CHAPTER 107: CHAPTER 107: ENTERING THE ISLET

Over an hour later, Chen Shouyi got off the train and entered a taxi.

Chen Shouyi noticed that the martial law in Dongning had ended, and apart from the heightened police presence patrolling the streets, soldiers were no longer visible on the roads.

However, the market was still as desolate as before.

The prolonged power outage led to commercial decline, factory shutdowns, mass unemployment, and significantly affected the economic vitality of Dongning City.

Every pedestrian seemed to carry a somber expression, and beggars were everywhere on the streets, with several plastic bags dancing constantly in the wind, conveying a sense of bleakness.

Chen Shouyi withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes to relax and rejuvenate.

He couldn’t help feeling a bit heavy-hearted.

Dongning City was merely a microcosm of the entire nation; except for first and second-tier cities, which maintained abnormal prosperity due to resource siphoning effects, most other regions would likely experience this state for a year or two.

...

He alighted at the hotel he used to stay in, paid the fare, then retrieved his luggage from the taxi’s trunk, glanced at the sign "Electricity Available" beside the hotel entrance, and walked inside.

The pretty receptionist at the hotel desk brightened upon seeing Chen Shouyi:

"Young handsome guy, you’ve finally come over, your package arrived a long time ago."

"Oh, you remember me?" Chen Shouyi said, a bit surprised.

In fact, a month had already passed, and he had given up hope on this package. He chose this hotel mainly because it was closer to the spatial passage.

"Of course, handsome guy, I have a good memory!" The receptionist laughed. "I’ve been keeping an eye on your package for you."

"Thank you very much. I’ll book a single room for two days."

"The room rate is one hundred fifty, deposit one hundred," the receptionist said.

"So cheap?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"Yes, but unfortunately, not many people stay here!" Saying this, the receptionist’s chubby face turned a bit melancholic, as her salary had halved, and without her parents’ occasional help, she wouldn’t survive.

...

Chen Shouyi took the package and entered the room.

Then, he tore open the tape with his hand and opened the package.

Inside, there were seven bundles of arrows, a hundred Speed Arrows, twenty Spin Arrows, and ten Whistle Arrows.

On this trip, he only carried a War Bow and sword, and since he needed many arrows originally intended to buy from Dongning’s local melee weapon shop, this had saved him the trouble.

The exploration mission had already been accepted, just waiting for dawn in the other world.

However, before arriving, he had already set the time; looking at his watch, there was about an hour left.

He grabbed his briefcase, exited the hotel, preparing to buy food.

Before long, he arrived at a nearby large supermarket, where goods were plentiful but the sparse crowd of people was pitifully few.

He bought two roast ducks, five pounds of cooked beef, three pounds of sauced pork knuckles, five packs of compressed biscuits, and two large bottles of mineral water.

Thinking it should be enough, given his huge appetite now, it was barely enough for three meals.

Next, he bought a large suitcase from the supermarket.

Back at the hotel, he simply stuffed everything into the suitcase.

Once everything was ready, he didn’t linger, heading straight for the wormhole in Dongning City.

...

"Military zone, unauthorized personnel keep out!"

Chen Shouyi took out an exploration certificate, a soldier checked it and immediately allowed him to pass.

Entering the tall walls, where the previous half-finished building stood, now replaced by a giant cylindrical structure about thirty meters in diameter and over twenty meters high, with a large number of cannons and machine guns stationed in posts sealing off the spatial passage tightly.

His documents were checked three times consecutively along the way, thereafter proceeding unobstructed.

Opening a thick iron door, he smoothly arrived at the passage.

Compared to the previous open-air parking lot spatial passage, now the surroundings were fortified with reinforced concrete, so thick that Chen Shouyi reckoned even heavy artillery couldn’t easily demolish it.

Gazing at the passage so close by, he took a deep breath and stepped in without hesitation.

With a brief spatial shift.

The familiar sensation welled up from his heart.

His body’s innate abilities were fully revived.

He felt that his Wind Control gifted ability unknowingly strengthened significantly.

Fine strands of breeze, like tame spirits, gently surrounded him, his clothes and hair fluttered elegantly.

Unfortunately, this ability only worked in the other world.

If it worked on Earth, he would be someone who arrives on scene bringing his own wind, creating a different level of grandeur.

After playing around for a bit, Chen Shouyi immediately began his duties.

He carried the suitcase, quickly walking towards the beach.

Chen Shouyi discovered that this area seemed to have been initially explored, noticing many new footprints on the ground.

It wasn’t surprising, though the military’s Martial Artist numbers might be extremely tight, there were plenty of Martial Artist Apprentices. An initial exploration of an unknown spatial passage by a company-level garrison was still undoubtedly within their capabilities.

Several dugout canoes were left alone in the distance, seemingly unused.

However, what troubled Chen Shouyi was clearly it had rained here recently, leaving plenty of rainwater accumulated on the canoes.

What a hassle!

Chen Shouyi untied the canoe’s rope, then removed his pants and waded into the seawater, jumping onto the canoe.

Leaving the suitcase on the bow, he planned to first deal with the accumulated water in the canoe.

Initially, he didn’t anticipate this situation and didn’t bring any handy tools. After considering, he decided to cut one of his large bottles of mineral water in half, and diligently scooped the water out.

After an hour’s toil, he finally cleared the accumulated water from the canoe.

Then, he let out the Shell Lady.

The Shell Lady had already awakened and, excited to return to the other world:

"Hurry, hurry!"

As soon as she was freed, she flew off at once, excitedly spiraling around, quickly flying higher and farther.

This was his first time in the other world without restraining the Shell Lady.

"Don’t fly too far!" Chen Shouyi shouted, standing up for caution.

Though it evidently didn’t affect the ecstatic Shell Lady, she soon became a barely discernible dot, and after a while, even that faded away.

"Really a little rascal!" Chen Shouyi shook his head speechlessly, although his demeanor was rather calm, confident the Shell Lady would return obediently after her flight.

But five minutes later, with still no sign of the Shell Lady returning, his confidence began wavering, and he felt somewhat unsure.

Could she have decided not to return?

Left the large gem inside the backpack untouched?

Could she have really escaped at the chance for freedom?

Ten minutes in, he grew worried, continually peering at the sky, hoping to spot the Shell Lady.

Alas, he was too soft-hearted.

In hindsight, he should have bound her.

After another agonizing ten minutes, he had nearly given up hope, feeling empty as if he had lost something.

"Well, compared to freedom, what do gems really count for? An animation binge can be weaned off too!"

"Oh well, it’s better for her to leave, so I won’t have to imprison her in a backpack to avoid exposing her, tormenting her."

He consoled himself, yet his face couldn’t conceal his disappointment. He mustered his spirits, took the oar, and began to paddle.

Just then, he faintly heard the Shell Lady shouting, a surge of excitement rose in him, he eagerly scanned the sky but found no trace.

"Could it be an illusion in my mind?"

Luckily, the voice soon grew clearer, seemingly coming from behind.

Quickly turning around, he saw a small figure about tens of meters away, clutching a transparent bead as big as her body, laboriously flying towards him, her body rising and falling in mid-air at a snail’s pace, nearly falling onto the sea several times before reddening and desperately flying back up.

From afar, she kept shouting: "Whew whew... Giant, I have a gem hidden on the island whew whew, uh-huh... uh-huh... help me retrieve the gem!"

A dozen seconds later, she landed on Chen Shouyi’s shoulder, hugging the glass bead tightly, gasping out: "So exhausting!"