Polarized Sextant

Under the security officer's guidance, the two of them soon arrived at the outer road of Fang Feng.

In the cold, damp air, that inexplicably sweet scent grew stronger and stronger, leaving Xue Ming vaguely uneasy.

Although the security officer had repeatedly said that the air composition here had been tested and posed no special effects on the human body, Xue Ming was still worried. The mental breakdowns among the engineering team members had to be related to either the settlement's residents or its natural environment.

They got out beside the highway near the settlement. They still had to walk more than three hundred meters through woodland to reach the supply station.

Treading over wet gray mud, the three remained silent. Between heaven and earth, there seemed to be nothing left but the rain and the sound of shoes sinking unevenly into the mud.

Through the curtain of rain, the low stone buildings in the distance gradually became clearer.

The first thing Xue Ming saw was a stone building bearing the SW Station landmark sign. Not far away stood layers upon layers of stone-post fences.

When they reached the sheltered porch of the stone building, Xue Ming deliberately glanced several more times toward the settlement.

His hand went to the phone in his inner pocket—although Xue Ming did not want to owe Liuxing a favor, he had still accepted the phone.

At a distance of only a few dozen meters, the buildings of Fang Feng were clearly visible—they were strange structures unlike anything he had ever seen.

The settlement's residents seemed to remain in the Stone Age. Their houses appeared to be built from clumps of mud and ash mixed with grass leaves, piled up bit by bit.

The houses as a whole resembled inverted water droplets, narrow at the bottom and broad at the top. Their roofs were piled high with unknown dark-green plants that looked like algae, used to shed water and keep out the rain.

These residents built their homes against the exposed rock of low hills. Judging from the rain shelters on their roofs and their chosen locations, the waterproofing of these houses was extremely poor.

Once water accumulated along one side of a house, the walls made of mud and grass would probably collapse.

Besides that, Mr. Xue Ming saw some "people" wandering through the village.

He did not dare confirm whether those creatures trudging through the rain were truly human.

Their eyes were vacant as they walked along the settlement's muddy paths. Their hands hung limply at their sides, and they showed no intention of heading anywhere.

Rain soaked their bodies, and they wore rough cloth garments whose era was impossible to identify.

A few simply sat or lay beside exposed rocks. What they draped over themselves could not even be called clothing—two pieces of cloth threaded together with several tough knitted vines counted as "clothes."

The security officer had been right—

—the residents here bore no trace of civilization beyond looking vaguely human.

Perhaps they only covered themselves in cloth because they feared the cold.

Xue Ming considered it carefully, then felt that was not quite right, because none of those residents showed any signs of being cold.

Since he and Bu Liuxing had arrived at Fang Feng, they had been shivering all over. The felt temperature was probably no higher than ten degrees Celsius.

The security officer was doing better. His tight uniform, MOLLE rig, and bulletproof vest probably kept him fairly warm.

If he were to reason it out carefully, perhaps the residents' only reason for wearing clothes was that they found the rain dirty and did not want mud and dust on their skin. When they ate, they at least had cloth to wipe their hands on.

Xue Ming recorded all of this in his notebook, then took out his phone and photographed the settlement.

Apparently feeling that was not enough, he took out a fountain pen and sketched every water-drop-shaped house in the settlement, recording the stone-fence pillars as well. He refused to overlook a single clue.

Seeing Brother Xue Ming standing beneath the porch for so long without moving, A Xing grew curious.

He leaned closer to Xue Ming. When he saw Ming Ge drawing, he immediately asked, "Ming Ge? You can draw too?"

Xue Ming said, "I know a little."

A Xing said, "Then you must be a great artist, right? Look at this sketch—it's so good. Did you lie to me before? You're not really someone who sells beef offal. And you don't have a seriously ill younger sister?"

Jiang Xueming said nothing. He merely looked at the grinning A Xing with those cold eyes.

"Hehe." A Xing immediately became much more obedient, but then his face fell again, as if he had been wronged.

