Chapter 194 The Bridge Outside the Seventh Island

"A building material treasure chest?"

Chen Yu was slightly taken aback. "Where is it?"

Cheng Minglang swallowed hard, looked around, and lowered his voice. "Officer Pei sent me to get you. You'll understand the specifics once you come with me."

Chen Yu looked at him, showing no intention of following.

"You came alone?"

"Officer Pei said we can't let this get out!"

Cheng Minglang lowered his voice even further. "The fewer people who know, the better!"

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes and looked at Cheng Minglang.

Cheng Minglang felt a bit unnerved by his gaze.

"You guys aren't trying to set me up, are you?"

Chen Yu pointed the tip of his blade straight at Cheng Minglang's chest.

Cheng Minglang's face froze. "?"

He quickly explained, "Wait... why would we set you up? We're all on the same island. When Officer Pei found the building material treasure chest, he thought of you immediately..."

Chen Yu looked into his eyes; they weren't shifting or dodging. He didn't seem to be lying.

Only then did he retract his machete, chuckling. "Just kidding. Lead the way."

Cheng Minglang was stunned for a moment, then let out a long breath and turned to lead the way.

Chen Yu followed behind him with Shui Bobo perched on his shoulder. Behind them was a massive crowd of pets following in a long line, looking like a penguin migration.

The campsites of the two groups were very close.

They reached it in five minutes.

Pei Yuanheng was sitting on a log in front of a shed, wiping an iron pipe with a cloth.

Cheng Minglang walked to the side. "Officer Pei, Chen Yu is here."

Pei Yuanheng looked up and gestured with his chin toward another log nearby. "Sit."

Chen Yu shook his head. "Let's get straight to the point, Officer Pei."

Pei Yuanheng didn't push it. He folded the cloth, tucked it into his pocket, and said, "The mist to the north has cleared."

Chen Yu asked, "What mist?"

"The mist between the islands."

Pei Yuanheng stood up, planting the iron pipe on the ground. "It used to be all white there, you couldn't see anything. Today, Hawkeye went north to scout and found the mist was completely gone..."

He paused and looked at Chen Yu.

"Guess what was behind the mist?"

Chen Yu didn't speak, quietly waiting for the answer to be revealed.

"A bridge."

Pei Yuanheng spoke seriously, "It's a very wide bridge that connects to another island."

Chen Yu nodded. "So you're saying the building material treasure chest you mentioned is on the bridge?"

Pei Yuanheng didn't confirm or deny, simply starting to walk. "Come with me, and you'll understand."

He looked down at the Lava Guardian Lizard by his feet.

"You stay."

The Lava Guardian Lizard looked up, its red eyes watching him, and flicked its tail.

Pei Yuanheng crouched down, patted its head, then stood up and announced loudly, "Stop the building material extraction. Everyone, go on high alert. Guard the surrounding seaweed and the pets!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Cheng Minglang, come with me."

Cheng Minglang nodded and jogged over.

Pei Yuanheng looked toward the eastern side of the camp, where a young man with high cheekbones and bright eyes was crouching.

"Hawkeye, you come too."

The man walked up to Pei Yuanheng and stood still. "Officer Pei!"

Pei Yuanheng glanced at Chen Yu and introduced him: "Jiang Wei, code name Hawkeye. He's a former scout. His Talent is A-rank Visual Enhancement. He's the one who discovered the bridge."

"Let's go."

"Mhm."

The four people plus one Water Bubble walked through the bamboo forest and fern thickets. The path beneath their feet changed from dirt to gravel, then from gravel to gray-white stone slabs.

The sunlight grew brighter, and the canopy thinner. Finally, the palm leaves overhead vanished, leaving only the bare sky, a blue so bright it was almost white.

Pei Yuanheng stopped.

Ahead,

was the bridge.

Just as Pei Yuanheng had said, the bridge was wide enough for five or six people to walk abreast.

At the head of the bridge, on the right side less than ten meters away, was a bronze-colored box.

The lid was half-open, tilted to one side.

"It's been opened?"

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes.

Pei Yuanheng nodded. "Yes, but not by us."

Chen Yu stepped onto the bridge, and a familiar voice sounded—

[Warning: You are stepping outside the Seventh Island, into a Public Area]

[Warning: You are stepping outside the Seventh Island, into a Public Area]

[Warning: You are stepping outside the Seventh Island, into a Public Area]

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes. "Public Area? Meaning people from other islands will appear here?"

Jiang Wei spoke seriously, "Correct. But what's strange is..."

He paused. "Theoretically, I should have been the first to discover this bridge after the mist cleared. But when we approached, the Treasure Chest had already been opened. Unless..."

Cheng Minglang picked up the thread. "Unless someone was waiting at the head of the bridge before the mist even cleared."

Jiang Wei glanced at him and nodded, but his brow furrowed deeper.

"But that's simply impossible."

"Before the mist cleared, no one could have known the bridge's location. Yesterday, when we looked north, everything was white; we couldn't see a thing. Without knowing where the bridge was, how could they wait for it?"

Pei Yuanheng's voice suddenly dropped. "Some people don't need to see the bridge to know where it is."

Cheng Minglang was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Pei Yuanheng smiled slightly. "Literally, Minglang. Do you believe some people can see the future?"

Cheng Minglang's lip twitched. "How is that possible..."

Pei Yuanheng shrugged. "But as it stands, either they can see the future and planned ahead, or this box was open to begin with."

To the side, Chen Yu coughed. "Ahem... about that..."

"Officer Pei."

Chen Yu suddenly asked, "This bridge is so hidden. You could have kept it a secret, sent your own people to wait, opened the Treasure Chest yourselves, and taken the building materials. Why tell me?"

Pei Yuanheng said directly, "Because we can't hold it. The opponents of the Seventh Island are definitely not trash like Zhang Tianlang."

Jiang Wei chimed in, "According to Captain Zhou's analysis, since the Seventh Island's Highway Ranking is tenth, there will definitely be teams with rankings similar to yours on other islands!"

Chen Yu rubbed his chin. "So you guys... want me to help you guard the bridge?"

Pei Yuanheng spoke calmly, "Chen Yu, the moment I looked for you, I had no intention of taking the Treasure Chest."

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes. "Officer Pei, I'm actually a bit surprised."

Pei Yuanheng smiled. "Actually, it's not surprising. This mission clearly isn't that simple."

"If it were just pet duels, it would be fine—we'd let the pets do the talking, and our own strength wouldn't matter much. But now that building material treasure chests have appeared, everything has changed."

Jiang Wei suddenly spoke up, "Officer Pei, someone is coming from ahead..."