318: Chapter 318 The Role of Upgraded Building Modules

The four teams returned to the rendezvous point one after another.

The first to arrive was Ye Qingyue—after all, her route had been the easiest.

The last to arrive was Luo Qinghan.

She was carrying Lin Ruoxue on her back.

Lin Ruoxue had expended too much energy maintaining the ice wall; she couldn't even walk now.

Luo Qinghan hadn't said a word, simply carried her back while running, and her speed hadn't even slowed down much.

"Put her here."

Lin Yuan pointed to a platform he had constructed using the Smart Building Module.

Right—during the forty minutes the four teams had been gone, he had already used the Lev.2 Building Module to construct a simple base at the rendezvous point.

Four windbreak walls, a flat floor, and even soft material laid on top.

A miniature version of a temporary Shelter.

It had taken five minutes to build.

When Luo Qinghan put Lin Ruoxue down, she took an extra look at the wall.

"When was this built?"

"After you left."

"...Forty minutes?"

"Five minutes."

Luo Qinghan didn't say anything else. She realized that the frequency with which Lin Yuan refreshed her perception of reality in this life was getting higher and higher.

Nineteen goddesses.

Plus Lin Yuan.

Everyone was present.

There were twenty people crowded into the temporary base.

Although the space was quite spacious relative to their shrunken scale, the atmosphere was not relaxed.

Murong Xueer leaned against the wall, the traces of battle still on her body, not yet cleaned up.

Xia Bingning lay recovering slowly under the effect of emergency medical agents; the toxins had been suppressed, but her complexion was still poor.

Qin Ziyan and Chen Hanyue sat side by side, both silent.

The extreme combat they had maintained all day had pushed their spirits and physical strength to the limit.

Lin Ruoxue had her eyes closed, with Bai Xingli guarding by her side.

The Healing Ability was outputting continuously, helping her repair her exhausted body.

The others were in relatively better states, but all carried varying degrees of fatigue.

The only one without any damage—was still Lin Yuan.

He stood in the center of the base, scanning the state of everyone.

"Let's take inventory first."

His voice was steady, as if he were holding a routine work meeting.

"The base has a total population of 5,000. Based on the signal feedback collected by the four rescue teams along the way, plus the system scan data—"

He paused.

"31 confirmed deaths. All died within the first two hours after shrinking, mainly due to insect attacks or falls from heights. Currently, 4,969 people have survived."

Xia Muqing pushed up the glasses that weren't on her nose—a habitual gesture she made when thinking, even though her glasses had long since vanished after shrinking.

"Only 31 died out of 5,000?"

She frowned.

"According to the size ratio between humans and insects after shrinking, the survival rate of unprotected survivors shouldn't exceed 60%. Theoretically, thousands should have died. How could it only be 31?"

"Because the main residential areas have insect-repellent sonic devices."

Lin Yuan said.

"What?" Xia Muqing was stunned.

"I buried 84 micro sonic generators in the foundations of the main building complex two weeks ago. At the time, it was to prevent ant colonies from invading the granary."

"Two weeks ago?"

"Yes. That batch of devices covered the vast majority of the residential and storage areas perfectly. After shrinking, although the effective radius of the sonic waves shrank, it was just enough to protect the people inside the buildings. Most survivors were indoors, so casualties were far lower than expected."

The whole place was quiet for three seconds.

Ye Qingyue muttered,

"So the thing you used two weeks ago to stop ants from eating grain has become the thing that saved five thousand lives today?"

"That is the result."

"Did you predict the silver light in advance?"

"No."

Lin Yuan's answer was very direct.

"Pure coincidence. But this is why I do everything thoroughly—you never know which preparation will save your life at what time."

Ye Qingyue closed her mouth again.

This man wasn't just lucky.

It was that he made enough preparations, so many that there would always be a few that came in handy.

"Alright, let's talk business."

Lin Yuan's gaze turned to Xia Muqing.

"How is your analysis going?"

Xia Muqing perked up.

As the only purely research-oriented Ability User in the team.

While others were fighting monsters for their lives, she was using her D-level Data Analysis to desperately analyze the data of the silver light—this was her true battlefield.

