Since June of this year, rumors of a ti tunnel at Red Maple Forest Park began to circulate. So visitors mysteriously disappeared while touring the park. After fruitless searches by their accompanying visitors, they sought help from the park managent.
After one or two hours of unsuccessful searching, the missing person would return on their own. However, they claid to have only ventured deep into the forest to relieve themselves, insisting the whole ordeal didn’t last more than five minutes.
Moreover, the watches worn by those who disappeared showed a discrepancy of one or two hours from the outside world. Previously, the managent of Red Maple Forest Park had called in experts to investigate, but months of research turned up nothing. Instead, incidents involving the ti tunnel occurred from ti to ti.
After reading the summary, Wang Lan’s face showed a bitter smile.
This sort of thing wasn’t really within the job scope of a Star Martial Warrior, right? Searching for ti tunnels, that’s a physicist’s job. Star Martial Warriors can do physical labor, but scientific research... Only soone with good math and science skills like could perhaps give it a try.
Yet, the likelihood of success for this mission, in my view, did not exceed one percent. Is it still not too late to regret taking it on?
The missions undertaken by Star Martial Warriors only had two outcos: either voluntarily giving up and deeming the mission a failure, or succeeding and earning points.
Damn! That’s just inhumane.
Wang Lan sank into his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness to pull up the system, and sure enough, the mission board had added an ongoing task.
"Xiao Ai, help look up information related to the ti tunnel at Red Maple Forest Park."
"Okay, searching for information. Search complete. There are a total of three hundred and forty news articles and posts related to the ti tunnel incidents at Red Maple Forest Park."
The next day, Wang Lan left his ho equipped for battle, taking Line 7 to the final station, which led directly to Red Maple Forest Park.
Originally, Red Maple Forest Park, as a tourist holiday area, peaked in visitor numbers during the National Day holiday. Especially in November, when the maple leaves began to turn red, the beauty was extraordinary.
However, due to the ti tunnel incidents, the park managent opted for safety and chose to close the park. They could not open for business until the matter was thoroughly investigated.
This was why the managent was so desperate to throw a hail Mary pass and assign this task to the Star Martial Warrior—the closing of the park ant losing money every day. Perhaps in the managent’s eyes, Star Martial Warriors were akin to superheroes, psychics, and deities.
Capable of catching tigers on the mountain and capturing dragons in the water, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
You’re right about all that. Star Martial Warriors just had to accept it!
Arriving at the firmly shut gate, notices about the park’s closure were plastered in the most conspicuous place. Many clusters of tourists arrived excitedly only to leave disappointed.
Watching the groups of dejected visitors leave, the project manager’s face was painted with an apologetic smile, but inside he was in agony. Don’t those departing figures resemble the God of Wealth enshrined at ho?
They did. They looked so damn much like them.
As Wang Lan approached the entrance, he glanced at a middle-aged man in a suit and asked, "Excuse , are you in charge of Red Maple Forest Park? I’m Wang Lan; we had an appointnt."
"Ah? You?" The man was obviously not expecting the student-looking Wang Lan to be the Star Martial Warrior he had scheduled. He’s just... too young, right?
Eyeing Wang Lan with a slight distrust, he asked, "Young man, are you sure you have a... professional rank?"
He had specified a B-level professional rank requirent on the task, aning that only Star Martial Warriors who were battle-hardened and experienced could take on the job. Yet, the young man before him clearly didn’t fit that description.
"Here’s my Star Martial Badge, and this is my mission acceptance proof!" Wang Lan handed over his credentials, which upon verification made the man smile warmly, "Impressive, young fellow. To be a B professional rank Star Martial Warrior at such a young age. Are you familiar with the mission details?"
"I’m aware. Have you prepared the precise map of the locations where the ti tunnel incidents have occurred that I asked you for?"
"Yes, yes!" he said, hastily taking an enlarged tourist map of Red Maple Forest Park from his briefcase. Locations one through ten were marked on it.
This indicated that there had been at least ten ti tunnel incidents over the past four months. Taking the map, Wang Lan entered the forest park. At the entrance, he had put on an air of confidence, but once inside, his assured deanor quickly deflated.
No confidence at all, not even a clue.
Oh well, I’ll just go try my luck.
Red Maple Forest Park was previously just a few mounds of earth situated in the southeast of Suzhou City. Starting from the 1950s, as part of a national effort to develop the tourism industry, Suzhou City was naturally part of this wave.
Red Maple Forest Park was developed at the sa ti as Sky Curtain Lake Wildlife Resort, Xishan Tourist Resort, and a dozen or so other A-class scenic areas. Decades of restorative efforts have shaped what is now the forest park.
Striving to preserve the original essence of the forest park while also ensuring tourists enjoy their visit required ticulous consideration from the managent.
The winding, labyrinth-like stone paths spread like a spider web throughout the maple forest, which covered an area with a radius of three kiloters. When filled with tourists, the park didn’t feel that large, but now that Wang Lan was alone, it felt like entering a deep, remote forest.
At the first location, everything was normal.
At the second location, everything was normal.
The third location... What the heck am I doing?
I walked to the marked places, found nothing, and sensed no anomalies. Wandering around like this is a complete waste of ti.
Ask a Star Martial Warrior to look for sothing tangible, and they might find it. But to have a Star Martial Warrior search for a ti tunnel? Do they think Star Martial Warriors are so kind of spatial detectors?
