Looking at Shang Jianyao, who was "fixed" by the military exoskeleton, Genaeva fulfilled his responsibility as a teammate:
“I’ll go in first to assess the situation, then you can follow.”
His meaning was that even if there were “New World” powerhouses or projections of certain beings inside, he, as an artificial intelligence, lacking consciousness, would most likely not be detected and trigger that terrifying vortex.
Shang Jianyao, his facial expression obscured by the mask, mumbled:
“You, once, open the door, the light, will shine in...
“I, too, will be, sensed...”
“Then should I send you down first?” The red light in Genaeva's eyes lingered near Shang Jianyao's ear for a few seconds.
Shang Jianyao "walked" step by step towards the stairwell exit, laughing loudly:
“How, can you, be sure, you won’t be, discovered?
“This is, the root, of the problem, where, the overlap, is most, severe, perhaps, we can, see it directly.
“You, have nothing, while I carry, the ‘Life Angel’ necklace, ‘Six Senses Beads,’ little jade Buddha, the heavens, Ruling Age, Blessing Chart!”
Genaeva understood his meaning very well.
It was that even if something unexpected happened, he still had room to recover. If it were just Genaeva, and something truly went wrong, he downstairs would not escape unscathed either.
“You can give all those items to me,” Genaeva suggested.
Although he couldn't use the items, their true function in the current environment wasn’t dependent on Awakened abilities.
“You, are not, a Company, employee,” Shang Jianyao pointed out.
He had just been switching the military exoskeleton’s operating mode to prevent the artificial idiot from failing to understand his eagerness to open the door.
The red light in Genaeva’s eyes flickered for a moment, and he ultimately chose silence, offering no further persuasion.
What Shang Jianyao said did make some sense.
They were pushed here by “fate,” and the “Life Angel” necklace and other items were only likely to work if they were on them.
Having completed the mode switch, Shang Jianyao began to sway, and Genaeva quickly went over and supported him.
The next second, Shang Jianyao extended his non-paralyzed right palm, grasped the handle of the double wooden doors to the stairwell, and pulled them back.
Pure white light poured in like water bursting through a dam, instantly scattering all darkness.
Although outside the stairwell was just a corridor, a scene simultaneously appeared in Shang Jianyao's mind and Genaeva's "vision."
It was a large living room, complete with carpets, sofas, and other furnishings.
At this moment, a dark figure was standing in front of a row of floor-to-ceiling windows, quietly looking outside.
Suddenly, the dark figure turned around and "looked" at Shang Jianyao and Genaeva.
Almost simultaneously, Genaeva's "eyes" went black, and he could no longer collect environmental information in any way.
The "drunk" Shang Jianyao first regained enough consciousness, then shouted:
“Vortex!”
Then, he lost all thoughts, could not see, could not hear, felt nothing, thought nothing, as if his soul had been forcibly sucked out.
On the mountain road outside Ke Ning Palace, Jiang Baimian's expression suddenly became serious.
She saw the sky above the main urban area darken at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning the entire area from a dim evening into a lightless night.
A faint mist filled the environment, quickly enveloping every part of Ke Ning Palace.
This wasn't the end. Both the darkness and the mist were spreading outwards.
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen groaned in pain, involuntarily raising their hands to cover their heads.
Following closely, Jiang Baimian's head throbbed in waves, causing a degree of dizziness.
This made the three people who had experienced something similar simultaneously flash a thought in their minds:
“Heartless Disease!”
Terrified, Long Yuehong saw the darkness and mist continuing to spread outwards and subconsciously remembered something:
The Special Envoy from the Eighth Research Institute had said that if they hadn't prepared the isolation in advance, the disaster in Ke Ning Palace might have affected the entire Ashlands.
Just at that moment, the intense pain and dizziness suddenly disappeared.
Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen instantly returned to normal.
If it weren’t for the lingering memories, if the sky wasn't still dark, and the mist wasn't still lingering, they would have suspected that they had just experienced a hallucination.
The next second, they saw the mist quickly fading, blending into the air, while the darkness rapidly contracted, ultimately disappearing into Ke Ning Palace’s main urban area.
The sunlight from high above shone down, freeing the area from its gloom.
Looking at such a scene, Long Yuehong was speechless for a long time.
