Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1100: Dimensions

About 23 hours after Captain Ling Feng and the others appeared, the passage outside the granary opened once again. A Daoist, looking disheveled and terrified, stumbled out from it.

The researchers stationed there quickly swarmed the area, racing against time to study the passage—under the near-roaring orders of Dr. Zhao.

Interestingly, the passage lasted less than three seconds—and it was one-way only.

But the Management Bureau’s researchers weren’t discouraged. If there was a first, there’d be a second. And if there was a second, a third wouldn’t be far behind. The next activation came just six hours later. This time, a chicken Demon named Duffy emerged.

Researchers surged forward again… which frightened the newly rescued Duffy terribly. Had it not been for a few familiar faces, he might have thought he’d fallen into danger once more.

According to Captain Ling Feng’s description, Dr. Zhao theorized that time flowed differently inside the Penglai Treasure Vault—possibly at 260 to 275 times faster than the normal world.

Soon after, Yan Xiaoxi arrived with his team. The group began piecing together what had happened inside the Treasure Vault based on accounts from the escaping Daoists and Demons.

They now knew that Daoist Baijie was still inside the Vault, working hard to rescue any surviving Daoist and Demon members—a very encouraging bit of news.

The Daoists, Demons, and Management Bureau agents who escaped the Vault gradually learned what had happened in the outside world during their “disappearance.”

Since the passage was one-way, those on the outside could do nothing to help. Aside from studying the portal’s mechanics, the escapees immediately joined the efforts against the 71st generation of Heavenly Heart.Due to the poor communication and restricted movement within the fog zone, Yan Xiaoxi decided to air-drop teams to the three likely locations where the sixth Jade Dragon Pillar might appear.

Though the fog obscured the terrain, the geography itself remained unchanged. And since the fog didn’t reach high altitudes, satellites could still pinpoint these areas.

The operation was scheduled for 8:00 PM on the same day Duffy came out—after the third portal opening.

…

The operation was divided into three teams.

To ensure balanced strength, members from the Management Bureau, Daoist, and Demon sides were mixed up, each elite team consisting of no more than ten people.

Meanwhile, a larger number of Bureau agents were deployed for civilian rescue missions in the fog zone.

This country would never abandon its people—ordinary civilians’ safety is always its highest priority.

Rescue missions had been ongoing, but in such hostile foggy conditions, even standard soldiers were of limited use. With over 100 kilometers of thick fog and no vehicles, manual searches posed significant risks, even to rescue teams themselves.

Every second counted.

At exactly 8:00 PM, three military planes hovered over the fog zone and split off. There was no need to calculate drop points for these elite units.

They were powerful individuals who could survive free-fall drops without parachutes.

“This is a specially-made flash grenade. If you find something, throw it into the sky—we’ll come right away.”

That was Yan Xiaoxi’s final instruction before the teams dropped.

…

Two days after the air-drop.

Though Yan Xiaoxi’s team had not exited the fog zone, they received a message from Daoist Su Mubai via a flying crane talisman—a Daoist communication method that worked in areas where electronics failed, albeit slowly.

According to the talisman, the three teams had landed successfully at their assigned locations but had yet to encounter any enemies.

Soon, the passage opened again. This time, out came two legendary figures: Ming Tushan, the elder of the Black Tortoise clan, and Hanyang Zhenren, Vice President of the Daoist Association.

Their appearance boosted morale tremendously—though the way they were “ejected” from the portal was less than elegant, as if kicked out.

Ming Tushan’s massive turtle shell allowed him to tunnel underground—quickly applied to operations within the fog zone. After a brief rest, their Penglai Vault survivor team joined the current mission.

However, there was a hiccup. A Vermilion Bird clan member named Flameflow, who was rescued from the Leixia Ship inside the Vault, had gone missing.

He had been unconscious and placed in a tent outside. With no one assigned to guard him and most concerned with the fog crisis, it was understandable he’d been overlooked.

No one expected him to vanish upon waking.

But due to the dire situation, Flameflow’s disappearance had to be set aside. The chaos outside, caused by the continued fog around Mount Tai, had grown worse.

Thanks to the internet, rumors ran wild. Even a nation of this scale seemed to lack a good solution.

While everyone focused on the fog zone, and Dr. Zhao grew frustrated with the inactive portal, he returned to his tent to examine the items retrieved from the Vault by Bureau agents.

Suddenly, the portal opened again.

But this time, it was the shortest yet—just a blink. A shadow shot out at incredible speed, streaked across the granary’s fields, and landed on a nearby road.

The nearby instruments barely had time to react. A sleepy researcher was jolted awake by a sharp alarm—only to see nothing when he looked up.

…

《What is Love》

In an old Santana car still using a CD player—practically an antique by modern standards—Ren Ziling drove along, accompanied by the music.

It was the best rental she could find… and still ridiculously expensive.

