"Space rift for native research?" Zhao Xiyue asked in surprise.
"Yes, these experiments are simple, basic spatial teleportation experiments. What we're involved in is the result of integrating perfected space+time experiments."
Zhang Chen concisely explained the experimental content discovered from the Progressive faction and the information about the Time Meteorite Core fragments on the World Control Hub to Zhao Xiyue.
Zhao Xiyue marveled as she listened.
She never imagined there was such a convoluted story behind it.
They themselves were one of the methods the natives sought to end the apocalypse!
"Looking at the dust on the glass, no one has been here for a long time!"
"There are only two possibilities for this situation. The first is that everyone here has died, but I don't think that's very likely, as there are no signs of a struggle around."
"The second possibility is that the temporal flow rate of the space rift they entered is faster than in this world. Two hours in a parallel world is equivalent to about ten minutes here."
"This way, they can remain immersed in the parallel world and not worry about being significantly outpaced in terms of strength due to the rapid passage of time in the real world." Zhang Chen analyzed.
"Yeah, I’d love to see what the parallel world is like!"
"Everything in the doomsday world has become unrecognizable. I really miss my days studying at university!" Zhao Xiyue said with longing.
"Let’s go take a look, but you should be mentally prepared. Worlds that have been trodden by survivors are unlikely to be pleasant either!" Zhang Chen walked into the hall and, as if familiar with the layout, took the elevator to the floor of the space rift laboratory.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a waft of food aromas assailed them.
The floor of the corridor was littered with various food packaging bags and scattered beverage bottles.
"So much supplies? If these were taken to an auction house to trade, we'd definitely make a fortune," Zhao Xiyue remarked.
"The people who can monopolize this city and keep other survivors out must be quite strong."
"Ordinary crystal cores probably aren't enough to meet their upgrade needs anymore. So, rather than exchanging supplies for something they don't need, they might as well indulge in extravagance and waste." Zhang Chen explained.
If he hadn't later mastered the method of synthesizing crystal cores, he wouldn't have bothered trading supplies for low-end crystal cores himself.
Zhao Xiyue nodded in agreement.
The two walked along the corridor to the room where Yang Shanhai's work log was previously found.
Many of the teleportation portals here were destroyed, and some emitted an ominous dark red glow.
Zhang Chen could sense that these dark red portals led to the void, and entering them meant death. If one were strong enough, they might be able to hold out for two hours before returning.
Zhang Chen searched a few more rooms and finally found a well-preserved teleportation portal in a room with the words "Paradise" written on the door.
"They should be in that world!" Zhang Chen said, looking at the teleportation portal before him.
At this moment, a line of text slowly appeared next to the teleportation portal:
[Parallel World Teleportation Portal, Time Flow Rate: 2 hours in parallel world is equivalent to 20 minutes in current world!]
"I'll go in first. You come in a minute later!" Zhang Chen felt that the journey so far had been too smooth. If there were no ambushes along the way, then the enemy was likely lying in wait in the parallel world.
"Okay, be careful!" Zhao Xiyue said with concern.
"Don't worry!" Zhang Chen smiled and then turned to walk through the teleportation portal.
As the scene in front of him cleared, Zhang Chen felt several areas of his skin heat up, and something landed on his shoulder.
"Huh? What's this?" Zhang Chen was slightly startled, and quickly saw the situation before him.
It turned out that those survivors were all ambushing the entrance of the teleportation portal. As soon as someone came through, they would take advantage of the few tenths of a second when the target's consciousness hadn't fully recovered and they were completely defenseless, to launch a sudden assault. They were already relatively strong, and with the element of surprise, those who crossed over were often killed on the spot before they could react. Setting such a trap to kill people was indeed something no one could return from.
Unfortunately, this time, their target was Zhang Chen.
As his vision cleared, Zhang Chen understood the situation. The heated skin was due to an energy beam attack, and the thing that landed on his shoulder was a great saber! He was on the rooftop of a building, surrounded by seven or eight survivors wearing yellow rings on their hands. These people all looked astonished, staring at Zhang Chen as if he were a monster.
"That's it?" Zhang Chen lightly pinched the great saber on his shoulder with two fingers, lifting it directly. The burly man wielding the saber had a flushed face, and veins bulged on his arms. Yet, even so, he couldn't move the saber down even half an inch!
"Surrender, or die!" Zhang Chen said calmly, exuding a chilling killing intent.
"I surrender!" The burly man with the saber released his grip and immediately knelt on the ground. The others, who used energy attacks, couldn't directly perceive Zhang Chen's strength, as some lucky survivors could obtain protective gear that reduced energy damage. However, the big man’s attack was melee, and he knew that strength could not be faked. An enemy that could exert power with just two fingers, power that he himself could not match even with all his might, was an enemy he was no match for. Thus, he surrendered first.
"Just a green and blue ring… you’re not serious, are you?"
"We underestimated him just now. We won't this time!"
"What's all the fuss? Let's join forces and blast both of them into dust!"
"You chose to betray us. Don't blame us for being ruthless; blame yourself!" The survivors attacking with energy weapons said to each other.
*Whoosh!*
Zhang Chen's figure suddenly flickered. Before these people could even fire their energy beams, they slowly turned into wisps of white mist with terrified expressions…
"Get up and tell me how many people you have here." Zhang Chen gently patted the big man's shoulder and noticed that he was trembling violently, clearly terrified to this extent. Indeed, one wouldn't surrender so quickly if they weren't intimidated.
"We have thirty-five people in total. Each time we traverse, we assign 5 people to guard here to kill the survivors who come through and split their crystal cores and supplies."
"The others are responsible for indulging in pleasure and enjoyment in this world..." The big man reported respectfully with his head bowed.
"This trap you set is just to kill people and snatch crystal cores and supplies?"
"If that's the case, with your strength, wouldn't it be much faster to just raid the camps? Why do this thankless and arduous task?" Zhang Chen asked, looking puzzled. The survivors who could cross over were only a few at a time, and most of them were轮回者 with dark red rings.
"That’s because… the parallel world absorbs our energy…" the big man replied truthfully.