The old woman was a little annoyed by their question, and turned around to have her four-legged grandson help her back.
Seeing this, the father on both sides had no choice but to explain to them: "Actually, none of us have ever seen the god, but the older generation, including Grandma, all insisted that they had seen a giant goat that spread plagues, so they built this altar. Now, in the whole village, Grandma is the only one who has seen the god..."
Everyone looked at each other, not daring to make any more comments.
“Although we have never seen the god, we have seen the god’s messenger,” said the father. “The messenger comes to the village once a year, and we all saw it clearly.”
"A divine messenger?" several people asked in unison.
“Yes, messengers of God,” said Father Zuo. “They come back once a month to take away the people chosen by God and then bring blessings and protection to our village.”
Those chosen by God? Yi Heye thought of the sacrifices in the ISSAC incident again, and a chill ran down his spine.
According to the father's description, these divine messengers should look no different from humans. At the beginning of each month, they would select some people from the village to take away. Before leaving, they would perform some so-called "rituals" to bless the village with peace.
That's probably why the first thing they asked each other was, "Are you here to take us away?"
The situation was so outrageous that Yi Heye was speechless. He couldn't understand how these villagers could so readily hand over their loved ones to a group of strangers who claimed to be divine messengers but were most likely frauds. But then he thought about it: they had never been to school or received any education, and their ancestors had relied on luck and so-called faith to continue their lineage. Thinking about it this way, their excessive naivety, kindness, and foolishness seemed to be understandable.
—I wonder what happened to those who were taken away.
Even now, Zuoyou's father didn't think anything was wrong. Instead, he slowly said, "The beginning of the month is in a couple of days. Zuoyou has been chosen. Every day, she goes to the village entrance to wait for the divine messenger to take her away."
"Selected?" Pei Xiangjin couldn't help but ask, "Will they inform you in advance who is selected?"
“Yes.” The father struggled to pull something out of his pocket. “Every time they take someone away, they give one of these to the next month’s people.”
He opened his palm, and there lay a familiar goat-head coin.
This time it was completely connected. Yi Heye turned to look at Pei Xiangjin, whose expression was also very serious.
After a long pause, Pei Xiangjin asked, "Two more days, right?"
The father nodded: "Yes."
“Okay, please allow us to stay a few more days. We want to see how the divine messenger chooses people.” Ignoring Yu Yili’s strong reaction, Pei Xiangjin took out all the canned braised meat from his backpack and stuffed it into the man’s hand. “Please tell the other people in the village that we want to stay a few more days.”
During the two days they stayed here, Yi Heye and Pei Xiangjin felt extremely tormented, while Yu Yili felt quite at ease, like a fish in water.
He set up a free carpet and offered free pulse diagnosis and consultation to the villagers, telling them who shouldn't sunbathe too often, who should eat more green vegetables, who should remember to go to bed early, and who shouldn't drink too much water before bed.
He also taught them different types of exercises to strengthen their bodies and provided them with specific dietary recipes based on the available fruits and vegetables.
Finally, he secretly offered a suggestion to the villagers, harboring his own selfish motives: "It would be great if the village planning could be as symmetrical as possible."
Some people couldn't help but ask, "Is there any scientific basis for this?"
Yu Yili dared not lie, so he could only vaguely say, "When you see something beautiful, it's pleasing to the eye, and when you're in a good mood, your body naturally feels better."
These past two days have passed in a flurry of activity, and the day for the "divine messenger" to visit has finally arrived.
Early in the morning, two very modern, even somewhat futuristic, hovercars slowly descended at the village entrance.
The villagers had never seen such advanced transportation before, and they knelt down devoutly to welcome the arrival of the divine messenger.
To avoid arousing their suspicion, Yi Heye and his group hid in Zuo You's house in advance, secretly hiding in a wardrobe.
The two sisters sat nervously in front of the wardrobe. After a long while, Xiao You finally couldn't help but whisper, "I'm a little scared."
Upon hearing this, Yu Yili, who was hiding in the closet, glanced at Pei Xiangjin. Only after his boss gave permission did he whisper to the outside of the closet door, "It's okay, we'll protect you."