After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian laughed self-deprecatingly:
“If it were Wei, he would definitely piously thank the Ruling Ages now, saying something like ‘New life like the sun, life is most important’ and ‘Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.’”
…………
“New life like the sun, life is most important.” The awakened Shang Jianyao stood at the stairwell entrance, bent his right arm, and gently rocked it like a disabled person cradling a baby.
Then, he shouted loudly:
“Ultimately, we shall return to the Controller of Fate!”
After he completed the ritual, Genaeva asked:
“Are you sure the ‘Life Angel’ necklace worked?”
“Not sure,” Shang Jianyao answered matter-of-factly.
He then raised his right palm and chanted a Buddhist proclamation in a low voice:
“Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.”
Next, he took a step back and said loudly:
“Vigilance is the instruction of the Gods!”
In this way, he recited the prayer corresponding to each Ruling Age on the Blessing Chart of the Heavens, ensuring everyone got their due.
Genaeva didn't continue the previous topic. He glanced at the corridor, which was now bright due to the sunlight, and said to Shang Jianyao:
“There shouldn't be any problems now. We can go in and search.”
“Temporarily, there are no problems,” Shang Jianyao emphasized.
No one could be sure if the overlap between Ke Ning Palace and the “New World” would reappear.
“That’s why we need to seize the time.” Genaeva stepped into the corridor.
Shang Jianyao was unwilling to lag behind.
There was only one suite on the entire top floor, and they quickly arrived at the door.
The first things that caught their eyes were the open door, the spacious living room, and the row of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Everything was exactly the same as the scene they had “seen” before.
The only two differences were that there was no dark figure and no night view outside the window.
Shang Jianyao was about to walk into the living room when he suddenly heard human voices coming from the other side of the corridor:
“We must hurry back now!”
“Huh…” Shang Jianyao chose to watch the “show” first.
At the same time, he told Genaeva:
“I don't sense any human consciousness.”
Genaeva also found no signs of human activity.
As they approached that side of the corridor, they saw a person wearing something similar to a "Chameleon" bionic smart armor.
This person was discussing something with two companions, completely indifferent to the approach of Genaeva and Shang Jianyao.
“The person from the Eighth Research Institute last time?” Shang Jianyao recalled Jiang Baimian's description.
Genaeva, on the other hand, assessed the current situation:
“It's a sequela of electromagnetic environment disturbance.
“The conversations of those people were recorded by the environment. As the overlap between the two worlds disappeared, they reappeared displaced on the top floor of the apartment. It’s as if there's a screen here, and a projector is projecting the movie content from afar.”
Shang Jianyao and Genaeva had seen many similar situations deep within Ke Ning Palace, witnessing the re-emergence of many scenes from the disaster back then, except that at that time, Ke Ning Palace and the “New World” were still in a state of overlap.
“Without the overlap, the electromagnetic environment will gradually recover in no time.” Shang Jianyao adopted the attitude of "there won't be another chance," intending to listen to what the members of the Eighth Research Institute were saying.
Through the “replay,” he and Genaeva roughly learned why those members of the Eighth Research Institute hadn't returned to the previous outpost.
They had hid all the way to the east side of Ke Ning Palace's main urban area, where the electromagnetic environment was relatively better, allowing them to send a telegram to the Eighth Research Institute, requesting assistance.
Before assistance arrived, because the Awakened from the "Mind Corridor" was seriously injured and needed time to recover, they didn't dare to leave their hiding place to assess the situation of the "Old Task Force."
When the injured person had recovered enough, the Eighth Research Institute sent a telegram, ordering the watch team to immediately return to headquarters.
Genaeva and Shang Jianyao extracted these things from the conversation of those people, which should have taken place as they were passing through Ke Ning Palace’s main urban area, heading towards the northern mountains.
They were all rather puzzled by the Eighth Research Institute’s order, hence the discussion.
“Judging from the timeline, it should be the day after we captured Professor Qin and obtained the specific location of the Eighth Research Institute,” Genaeva analyzed.
Shang Jianyao suddenly understood:
“They're preparing for the exposure of their headquarters?”
“Very likely.” The red light in Genaeva’s eyes flickered slightly.
The two turned and walked back to the entrance of the suite on the top floor, entering the living room.
As soon as he walked in, Shang Jianyao couldn't wait to look around, searching for any possible figures.
He and Genaeva simultaneously saw several sets of bones.