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墨書 Inktalez
After a moment of silence, Xiao Guolin did not make an immediate decision but instead walked towards Xiao Ting.
I felt that Xiao Ting was trying to numb herself by keeping busy; she was still unable to accept or face the current state of Xiao Guolin. As Xiao Guolin approached her, this stubborn girl could no longer suppress the sorrow within her and collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Reuniting with family should be one of the happiest moments in life, yet I felt no joy at all. I knew that although there was a hopeful escape route, the possibility of it turning into a trap was equally high. Our hope of leaving this place alive remained bleak.
I kicked at A San, who was still lying on the ground pretending to be dead. "Get up, isn't it cold on the ground? Aren't you afraid of freezing?"
A San turned his head to glance at the departing Xiao Guolin before standing up with a mournful expression. "Brother Qiang, you have to hold on. We’ve come this far with great difficulty; at least we should get a glimpse of Eternal Gate. If we don't dequantize, we won't have a good ending."
I knew that A San's greatest fear was being left alone with Xiao Guolin; he wasn't afraid of death, but A San was. Moreover, the implication in Xiao Guolin's words suggested that he had no intention of going up with us. Whoever stayed with him would surely meet their end.
"I know," I said, patting the dust off him. "We came down together, so we'll go back up together. I won't leave you behind."
A San's eyes brimmed with tears as he said, "Brother Qiang, I knew you cared for me; I am yours."
Seeing his expression made me uncomfortable. I wasn't used to sharing such emotional moments with a grown man, even if it made my Protagonist Aura shine brighter.
I quickly turned my face towards Jack. "There are too many injured; we must send some people back."
"Where do we retreat to?"
Indeed, where could we retreat? If Song Guilong was untrustworthy, then the escape route he left for Xiao Guolin could very well be a trap. Even if there truly was an exit, there were too many injured to ascend all at once. Someone needed to go up first and pull the injured up with ropes. This required a lot of cooperation; it would take all of us working together to achieve it. A portion of us—mainly the injured—could not manage that.
"My suggestion is to find another group first before deciding our next move. The box is in another group's hands. Every step we take now must be cautious; there's always a chance we could be buried alive here. Also, I absolutely must see Eternal Gate at any cost," Jack quickly stated his position.
"I agree," A San quickly chimed in. I felt that as long as his plans were not abandoned, he would support anything.
However, he glanced at me and added, "Of course, Brother Qiang's decision is the final one. I will support it unconditionally."
I thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, finding Eternal Gate was our initial plan. We will continue with that plan. Looking for another team is merely an unexpected detour."
But for now, whether searching for another team or looking for Eternal Gate, we could not do without Xiao Guolin's support; he could at least find Fatty. Yes, I believed he had a good chance of locating Fatty's group.
Xiao Guolin intended to take A San to search for Fatty, which indicated that he was confident about finding Fatty. I felt he knew exactly where Fatty was. His familiarity with this place ran deeper than he let on.
Jack furrowed his brow. "I noticed Xiao Guolin's attitude. He seems reluctant to join us. What is he worried about?"
I turned my head to glance at the reunited father and daughter, letting out a sigh. A San must have heard Song Guilong's message; he lay down pretending to be dead, not having fainted for even a second. However, I didn't reveal Song Guilong's information to Jack, not out of secrecy but out of fear of scaring him.
Moreover, Song Guilong was too mysterious and unbelievable. The last incident had been caused by him, and I still couldn't make sense of all his actions, making it impossible to explain anything to Jack.
I turned my face toward Jack and nodded at him. "No matter what he's worried about, I'll handle him."
Jack replied, "Alright, but you need to understand our current injuries and conditions."
I frowned. Clearly, Jack had already begun to see me as the leader of this Expedition Team.
Jack had performed surgery on the warrior with the chest injury, removing a broken rib. He was no longer in life-threatening condition but still struggled to move independently. Even with a makeshift crutch made from stretcher materials, he needed assistance to get around.
European had an injury in his leg; his femur was broken. With the help of crutches, he could barely move on his own, but his speed was severely limited. If they encountered a Giant Mosquito or a Stilt Monster—such significant threats—these two would undoubtedly be unable to defend themselves and could very well perish at the first encounter.
They needed time to recover, but we were short on time.
A-Yong and Liu Squad Leader's injuries were not life-threatening. A-Yong was in slightly better shape; one of his arms was broken, significantly reducing his combat ability but not affecting his ability to escape.
Liu Squad Leader was worse off; while his bones were intact, he had injured the cartilage in his knee. After running just now, he had strained a ligament. There was no quick fix for this injury; he could only recover slowly.
But time—what we lacked most was time.
I grew restless as I muttered to myself while walking toward the warrior who had just undergone surgery.
At that moment, all the One-Eyed Beast Flashlights used for the surgery went out, but the Glow Sticks couldn't be extinguished; they were scattered throughout the Metal Room. Although they weren't very bright, their quantity illuminated every corner of the Metal Room without any shadows. For the first time, I had the leisure to see the entire layout of this room clearly.
It was an inconspicuous rectangular room with little difference between its length and width. I estimated that from the metal door to the wall, the depth of this room was at least ten meters, while its width was around nine meters. The height wasn't exaggerated; it was slightly taller than the outside corridor—just over three meters high.
The room was filled with metallic hues, including a long table at its center, which was also metallic. The warrior who had undergone surgery lay on the table.
I walked around the long table, not only observing the injured person lying on it but also examining the table itself. The legs of the table and the metallic surface seemed to be cast in one piece, without seams, making it impossible to move.
"This is a workstation," Jack's voice came from behind me.
I nodded silently. Yes, I stood in front of it; the table was less than waist-high for me, and if there were chairs, sitting would be just right for work. However, I saw no signs of chairs in the room, not even traces of them. Perhaps they had been taken away by the ancestors of Lop Nur.
I turned to Jack and said, "So this should be a maintenance workshop. It's meant for the personnel who maintain the Metal Passage to rest and work."
"That's a possibility, but if that's the case, we can only go back the way we came or continue along the Metal Passage to leave here. This room is a dead end."
Jack's words left me feeling frustrated and silent.
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