Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 488 - 485: "Pingping, Zhan Xinjia.

Chapter 488: Chapter 485: "Pingping, Zhan Xinjia.

Su Ming’an ran down the stone steps, and his watch lit up.

"Boom—!"

He heard the sound of the tunnel entrance behind him being blasted shut, probably Noel helping him block the pursuit.

The underground passages were intricate and sprawling, and before long, he encountered several forks. He could only try his luck to see if he could find that oracle.

As he turned a corner, he saw a body lying in the dirt.

The body was already reduced to bones, and even the clothes had rotted away. It lay on the ground, arms crossed over its chest, palms guarding something.

Su Ming’an glanced and saw that beneath its palms was a blurred photograph.

He continued on, encountering many bodies along the way, all holding a photograph in their arms.

...Why had these people died here? Why were they still holding photographs?

Su Ming’an was puzzled.

He walked on for a long time.

Finally, a bright red circle of light appeared in his field of vision, a prompt from Clue Insight.

He immediately picked up speed. Ahead was an earthen wall.

He pushed off with his feet, using the skill of the Water Realm Boots, and kicked forward. As he exerted force, a sound of flowing water rushed violently from his calves—

"Boom—"

The earthen wall vibrated but did not collapse.

He took a step back, his right leg aching from the rebound.

Behind this earthen wall... there must be an even harder wall.

He reached out, and the Amber Knife appeared in his hand.

After his occupational skills had upgraded, he could now fully unleash the power of this knife.

"Boom—!"

A violent shattering sound rang out.

As he swung the long knife, wave-like light patterns of fractures appeared before his eyes.

The thick earthen wall shattered under the blow, crumbling in a spider web pattern, revealing a silver-white metal wall behind it.

He swung the knife again, the effect of Spatial Fracture fully displayed, accompanied by a sharp "snap"—the seemingly impregnable metal wall was directly sliced open by him.

A swath of bright light fiercely shot out from inside the wall.

...Was there light inside?

He crawled through the hole, and suddenly the world before him brightened, as if a lamp had been turned on in a dark world.

He looked around in shock at the scene inside, as if he had entered a world with an entirely different style.

Directly in front of him was a silver-white metallic wall, enveloping the entire room and providing a strong sense of security. In the wooden rack at the corner of the desk, various metals shimmered with a glass-like white light.

He turned, but suddenly bumped into something, creating a "ding ding dang dang" sound.

Beside him was a glass cabinet containing various bottles and jars of unknown purposes, all shattered, their liquids long since dried.

He surveyed the surroundings—scales, measuring cylinders, test tubes, cutting tools... they were scattered in every corner, several abandoned paper wads lay on the floor, their ink nearly invisible.

He even saw a periodic table of elements hanging on the wall and precise iron instruments. There were dried, smudged bloodstains on the floor and some torn fabric from clothes, unidentifiable as to what had transpired here.

...What exactly was this place?

A primitive Qiongdi, yet possessing a laboratory akin to modern science?

From the current situation, it appeared the people who originally lived here had fled in a hurry. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a mess, almost resembling a post-disaster scene.

He stepped over the scattered instruments and glass pieces on the floor, walking towards the dust-covered lab table.

"Ding dong!"

[Key Clue Acquired·Underground Laboratory]

[(Underground Laboratory): You have discovered an underground passage of the First Tribe, hiding a modern laboratory. What does this signify?]

...

[You have discovered (100 Metal), (Broken Chemicals), (Destroyed Iron Instruments), (Messy Formula Papers), would you like to conduct reconnaissance?]

"Reconnaissance," Su Ming’an said.

...

[You lack the relevant experimental knowledge and research level to conduct exploration.]

...

Su Ming’an hadn’t expected such a prompt.

But it made sense, after all, his knowledge of chemistry and biology was only at a high school level, not enough to understand these very messy formulas. Moreover, there were many special letters and symbols among them that did not exist in his original world.

