197: Fallen Maple Town and the "Peddler"

The faint message from an old acquaintance of the Qingxuan Sect was like a pebble cast into a calm lake, stirring up ripples within the Bedrock Base.

After the anger and sorrow came an even firmer determination and a sense of urgency.

'We must make contact with our comrades outside!' Wen Youyi said decisively in the council chamber, 'We must preserve the Luofeng Town contact point, and we need to figure out exactly what is happening outside and what help our comrades need!'

'But how do we contact them?' Wang Wu frowned, 'We can't get out at all. Even if we could, where is Luofeng Town? How do we ensure safety?'

Everyone looked at Wen Youyi.

Now that they were in the Starry Sky Debris and cut off from the world, trying to contact Luofeng Town, which was far away on the edge of the Qinglan Mountain Range, sounded like a fantasy.

Wen Youyi, however, appeared confident.

He walked to the sand table and pointed to the location representing Falling Star Lake.

'We cannot get out, but... 'express deliveries' can.'

'Express delivery?' Zhao Iron Pillar looked bewildered.

'Remember our previous 'Starry Sky Market' concept?' Wen Youyi explained, 'We won't send people directly, but instead 'drop' some things toward Falling Star Lake through that unstable passage.'

He elaborated on his plan:

First, manufacture a few small, sturdy 'Messenger Puppets' equipped with basic navigation and stealth functions.

These Puppets would not carry complex functions; their sole objective was to carry encrypted information and a small amount of 'samples' through the Falling Star Lake passage to reach the Qingxuan Sect area.

Second, choose an absolutely hidden location near Falling Star Lake to serve as a 'material drop point' and 'information receiving point.'

This location must avoid the prying eyes of the Black Fiend and the 'Scavenger.'

Finally, and most importantly, find an absolutely reliable 'one of our own' in Luofeng Town responsible for receiving the 'express delivery' and, according to instructions, placing the materials and information the base needs at the designated 'drop point' to be brought back by the Messenger Puppet.

This process was full of uncertainty: Was the passage stable? Could the Messenger Puppet arrive safely and find the target? Was the contact in Luofeng Town reliable?

Any error in any link could lead to the failure of the entire effort or even expose the existence of the base.

'This is currently the only viable method,' Wen Youyi looked at everyone, 'The risk is high, but it is worth a try. We need intelligence from outside, and our comrades outside also need our support.'

'Do it!' Zhao Iron Pillar was the first to state his position, 'It's better than waiting here idly!'

Wang Wu also nodded: 'I agree. At the very least, we must let our comrades outside know that we are still here, and we have not given up!'

The plan was thus decided and named the 'Messenger Wind Project.'

The base began to operate at high speed once again.

Senior Brother Li led the technical team to start building the special 'Messenger Puppets' based on the Puppet manufacturing technology in the ancient database.

Wen Youyi, meanwhile, attempted to send a multi-encrypted confirmation message containing initial contact instructions and the 'material drop point' coordinates toward 'Luofeng Town' through the extremely unstable information receiving station.

This was a blind attempt across a vast distance.

A few days later, the first 'Messenger One' Puppet was completed.

It was shaped like a metal sea urchin, its surface covered with simple sensors and propulsion Talisman arrays, with a small star core fragment resonator at its core for positioning and receiving instructions.

With the remote assistance of Senior Brother Zhang, Wen Youyi chose a moment when the passage was relatively stable and sent 'Messenger One' and a batch of prepared 'samples' (a few pieces of purified star metal, a small piece of stable energy crystal) into the Falling Star Lake passage.

Next came the long wait.

Every day, Wen Youyi would keep watch in front of the information receiving station, expecting feedback from 'Messenger One' or Luofeng Town.

As the days passed, just when Wen Youyi was about to believe that 'Messenger One' had been lost in the passage or destroyed, the receiving station suddenly received an extremely faint but clear feedback signal from the direction of Falling Star Lake!

[Messenger One has reached the designated area... Coordinates confirmed... Drop successful... Encrypted response received from 'Luofeng Town'... ]

It was a success!

Wen Youyi suppressed his excitement and immediately decrypted the response from Luofeng Town.

The message was still brief:

[Goods received, quality is excellent. Next 'market' in three days, same place. Need: wound medicine, Spirit Stone, concealment Talisman. Can provide: recent situation of Qingxuan, surrounding maps, 'guest' movements. -- Peddler]

'Peddler...' Wen Youyi read the codename, a look of relief finally appearing on his face.

Although they had not yet met, the appearance of this codename meant that they had successfully established contact with the outside world!

With this 'Peddler' hidden in Luofeng Town, they were no longer blind and deaf!

'Reply!' Wen Youyi immediately ordered, 'Agree to his requirements! Prepare the materials he needs! Also, ask for the detailed movements of the 'guests' (referring to the Scavenger) and the latest situation within the Qingxuan Sect!'

A fragile thread spanning the starry sky, connecting the ruins with reality, had finally been successfully built.

'Starfire' was finally no longer an isolated existence.

Wen Youyi knew this was just the beginning, but it was undoubtedly the most important step.

He felt as if he could already see that through this 'Peddler,' resources and intelligence would begin to slowly flow through this secret passage, like a trickle that would eventually converge into an unstoppable torrent.

(End of chapter)