"An An, did you get the notification?"
Xu An knew the other person was asking about the mission, so she replied, "I just received it. Did you get it too?"
A dismissive voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Just got the notification. I inquired around, and it seems everyone's harvest wasn't great this time. I thought only the two of us would be left behind, but surprisingly, everyone is in the same boat, hahaha."
As Zhou Haimei spoke, her schadenfreude was evident in her voice.
Xu An was also a bit surprised after hearing this.
Their harvest this time wasn't small, but most of it was quietly kept by her.
She hadn't expected that everyone would have had no significant gains.
Xu An frowned slightly, contemplating whether to take out the corpses of the monsters in her spatial dimension.
But she remembered that she had already extracted the mycelia from the nerve centers of these monsters.
It seemed that Xia Jin definitely knew about the existence of these mycelia. If Xia Jin found out that she had extracted all of them, it might cause some trouble.
After all, even with her spatial dimension, Xu An didn't have the power to contend with Xia Jin on the lighthouse.
On the other end of the phone, Zhou Haimei, seeing Xu An's prolonged silence, felt something was off.
"An An, what's wrong? What are you thinking about?"
"Mei Jie, can we play it by ear later and not hand over the monster corpses to the lighthouse for now?"
Xu An stammered out her thoughts.
After all, this mission wasn't hers alone, but a joint operation with Zhou Haimei.
She had already secretly extracted the mycelia, which she couldn't explain to Zhou Haimei, nor did she want to drag her into these matters.
Who was Xia Jin? If he knew that Zhou Haimei was also involved in these matters, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't do something detrimental to Zhou Haimei.
But Xu An couldn't tell Zhou Haimei these things now, so she could only express her intentions in this most foolish way.
"Hey, I thought it was something serious. Just say we found nothing this time. Don't worry, I've already inquired. It's not just us who found nothing. Rest assured."
Hearing Zhou Haimei's frank words, Xu An felt a bit uneasy, but she wasn't foolish enough to reveal everything to Zhou Haimei.
Some secrets could not be shared, and not telling her was a form of protection.
Xu An nodded, seeming hesitant to speak further.
Zhou Haimei also sensed Xu An's difficulty and said nonchalantly, "I know what you're thinking, An An, but I'm already happy that we managed to return alive from the mainland."
"I still remember that before we went down, you said you would definitely bring me back. You don't know how many times I wanted to retreat on the mainland, but it was you who gave me the courage to persevere. You don't need to feel guilty towards me, An An. I don't want any rewards. I signed up for the expedition race in the first place to prove myself, and I don't care about those rewards, so you don't need to feel any pressure."
Zhou Haimei's words, one after another, were like stones thrown into the calm lake of Xu An's heart, creating ripples.
Xu An remained silent for a long time, realizing that Zhou Haimei probably knew more than she imagined.
But she didn't say anything, nor did she ask anything.
Zhou Haimei didn't even ask Xu An why.
No matter what happened, she had one hundred percent trust in Xu An.
And this trust weighed on Xu An's shoulders like a mountain.
Because she knew she had failed to live up to this trust.
Zhou Haimei saw Xu An lower her eyes and remain silent through the video call.
She knew Xu An was hiding something from her, but she didn't care.
Everyone had their secrets.
Sometimes, prying too much could be annoying.
She felt their current relationship was good.
She knew Xu An wouldn't harm her, and the secret Xu An was hiding would be handled properly.
If Zhou Haimei were by Xu An's side now, she would definitely ruffle her hair and smile, saying it was okay.
But since they were not together, Zhou Haimei could only offer verbal comfort.
After they hung up the phone, Xu An sat on the bed and thought for a long time about how to proceed.
Just then, Xu Yan returned.
She looked at Xu An, who was getting dressed and packing.
"Are you going out?"
"Yes, White Tower wants us to report for duty."
Xu Yan mumbled softly, "In such a hurry? They just rested for a few days and are rushing people back. We're already back, it's not like they can't wait a few more days. Why the rush to go now?"
As she spoke, she handed Xu An a thick cashmere scarf.
"Here, take this. The central air conditioning on the lighthouse is turned off, and it's very cold outside now. You're still weak, don't catch a cold."
Xu An didn't refuse. It was the extreme cold season. Although she had the power card given by Qin Chuan, Qin Chuan had previously instructed her not to use it yet, so the heating at home had to be conserved as much as possible for these few days.
Normally, when Xu Yan was not around, only her own room would have electric heating.
Even so, the electricity bill for the past few days was more than ten times higher than usual.
Fortunately, their previous supplies were still quite abundant, otherwise, they didn't know if they could survive this extreme cold period.
Xu An didn't explain to Xu Yan, only saying that she would be back soon. After putting on a thick down jacket, Xu An stepped out of the room.
As soon as she walked out of the door, Xu An saw a familiar figure.
The person closed their room door, but their figure was even thinner than the last time they met.
This person was Chu Yu.
"Why are you here?" Xu An exclaimed in surprise, her eyes full of confusion.
She had thought Chu Yu would stay in the southern base, but she didn't expect her to return.
According to Qin Chuan, this Chu Yu was the culprit who incited discord in front of Qin Chuan, causing the team to lose cohesion.
Yet the person seemed completely unconcerned and appeared here brazenly.
It had to be said, Chu Yu's boldness was indeed quite significant.
However, Chu Yu's face showed none of the panic and unease Xu An had anticipated. Instead, Chu Yu greeted Xu An familiarly, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.
"This is my home, where else would I be?"
After speaking, she glanced at Xu An discreetly, then, under Xu An's puzzled gaze, she casually shifted her eyes to a corner of the corridor.
Although Chu Yu didn't say it explicitly, Xu An immediately understood the meaning of her words.
"Walls have ears!"