When Bai Ling slowly came to again, the first thing she saw was Lilia's wooden doll face.
"Mmph!"
Bai Ling instinctively startled, then remembered what had happened before she passed out and relaxed again.
Whatever else might be true, this doll girl had been fairly friendly earlier.
Besides, she hadn't tied her up or anything, so she probably meant her no harm... right?
Remembering that powerful figure she had seen at the end, Bai Ling grew a little uncertain again.
Maybe they simply thought she was too weak to bother tying up?
"You're finally awake? You've been out for hours!"
Unaware of what Bai Ling was thinking, Lilia casually patted her shoulder, leaving Bai Ling struggling to adjust.
This doll girl's face looked so exquisite and elegant, so why did she seem so scatterbrained once she started moving?
Bai Ling grumbled inwardly, but still obediently voiced her thanks:
"Thank you for saving me. How can I repay you?"
As she spoke, she remembered the figure she had seen before fainting again. He hadn't looked particularly tall or imposing, but he had given her the impression that nothing could shake him in the slightest.
Like a ship that would never sink amid raging winds and torrential rain.
Just who was he?
Bai Ling couldn't help stealing a glance around, but she didn't see that figure.
"Looking for the captain? He went back to lying down."
Lilia gestured toward the coffin with her lips.
"That... is your captain? No wonder..." Understanding dawned on Bai Ling.
This doll girl who could come back to life was strange enough already, so it was understandable that her captain possessed such power.
At the same time, Bai Ling became even more convinced of her own theory: this girl's captain definitely couldn't be human, much less a player.
What normal player would take on an eerie being as a crew member and lie in a coffin whenever he had nothing to do?
The thought of being with two eerie beings made Bai Ling swallow involuntarily.
She reminded herself to behave obediently and make absolutely sure she didn't upset these two eerie beings.
Despite how scatterbrained and friendly this doll girl seemed, the slightest suspicious move might leave her dead without a burial!
"Oh, right. The captain said to tell us about those gray-robed people in detail once you woke up." Lilia remembered Lin Yuan's instructions.
"Ah! Of course, of course. Here's what happened..."
Bai Ling had been scaring herself, and Lilia's question made her entire body jolt in fright. She then recounted everything truthfully, not daring to conceal a thing.
She even revealed her exceptionally high Inspiration and the transcendent equipment she had obtained in the beginner instance-that little white pistol.
After hearing Bai Ling's account, Lilia made no response, seemingly lost in thought.
Bai Ling's first reaction was that the doll girl was mulling over her words, checking her story for lies or omissions.
Seeing Lilia remain silent and inscrutable, Bai Ling couldn't help feeling glad she hadn't tried anything clever and had told nothing but the truth.
In reality, however, Lilia was merely spacing out.
She wasn't responding simply because she was waiting for Lin Yuan's next instructions.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan fell into thought.
Clearly, the Diving Club and the Crawlers behind it were enemies of the players.
Their motive for entering this instance was to seize the opportunity to hunt players as sacrifices.
What exactly those sacrifices were used for and what this organization wanted remained unknown.
Regardless, at least one thing was now clear: on this sea, players had to face not only mindless monsters, but also intelligent, organized hostile forces.
The Manager mentioned before that he'd never heard of the Diving Club. I wonder if he knows about the Crawlers behind it? I'll ask him next time we meet if I get the chance.
Hostile organizations were naturally something for the players' own organizations to handle.
But that was a matter for later. For now, Lin Yuan had wiped out the gray-robed man and all his puppet flesh-and-blood doubles in one fell swoop, so they wouldn't be causing any trouble in this instance.
Considering his own affairs was more important right now.
Lin Yuan hadn't forgotten that his main reason for coming to this instance's island was to find rubber.
Yet he hadn't seen a single trace of any rubber trees in this jungle.
At that thought, Lin Yuan instructed Lilia to ask:
"Have you seen any rubber trees since entering the jungle?"
Bai Ling paused, unsure why she had suddenly brought this up, but answered honestly:
"No."
Then, afraid this answer might displease her, she added an explanation:
"Actually, I've noticed that aside from traces left by transcendent creatures or transcendent power, everything else on these islands still follows ordinary physical laws."
"If the rubber trees you're looking for don't involve the transcendent realm, then judging by this island's climate and the types of trees in its jungle, there shouldn't be any rubber trees growing here."
Lin Yuan couldn't help frowning at this.
Rubber came either from natural rubber produced by rubber trees or synthetic rubber made in chemical plants.
If this island had no rubber trees, surely it couldn't have a chemical plant?
Could there be no rubber on this island?
But thinking it over carefully, Research Institute 3154 had no reason to lie to him.
Right, I let my preconceptions get in the way.
On this sea, who said rubber couldn't involve the transcendent realm?
If rubber really were an ordinary material that was so easy to obtain, there should be plenty of it on the market, just like basic materials such as wood and steel.
At that thought, he instructed Lilia to ask again:
"Then what if it involves transcendent power?"
"Rubber trees involving the transcendent?" Bai Ling froze, then hurriedly said, "In that case, you just need to follow the traces of transcendent power."
"Traces of transcendent power? What's that?" This time, Lilia asked on her own without waiting for Lin Yuan's instructions.
"Huh, you don't know?" Bai Ling gave Lilia a puzzled look. "Aren't you yourselves beings of the transcendent realm?"
Still, she patiently explained:
"I don't know how you detect traces of transcendent power, but we humans have a certain trait: the first time we see a being whose transcendent power is stronger than our own, we lose Sanity."
"Once we grow accustomed to that transcendent power, our Sanity stops falling, but we still feel uncomfortable."
"So whenever we see something that lowers our Sanity, we know it involves the transcendent."
"Also, by following that discomfort, we can find traces of transcendent power."
So that was it!
Understanding dawned on Lin Yuan. No wonder he and Lilia hadn't encountered a single player since entering the jungle.
Large as this jungle was, with over a hundred people roaming around inside, they were bound to run into someone.
It turned out everyone else was following their Inspiration, using their Sanity as a compass to advance along a route.
Only he and Lilia had truly been wandering aimlessly.
Lin Yuan suddenly felt that having no Sanity might not be such a good thing for him and Lilia.
Players with Sanity were like walking humanoid radars.
They could sense traces of transcendent power and gauge its strength and danger. Sanity was their lifeline, but also their life preserver.
As for the likes of him and Lilia...
A scene couldn't help rising in Lin Yuan's mind-
A crowd of players saw an ordinary house, and their Sanity plummeted. Realizing it was an absolute no-go zone containing immense danger and horror, they all took a detour around it.
Then Lin Yuan and Lilia, sensing nothing at all, walked inside chatting and laughing, even politely closing the door behind them...
Before you continue