Wang Zihao shook his head.
"No, I've tried many methods, even satellite phones, but the signal here... no, it's like this place is an isolated pocket, completely cut off from the outside world."
"I understand."
Duan Chen had already anticipated this.
Such an occurrence now was within his expectations.
This place was becoming increasingly bizarre, where anything could happen, to the point where the unusual was becoming normal.
A thoughtful look flickered in his eyes as he bent down and picked up the small wooden bear that had fallen on the ground.
"If that's the case then..."
"I'll put it away first, into my storage ring. One bizarre object containing another bizarre object can either lead to peace or escalate into bigger problems."
Bai Ye didn't even have time to stop him.
He watched the scene in panic, his hand reaching out, but by the time he did, Duan Chen had already placed the item into his waist pouch.
"What are you doing!"
Bai Ye couldn't help but shout.
It wasn't that he thought Duan Chen was hoarding the item for himself, but rather the immense danger and uncertainty it represented!
How could Duan Chen so casually decide to keep it?
If this object truly caused an unpredictable disaster, Duan Chen would be in direct peril.
Duan Chen understood what Bai Ye was thinking. He looked at Bai Ye reassuringly and patted him on the shoulder.
His voice was calming, "Don't worry, I'm fine. If there's a problem, I'll feel it immediately. Besides, if we leave it here, other bizarre entities might take it."
"Then what would happen would be truly unpredictable."
"A non-subdued bizarre entity, holding an unrefined bizarre object, can undoubtedly cause immense danger. By keeping it with me, if anything happens, I can quickly determine whether to continue containment or destroy it on the spot."
Duan Chen's explanation was logical and coherent.
Even though Bai Ye felt uneasy and strongly disagreed, he had no grounds to refute it.
He could only nod reluctantly.
He looked at Duan Chen with worried eyes and couldn't help but caution him, "Then you must be extremely careful. If anything unexpected happens, just throw this damned thing out immediately."
"Don't worry about your storage ring; if necessary, abandon both. No matter what, our lives are the most important things."
Duan Chen nodded, a smile on his face.
"Don't worry, I know."
Bai Ye let out a breath of helplessness.
Now, all he could do was hope that Duan Chen truly understood the gravity of the situation.
Wang Zihao tried again and again, but still couldn't contact the outside world.
Duan Chen reached out, patted Wang Zihao, and asked, "Did you record the small wooden bear that fell earlier?"
Wang Zihao nodded, his voice firm.
"Don't worry, instructor. The moment the falling object appeared, I activated the recording and photography mode, capturing it from all angles with no blind spots."
It had to be said that Wang Zihao was indeed a very patient and suitable intelligence recording specialist.
Duan Chen mentally elevated his assessment of Wang Zihao.
Then he spoke to Wang Zihao, "Then let's leave here. When I was crossing the village with that little girl earlier, I saw some things that particularly caught my attention."
The reason he mentioned "particularly caught my attention" was that Duan Chen hadn't expected that in such a village, besides a church and villas, there would also be a primary school and a BJD doll shop.
It was truly a place with everything, remarkably complete.
All sorts of dirty, chaotic, poor, and messy things were gathered here.
It made him wonder if this was some kind of natural breeding ground.
Otherwise, how could it be so comprehensively corrupt?
However, he had no evidence.
He could only suppress his thoughts and proceed with the most rigorous recording and exploration.
Perhaps this village was just developing well...
Duan Chen could only comfort himself internally.
But whether he believed it or not was entirely up to him.
The three of them walked out of the villa together.
They didn't see any of their so-called companions inside the villa.
Duan Chen knew in his heart that even if they saw them, it would be useless.
If Sha Zi, who was controlling them, died, they would all truly die.
Their existence itself was dependent on Sha Zi's control.
Now that the caster was dead, they couldn't survive.
Although it was a pity, there was nothing that could be done.
They could only mourn and offer condolences in their hearts; there was nothing else they could do.
The dead cannot be resurrected, and they couldn't take their bodies with them.
In such a critical situation, the bodies of their companions were a burden. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not take their companions' corpses with them on their journey.
The living were the most important.
Everyone knew this in their hearts.
"Our next destination is the primary school."
Duan Chen thought for a moment and directly decided where they would go next.
This village had a primary school that had been desolate and dilapidated for a long time. Even if there were no bizarre events occurring here, this primary school had long been abandoned.
After all, it wasn't a city; it was a rural village. Barren land was useless, and no one thought of redeveloping it.
Wang Zihao and Bai Ye had no objections to Duan Chen's suggestion.
However, when they reached the entrance of the primary school, they suddenly stopped in their tracks.
A flicker of confusion crossed Duan Chen's eyes.
"Isn't this a primary school?"
Wang Zihao was also bewildered. He immediately opened his map to check, and as he did, he nodded with certainty.
"This is indeed a primary school; it's displayed as such on the map. It can't be wrong."
Duan Chen asked, "When was your map updated?"
"Real-time updates."
Wang Zihao pursed his lips and explained, "I updated it once when I arrived here, replacing it with the latest map of this area."
If that were the case, then it couldn't be wrong.
Yet, the large restaurant before them clearly indicated that their map was mistaken.
There was no primary school here at all.