon as he said that, his and Fan Chengying's expressions changed at the same time. The two of them also held their breaths in tacit understanding, stopped circulating their origin energy, and quietly sneaked into the nearest passage.
Ten minutes later, people indeed came from another passage in the cave. There were quite a lot of people, a total of 12 of them. Each of them was equipped with light, small armor. Five or six of them were even carrying various guns and equipment. It was obvious that this was a reconnaissance team.
This team seemed to have noticed the change in the terrain and did not advance further. Instead, they rested on the spot.
This group of people rested very interestingly. They actually took out folding chairs and folding beds from their space backpacks. Then, everyone sat or lay down to rest. They even took out drinks and canned food to eat and drink.
Ding Meng also looked at this group of people with great interest, especially the men and women who were eating and drinking. They took off their masks and were not afraid of the poison in the air, nor did they care about this muddy environment. They ate and drank with relish.
Fan Chengying was also very calm. She kept watching and did not make any movements. It was not difficult to discover this place, but to be able to find this place, they must have some tricks up their sleeves.
Ding Meng turned his head and glanced at her. The meaning in his eyes was obvious. 'Are they from the rebel army?'
Fan Chengying shook her head slightly.
Ding Meng was curious. If they were not from the rebel army or the resistance army, where did this group of people come from?
Halfway through their meal, the 12 people suddenly stood up as if they were possessed. After a moment of panic, all of them were fully armed again. There was no need to guess what was going on. It must be someone from the top.
Sure enough, another team rushed in from another hole. This new group only consisted of 8 people. They were also equipped with small armors. The armors looked a little shabby, but this group of people did not carry any weapons. After they came in, they were startled for a moment. Then, the leader of the team said in a droning voice, "Let's go.
"Eh?
You're in such a good mood. You can actually eat in this fecal environment, and it's canned beef with soy sauce. Not bad. "
This sarcastic remark was self-evident. Someone from the reconnaissance team immediately scolded, "It's none of your business. You poor bastards don't even have anything to eat. I guess you can only eat sh * t."
The man was not angry. Instead, he sneered and said, "Hey, you can't win, so you're talking nonsense?
Lao Sha, don't you care about your men? "
Ding Meng and Fan Chengying looked at each other. 'Do these two groups of people know each other?'
Fan Chengying also gave them a look. Ding Meng also shook his head slightly. 'These people are definitely not from the military.'