Jiang Xueming put away his journal and fountain pen, then followed the security officer into the building.

As he entered, he saw A Xing again, standing beneath the porch and blowing his nose in that strange manner.

He was curious too. How could such a tall guy, nearly one meter ninety, act like a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old child?

So he asked, "A Xing, what is it this time?"

"You got so angry, and you've always disliked how I kept laughing and joking along the way. You definitely weren't lying to me." A Xing furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. "That means there really is an eighteen-year-old younger sister lying in a hospital bed, suffering under the Vita Imprint."

Those words made Xue Ming more cautious.

He asked tentatively, "Are you saying you didn't believe what I told you before?"

"How could I believe everything a stranger said all at once?" A Xing's expression was extremely serious. "I'm not a victim in a human trafficking case, Ming Ge. I don't want to go work in northern Myanmar!"

"..." When Jiang Xueming heard that, an indescribable feeling rose in his heart. He continued, "Then why do you believe me now?"

"Because I saw the expression you had when you were drawing." A Xing tossed his backpack onto the sofa inside and earnestly described it to Jiang Xueming. "You held that pen like a doctor holding a scalpel. I've had several accidents. The worst was a parachuting accident, and I only survived because of a tree.

But my spleen and half my liver were impaled in that tree. When the surgery was almost over, I woke up. What I saw then was my chief surgeon. He wore a mask, so I could only see his eyes. I woke up during the operation, and the doctor was startled, but he stayed calm. He wanted to save me—he only wanted to save me."

Jiang Xueming helped the security officer light the fireplace. He did not pay much attention to A Xing's words and casually replied,

"Your anesthesiologist probably wanted to save you even more. Otherwise, he'd have gone to prison."

A Xing burst out laughing and continued.

"The look in that doctor's eyes when he cleaned wood splinters from torn muscle and stitched up the wound was exactly like the look in your eyes when you were drawing. It was the look of someone holding a human life in his hands. You can't fake that."

Jiang Xueming said nothing. He felt somewhat at a loss.

Xue Ming had originally thought A Xing was just a simple, innocent rich kid. He had not expected this guy's thoughts to be like his pink shirt—not only flashy, but also meticulous.

The security officer pushed out a meal cart and served the two passengers a proper meal. With a smile, he greeted them, "Come on, you two. There isn't much to eat here. It's all canned food."

"Security officer." Jiang Xueming's attitude softened somewhat. "Why don't you introduce yourself? We can't keep calling you 'security officer,' can we?"

All along the way, because he was worried about his younger sister, Xue Ming had remained tense. Without realizing it, he seemed to be hostile toward everyone.

Now that they finally had somewhere to rest, the exhaustion from their journey eased, and his anxiety gradually began to fade.

That reassured him a little. At least his teammates seemed reliable.

"Introduce myself? Me?" The security officer scratched his head, genuinely unsure how to begin. It seemed he had never done such a thing before.

A Xing asked, "Security officer, have you never introduced yourself to other passengers before?"

"To be honest, no." The security officer took out his employee ID card and handed it to Bu Liuxing. "Usually, we just show our credentials. Why would we have so much to say to passengers?"

Bu Liuxing glanced at the card, then handed it to Jiang Xueming.

The security officer continued, "You've learned some things from the information I provided. Security work at stations starts at several years and can last over a decade. I've guarded this Fang Feng station for four years alone. Before that, I stayed somewhere else for six years, and that's considered short. The underground world's environment is very special. New anomalies can emerge in the same place every few months. That's why security personnel have to remain on long-term duty."

Jiang Xueming lowered his head and checked the information on the ID.

[Name: Davie Boume]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 36]

[Position: Nine Realms Station Employee · Armed Personnel]

[Employee Details: Mr. Bourne is a Scotsman. He is not good with words, but he is considerate. He is willing to imitate passengers' communication styles when speaking with them. No description suits him better than saying he has no personality.]

The back of the ID was covered in densely packed fine print.

