75: Foreign Land Opening

After about an hour of driving, Shi Li and Director Hou arrived at their destination.

Although Durian City is not the capital of Jiangnan Province, its location is almost at the very center of Jiangnan Province.

The last time, Wooden Flower City was located to the west of Durian City, and this time's destination was to the east, with similar distances.

This was a valley with continuous green trees, and because it was still morning, one could see slowly drifting, faint mountain mist when looking down from high above.

Within this mist, one sight was quite striking.

It was a pillar of light that shot up into the sky, from the ground all the way to the horizon.

From afar, this pillar of light seemed very thin and small, but after landing, Shi Li realized it was larger than he had imagined.

The footprint of the light pillar was roughly equivalent to the entire campus area of their Twenty-sixth High School.

Arriving at the temporary command post set up with tents, Xiu Qingshan was already waiting there.

He was the overall defense commander for this Level 3 Otherworld at the current stage.

"Someone will specially introduce this mission to you later, so I'll keep it short and sweet."

Xiu Qingshan made time in his busy schedule to meet with Shi Li.

"Given that this is your first time entering an Otherworld, I don't expect you to achieve anything significant; safety is paramount.

Also, take these cards."

He handed Shi Li a few item cards.

[Escape]: Using this card allows you to immediately leave the current Otherworld (Level 3 or below).

One of them was a life-saving card, which could be used as a precaution in case of danger.

"Thank you, Card Hall Master."

Shi Li was somewhat grateful and accepted it.

In addition to this, there were still a few [Mental Recovery] cards that Xiu Qingshan had given him last time.

Counting the 2 [Retreat] cards that Director Hou had secretly given him earlier, he now possessed many life-saving methods.

"Zhang He."

"Here!"

At Xiu Qingshan's call, a dark-skinned, capable woman walked in.

She had a [Gold 22] rank displayed above her head, clearly indicating she was an outstanding individual at the Gold rank.

"He's yours; introduce him to the situation and then assign him to Team 1."

"Understood, please follow me."

Zhang He, having received her orders, led Shi Li away.

Watching the two leave, Xiu Qingshan murmured to himself.

"It's this kid's first time entering an Otherworld; the main goal is to accumulate experience and get a feel for it."

After all, the Otherworld that had opened this time was not something that could be resolved by those at the Gold rank.

It would likely require him to personally intervene to close it once the entrance further expanded and the Otherworld upgraded.

At this moment, Zhang He walked quickly on the way to the camp, beginning to introduce things to Shi Li.

"This Otherworld is called [Rocky Plains], and after measurement, it is classified as an unstable Otherworld."

"Unstable Otherworld?"

"That's right; an unstable Otherworld has an unpredictable periodic repulsion phase.

When the time comes, it will expel all Card Players inside.

It's a kind of self-protection mechanism for the Otherworld."

"I see."

Shi Li nodded.

They had learned some knowledge about Otherworlds in their textbooks.

Currently, generally speaking, Blue Star's method for dealing with Otherworlds is to eliminate future troubles and close them as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, if the Otherworld entrance/exit persists, it could lead to the disaster of Demon Tides.

When a Demon Tide arrives, the Otherworld exit becomes very active.

This can cause Demons that pass through the exit to be randomly dropped into any corner of Blue Star.

Most of the Demons currently existing on Blue Star are remnants that fortunately survived being annihilated during Demon Tides.

And the connection between an Otherworld and Blue Star usually happens for a reason.

As long as the source is found and eliminated, this connection can be severed, allowing both worlds to return to their natural state.

However, there are two types of particularly special Otherworlds that will not be closed.

One type is an exceptionally powerful and stable large-scale Otherworld.

The entrances and exits of such Otherworlds are often too stable to be destroyed, or they are guarded by a large number of Demons and alien race (Other Races).

Another type is an Otherworld with good environmental conditions and relatively stable Demon activity.

These Otherworlds can continuously provide natural resources or card resources to Blue Star.

Humans have the ability to close them, but choose not to for the time being.

For example, the Dry Domain, one of the major Otherworlds connected to Blue Star and a key area guarded by their Xia Nation, is a combination of both.

With Blue Star's current power, it cannot be closed yet, but it also benefits from it.

While there are occasional frictions with the Other Races within that Otherworld, it is not in a state of full-scale hostility.

However, the two types of Otherworlds mentioned above are very few; for ordinary Otherworlds, it is still necessary to close them as soon as possible to prevent future troubles.

"According to measurement results, the exit of this Otherworld has already shown signs of expansion fluctuations.

It may become a Level 4 Otherworld after some time.

Moreover, this operation is dangerous."

At this point, Zhang He glanced at him: "According to the detector, there is a high probability of Three-Star Demons inside."

"Three-Star Demons?"

Shi Li was slightly stunned.

Level 3 Otherworlds only allow Gold rank players to enter, but there are Three-Star Demons inside, which are matched with Platinum rank players.

This is not like a trial, where someone is constantly watching and protecting you.

In an Otherworld, no one will provide extra care or protection; if a Gold Card Player encounters a Three-Star Demon and is not careful, the outcome will be tragic.

After a brief introduction, Shi Li arrived at the tent belonging to Team 1.

Team 1 was the elite Pioneer Team of the Show Card Hall, composed of Gold rank players.

Some of its members came from brother Card Halls in neighboring provinces; cross-province support among elite Pioneer Team members is a very common situation.

Among them, the lowest rank was Gold 11.

These elite team members, who had experienced many trials and tribulations, were now chatting and laughing.

"I promised my girlfriend back home that I'd marry her after this mission is over."

"Hey, hey, why say something so inauspicious before we even set off?"

"Don't worry, this guy doesn't even have a girlfriend."

"A-Zhen is real! I send her money every month!"

In fact, this was just a way to relieve tension.

Because they had already learned about the [Rocky Plains] and knew that this would likely be a tough battle.

Shi Li's arrival naturally drew everyone's attention.

However, before they could say anything, Zhang He had already stood in front of everyone.

She was the captain of Team 1, responsible for the entire team's deployment.

"Our entire Pioneer Team's mission this time is to conduct initial exploration and protect the construction team as they build the camp fortifications.

Also, let's welcome Shi Li's addition.

He is a C-Level Contract holder who just joined the Card Hall this year.

Old Han, I'll leave him to you.

In 30 minutes, we will officially enter."

"Alright!"

The man called Old Han was a middle-aged man at Gold 17.

"Shi Li, if you need any help later, just say the word."

"This is your first time entering an Otherworld, right? Make sure to stick close."

"If we encounter trouble later, let us handle it; you stand back first."

At this point, everyone gathered around.

...

...