As they continued walking, it grew darker and darker.

Gradually, even the scattered bits of trash and glowing vines along the roadside disappeared from view.

In the dimness, the only way they could sense each other’s presence was through the Shenmian gun connecting their hands and the faint glow from the flowers they had picked earlier.

In this seemingly endless darkness, it was easy to begin wondering, “Am I still alive?”

There were no landmarks in any direction, no signs of other living creatures—it was as if the world had reduced itself to just the two of them.

After walking for about an hour, they found themselves abruptly moving from complete darkness to sudden brightness as they took a step forward.

That single step somehow transported them to an entirely different world.

The bright light forced them to shield their eyes, and once they adjusted to the brightness, the scene before them left them both stunned.

They had stepped into a tropical rainforest.

The fresh scent of grass, puddles, and earth filled their lungs unexpectedly, refreshing and clean.

Lush vegetation filled their vision. Trees towering dozens of meters high grew out of a lake, their tangled root systems forming a massive network clearly visible from the water’s surface. The water was astonishingly clear, with no fish or signs of microorganisms, pure beyond belief.

Banana-like plants were scattered among the greenery, with thick, moist leaves that seemed ready to drip with their rich green color. Water plants thrived in the center of the lake and along the shore, with thick vines intertwining between the trees, and colorful flowers blooming everywhere.

But the most striking thing was that, looking up, they could see the trees extending endlessly upward, seemingly without end, as the world above them mirrored the one below—a rainforest identical to the one on the ground, lush and verdant.

There was no sky.

Above them was an inverted rainforest, identical to the one on the ground.

Ji Yushi suspected that this was some kind of illusion.

They walked a bit further, and Ji Yushi reached out to touch the leaves of a plant, feeling the cool texture. He frowned and said, “This is all real.”

The temperature and humidity here were very high, so they had taken off their protective suits and stored them away.

Song Qinglan, with his sharp senses, was particularly attuned to the environment, but he detected no danger here. Standing in front of a cluster of purple and white flowers, his black combat suit clung perfectly to his body, his tall figure giving him the appearance of a model in some kind of high-fashion shoot. “Consultant Ji, have you noticed? It’s too quiet here.”

There was no jungle noise, no sounds of animals or birds, no sound of water or wind.

Except for the vibrant plant life, there wasn’t even a single moth.

“It’s very strange,” Ji Yushi agreed, looking into the distance. “Captain Song, should we keep going?”

If they didn’t move forward, they would have to turn back.

They both knew the situation they had come from.

“If we want to figure out what’s going on here, I think we have to move forward,” Song Qinglan said, holding the Shenmian gun. “What do you think?”

Ji Yushi let go of the leaf in his hand. “I think the same.”

Song Qinglan cautioned, “But if we keep going, we might run into danger. There are only two of us.”

Ji Yushi replied, “Then we’ll have to go back and keep the bearded man company.”

Song Qinglan smiled, using the gun to push aside the plants blocking their path. “Alright, let’s keep moving.”

Ji Yushi didn’t have a weapon, and given the unknowns here, it was natural for Song Qinglan to take the lead this time. Ji Yushi had no objections.

The rainforest was hot and humid, as if it had just rained, with droplets still clinging to the treetops and grass.

After just a few minutes, both of them were drenched. Ji Yushi’s pale complexion made the water droplets sliding down his hair onto his face and neck particularly noticeable, highlighting his delicate features against the greenery.

Song Qinglan couldn’t help but worry that if they continued like this, Ji Yushi might get sick again.

Stopping under a cluster of dense round-leaved plants, Song Qinglan, taking advantage of his height, easily broke off a leaf the size of a basin. “Here, use this for cover.”

Ji Yushi took it, holding it like an umbrella. “Thanks.”

It was better than nothing. He joked with Song Qinglan, “Captain Song, you’re so considerate; I almost thought I was a woman.”

Song Qinglan, holding the gun and clearing the path, had no time to cover himself and responded offhandedly, “I never said that.”

They ventured deeper into the rainforest.

The trees here grew even larger, some with trunks so wide that it would take four or five people to encircle them, making the gaps between the trees much wider as well. Many of these trees were covered in parasitic plants bearing fruit that looked as tempting as dragon fruit, but neither of them dared to try them recklessly.