[When Mr. Bourne was sixteen, he found clues to the station through an illegal website and located it. Unlike other passengers, this ordinary man possessed no extraordinary intuition. However, after systematic training, he developed exceptional mixed martial arts and shooting skills, becoming a light-weapons specialist.]

[He successfully became a station employee and joined the assault unit of the combat corps, overcoming difficulties for Nine Realms Station's pioneering teams. In return, the station agreed to treat his mother's terminal cancer.]

[At the age of twenty-six, we arranged a security position for Davie Boume, allowing this soldier to move to a secondary role. He had ample leave to spend with his family.]

[To this day, he remains a security officer at SW Station.]

[Hello, passenger. If you see this ID, please treat your security officer kindly. Mr. Bourne is not someone who enjoys chatting.]

Davie Boume said stiffly, "Most passengers and I only meet once. After they finish investigating one place, they go to the next and never come back. After all, repeated investigations don't yield useful clues, and they can't be exchanged for a Universal Elixir either. Right? Heh. So I never developed the habit of introducing myself."

Jiang Xueming extended his hand. "My name is Jiang Xueming."

Bu Liuxing also extended his hand, copying him. "My name is Bu Liuxing."

Mr. Bourne froze for a moment.

He looked at the two brothers, each holding out one hand from either side. Unsure what to say, he simply shook both hands.

What followed was the sound of cans opening, spoons scraping against foil-lined aluminum, and chewing.

Jiang Xueming did not sit idle either. He cared greatly about this security officer and read the ID card again and again. During the investigation ahead, he would probably need to ask this older man about many things.

Besides the basic information and notes, there was something else on the ID card that caught his attention.

Inside the thick card was an exquisite compartment that would fall out with a light tap.

There was another secret card inside the compartment. It used braille. In the dim light, it was impossible to read; it had to be illuminated by strong light, or one had to feel the uneven lettering with their fingers to understand what it said. It seemed to have been specially designed to prevent others from peeking.

[Examinee: Davie Boume]

[Verification Date: November 18, 2022]

[Polarized Sextant · Assessment Results]

[Inspiration: E]

[Mental State: B+]

[Combat Skills: A]

[Madness Index: E]

[Will to Survive: C]

[Intracranial Contraband · Spirit Calamity Concentration: 17%]

Jiang Xueming immediately asked, "I found this braille card in the compartment of your ID. What exactly does it mean?"

There was no related record of this in the passenger journal.

"Oh, that." A Xing cut in. "I have one too. It's a passenger security-check card."

"I once wanted to become a passenger too." Mr. Bourne's mood sank somewhat. "But my Inspiration score didn't meet the standard."

"Let me see your card." Jiang Xueming said to Bu Liuxing.

A Xing returned to his carefree, grinning expression and handed over his card.

Jiang Xueming accepted it and looked.

[Examinee: Bu Liuxing]

[Verification Date: July 1, 2024]

[Polarized Sextant · Assessment Results]

[Inspiration: B]

[Mental State: A+]

[Combat Skills: B]

[Madness Index: B+]

[Will to Survive: A+]

[Intracranial Contraband · Spirit Calamity Concentration: 34%]

Jiang Xueming did not understand the exact meaning behind these terms, but compared to Mr. Bourne, a normal person, the figures on Bu Liuxing's security-check card were clearly abnormal—especially the Madness Index and Spirit Calamity Concentration.

Jiang Xueming clearly remembered that these two indexes were closely related to a passenger's mental state.

The Madness Index represented one's ability to maintain rational thought when disturbed by the external environment. The higher the index, the more easily the passenger was influenced by external factors.

At the same time, the Madness Index also served as a reference value for distinguishing the danger levels of different areas.

As for Intracranial Contraband and Spirit Calamity Concentration, they represented various unstable factors within the passenger's own emotional and logical makeup. If this value was extremely high, it meant the passenger was an emotionally extreme individual, highly prone to extreme thoughts of terror or rage.

At the same time, Spirit Calamity Concentration also served as a reference value for distinguishing the danger levels of different underground creatures in different regions.