Chapter 1148: The USB Drive Returned to Its Owner

Swish, swish—

The dim sunlight fell to the edge of the horizon, and two figures climbed upward step by step along the trunk of the Mother Tree.

"Chen Ling, what exactly is going on? So mysterious..." Zhao Yi, wearing a wanderer’s trench coat, followed Chen Ling through the dimness. At this point, the two had left the residential area of the Fusion Faction and were out of everyone’s sight.

Chen Ling climbed while his gaze swept around, as if searching for something,

"I’m here to find something."

"What are you looking for that requires getting others to help find it?"

"No, this is something I have to do myself."

"Are you even keeping this from Teacher Ye?"

Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly,

"Yes, don't let Teacher Ye know that we’re here to find something... at least not for now."

"Oh..."

Although Zhao Yi didn't understand, he chose to trust Chen Ling.

Chen Ling climbed along the trunk of the Mother Tree, his shadow cast upon the withered bark, gradually sinking into the dim night...

He suddenly asked:

"Zhao Yi, what kind of person do you think Teacher Ye is?"

"Teacher Ye? He’s a very good person." Zhao Yi answered without much hesitation. "Knowledgeable, soft-hearted, almost everyone in the Fusion Faction was saved from the gates of hell by his own hands..."

"Has he been out in the last few days?"

Chen Ling pointed to the trunk beneath him, "I mean, coming to the canopy or other places..."

Zhao Yi thought carefully, "No... very few people come here, unless it’s to pick up dead leaves at a set time every day. Teacher Ye never picks them up himself; he spends most of his time in the office and the laboratory."

Chen Ling nodded, lost in thought.

Chen Ling had doubts before. Ordinary calamities couldn't approach the Mother Tree, so how did the Calamity of Thought manage to carve the mark on the trunk without leaving the Storm Island itself... and it happened to be on the path that students who took turns picking up dead leaves every day had to take.

Chen Ling had walked from Frost Street to today and experienced too many things. He never trusted anyone easily... even Teacher Ye, who was currently teaching him how to slay calamities.

After all, in his line of thinking, the person most likely and most capable of doing this was Teacher Ye.

It was precisely because of this suspicion that Chen Ling didn't tell Teacher Ye the results of his investigation, nor did he alert anyone. He only brought Zhao Yi along, as Zhao Yi was the person Chen Ling knew best in the entire Fusion Faction.

"Found it..."

Following the description of Xiao Tao and the others, Chen Ling quickly found the location of the mark.

A cluster of chaotic lines was scribbled on the trunk, though the color seemed to have faded significantly; it would be hard to see if one didn't look carefully.

Chen Ling only swept it with his peripheral vision, deliberately not looking closely. He turned to Zhao Yi and instructed:

"Keep an eye on me in a moment. If I lose consciousness and start walking around, stop me immediately, no matter what method you use, as long as you can tie me up, okay?"

"No problem!"

Although the matter of the Calamity of Thought had been resolved, Chen Ling still intended to be safe. If even he were to be deceived by the mark and walk all the way into the depths of the Gray World, he wouldn't know when he would come to his senses.

Chen Ling stared at the mark, and a slight sense of dizziness did indeed surge into his heart, but as Chen Ling consciously activated "Painting the Red Face," the dizziness quickly disappeared...

He stared at the mark with his naked eye, as if wanting to engrave it completely into his memory. That way, if he wanted to ask someone, he could just use [Yesterday's Revolver] to strike this memory into someone else’s brain.

"Does power weaken over time..." Chen Ling felt the power in the mark fading and raised his hand to touch it directly.

As Chen Ling turned his palm into a calamity state and scraped hard against the mark, the ball of yarn quickly crumbled and disappeared. About a minute later, it was completely gone.

Chen Ling stood up and clapped his hands, "Done."

"So fast?" Zhao Yi was still poised to beat Chen Ling up, and upon hearing that Chen Ling had finished just like that, his expression was somewhat disappointed, "...Then what next?"

Chen Ling waved his hand, "Back to eat!"

……

"Brother Sun, what is this lion head made of? It’s so beautiful!"

"Brother Sun, can I touch it?"

"Sister Jiang, how do you maintain your hair? It’s so silky!!"

"Idiot! It’s Brother Jiang!!"

"Brother Jiang, why are you wrapped in so many bandages? Are you hiding a powerful secret weapon?"

"Brother Sun, how did you and Brother Chen Ling meet?"

“……”

In the Fusion Faction cafeteria, a dark mass of figures was surrounding one of the dining tables. The young boys and girls were looking at these "friends of King Chen Ling," their eyes filled with curiosity.

Jiang Xiaohua was holding a rice spoon, clearly uncomfortable under the attention of so many people. He had already shrunk almost under the table, just short of using the spoon to dig a hole to crawl into.

Sun Bumian, on the other hand, generously let these children touch the fur on the lion dance mask, his face full of smiles, seemingly very happy that these children liked the lion dance.

"How is it? Feels comfortable, right? I made it myself!"

"Not only that, its eyes can move... There’s a small mechanism inside, let me show you how to touch it..."

"Want to learn lion dancing? I’ll teach you!"

As the atmosphere was in full swing, Chen Ling walked over with a tray, his expression strange.

"Hey, how are the guests supposed to eat like this? Scatter, scatter!" Zhao Yi drove the young boys and girls away from the side. After they were mostly gone, he also sat down with his tray.

"Hearts, what kind of love potion did you feed these kids?" Sun Bumian asked when he saw Chen Ling finally arrive.

"Don't ask me, ask him." Chen Ling pointed to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi touched his head embarrassedly and whispered the process. After Sun Bumian heard it, his expression toward Chen Ling was somewhat subtle.

"By the way, where’s my brother Jian Mushroom?" Zhao Yi asked suspiciously.

"Teacher Ye is giving him special tutoring, it hasn't ended yet, don't worry about it." Sun Bumian answered vaguely while eating a large mouthful of food. "To be honest, the food at your Fusion Faction is much better than I imagined... After all the tossing and turning on this trip, I haven't had a proper meal in a long time."

Sun Bumian’s pursuit in life was to eat well, drink well, and have fun. Since losing all his belongings, he had barely had a full meal. Occasionally, after eating a meal, he had to stay and work to pay off the debt. As for the Gray World, it went without saying; he couldn't even get a decent meal.

Eating the free and delicious food at the Fusion Faction this time, Sun Bumian was so moved he almost shed tears.

"Oh, almost forgot."

Sun Bumian seemed to remember something, took a USB drive out of his bosom, and handed it to Chen Ling,

"Spades 8 asked me to pass this to you. It should be something you left in the Wuji Domain... He picked it up for you while he was at it."

……

……

There is a big plot point about the era archive coming up, Sanjiu needs to sort out the outline carefully, slow down to improve quality, taking a day off tomorrow~ (Dog head)