She stood up, her fingers gesturing in the air.

"The essence of the silver light is a type of spatial compression wave. It didn't change our biological structure; rather, it compressed the scale parameters of the space we are in."

She spoke faster and faster, her eyes shining.

"Simply put—we didn't shrink. The space around us was folded. That's why physical laws still operate normally at the microscopic scale, and our Superpowers, while weakened, haven't disappeared, because the spatial compression is proportional—"

"Get to the point." Lin Yuan interrupted her.

Xia Muqing coughed.

"The point is—theoretically, it's reversible. If we find the energy source of the silver light, it's possible to reverse the spatial compression and restore everything to its original state."

"How do we find it?" Su Yuyan asked.

"We need large-scale energy tracking. After the silver light diffused, it left behind residual particles; by tracking the direction with the highest particle density, we can find the source. But given our current conditions—"

Xia Muqing rubbed her fingers in distress.

"D-level Data Analysis has dropped too much in precision after shrinking. To track the residual particles, it might take a few days to lock onto the general direction..."

"North-northeast. About 50 meters from our current location."

A voice came from the side.

Calm.

Certain.

As if reading the weather forecast.

Everyone's gaze turned to Lin Yuan in unison.

He was leaning against the wall in a corner with his arms crossed.

He had been in this posture since Xia Muqing started her analysis.

"...What?"

Xia Muqing was stunned.

"The energy convergence point of the silver light."

As Lin Yuan spoke, he swiped his finger, and the system map unfolded before everyone again.

But this map was different from before.

Previously, it marked life signals and threat sources.

This time—there was an extra layer of silver halo on the map.

Those halos were layered like contour lines, with density increasing from the outside in, finally converging at a precise coordinate point.

North-northeast. 50 meters.

Xia Muqing stared at the map, her lips trembling slightly.

"Is, is this... a complete energy distribution map of the silver light?"

"Yes."

"Full spectrum?"

"Yes."

"Coverage rate?"

"91%. The remaining 9% is at the near end in the northeast direction; we can complete it when we get there."

Xia Muqing's brain raced.

Something she hadn't been able to calculate in five hours, Lin Yuan had just thrown a finished map in her face.

"When did you..."

"From the first moment we shrank."

Lin Yuan's answer was understated.

"The silver light made everyone shrink; most people's first reaction was panic. But panic doesn't solve problems. Shrinking is the result, not the cause. Finding the cause is more useful than panicking."

He looked around at everyone present.

"So, while I was saving people, I had the system continuously scan and record the distribution of residual silver light energy in every area. The data from the way here, the way to the pool, and the data sent back by the four rescue teams—all summarized and analyzed."

Luo Qinghan opened her mouth.

She remembered the signal flares sent back from the East District and the medical area—those flares contained the feedback data of the sonic devices. She had always thought they were just used to confirm "mission accomplished."

"The signal flares..."

"Yes. The signal flares had built-in micro scanning modules."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"You were saving people, and the signal flares were helping me collect data. Doing both things at the same time doesn't waste time."

Luo Qinghan closed her eyes.

She had lived two lifetimes.

She considered herself quite knowledgeable about this world and the human heart.

But in front of Lin Yuan, she would find every time—that there was always a blank spot in her perception.

She could see danger.

She could sense direction.

But Lin Yuan saw the whole chessboard.

Every step he thought three steps ahead of everyone else. No, more than three steps.

"Wait a minute."

Xia Muqing suddenly frowned.

She stared at that energy distribution map and drew a circle near the convergence point.

"The energy density here isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Ye Qingxue asked.

"If the silver light was just a one-time spatial compression event, the residual energy should be continuously decaying. But the energy density at the convergence point—"

She looked at Lin Yuan.

"It's rising."

"Yes."

Lin Yuan nodded.

This was the sentence he had been waiting for.

"You noticed it too."

"This cannot be a natural decay pattern."

Xia Muqing's expression became serious.

"Energy is converging, rising... it means something is continuously absorbing and amplifying the silver light energy. This is not—"

"Not a natural disaster." Lin Yuan finished the sentence for her.

The whole place went quiet.