Upon hearing this, the two sisters' tense shoulders gradually relaxed.
A short while later, two men dressed in modern clothes, whose faces were obscured, walked up to the left and right amidst the welcoming crowd of villagers lining the streets.
Yi Heye frowned and glanced at them for a few moments, then whispered, "Both are AIs."
Looking at the back of the figure, which was almost entirely showing only the shoulders, Pei Xiangjin said incredulously, "You can even tell from that?"
Yi Heye immediately became smug: "Of course."
They first handed a coin to a boy covered in long hair, then took each of his hands and left the room amidst cheers from the crowd.
Once the villagers in the room had dispersed, the group quickly pushed open the cabinet door and chased after them. It wasn't until they reached the village entrance that they suddenly realized—the two swindlers had arrived in a hovercar, while they were on foot. How could they possibly catch them?
They hid behind a tree at the village entrance, watching as they shoved everyone around them into the car. Pei Xiangjin was in a dilemma when LOPO suddenly stood up and said, "I'll take you."
Several people looked at her, somewhat bewildered, and politely asked, "How do we bring it?"
Then, two mechanical wings suddenly sprouted from LOPO's shoulder blades.
Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, LOPO said seriously and calmly, "I can fly."
As it turns out, LOPO can not only fly, but it can also carry three adult men and a giant fat sheep, and it can even fly very fast with ease.
Only after they took to the skies did they truly get a glimpse of the land before them, a land filled with sorrow and despair.
Not far behind them was a row of tall barbed wire fences, which clung lightly to the high wall behind them, separating evil from disease. The land beneath their feet was dotted with a few villages and occasional patches of greenery, where sickly yet unusually tenacious life was nurtured, exuding a tranquil yet eerie atmosphere.
Not far in front of them was a hovercar that kept flying forward on its own.
These two AIs were clearly used to the desolation and backwardness of this land, and they never expected that someone would actually follow them and fly into the sky.
The world before them was still a desolate wilderness, with an endless dawn.
I thought that flying higher would allow me to see what was in the distance, but even from this vantage point, I still couldn't see anything.
"Take another look?" Yi Heye asked LOPO for the eighth time. "There can't be nothing there, can there?"
LOPO was focused on flying, and even his iron will couldn't stand his rambling.
"No!" This was probably the first time anyone had detected a hint of frustration in her tone. "Nothing at all!"
Just as Yi Heye was about to mutter again that it was impossible, the hovercar that was flying hundreds of meters in front of them seemed to be sucked away by a hole that appeared out of nowhere, leaving only a slight ripple on the flat surface of that scene before it quickly returned to calm.
It was as if they had passed through a non-existent membrane; the hovercar completely disappeared before their eyes.
The group paused, seemingly realizing what had happened. After a brief silence, a rare surge of excitement filled the air.
If I'm not mistaken, this is the place. That "film" could very well be a newly developed stealth material that is highly realistic, fluid, soft, and non-destructive, making it the best material for isolating two worlds.
That should be the place they're looking for. Once they pass through that invisible membrane, the truth may soon be revealed.
Whether it was due to magnetic field interference or not, LOPO suddenly became unstable when flying near the isolation layer. Before causing a serious crash, the brave Ms. LOPO made an emergency landing on the ground with her superb piloting skills.
Yu Yili took measurements and found that the radiation levels in this area far exceeded what the human body could tolerate. The man in the protected area was probably infected in this vicinity.
Due to the extremely high radiation levels, Little Cloud also became disordered. Its limbs were stiff as it lay in Yi Heye's arms, but its two little bean eyes could not be closed, giving it a somewhat unsettled appearance. However, as soon as it heard Yi Heye say that he was going to throw it down, it came back to life and crawled into his arms again.
There was no other way; the situation was urgent, and if we didn't go in soon, we might not be able to find the two sisters.
After checking their radiation protection equipment, the group, without even having time to mentally prepare themselves, rather recklessly stepped onto the other side of the membrane.
The moment he stepped inside, Yi Heye wondered if he was going to die without knowing why. Fortunately, his mind went blank for a moment, and then a noisy commotion came over him, and Yi Heye's vision gradually cleared.
