After passing through the spatial gate again, they returned to the library.
Zhang Wenwen, Fan Yiyi, and the others were no longer there, likely attending to their own matters.
Only two holy maidens remained waiting.
Seeing Zhang Chen and Mo Ran return, they quickly offered water and food. "The Cult Master said the True God went to attend to important matters and instructed us to wait here and serve the True God!"
Zhang Chen waved his hand gently and said with a smile, "Forget the food and water. You are not well-off, so keep them for yourselves!"
"There is nothing else here. You may leave!"
Zhang Chen, with Mo Ran's waist in his arm, flew directly back to the manor.
Upon returning to the room, Mo Ran neither ate nor drank.
She was curled up on the bed.
After a while, she slowly crawled to the corner of the wall, and clumps of spider silk began to emerge from her skin, entangling her into a cocoon.
Mo Ran was about to undergo another transformation.
Zhang Chen gently closed the door, not wanting to disturb her.
He looked down at the time.
Less than an hour had passed.
Indeed, if one were to conduct research, a year of research in a parallel world would only result in about a month passing in the real world.
No wonder the progressive faction had made such rapid advancements in technology even in the difficult environment of the apocalypse.
The parallel world was the key.
Zhang Chen stood by the bed and looked outside.
Lloyd had already left the bay and was moving rapidly across the land.
Lloyd's route was different from the route Zhang Chen had taken by boat earlier, so he did not land at Zhong'an City this time.
Furthermore, landing on the shore posed no requirement for the giant spider; it could ascend with a single step, making no difference.
Walking on land was clearly much faster than moving through the seawater. Moreover, in the third stage of the apocalypse, there were no beings on land that could contend with Lloyd's colossal size.
Many mutated creatures, upon seeing Lloyd's enormous physique from afar, had already scattered.
He continued running until dusk, as the sun was about to set.
Lloyd slowly came to a halt.
His massive body gradually descended.
His eight legs rapidly dug into the ground, quickly excavating a large pit.
Lloyd's body slowly lowered, settling perfectly into the edge of the pit, concealing himself within the earth.
The city on his back was level with the ground.
It was as if a city had descended from nowhere.
Subsequently, clouds of mist began to billow out from around Lloyd.
Before long, the entire city was enveloped in mist.
Zhang Chen summoned Zuo Nan and opened the electronic map, sharing the information about the laboratory's location obtained from Maglan with Zuo Nan.
The two of them began studying the map.
"If, as you say, there is very deep snow, it might not be because of winter."
"Because winter is merely cold, and the Water Blue Star has a small ocean area and an overall arid climate, so it rarely rains or snows."
"Plants survive solely by relying on a rich underground water flow system, and this water is not easily evaporated directly into the air to form precipitation."
"Therefore, I suspect that the city you mentioned is located in the extreme northern ice plains."
"Because it is cold there all year round, and only in summer does the snow melt."
"However, according to some data I have, since the arrival of the apocalypse, the human population has drastically decreased, and industrial factories have largely ceased production, leading to a weakening of the greenhouse effect, thus making the climate increasingly colder."
"It is highly possible that in the extreme northern regions, the snow does not melt even in summer."
"After the apocalypse, with no one to clear the snow, this situation could have occurred."
Zuo Nan analyzed with a serious expression.
"Hmm... that makes sense..."
Zhang Chen nodded.
After all, Water Blue Star was not Earth, and geographical assumptions made on Earth could not be directly applied here.
In this regard, Zuo Nan's analysis was quite reasonable.
"If it were the extreme northern region, there are these three cities."
"One is Aurora City, one is Warm Sun City, and the third is Ice Lake Town."
"A small town would not have a museum, so let's exclude Ice Lake Town first. That leaves Aurora City and Warm Sun City."
"If that's the case, then our direction of travel needs to be adjusted..."
"Our current location is in... the northern suburbs of Tianyang City... if we want to reach these two cities, it should be..."
Zuo Nan said while looking at the map.
"Wait, what did you say?"
Zhang Chen's eyes lit up.
"I said our direction of travel needs to be adjusted..."
Zuo Nan said with a look of confusion.
"No, I mean the latter half."
Zhang Chen pressed for details.
"According to the map, this location should be the northern suburbs of Tianyang City..."
Zuo Nan repeated, completely bewildered.
"We've reached Tianyang City, and I need to visit an old friend!"
"Xiao Bai, Er Pang, come with me to see an old friend!"
Zhang Chen called out.
"Okay, Daddy!"
"Woof!"
Xiao Bai and Er Pang both responded.
Xu Ruina, due to the incident with her claws, disliked seeing humans other than those from the True God Cult. The manor also needed someone to guard it.
Zhang Chen did not bring Xu Ruina along.
"Ah? Then I..."
Zuo Nan asked, utterly confused.
"If you have nothing else to do, you can come along and see!"
Zhang Chen said with a smile.
"Alright, I'll follow you, boss!"
Zuo Nan then looked visibly relieved.
He was indeed apprehensive of Xu Ruina and Shirley.
Originally a slave, Shirley was at least an assassin-level figure in the camp.
Every time he saw Shirley, Zuo Nan was reminded of the painful memories of his enslavement in the Soul Organization.
It was better to follow Zhang Chen. At least until they found the lighthouse, it was safer here.
Meanwhile...
At the military base survivor camp.
They had just repelled an attack by mutated vampire bats.
The ground was littered with bat carcasses, as well as a few dried corpses of survivors whose blood had been drained.
Zhao Longchuan watched impassively as the survivors cleaned up the battlefield, feeling even a hint of happiness.
It wasn't happiness because survivors had died...
In the apocalypse, people died every day.
And as long as they fought against mutant hordes, there would always be casualties; many had already become numb to grief.
Zhao Longchuan was happy because the camp had made defensive preparations before the mutant horde arrived. A large net was woven above to block the mutated bats' attack, and ranged survivors hid in corners, ready to ambush.
This beast tide was much more ferocious and numerous than the mutant rat tide.
However, due to the prior preparations, casualties were fewer, and the combat personnel's strength had also significantly improved.
In the long run, the benefits of this battle far outweighed the drawbacks.
And all the credit for this belonged to the man wearing a dark red ring next to Zhao Xiyue by the city wall, Kolde.