The wasteland beneath the surface.
Shi Yaoguang and Quan Jinbei, whom An Xiaoya was concerned about, were at this moment underground, in a stand-off with a group of people with deathly pale complexions.
After Shi Yaoguang and Quan Jinbei dealt with the walking corpses, they triggered a Formation left by predecessors and were swept into an even deeper layer of the ground.
This was also the reason why, when she previously used Divine Sense to probe, she hadn’t sensed the underground laboratory or the exit passage.
They had come directly to an experimental platform underground, and the people there, upon seeing them, immediately watched them warily. A line of men in lab coats approached, holding weapons similar to harpoons, and watched them defensively.
The language they spoke was not the national language, but that of a small country.
If it wasn’t for Shi Yaoguang, who had memories of most languages from her quick journey through time, she might not have understood them at all.
The person asking the question saw that Shi Yaoguang did not respond right away, and his expression became more fierce.
Seeing that they were about to make a move, Shi Yaoguang replied in their language, "We accidentally fell in here."
Upon hearing this, the man clearly did not believe her.
Seeing this, Shi Yaoguang took out her smartphone and started talking her way out of it.
"Do you see the smartphone I’m holding? We traveled here from the year xx. We were actually conducting an experiment to return to the year xx, only the location of the transit went wrong, and we ended up here," she said.
While speaking, Shi Yaoguang’s expression was solemn yet cautious, "I know you might not believe what I say, but that doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that our arrival here was an accident, and we will soon be leaving."
With that said, she pulled out her Laser Sword.
Throughout the whole time, Quan Jinbei acted like a piece of scenery in the background.
Quan Jinbei recognized the language Shi Yaoguang and the locals were speaking as that of a particular country.
However, because it was a minor and unpopular language, he had not made an effort to learn it.
In this case, he could only listen to Shi Yaoguang talk to them.
At the moment, seeing her draw a Laser Sword without a second word, Quan Jinbei’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he took on a defensive stance as well.
Shi Yaoguang stopped his movement and simply extended the Laser Sword, gently swinging it towards the experimental platform not far away.
The platform collapsed loudly, cutting neatly into two halves at the cut, which was very smooth.
Shi Yaoguang had demonstrated enough deterrence before she continued her bluff, "To prove that we are indeed from the future, my apologies for the offense."
The people, upon her words, had expressions that were beyond words.
The way they looked at Shi Yaoguang and Quan Jinbei was filled with terror.
But as soon as their eyes touched upon the destroyed experimental platform, their expressions were filled with anguish.
Shi Yaoguang, seeing they were preoccupied with their grief, cleared her throat.
As a reminder of her presence, she said, "Do you believe what I’ve told you?"
While speaking, she also waved the Laser Sword about, her expression eager to try something out.
Her tone carried a hint of novelty, as though she had found a fresh toy.
"I’ve never seen what Ancient Humans look like, but now it seems... they’re not so different from us, with one head, hands, and feet, just the same," she remarked.
Saying so, she narrowed her eyes, "Hmm, perhaps it’s just a superficial resemblance?"
With that, she cocked her head to the side, posing thoughtfully, "I know now!"
"That must be it!" she murmured to herself, full of curiosity, "Since we happened to come here, why not take the chance to study how Ancient Humans are different from us?"
As she said this, she looked at Quan Jinbei but said nothing.
Quan Jinbei didn’t need to say anything to match her rhythm perfectly.
Seeing them , the people from the laboratory couldn’t sit still any longer.
The leader couldn’t help shouting, "You can’t destroy this place!"
Shi Yaoguang turned her head and blinked innocently, "Destroy? We haven’t destroyed anything."
As she spoke, she rubbed her hands together, wearing an utterly naive expression, "To us, you are nothing more than Ancient Humans."
"Even if we killed you, it wouldn’t impact the future in the slightest."
Listening to her tone, it seemed she was also somewhat annoyed, "If I had realized this earlier, I wouldn’t have been so polite with you."
Seeing the mischievous smile at the corner of her lips, everyone present felt their hearts lift.
Full of trepidation, "You really can’t kill us!"
Shi Yaoguang: "I haven’t killed you, I’m just curious that’s all."
"After all, we’re not built the same, we can’t be considered the same kind."
Listening to her gleeful tone, everyone grew even more afraid.
This couldn’t be a human, right?
After Shi Yaoguang’s performance, no one here doubted that her words were false.
They were now full of unease, hoping Shi Yaoguang would spare them.
Obviously, that was not going to happen.
Shi Yaoguang seemed to release the bad genes within her body, looking around and evaluating them critically, commenting on each as if assessing merchandise.
"You look way too ugly, don’t you? As expected, the genes of Ancient Humans are particularly poor."
Hearing this, everyone present subconsciously compared their own appearance with that of the two visitors.
Without the comparison, it didn’t matter, but once they compared...
They were indeed ugly.
Shi Yaoguang continued to disparage them relentlessly: "How did you manage to continue living with such ugliness? Could it be..."
She hesitated to say: "Could it be, it’s because of biological instincts?"
As she spoke, she looked up as if noticing for the first time and exclaimed, "My god, there’s no sun here!"
"Could it be that even the sun in the future world is artificial intelligence?"
Never mind how happy Shi Yaoguang was performing, the faces of those who heard turned distorted.
They hadn’t seen the sun in a very long time.
The sun was nothing more than a legend to them.
Many people here had not seen the sun since they were born.
Living without seeing daylight year-round, their bodies weren’t good.
More or less, various diseases would occur.
As a result, they would die young.
In this place, being born, getting sick, and dying, were the most normal of occurrences.
It had already been who knows how many years since it existed.
If Shi Yaoguang had not mentioned it, they would have even forgotten that there once was a sun in this world.
"The sun, is it a heat source that can bring about photosynthesis?"
Someone couldn’t help but voice the curiosity in their heart.
Shi Yaoguang glanced at the person who asked and nodded.
As soon as she saw the person’s appearance, she knew he had not seen the sun for a very long time.
Or perhaps it was true for everyone present.
What are the chances that a person could live their entire life without seeing the sun?
And the fact that these people managed to do so proved just how long they had stayed underground.
She hadn’t known that such a group existed beneath the wasteland, but now that she did, she must find out exactly what was going on.
Be it a conspiracy or a scheme, there must come a day to see the light of day!