She sat behind the wheel, and the three passengers bobbed their heads to the music.

“Why are we even nodding along?” Li Zi asked in confusion.

“I dunno… it just sort of happened,” Ren Ziling blinked, then shivered, abruptly switching off the music. “This song is cursed.”

On the highway, there were very few cars left. Along the way, signs of roadblocks and control points were everywhere—Ren Ziling had already circled the area, burning nearly half a tank of gas, but still hadn’t found anything useful.

It had already been three days since they arrived, and with the dense fog closing in, they'd likely be forced to evacuate soon.

If not for the sheer scale of the fog making full control difficult, the media probably wouldn’t have been allowed to operate here at all... Even so, reporting in this area still carried its risks.

Just yesterday, a few reporters had snuck into the restricted zone. Word was, they were directly apprehended by the military... and then never heard from again.

Luckily, Dai Town had a relatively small population, so most personnel here were local police. The military hadn’t appeared—yet.

Without Ma Houde here to back her up, Ren Ziling was much more cautious and avoided doing anything illegal—though for journalists, playing it safe usually meant losing out on firsthand news.

These past few days, aside from taking a few shots of the fog and interviewing some local residents, there hadn’t been anything useful... She couldn't just start making wild claims about cultivators crossing their heavenly tribulations in the fog, could she?

“Look! What’s that?”

Just as Ren Ziling was about to (reluctantly) drive (with overpriced gas) back, Akiko suddenly pointed ahead through the windshield.

A shadow suddenly fell hard onto the narrow road in front of them!

Screech—

It looked like a person had rolled several meters along the asphalt. Ren Ziling unbuckled her seatbelt at once, jumped out of the car, and ran over to the figure.

“Mister, are you okay?”

Ren Ziling had intended to check on him, but an overwhelming stench stopped her in her tracks. Li Zi and Akiko caught up to her just as she paused.

The three stared at each other, dumbfounded. The man on the ground reeked, had a severed arm, and a thick tree branch pierced through the belt loop at his waist. He was lying motionless on the road.

Ren Ziling frowned and quickly pulled out her phone. “Hello? Emergency Hotline? I’m on National Route GT231 and found an unconscious man. Can you send someone? What? Too busy? Wait?! Hello?...Damn it.”

“Well?” Li Zi blinked but kept staring at the smelly, one-armed man.

Ren Ziling shook her head. “They’re too busy. If he’s not dead, guess we’ll have to handle it ourselves?”

“Sister Ren, he’s unidentified... Could be dangerous,” Akiko said nervously.

“Let’s at least check on him first.” Ren Ziling frowned and pressed a finger to his wrist, glancing around. “Still has a pulse. Let’s move him to the roadside.”

Just as they were about to drag the man away, he suddenly opened his eyes—and immediately stood up.

Ren Ziling’s heart nearly skipped a beat.

Li Zi’s pupils shrank. Her hand instinctively reached behind her, and a sharp ice spike formed in her palm.

But the one-armed man just stood there, unmoving, head down, silent.

Ren Ziling, ever bold, picked up a nearby stick and cautiously poked the man’s shoulder. The moment she did, he toppled over again.

“Looks like he passed out again?” Akiko observed.

“Help me out.”

Ren Ziling walked behind the man, grabbed the thick tree branch. Li Zi took the other side, and Akiko helped too.

Together, the three of them struggled to carry him to the roadside. He was far heavier than expected.

“So now what?”

“What else? We wait for someone to come get him.” Ren Ziling shrugged. “You wanna put him in the car?”

Li Zi gagged dramatically.

“There’s a river nearby. Let’s rinse him off a bit...” Ren Ziling pinched her nose.

After some cleaning, Ren Ziling poked the man’s chest with the stick in amazement. “He’s pretty ripped... Shame about the missing arm.”

“Jeez, Sister Ren, you’re being creepy,” Li Zi muttered, rubbing her forehead.

But Madam Ren had seen all kinds of things.

“Pfft!” Ren Ziling lifted the stick and hooked the guy’s waistband with it.

“Sister Ren, seriously...” Li Zi was speechless. “Wait... isn’t Luo Qiu not even your biological son?”

“So what?”

“I heard he was already in middle school when you married into the family?” Li Zi suddenly seemed to realize something scandalous.

Ren Ziling smacked Li Zi’s head with the stick, rolling her eyes. “What’s your point? Oh, so only men can guess bra sizes through swimsuits?”

“You’re making too much sense... I can’t argue with that.”

Hmm... hard to refute.

“Enough, he’s waking up.” Akiko finally intervened—ever since she started hanging out with Ren Ziling, her worldview had been constantly upended.

As Akiko said, the one-armed man slowly opened his eyes.

“Mister, are you okay? What happened?” Ren Ziling instantly switched into her professional, intellectual tone.

The man stared at the three women in a daze.

“Who am I...? Where... am I…”

(End of Chapter)