Continuing to wander around aimlessly like this is just a waste of ti.
"Help out here—"
"I know, but wait until I’m steady. Stand still."
"You’re a grown man, getting tired like this after just an hour of walking? Are you feeling weak?"
"You’ll find out tonight whether I’m weak or not. Look at , carrying dozens of pounds of equipnt alone."
"Lanlan, stop teasing Chen Jing. It’s hard enough for him carrying all that gear."
"Mumu’s still the best; she actually knows how to be considerate."
"Fine, you two are the good ones, and I’m the bad one. Why don’t you two just get together then?"
"Stop ssing around!"
In the distance, Wang Lan heard voices in conversation. Following the sound, he saw two won and a man with backpacks struggling to climb toward the third marked spot.
Wang Lan stood at the top of the slope, looking down at the three people below him. They seed to sense soone watching and turned their heads to look up at Wang Lan.
Four pairs of eyes t, staring at each other.
"Ah! We are... here to investigate the ti tunnel... We’re master’s students from Suzhou University."
"Red Maple Forest Park is closed; how did you sneak in?" Wang Lan asked in a deep voice.
"Little brother, you aren’t a staff mber of the park either, are you?" a girl wearing a duckbill cap asked as she raised her head to look at Wang Lan with a smile.
Wang Lan took out the pass he had just received from the middle-aged man, put it around his neck, and asked, "How about now?"
"..."
"Big brother... We ca here out of curiosity about the ti tunnel for a research project we’re working on. Please, be a dear, don’t drive us away..." another sweet-looking girl pleaded with Wang Lan, putting on a cute act.
"Oh my god! I can’t take it, Lanlan, you’re an older sister calling soone who isn’t even twenty ’big brother’... have you no sha?" a bespectacled young man beside her cried out in a hurry.
"What’s the matter? Are you jealous?"
"Not at all..."
Wang Lan ignored their blatant public display of affection. Instead, the equipnt on the man’s back held his gaze for a long mont.
"What is this? Is it used to search for the ti tunnel?"
"Yes! This is a magnetic field exploration device that can detect magnetic fields. Besides velocity, ti flow can also be affected by strong gravity or magnetic fields. According to the formulas of relativity theory, we calculated that the force causing changes in ti flow is..."
"Wait!" Wang Lan quickly interrupted the girl with the duckbill cap from launching into a lengthy exposition.
For such a science fanatic, letting her start could an she wouldn’t finish for an hour or two. I’m in no mood to listen to her ramble on about science and theories.
At least, the existence of Different Dinsional Space still can’t be explained by science.
"This thing can help us find the ti tunnel, right?"
"In theory, yes."
"Co up here; let’s search together. I was entrusted by the park managent to co here and discover the truth about the ti tunnel."
"Huh? The park managent entrusted you? Why not entrust us?" the girl nad Lanlan asked curiously.
"Perhaps, they are a bit naïve."
With Wang Lan’s help, the three managed to climb the slope. They had the equipnt but did not know the exact locations where the ti tunnel occurrences took place. Wang Lan, however, had the precise coordinates of places where the ti tunnel incidents had occurred multiple tis.
It was practically a match made in heaven, a divinely ordained union... Pfft!
The party of four began their search, checking each marked location starting from the first.
The girl with the duckbill cap held a computer that displayed a radar-like scanning circle, refreshing round after round.
They spent more than three hours and visited five locations. However, far from detecting any magnetic field anomalies, they didn’t even find a single tal tin can.
"What’s going on... we’ve searched five places, and our legs are about to break, yet we found nothing..." the girl nad Lanlan sighed in dismay.
"If it were that easy, the professors wouldn’t have co back empty-handed last month. Could it be that the magnetic field changes of the ti tunnel don’t occur continuously but are caused by a combination of various factors?" the bespectacled man asked in a grave tone.
"That’s possible. If that’s the case, we either need to monitor it for a long ti, or it’s a matter of luck. If we’re lucky, we might just encounter it. We have five more points to check. If we still co up empty, we’ll have to change our strategy."
"Wait a minute!" Lanlan suddenly spoke up, "Li Jing, co with ."
"What for?"
"Put the equipnt down! Hurry up and follow ..."
"This... isn’t right, is it?" Li Jing glanced from Wang Lan to Mumu. He felt it wasn’t right to leave Mumu alone with a man he didn’t know well.
"Are you an idiot? I need to pee!"
"Oh—"
Li Jing then set down the device, and the girl pulled him into a secluded part of the maple forest. "Mumu, keep an eye on this guy for ; don’t let him wander off," Lanlan’s voice ca from a distance.
Wang Lan looked innocently at Mumu, who covered her mouth and giggled, "Do I look that untrustworthy?"
"Not at all; you’re quite handso... But you know, as a woman, you should learn to protect yourself. By the way, what’s your na? Are you still in school? How did they think to ask you to help with the investigation?"
"I’m still in high school. I’m a Star Martial Warrior."
"Oh? No wonder," the girl’s eyes lit up when she heard Wang Lan was a Star Martial Warrior. "Could I have your QQ number?"
"Sure, no problem."
"AAAH—"
Just as Wang Lan was about to take out his phone, a scream from Lanlan suddenly rang out nearby. In the instant the sound reached him, Wang Lan had already vanished from the spot in a flash of light.
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