In the entire room, the only thing he could understand... was probably just the periodic table on the wall.

And that was limited to the first twenty elements only.

He withdrew his hand, dusting off his clothes.

The lab was not small. Besides this room, there were several other rooms filled with various instruments, as well as several large iron cages stained with blood. The cages were empty, and it was unknown what had been kept inside them.

After making a complete round, he saw an iron door in the corner.

He chopped it open with a knife, revealing the inside of the room.

If the previous place was the laboratory area, then this should be the living area. A sofa, armchairs, a wardrobe, rotting fruits in the cabinet, coats hanging on the rack, an aging razor still with stubble... all indicated that this was a place suitable for living.

The people in this room also seemed to have left suddenly, leaving behind various personal belongings as if they had just left.

"Is anyone there?" he called out, but no one responded.

He continued inside, and suddenly noticed on the wall above the sofa, there hung a few photographs.

Strangely, although it was a very expansive photo wall, only three or four photos were sporadically hung, with hundreds of unused nails starkly protruding from the wall, leaving a large area empty.

He immediately stepped upon the sofa, planning to examine these photos.

"Bang! Bang!"

With two crisp sounds, he felt the sofa give way beneath him, and his legs plunged directly into the foam.

The sofa was rather old, the leather pitted and holed as if gnawed upon, with only a thin layer of fabric remaining that broke under his weight.

Somewhat speechlessly, he pulled his legs out and used his Shadow State vision to observe the photographs directly.

These included individual portraits and group photos. The people wore modern clothing, but the backgrounds varied.

He looked closely, his gaze pausing at a particular photograph.

It was a family portrait of three.

In the photo, the man wore a white lab coat with an ID card hanging from his chest, and beside him stood a woman in a plain long dress, holding a baby in her arms.

Both had soft East Asian features, black hair and eyes, their faces beam with smiles, as if anticipating a beautiful future.

Su Ming’an’s gaze stayed because of the background behind them.

...It was a sea of blue.

Under the sunlight, the blue sea shimmered even more, blending with the distant island-like reefs, creating a beautiful and lifelike scene reminiscent of a serene sunset painting.

The man in the white lab coat was adorned with a vibrant rose on his chest, which stood out like a ruby on his white coat, resembling a shimmering medallion over his heart.

Su Ming’an remembered... Qiongdi had no oceans, and apart from the miraculous Cursed Fire Flower, there were no other flowers that could bloom.

Previously, Xiber also had a bright red Cursed Fire Flower in her hair. She mentioned that due to heavy contamination, other flowers struggled to bloom, except for the Cursed Fire Flowers.

The appearance of two things not found in Qiongdi within the same photograph already explained a lot.

These photographs must be of the researchers who had lived here.

And the time these photographs were taken must have been before these researchers entered Qiongdi.

Qiongdi was a place you could enter but never leave. Had they voluntarily passed through the Black Wall to come to Qiongdi?

Su Ming’an shifted his gaze and continued walking inside until he saw rows of chaotically strewn beds.

As he searched these beds, he suddenly found a large cardboard box hidden underneath one, filled with stacks of letters crafted into the style of small notebooks that could be turned page by page.

He turned a page, and a whiff of dust hit his face.

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

It’s been several days since my colleagues and I arrived in Qiongdi.

Passing through the Black Wall indeed required courage, but stimulated by memories from photographs and books, I have almost completely remembered how you look. Before that, I was in a foggy state, which was rather comical, and I’m glad you and our daughter didn’t see me like that.

The engineering team colleagues have started construction on the underground laboratory, and we temporarily reside in a sealed building above ground, with the waiting being rather torturous as the nighttime Black Mist is indeed as terrifying as the rumors say.

Nevertheless, it’s okay, as I have started writing you letters, and I will get through this tough time.

Although these letters can’t reach you, I’m pretending you can see them and just amusing myself for now.]]

