Just as no one answered Kaos’s words, no one present knew exactly where Lin Zhen had gone.
After all, he was the one who had distributed the signal transmitters to everyone, telling them to gather as soon as possible after landing at the Landing Assessment site.
It was he who had built this team using his personal charisma.
But now, without any warning or leaving a single word, the backbone of the team had suddenly vanished.
Aside from confusion, the hearts of the group were filled only with suspicion and alarm.
More importantly, Zi Jiu and Yun Che probably had some idea of what Lin Zhen intended to do during this Survival Test.
They couldn’t help but wonder if Lin Zhen’s plan had been exposed and he had been directly taken away by the Battle Camp?
Otherwise, there was no way to explain Lin Zhen’s sudden disappearance.
They had all seen for themselves how effective the signal transmitters were.
These people had landed in various places across Taixing Samira-21 and had ultimately managed to assemble successfully, so as long as Lin Zhen was on the planet, they theoretically shouldn’t be unable to find him.
Seeing the oppressive atmosphere, Aili spoke up weakly:
“Is it possible that Ajin Brother’s signal transmitter was accidentally lost on the way? I remember when I first looked, there were six red dots on the map.”
“It’s possible.” Zi Jiu nodded.
Lin Zhen might have lost or broken the signal transmitter for some reason; in any case, he was unable to contact them.
The best case scenario now was this possibility.
“So what should we do now?” Anvil asked.
He had always placed himself in the role of a lackey and enforcer; as long as anyone other than Kaos and Aili was in the team, he would choose to follow advice rather than offer it.
As for why it was Kaos and Aili.
It was probably because the former’s words and actions were somewhat unreliable, while the latter was a younger sister he had determined was even smaller than himself.
Hearing Anvil ask about the plan moving forward, Zi Jiu did not answer, but instead looked at Yun Ruoxi first and asked:
“Xiao Xi, what do you think?”
“Ah, me?”
Yun Ruoxi, who was holding Aili, seemed to be lost in thought, staring blankly at a certain part of the jungle.
After being nudged by Zi Jiu, she thought hard and replied somewhat uncertainly:
“Maybe … we should head to the King City first?”
“Why?” Zi Jiu asked, and the others were also full of curiosity.
“Because if Ajin Brother is still around …….. ” Yun Ruoxi pursed her lips, an indiscernible light flashing in her eyes, “He will definitely go to the place where the Star Core is.”
“Even if Ajin Brother is no longer here, we can still complete the mission, or at least secure a way out.”
“Mm, that is indeed the case.” Zi Jiu turned to look at the others, “What do you all think?”
There wasn’t much of a problem with Yun Ruoxi’s plan, so naturally, no one voiced any opposition.
Thus, they quickly set the King City as their target, which happened to be the same as Lin Zhen, who was in the Underground World.
「This is the Bond」
「What is jiba?」
「666」
「The King City on the surface and the one in the Underground World aren’t in the same place, right? It feels like they’re heading in opposite directions」
The Sinkhole where Aili was located was very far from the King City.
Since they had already spent over ten days gathering their companions, they decided to set off immediately once their minds were made up.
Before departing, Genbeier led the way.
While Yun Ruoxi and Aili went to handle their personal business, Yun Che found Zi Jiu and asked:
“Jiu, why did you ask Xiao Xi just now?”
“What’s wrong? Do you think there’s something inappropriate?” Zi Jiu hung her long blade at her waist.
“I feel that given your personality, you should have thought of it and then proactively suggested going to the King City, instead of asking Xiao Xi first.” Yun Che said softly.
“Your mind is still as sharp as ever, Ah Che.”
Zi Jiu smiled helplessly, looking in the direction where Yun Ruoxi had left, and said slowly: “I just feel like Xiao Xi has been a bit off these past two days, so I asked her, hoping to see something in her answer.”
“I feel the same way.” Yun Che said suddenly.
“You too?” Zi Jiu was surprised.
“Yeah, I feel like Xiao Xi has been a bit uneasy these past two days, always distracted, and she’s become strangely focused on completing the mission.”
Yun Che explained: “She wasn’t like this during the previous journey; she would care more about beautiful scenery, cute plants and animals, and whether the people around her had any needs.”
“You’re seeing even deeper than I am …… I just felt something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on where the issue was!”
Zi Jiu thought for a moment and then instructed: “Ah Che, your observation and empathy skills are the strongest among us. During this period after the Survival Test, you should be the one to keep a close eye on Xiao Xi.”
「The Main Cast is still quick to react; it only took a moment for them to notice something is wrong with Lao Xi」
「Is Lao Xi having a massive dark side explosion? She’s looked gloomy since she changed her carving style at the tavern that night」
「Wasn’t the Mind Control already broken?」
「Wasn’t she brainwashed again?」
「Dizzy, was she brainwashed or not?」
「The Production Team is playing it mysterious, only hinting without saying, but she probably was. Go watch 000’s video, he does a frame-by-frame analysis and makes a lot of sense」
“Mm.” Yun Che had no reason to refuse and nodded in agreement, then was about to say something else, but Yun Ruoxi and Aili had already returned smiling, their hands still wet with clean water droplets.
He could only change his words: “Let’s get ready to set off.”
“Okay.” Yun Ruoxi nodded with a smile.
For some reason, her mood seemed a bit better than before, though even Yun Che didn’t notice this for the time being.
After the group left, the camera moved slowly, flying in the direction from which Yun Ruoxi and Aili had returned, diving into the forest, and finally settling on a large tree.
The camera panned around to reveal a skinned and dismembered wild creature hanging behind the tree.
And not far behind the tree, a small river was flowing slowly.
As the group departed, dozens of fragmented pieces of corpses bubbled up with a gurgle.
Just then.
Swoosh!
A dark shadow suddenly flashed through the depths of the jungle, instantly triggering a massive wave of barrages.
「What’s the situation? Is this Sinkhole haunted?」
「Whoa, that scared me」
「I have a bad feeling about this」
「There’s also a voyeur」
「Bets are open, bets are open! Who is the dark shadow? I bet it’s Goblins. If I’m wrong, I’ll turn into a white-haired, red-eyed Loli catgirl for everyone to eat once」
「You’re just making a wish here」
「Then I want to eat braised catgirl meat」
「Ginger stir-fried meat」
In fact, even without this incident with Lin Zhen, Yun Ruoxi and the others should have set off for the King City anyway.
Because after ten days had passed, the Trainees had more or less gained some understanding of everything happening on this planet.
They knew that the King City was the place where all miracles occurred and was also the starting point of the Root Passage.
So there was no doubt that the Star Core was there as well.
Consequently, one after another, most of the Trainees from the three Battle Camps chose to embark on the journey toward the King City.