At the nearest art university, several teachers and professors skilled in sculpture were summoned overnight and sent into the cave along with a huge piece of plaster that had not yet fully Solidification.
The sounds of carving echoed within the cave, as a brand-new statue of a deity was slowly emerging from the plaster.
Before dawn, several skilled sculptors finally perfected the details, resulting in the final product.
The plaster dust on the ground was carefully swept away, leaving no suspicious trace.
The old and new statues were placed side by side, and it was impossible to tell the difference between them without careful observation (except for the vines).
"Hmm, this method seems to actually work."
The professor nodded and gave the local translator a thumbs up.
"I suggest you hurry up; according to their routine, they should be getting up soon."
"Good."
The professor agreed and led his team to begin the most important step of their mission—containment.
Although the term "containment" does not originate from World of Disorder, it is very appropriate to use it to describe the events and items related to it.
Since the aurora borealis, related events have been occurring more and more frequently, and countermeasures personnel are not simply responding passively.
For those Source of Disorder that are not very harmful and can be controlled, people always want to control them and conduct appropriate research on them.
The statue before us is one of the more suitable ones for study. Although its influence now covers an area of tens of hectares, that's only because it was discovered late.
Thinking of this, the professor nodded to the team members:
"Let's begin."
Once the fake statue was finished, the university professors who had been invited were led away from the cave, and the remaining people's actions officially began.
"Click, click," several large boxes were opened one after another in front of everyone.
What they took out of the suitcase were none other than a pair of specially treated gardening shears.
With a series of "snip-snip" sounds, one vine after another was cut off by the sharp scissors.
These Strangler Fig branches underwent significant changes after arriving in this world, but they were completely unable to function as nimbly as they had in the World of Disorder.
Despite their best efforts to resist, the vines were eventually all cut down.
The instant the severed parts were completely cut off, all the roots and branches inside the cave began to twitch and writhe wildly.
But people had no time to worry about that, because they were busy containing this strange object.
With the final scissors falling, the statue landed in the temporary containment device that had been placed below.
The specially made corrosion-resistant bag immediately wrapped around the statue, and the two wicked disciples stepped forward and quickly tied the bag shut, then connected it to a vacuum pump.
Soon the statue, along with the remaining vines and branches on its surface, was completely sealed in plastic.
A quarter of an hour before full daylight, the group towed the statue away from the site in a trailer and boarded a helicopter to return to base.
Sitting in a rather cramped chair, the mentor, whose game ID was [ Backstabbing Expert ], casually remarked:
"We've taken in another one. Does that make us Legendary Investigator?"
The senior student with the game ID [ Dawn Ah ] twitched his lips and asked in return:
"You two don't even share the same worldview!"
"You know what, even including this stone statue we just took in, these are actually three different worldviews, right?"
"Yes... what do you want to say?"
"I was just thinking that although we don't share the same worldview, there are certain similarities. Thinking about some games I've played before..."
"Is it possible that one day, if we collect enough bizarre items, two or more of them will form a system of checks and balances?"
[ The Backstabbing Expert ] pondered and said:
"For example, if there's a tree that keeps growing, could we use this stone statue to seal it away?"
"That won't do."
To their surprise, the one who interrupted was none other than the professor himself, who was sitting in the front row.
[ Dawn Ah ] seemed to have received support, and patted his junior on the shoulder, saying:
"Did you hear that? Stop daydreaming, even the teacher said it won't work."
The professor then continued:
"Thinking like that directly is a big mistake. We need to quantify and record all the quantifiable parts first. Otherwise, how will you know whether this parasitic idol is more powerful or that tree is more powerful?"
"Teacher! You..."
[ Dawn Ah ] was surprised that being unserious was contagious, and looked at his mentor in astonishment, while [ Backstabbing Expert ] let out a wild laugh on the side.
"Although it's not a good way to put it..."
The professor sighed:
"But I always feel that such an era isn't too far off; maybe I'll see it before I die."
Inside the helicopter, everyone fell silent for a moment.
After a moment, it was [ the Backstabbing Expert ] who stepped in to liven things up:
"Speaking of which, it's been three days since we last logged on, hasn't it? Sigh, I haven't been sleeping well these past two days, I wonder if it's because I don't have a helmet."
[ Dawn Ah ] thought for a moment and retorted:
"It would be difficult for most people to sleep peacefully in the Amazon Rainforest, right? But all things considered, this matter has been successfully completed. Now that we're back, can we continue playing—no, I mean, continue researching the World of Disorder?"
The professor looked at his eldest disciple with a slightly disdainful expression and drawled out his words:
"No, there's something else going on 400 kilometers away. We're the closest, so we can go check it out."
Immediately, two graduate students in the back row let out wails of agony.
"What happened over there? Has another invasion by creatures from another world occurred?"
The professor recalled for a moment and said:
"Although it's not a biological invasion, what happened over there is even more outrageous..."
His expression was somewhat unnatural.
You all know about 'sarira' (relics), right?
"Know."
The two nodded in unison:
"You mean those crystalline substances that sometimes appear after a highly accomplished monk is cremated, right?"
The professor nodded:
"Yes, that's what we're going to investigate."
[ Dawn Ah ] was immediately shocked:
Are there also highly accomplished monks in the Amazon region?
The professor thought for a moment and said:
"If we only look at the relics, this person's spiritual attainment is far deeper than that of ordinary people."
"Half of his body has turned into relics!"
"Clam?"
The helicopter carrying the professor's team flew further and further away, while a dramatic change was taking place below them.
After the statues were packed up and taken away, the first things to change were the branches growing inside the cave.
Without the influence of the other world, they decayed at an extremely rapid pace, and this decay continued to spread outward from their center...