"The energy pulsation of the silver light has a fixed frequency cycle."

Lin Yuan brought up another set of data.

A waveform appeared on the panel—the silvery-white peaks and troughs rose and fell regularly, the intervals almost perfectly consistent.

"A 12-minute cycle. The margin of error is less than 0.3 seconds."

Xia Muqing gasped.

Natural phenomena cannot have such precise cycles.

A 0.3-second error—this is mechanical-level precision.

"This is a signal."

Lin Yuan said.

His voice was calm, but every word felt like it was slamming into everyone's heart.

"It's not radiation, not aftershocks; it's something releasing energy pulses in a regular pattern."

He looked at Luo Qinghan.

"The silver light is not a natural disaster; that convergence point—there is something over there."

The temperature in the base seemed to drop by several degrees.

Su Yuyan instinctively clenched her fists.

Ji Wushuang's hand was already on the hilt of her sword.

Ye Qingyue shrank her neck, instinctively leaning closer to Ye Qingxue.

Bai Xingli stopped the output of her Healing Ability—not on purpose, she was scared.

Five thousand people turned into the size of ants.

The silver light was not an accident; it was purposeful.

Something was 50 meters away—at their current size, that was 5 kilometers—waiting for them.

Fear poured down their spines like ice water.

But just when everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit—

Ye Qingyue noticed one thing.

Lin Yuan's expression.

He had no fear.

No tension.

Not even gravity.

In his eyes—there was a light.

She had seen that kind of light before.

Every time a new danger, a new unknown, or something new worth researching was discovered, that light would appear in Lin Yuan's eyes.

It wasn't excitement.

It was more restrained than excitement, but stronger than any other emotion.

It was a pure, calm, "finally something interesting" kind of... curiosity.

"...Lin Yuan."

Ye Qingxue's voice was very soft.

"You don't seem afraid at all."

"Afraid of what?"

Lin Yuan put away the data panel.

"Unknown does not equal dangerous. And—"

He glanced at the direction of the convergence point.

"Something that can turn five thousand people into ants, if it can be utilized by me, its value is immeasurable."

Luo Qinghan: "..."

Ye Qingyue: "..."

The whole place was silent.

—When others heard "something is waiting for you," their first reaction was to run.

This man's first reaction was "can it be utilized."

"So you mean—"

Su Yuyan asked tentatively.

"Go?"

"Of course we go."

Lin Yuan stood up straight and brushed the non-existent dust off his hands.

"Let's go, go take a look."

His tone was as relaxed as if he were going to the convenience store next door to buy a bottle of water.

Ye Qingyue looked at the sisters around her with different expressions, then looked at Lin Yuan's incredibly calm face.

She sighed.

Forget it.

Having followed this man for so long, she should have been used to it.

Every word he said would eventually be proven right.

Even if it sounded like he was going crazy.

"Before we leave."

Lin Yuan suddenly added.

"Xia Muqing, the spatial compression theory you mentioned just now—what do you think is the probability that it can be reversed?"

Xia Muqing thought for a moment.

"If we can reach the energy source and analyze its structure... theoretically, the reversal probability is over 70%."

"That's enough."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Then he turned to everyone.

"Rest for ten minutes. We leave in ten minutes."

His gaze swept over every face.

Finally, it stopped at that direction 50 meters away.

"Take everything with you. We aren't coming back."

Murong Xueer stood up and brushed the dust off her body.

"Not coming back? You plan to walk all the way there?"

"Not walk."

The corners of Lin Yuan's mouth curled up slightly.

"We're driving there."

"...Drive? Drive what?"

Lin Yuan didn't answer.

He took out a silver building module from the system and placed it on the ground.

The module began to assemble automatically.

Five seconds later—a miniature armored transport vehicle appeared before everyone.

Lev.2 Smart Building Module.

Environmentally adaptive.

Operates normally at the microscopic scale.

"Get in."

Lin Yuan opened the driver's side door.

Ye Qingyue looked at the car that had appeared out of thin air, her mouth twitching for a full three seconds.

"Brother Lin Yuan... when did you learn to build cars too?"

"Stop talking nonsense, get in."