...

Su Ming’an raised an eyebrow, realizing that these seemed to belong to a researcher who, with his companions, had come from the outside world, traversed the Black Wall into Qiongdi, and begun to keep a diary.

This was indeed a good clue; from these diary-like letters, he might find some information.

...only, he wondered why this group had chosen to come to Qiongdi intentionally?

He continued to read.

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

The experiments are progressing smoothly, and under the influence of the X-2 reagents, the experimental animals have shown characteristics of curse elimination, which is good news.

I believe that sooner or later, we might find a way to eliminate the curse of the people of Qiongdi.

Charlie said he wanted to try hot pot; a few of us celebrated with the dehydrated vegetables we brought, but it was a bit bland without the right base ingredients, still much better than canned food though.

Pingping, I’m starting to crave the Mapo Tofu you make. Your culinary skills must be getting even better.]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

These days we’ve been busy making contact with people from the First Tribe, whom we are somewhat afraid of.

There’s no helping it; to us, they resemble "monsters." They can actually control the power brought by the curse, which is too dangerous, like walking time bombs. Thankfully, they can’t leave, so they won’t harm our world.

Luckily, the old clan leader of the First Tribe is easy to talk to, and he agreed to provide us with test subjects, which is really great, and I hope our experiments succeed soon.]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

These days nothing special is happening, and the experiment is moving forward steadily.

This morning, everyone went to the living room to hang pictures, and I specifically hung the one with you and our family in the center. It’s the one with the ocean in the background. It’s a pity Qiongdi has no oceans; I hope we can take another picture after we get back.

The rose you gave me has withered. I don’t know if Qiongdi has any flowers, but I asked Captain Karl of the outing team to try and bring back some seeds for me.]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

The experiment is going well and the animals that had their curses removed are still alive without showing any abnormalities. Next, we will proceed with human trials.

Doctor Terry is somewhat reluctant; human trials are hard for him to accept. But there’s no help for it; Qiongdi’s curse is too dangerous, and even with the Black Wall’s protection, we are not sure it won’t collapse, or if the curse could reach our world...

I hope you and our daughter are doing well in the outside world.

Our efforts to rid Qiongdi of its curse will persist.

Captain Karl of the outing team is back, and he reports that only the Cursed Fire Flower, which fears no flames, exists in Qiongdi. He procured for me a seed of the Cursed Fire Flower, saying it’s a magical plant that requires neither sunlight nor dew, and it will bloom if kept close to someone for five years.

Five years sounds long for me, but its symbolism of "hope" and "waiting" matches our situation well. I hope to bring it back to see you after five years.]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well.

It’s been a long time since I wrote a letter, and I am feeling somewhat sad.

There was an accident in the human trials, and someone sacrificed themselves.

Though we all were prepared to sacrifice from the moment we decided to enter Qiongdi, it’s still difficult to accept when actually witnessing another’s demise.

Only the underground tunnel is safest, no need to fear the external nighttime Black Mist, so we didn’t go above ground but simply buried the deceased in the underground soil, and held a simple funeral.

While burying, I thought about how those of us who continue to move forward are constantly changing the world, yet the departed have forever stopped in the past, stuck on an invisible path.

How sad it would be if I were the one who died here today.

No, I shouldn’t think this way; I just miss you a bit.

When I think of you, all those formidable data, those complex reactions, and those vast experimental books seem trivial,

If I could see you, all these troublesome matters could be rediscussed from the beginning.

Today, I especially miss you.]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well...]]

...

[Pingping:

Letter shows well...]]

...

Su Ming’an flipped through the pages, and it appeared these were the family letters of the man in the white lab coat from the pictures. The content, apart from some records of experiments, was filled with trivial matters he had written to his wife—about moving furniture, about some candies the outing team had brought, all recorded in the letters.

He turned the next page, which had a few yellow stains, as if from food splatters.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.