They were still alive. Yi Heye breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up at the scene before him, and he and his companions froze in place—
High-rise buildings, gardens, rivers and seas, highways.
Unlike the rigid and extreme atmosphere inside the walls, and the oppressive vertical structures, this place is clean, bustling, beautiful, and natural.
Technology and humanity complement each other perfectly here, and every inch of this land shines with an extremely beautiful brilliance.
This is a technology city, the perfect "new world" in their eyes.
Chapter 175 (Number 175)
They had considered that the truth might lead to an extremely horrific apocalyptic scene, or perhaps a scorching hell strewn with corpses, but they never imagined that this place would actually be such a thriving city of hope. This left the group, who had been prepared to die, somewhat at a loss for what to do.
The familiar scenery before him reminded Yi Heye of something, and he turned to Pei Xiangjin and asked, "Old Pei... is this... area A? Have we traveled through time? Or is this some kind of geographical structure that I can't understand?"
Pei Xiangjin was also in a state of prolonged shock. It took him a long time to realize that the reason this person asked him was because he had been to the real Area A.
Pei Xiangjin pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "We've been heading out of the ring, this should be Zone E."
In theory, current technology does not support time travel at all. Yi Heye also felt that at least, he should not end up back in area A at the center of the circle after walking forward.
Area E is Area E, and Area A is Area A. There are three areas, two walls, and a desert in between, so there is no possibility of them being inexplicably connected.
Yi Heye couldn't understand: "But... this place is almost exactly the same as Area A in the TV show..."
“No, it’s not,” Pei Xiangjin said. “I swear on my integrity, this is not Area A.”
Yi Heye didn't know how much Pei Xiangjin's personality was worth, but he was the only one present who had seen the entire A area. If he said no, then Yi Heye had no reason to doubt him.
The group of people silently watched the scene before them. They were now standing on a vast helipad, where many hovercrafts were parked. People in strange costumes walked back and forth expressionlessly. They were hidden in the crowd, and even though they were wearing protective suits, they were not very conspicuous.
Yi Heye had no time to pay attention to anyone else and quickly locked onto the two "divine messengers".
The two men got out of the car not far from them, then turned around and pulled out a large, enclosed iron cage from the car. After that, no one else came out of the car.
"Is Zuo You in that cage?" Yi Heye asked.
“It should be,” Pei Xiangjin said, “but why put it in a cage?”
At this moment, Xiao Yunduo in Yi Heye's arms and LOPO on Yu Yili's back had completely lost consciousness. Upon seeing this, Yu Yili took out the radiation detector again.
After a "beep" sounded, Yu Yili cursed, "Damn it."
Yi Heye and Pei Xiangjin turned around at the same time.
"The instrument exploded," Yu Yili exclaimed in horror. "The radiation levels here are too high."
The radiation limit that the human body can withstand is 500 roentgens. The fact that the instrument exploded proves that the actual value had far exceeded this limit.
If nothing unexpected happens, that iron cage should be a container specifically designed to shield against radiation.
But now another problem is facing them—they have sophisticated radiation protection equipment, and as long as they complete the task quickly, their bodies will not be harmed. But what about the residents of this city? How can they live in such a deadly amount of radiation without any protective measures?
While he was pondering this, Pei Xiangjin suddenly stared at the divine messenger carrying the cage. The man's collar had been covering his profile, and Pei Xiangjin had only just managed to make out his face.
"Don't you guys think this person looks familiar?" Pei Xiangjin asked.
Yi Heye and Yu Yili looked over upon hearing the sound and immediately recognized him—
"Isn't this..." Yi Heye thought for a long time, but couldn't remember the person's name. "Isn't this...so-and-so?"
“Ke Yu,” Yu Yili said, “Gu Wenwen’s husband… his eyes seem a little different.”
Ke Yu was the young man who reported missing in the ISSAC case. His whereabouts remain unknown, but given the development of the case, he has already been officially recognized as deceased.
Now, this person was standing in front of them, looking directly at them with no expression, and carrying a cage containing two items. For a moment, they were caught off guard.
Could it be that Ke Yu didn't die, but instead came here to work without his wife's knowledge?