The deeper they went, the more enormous the rainforest’s flora became, far exceeding the normal range of recognition.

They passed through a cluster of giant fungi.

Blue, red, white, yellow—mushrooms of various colors, each the size of a small house, grew in the rainforest.

Ji Yushi stood under one of the mushroom caps, observing. “These mushrooms don’t seem to be of the same species. The largest mushroom I’ve seen had a cap diameter of about 50 centimeters, like a king bolete, or perhaps an Armillaria ostoyae spreading over 2,000 acres underground. Fungi grow along tree roots, secreting digestive enzymes that decay the roots, but with so many mushrooms growing to this size, it hasn’t affected the trees’ growth…”

“I didn’t expect you to know about mushrooms too,” Song Qinglan remarked. “Is there anything you don’t know, Consultant Ji?”

The long journey was tedious, and they continued walking as they talked.

Ji Yushi replied, “Actually, I just read about it in a museum.”

Song Qinglan asked, “A museum dedicated to mushrooms?”

“It was just part of a science exhibit,” Ji Yushi explained. “I was only five years old at the time and found it very interesting.”

For someone with hyperthymesia, it was rare to find anything memorable interesting. This was the first time Song Qinglan had heard Ji Yushi share a light-hearted memory.

Song Qinglan turned to ask, “So, you’ve been able to remember everything since you were that young?”

“No, this condition isn’t congenital,” Ji Yushi told him. “It was much later that I suddenly realized one day that I could recall everything that had ever happened to me, including all my experiences and every detail. Then I couldn’t forget anything.”

It wasn’t congenital?

Song Qinglan guessed that something significant must have happened in between.

Ji Yushi didn’t continue the topic, and since they weren’t close enough for heart-to-heart conversations, the discussion ended there.

They passed through the giant fungi.

Then they crossed a small stream, where they finally made a discovery.

There were some tools and packages scattered by the stream, as well as a rusty water bottle, indicating that someone had stayed there.

Ji Yushi opened the packages and found that they contained some everyday items, including moldy and rotten batteries, water-damaged and malfunctioning communicators, all unusable. Among the items, he also found a compass. The style of these items dated back to more than a decade ago, but the compass was still in decent condition, with the letters “N” and “S” clearly visible on the dial. Unfortunately, the needle was spinning erratically, rendering it useless.

“Consultant Ji.”

Song Qinglan had found something else. He was standing behind a bush, looking grim. Ji Yushi pocketed the compass and walked around the bush, his expression turning serious.

Behind the bush were three bodies, lying haphazardly together, partially buried by the mud washed up from the stream.

These people had clearly been dead for a long time. Apart from their hair, they were already reduced to skeletons.

What made the scene particularly unsettling was that the clothes on these bodies were still mostly intact—flame-retardant, moisture-resistant, high-strength polymer materials. The color, style, and location of the numerical identifiers on the left chest were identical to the black combat suits they were wearing.

Song Qinglan crouched down, using his hand to brush away the mud from one of the bodies, revealing the number on the chest: 12.

These three bodies belonged to the Guardians from Sky Vault.

“Fifteen years ago, a Guardian team numbered 12 from Sky Vault took on an S-class mission,” Song Qinglan explained. “But after 180 seconds from their departure, all eight members lost contact. For years, there was no further word from them. The Sky Vault system conducted multiple scans across various times and spaces but never found a trace of them.”

Ji Yushi asked, “Is this them?”

“It should be.” Song Qinglan frowned. “I heard about this case when I first joined the Guardian team. Experts believed they got lost in some time-space and hid away.”

Both Guardians and Recorders were selected with extremely high standards.

Not only did they require sufficient capability, but they also needed a strong and resolute mental state. Humans, after all, have weaknesses. Imagine that someone returning to the past would essentially have the power of foresight, while those traveling to the future might gain access to an entirely new life… Since the establishment of Sky Vault, there have been cases where people got lost in time and space, unwilling to return to their original time.

In such cases, Sky Vault would send out another team, known as “Investigators,” to correct the situation. Once dispatched, they would thoroughly eliminate those deserters, dragging them back to their original time for execution.

The Sky Vault Team 12 from fifteen years ago was the only team that Investigators never managed to capture.

Song Qinglan continued, “Everyone assumed they became time-space deserters out of selfish desires. But here they are.”

Time-space deserters.

