Timeline Player

Upon hearing this, Chi Que couldn't help but rub his temples.

Is there something wrong with the fungus? If you eat it, you'll turn into a monster after you die?

He quickly deduced the simplest and most brutal way to wipe out the entire expedition team, based on the available information.

"Is the truth behind this instance just that a group of people ate too many mushrooms...?" He almost laughed out of anger at this deduction.

He instinctively felt that he had overlooked something.

Although he never liked to rely on intuition, the information he had at the moment was indeed insufficient to determine the true cause of death.

The truth will probably only be revealed after he actually enters the secret door.

"Let's go, the captain told us to assemble at the warehouse." The logistics officer called out to Chi Que, who suppressed his thoughts, nodded, and followed.

The little dog tried to follow along, but was stopped by the support staff and stayed obediently in the lobby.

Upon entering the warehouse, the surrounding light gradually dimmed, and three people were already waiting at the dark doorway.

However, they were in a chaotic situation, with two of them working together to tie up another teammate.

"What are you doing?" the logistics officer exclaimed in surprise.

"He's gone mad." The captain's expression was grave. "The situation here... is unclear. Some fungal spores may have extremely strong hallucinogenic properties. Excessive exposure could cause someone like him to lose their mind."

Everyone fell silent for a moment. The hidden door was no longer a source of hope, but a double-edged sword hanging in the air.

"I'll go," the logistics officer said, raising his hand and volunteering.

"No way." The captain shook his head. "Aren't you going back to your hometown to get married? I won't be able to explain if something happens."

He unbuckled the pistol from his waist, then, as if remembering something, took out the magazine and tossed the pistol to the logistics officer: "Keep the gun safe. That way, even if I go berserk, at least you'll be safe."

Chi Que's eyes narrowed.

This is the very Chekhov gun.

So that's how this gun came about.

He immediately understood the captain's intention: on the one hand, to prevent himself from going berserk, and on the other hand, to prevent someone from harming others with a gun when food was scarce, since the other bullets were not suitable.

"I'll go with you," he said, stepping forward.

He suspected that the captain might have entered the garden and been infected by the spores, indirectly leading to the subsequent tragedy.

But if he changed history in the past, would reality change accordingly?

The captain seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by Chi Que: "You know, I'm a medical professional."

He wasn't lying; in this timeline from twenty years ago, his identity was indeed that of a medical professional.

Seeing that the captain seemed to be moved, Chi Que pressed on, saying, "Moreover, our goal is to bring out food. If you go berserk, I can take over and bring out the food, so it won't all be for nothing."

The captain breathed a sigh of relief: "Keep up."

Then he looked at the logistics staff: "You stay here, take good care of him, and be prepared to receive him."

Chi Que looked at him as well. He was currently working with another person to hold down the crazed teammate and gave him a thumbs up.

His shadow overlapped with the distorted figure of the madman, stretching out long under the lamplight.

Chi Que inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu.

I feel like...this looks familiar.

"I'm opening the door." The captain's words interrupted Chi Que's thoughts. He immediately composed himself and stepped through the door.

But that strange scene still lingers in my mind.

Why did the shadowy figure suddenly attack Wen Lu?

He thought of this question again.

Chi Que vaguely sensed that he had grasped something, but he was still lacking a bridge to connect the two.

He held back for the moment and followed the captain through the hidden door.

The staircase behind the hidden door was very long. Chi Que followed the captain down the stairs. With each step, the air grew colder, and the sounds behind them gradually faded away, leaving only the echoes of their footsteps in the narrow tunnel.

Chi Que suddenly felt that something completely different from what was above might be hidden beneath this manor.

Fluorite began to appear on the rock face, emitting a faint glow that led to an unknown depth underground.

The two walked forward in silence. Perhaps to break the atmosphere, the captain brought up an old story.

"I once heard that the former owner of this manor built a garden underground," he said slowly.

He paused for a moment: "I initially thought it was a rumor, but now it seems there might be some truth to it."

Chi Que could understand his thoughts, because many plants had begun to appear unusually on the surrounding rock walls. If there really was a garden underground, it probably wouldn't be strange.

But there should be no sunlight underground, so how do plants grow? And where do their nutrients come from?

"We've arrived." The captain stopped in his tracks.

Chi Que looked around and was immediately shocked by the scene before him.

It wasn't the gloomy scene he had imagined, but rather a garden overgrown with strangely shaped ferns and mosses.

In fact, it's not completely dark here, but rather eerily perpetually illuminated in a light environment resembling twilight.

"There used to be an active volcano here," the captain explained. "There should still be lava remaining underground."

His tone was uncertain: "But logically speaking, a volcano shouldn't be able to support so many plants. I don't understand it either."

Chi Que nodded blankly.

"Let's search separately." The captain held up his flashlight, the beam sweeping across the ferns. "The fungus should be growing around here."

Chi Que nodded, and the two went their separate ways into the garden.

The ground was softer than I had imagined; it felt like something rotten and piled up, and it was covered with tall ferns.

"Found it." The captain's voice came from the right.

Chi Que followed the sound and found the captain standing at the edge of a low-lying area. When the flashlight shone down, the area was covered with palm-sized mushrooms, their caps grayish-brown and covered with a layer of fine fuzz.

"It looks edible." The captain crouched down and reached out to pick it—

"Wait a minute." Chi Que called out to him and handed him a pair of gloves.

Although there seemed to be no strange fungi nearby, it was better to be safe than sorry.

The captain paused for a moment, then smiled: "Don't worry, there are plenty of these mushrooms in my hometown, and they're not poisonous."

As he spoke, he picked a mushroom, brought it close to his nose, and smelled it: "Hmm, a familiar smell."

"Take it back first, let the others see it first," Chi Que said.

The captain nodded, tossed the mushrooms into the bag, and then bent down to pick the second, the third...

He suddenly stood up abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Chi Que took a step back.

The captain lowered his head, staring at the mushroom in his hand, his breathing suddenly becoming rapid: "I... damn it, he probably still has spores on him... I touched them when I was suppressing them earlier."

Chi Que felt a moment of disorientation.

Is that so?

He was constantly worried that the captain had been infected by the spores after entering the garden, only to find out that he was completely wrong.