The real world.
Deep in the Amazon Rainforest, inside a cave that no instrument can detect...
A group of people wearing thick protective suits were walking slowly forward, while vigilantly observing their surroundings.
Are we almost there?
Beneath the protective suit, a slightly aged man asked a question to another indigenous face, also encased in a protective suit, whose movements were anything but coordinated.
Soon a translator stepped forward and spoke in a language only the locals understood, while gesturing, and that's how we got the answer from this person.
He said it was just ahead, and we had to go there ourselves.
The professor paused for a moment upon hearing this, and asked:
"Why?"
He said it was a miracle, and they couldn't get close.
The translator looked slightly embarrassed.
"That's their custom."
The professor raised an eyebrow upon hearing this:
"But he agreed to bring us here and let us get closer?"
"Yes, because we paid them enough."
"Hmm, a very flexible belief."
The professor commented calmly:
"Okay, as long as the directions he gave are correct, it's fine if we don't go."
The professor then looked at the two students on the other side and switched to a different language very smoothly:
Has the instrument reading changed?
No, it's confirmed to be not radiation.
The mentor's confidant and his biggest worry glanced at the instrument panel fixed to the outside of the protective suit and responded one after the other.
"Continue monitoring, and report any problems immediately."
"Yes."
Inside the dimly lit cave, the group continued forward.
After rounding a bend, one of the people in the group suddenly reached out and blocked their way.
"Wrong."
"What's wrong? I don't see any change in the reading."
I have a bit of... tinnitus.
The person who was stopping the group from moving forward said:
"Overall, it feels strange, and I feel somewhat uncomfortable."
Is it the same as 'over there'?
"Similarly... don't any of you feel the same way?"
The people behind him exchanged glances, then shook their heads in unison, except for one person who nodded hesitantly:
"I felt a little bit too, but it was so faint that I could easily miss it... Now that you mention it, I realize that it really does seem like there is a little bit."
"I remember you mainly added..."
" Psionic Energy."
That's right.
Should we continue forward?
"Let's try deploying a drone first."
"Good."
The suitcase was opened, and a palm-sized drone quickly took off, flying deeper into the cave.
A staff member skillfully operated the multi-functional aircraft, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him.
After flying past two corners, a crisp impact and crashing sound came, and everyone looked at the drone operator.
The man was now completely shocked. Seeing everyone looking at him, he said in astonishment:
"The signal dropped, so... it took two turns."
The professor observed this scene, pondered for a moment, and then said:
"Reconfirm that the radiation levels are within safe limits."
"Safety confirmed."
"Good."
The professor composed himself and began to consider how to handle the situation.
It all started six months ago with the global aurora borealis phenomenon.
That time, regardless of latitude or day and night, the magnificent aurora was seen in many places around the world.
Countless meteorologists and astronomical experts around the world cited numerous historical examples to minimize the impact of this event, ultimately concluding it as a once-in-a-millennium astronomical phenomenon.
However, very few people know that along with the aurora borealis came Blood Poison from another world to Earth.
As time goes by and the number of generations of infection increases, the Blood Poison eventually disappears without a trace, like a drop of ink falling into the ocean.
But everyone in the know realized that this was just the beginning.
That aurora display was like a signal flare in a sense; since then, similar events have become more and more frequent.
Initially, they received more false cases than true ones, but since the Aurora incident, the gap between the two ratios has gradually narrowed.
Now, the ratio of real to fake incidents has reversed, and relevant investigative agencies in various countries are expanding their staff again and again. Even cybersecurity departments are working day and night to barely maintain order and stability.
Even so, more and more people are noticing some clues in their lives, especially those in professions that are closer to nature, such as forest rangers, herdsmen, and marine patrolmen.
However, the probability of such a thing is still low, it is difficult to prove to be true, and it is indeed shocking. Therefore, many people instinctively do not want to believe it, or they simply attribute it to some strange local customs.
Undeniably, as time goes by, the invisible and intangible barrier separating the two worlds seems to be getting thinner and thinner, and more and more problems are beginning to cross the barrier Descent upon this world. In the foreseeable future, everything will continue to get worse.
That's what happened today; the tip came from a logging camp a dozen miles away.
The logging camp, located deep in the rainforest, was cutting down large quantities of timber every day, and everything was running smoothly.
Until a few days ago, the loggers noticed something unusual while cutting down trees—the tree canopy shading seemed to have disappeared.
Canopy shyness is a common phenomenon in tropical forests. It means that the canopies of trees at the same height will approach each other but will not intersect, leaving a rather "polite" gap, like animals marking their territory and not disturbing each other. However, branches belonging to the same tree will not exhibit this behavior.
Although the loggers didn't know the scientific name for this phenomenon, they were very familiar with it.
In the past, loggers could see thick, sky-blue lines stretching in all directions simply by looking up slightly; this was one of the things they often did during their breaks.
And every time they cut down a tree, it's as if they've broken off a complete piece from a giant jigsaw puzzle, leaving behind a new, smooth canopy boundary.
But in recent days, they were surprised to find that the "lines" that used to sway gently in the wind had disappeared among the tree canopy.
Instead, the branches of these trees grew outwards, as if trying to take over this insignificant little space.
At first, the loggers didn't think much of it. Firstly, canopy shyness isn't always a given; it's related to the tree's species, location, and height. Secondly, they weren't botanists and only had a basic understanding of this phenomenon. Besides, what did it matter to them whether the tree lived or died? They were loggers, not forest rangers.
And so everything continued to proceed as planned.