Ji Yushi stared at the three bodies, lost in thought.

This matter was classified within Sky Vault, known only to team captains.

Song Qinglan added, “You might not have heard of this… I feel bad for them. It seems our guess was right—this place is indeed some strange magnetic field that draws in travelers during their transit.”

Ji Yushi said, “If we can’t return, we’ll also be considered deserters.”

Song Qinglan didn’t deny it.

Ji Yushi was right. Apart from being abducted by the so-called “Sky Vault Consciousness” to the transfer station, their situation now was very similar to that of Team 12. If they couldn’t return, the Sky Vault Team 7 that lost contact after departure would also be considered time-space deserters by the Third Command Center.

But Song Qinglan was not a pessimistic person, and neither was Team 7. They wouldn’t give in to the current predicament.

“What was the cause of death?” Ji Yushi asked. “Can you tell?”

“There are no visible external injuries on the bones…” Song Qinglan examined the bodies. “The clothes aren’t damaged either, so it doesn’t seem like they died from external force. If it was hunger, they wouldn’t have all died in the same place. From their postures, it’s likely they were poisoned.”

They both recalled the dragon fruit-like fruits and the giant mushrooms they had seen earlier.

After burying their predecessors, the two continued on.

This time, they walked for a long time.

The rainforest seemed to be frozen in time, much like the place they came from, with no distinction between day and night, making it difficult to sense the passage of time.

However, their bodies weren’t immune to fatigue. Soon, they both felt hunger and exhaustion.

They followed the stream deeper into the rainforest, encountering more giant mushrooms and massive trees.

With the previous example in mind, they resisted the strong urge to try the colorful fruits despite their extreme hunger.

Passing by a round-leaved plant, Ji Yushi suddenly stopped. “Captain Song.”

One of the round-leaved plants had a visible break, with milky sap still dripping from the broken stem—the very leaf that Song Qinglan had previously broken off.

Song Qinglan recognized it too. “Damn. Are we walking in circles?”

Ji Yushi had been pondering this possibility along the way. He pressed his lips together and finally voiced his thoughts, “I don’t think so.”

Song Qinglan also felt that they hadn’t been walking in circles; both he and Ji Yushi had a good sense of direction, so getting lost seemed unlikely. However, the situation was eerily strange.

It was almost like they were trapped in some kind of supernatural loop.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, Song Qinglan made a decision: “The only way to find out if we’re going in circles is to keep walking.”

Then, just as suddenly as before, while they were walking, one step took them from the rainforest into an expanse of nothingness.

Their surroundings became dark again.

The temperature dropped, and the dampness from the rainforest still clung to them. Even after putting on the protective suits they had stubbornly held onto throughout the journey, they couldn’t warm up. So, they had no choice but to press on.

Ji Yushi’s teeth were chattering from the cold.

Without the glowing flowers for light this time, he had to grip the end of the Shenmian gun tightly, struggling to quicken his pace in the cold.

Song Qinglan glanced back at him several times but said nothing.

The auroras flashed across the sky.

In the silence, they both suddenly stopped.

In front of them was another junkyard.

No, it was the same junkyard they had passed through before.

As they continued, just as they were about to lose all feeling in their frozen hands and feet, they saw the familiar space capsule.

Song Qinglan pushed the door open, and they stepped inside.

The bearded man was sitting on a small sofa, holding a towel over his nose, which was still bleeding from the punch Song Qinglan had given him.

When he saw the two of them enter, the bearded man jumped up from the sofa in anger, shouting, “Anfal Arhagen!”

Song Qinglan sneered, raised the Shenmian gun, and mimicked the bearded man’s words: “Anfal Arhagen.”

He didn’t know what it meant, but he was sure it wasn’t anything good.

The bearded man froze.

Whether it was because Song Qinglan had repeated his words or because he was afraid of the gun, the two-meter-tall giant stood there, dumbfounded.

Ji Yushi, lips turning pale from the cold, remained silent.

The space capsule was much warmer. Ji Yushi took off his protective suit and tossed it aside, then walked over to the pile of junk the bearded man had collected.

The bearded man snapped out of his daze, panicking and shouting as Ji Yushi rummaged through his belongings.

But Ji Yushi simply picked up an old-fashioned metal alarm clock and said, “Captain Song, it’s been less than two hours since we left the space capsule.”