Chapter Nineteen: Departure

"I remember he mentioned his grandson once…" Chen Nian recalled the moment two days ago when Old Li had invited him to team up, and spoke without thinking.

"They probably don't see each other often. He's been stationed at the Space Force base for years now. Honestly, that's just how it is. Spend enough time around him, and sooner or later, you end up enlisting too, don't you?"

…

Chen Nian fell silent.

He wanted to sympathize with Old Li, but he knew deep down he had no right to pity anyone—his own situation was even worse.

How many people in this world can truly be happy all their lives?

After so many years in the metaverse games, he'd encountered countless people, and the vast majority had their own share of hardship.

Tang Ping, Lu Yixiu, Zhou Zhirui, Nie Yun… they were all the same.

…

Time ticked by.

Chen Nian remained relatively calm, but Xiao Hu grew increasingly anxious.

"Brother Chen, you don't think anything happened to Instructor Li, do you? I've heard that the weakest rope breaks first, and misfortune finds those with the hardest lives."

"He'll be fine."

…

After waiting for about half an hour, faint sounds came from deep in the woods. Soon after, Old Li's figure appeared, growing clearer as he approached.

Seeing Old Li return, Xiao Hu felt an immense weight lift from his chest.

"Instructor Li, thank goodness you’re okay! What was going on over there?"

Old Li shook his head slightly, still puzzled.

"It was just a five-colored pillar of light. Nothing particularly special. I threw a few stones into it, but nothing happened."

"What exactly did it look like?" Chen Nian asked.

"Well," Old Li reflected for a moment, "it was a cylinder, divided evenly into four sections, and then there was a circular area in the center. The five sections were colored red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. I didn't dare step onto it."

Chen Nian’s face grew thoughtful. He asked again, "If I’m not mistaken, the coordinates over there should be 952, 635, right?"

"Yes, they’re whole numbers. I have no idea what that means."

"Here’s what I think: we should head back and report. We’ve got twelve hours left, maybe less, before we’re out of here. It’ll take us hours just to get back, and then more hours for them to come here and investigate. If we don’t hurry, we might not even figure out what this five-colored pillar is before we have to leave," Chen Nian suggested.

He already had a suspicion forming in his mind, but he wasn’t sure enough to act on it.

To be cautious, he decided it was best to report back first, and then confirm his theory when more people arrived.

"Alright."

…

Once the three had reached an agreement, they set off immediately.

Compared to their earlier exploration, their pace was much faster on the return.

After more than four hours, they made it back to the base and reported the five-colored light pillar to Wang Yinlong.

Wang Yinlong, aware of the urgency, wasted no time. He immediately led over a hundred people to the coordinates 952, 635.

Another four hours passed before they arrived at the site of the five-colored pillar.

By then, only two hours remained on the countdown.

…

Just as Old Li had described, the pillar was cylindrical, about thirty meters in diameter. The cylinder was divided evenly into four quarter-cylinders, colored red, blue, yellow, and green. In the center was a smaller circle, about ten meters across, colored purple. Together, these five sections formed the circular pillar of light.

After circling the pillar, Wang Yinlong turned to Chen Nian. "You think this might be a teleportation array?"

"Yes. The coordinates are whole numbers, which seems too coincidental. And the four colored sections point in four directions, which feels like a teleport mechanism. As for the central circle, I suspect it’s the landing point. If you teleported here from somewhere else, you’d probably appear right in that purple zone. My reasoning comes from the logic of virtual world design. This alien metaverse is enormous, several times bigger than Earth. It makes sense for there to be teleportation arrays. Also, I doubt the array can transport objects alone, or even NPC animals—otherwise, the forest’s ecosystem would be in chaos."

Chen Nian had already shared his thoughts with Wang Yinlong on the way, but now explained in detail again.

After listening, Wang Yinlong gestured, and two space force soldiers brought over a small beast.

Without hesitation, the two soldiers tossed the small animal into the green section of the pillar.

The creature, already injured and moving sluggishly, stood dazed inside the green light for a while, then escaped unharmed—nothing at all had happened.

Seeing this, Wang Yinlong signaled again.

Two more soldiers brought over a condemned prisoner.

At this, Chen Nian quickly intervened. "I’m only guessing this is a teleportation array, I’m not one hundred percent sure. What if it’s some kind of inheritance or reward? Giving it to him would be a huge waste."

"Yinlong, let me give it a try," Old Li volunteered.

Chen Nian stopped him as well. "No rush. Captain Wang, does the advance team have any important tasks left?"

Wang Yinlong shook his head. "Nothing. Just waiting to get out of here."

With only a little over an hour left, there wasn’t even enough time to return to base, let alone complete another mission.

"Then let’s wait a bit longer."

"Why?" Wang Yinlong asked, puzzled.

Chen Nian replied, "If this really is a teleportation array, what if we end up somewhere dangerous? And if other countries have found similar arrays, what do you think they’ll do?"

Wang Yinlong suddenly understood.

If this was a teleportation array, it needed to be guarded carefully. Jumping in blindly would be like walking into a trap.

He couldn’t help but admire Chen Nian’s caution.

"Let’s wait until the last ten seconds. Then we’ll send four people in—one fully equipped, one with nothing at all, one holding the small beast, and one with a random stone. Even if they end up somewhere dangerous or out at sea, it’s not a big deal. Worst case, we don’t go in next time. As for whether this is a teleportation array, we’ll compare notes after we leave."

Wang Yinlong was speechless. Chen Nian was meticulous to the extreme.

…

Though they were waiting, no one was idle. Everyone busied themselves with their equipment: sharpening stones, weaving vines.

Time passed, and the sky gradually darkened.

When only five minutes remained on the countdown, Wang Yinlong selected four people, as Chen Nian requested, to stand at the edge of the pillar. Old Li was among them.

Everyone else stopped what they were doing, focusing their attention on the countdown.

Four minutes…

Three minutes…

Two minutes…

One minute…

Thirty seconds…

Everyone unconsciously held their breath.

Ten seconds…

Suddenly, Wang Yinlong shouted, "Go!"

The four, without hesitation, each stepped into one of the four colored beams.

The surroundings fell silent.

Five seconds later, the four—including everything they held—vanished within the pillar of light.

Another five seconds passed, and everyone felt their consciousness slipping away. After that, they knew nothing at all.