Chapter 326: Mountain Wind and Rain

Shennongjia.

Rumble!

A low rumble of thunder echoed among the clouds. Several military off-road vehicles sped through the muddy mountain road. In the dazzling beams of the headlights, raindrops, like fine steel needles, drummed against the car windows.

"This is Vehicle One. We are 700 meters from the temporary outpost. The weather is severe, so be mindful of your surroundings." In the lead off-road vehicle, a figure in the passenger seat picked up the radio and spoke in a deep voice.

"Vehicle Two, copy."

"Vehicle Three, copy."

"Vehicle Four..."

In the back seat of a vehicle, a figure in a white lab coat frowned, gazing out at the dark mountain road.

"Yang Xiao, what are you thinking about?" A voice beside him asked.

"...Nothing, nothing at all." Yang Xiao snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head instinctively.

His hands, resting on his knees, unconsciously rubbed his knuckles. He wasn't leaning back in his seat; instead, he sat stiffly upright.

The man beside him sighed, "Yang Xiao, there's no need to be so nervous... It's just a meteorite survey. I've been on many operations like this before; there won't be any danger."

"Dr. Lu, I understand what you mean... but, but this time it's different."

Yang Xiao turned his head, his face illuminated intermittently by the fluctuating headlights of the vehicle behind them. "When that meteor approached Earth, all magnetic field readings went haywire. There are twelve laboratories worldwide involved in magnetic field research, and every single one detected different data..."

"I know, some meteors, due to their unique composition, can disrupt the Earth's magnetic field at close range. That's not uncommon."

"No! Even if the Earth's magnetic field were disrupted, theoretically, the data detected by each lab shouldn't vary significantly. At most, there might be a temporal shift based on the meteor's trajectory... But this time it's different. The data detected by every lab was incredibly anomalous! That was absolutely not the Earth's own magnetic field fluctuation!"

Yang Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed. After a brief pause, he stared into Dr. Lu's eyes and spoke earnestly,

"When that... whatever it was, when it streaked across... the Earth's magnetic field overlapped with at least twelve other things... No, even more than that. We only detected twelve because we only have twelve such labs..."

"What 'things'?"

"Parallel timelines? Parallel universes? Dark matter organisms? Or some other world we can't perceive? In short, something definitely brushed past our world when it streaked overhead."

Dr. Lu froze. As if remembering something, he silently averted his gaze.

"Dr. Lu, you're an astrophysics expert. You must have noticed something strange too, right?" Yang Xiao pressed him. "That was definitely not a simple 'meteor,' otherwise, you wouldn't have gathered all of us here..."

Just as Lu Xun was about to speak, the vehicle slowly came to a halt. Beams of flashlights swept across the windows outside, indicating someone was approaching.

A tall figure, clad in a black raincoat with a gun holstered to his chest, approached from the rain and knocked on the car door.

"Dr. Lu, Dr. Yang, it's time to get out."

"...Let's go." Lu Xun retrieved an umbrella from under his seat and opened the car door.

The vehicle had stopped in a wooded area. In the distance, the outlines of continuous mountain ranges disappeared into the darkness, appearing in the rain like countless giant beasts sprawling across the land, coldly observing these intruders into nature.

Yang Xiao opened his umbrella and quickly trudged through the mud towards the distance. Behind him, people were also beginning to alight from the other off-road vehicles.

The wind and rain in the mountains were fierce; umbrellas offered no protection. After only a few steps, Yang Xiao's face and hair were soaked. As he wiped the rain from his eyes, the shout of an officer beside him cut through the roaring thunder:

"Put away your umbrellas! The wind in the mountains is very strong at night! Holding an umbrella will blow you away! The dark forest is dangerous! If you get lost, it will be very difficult for us to find you!"

Hearing this, everyone had no choice but to close their umbrellas, allowing the cold, icy rain to beat down on them, soaking their clothes and shoes.

Fortunately, they hadn't walked much farther when points of light appeared in the distance. These were more than a dozen camouflage tents pitched in the forest, clustered together, their fabric flapping and rustling in the wind.

The group headed straight into one of the tents, finally finding temporary shelter from the wind and rain, but they were already drenched to the bone.

"Everyone, you've had a difficult journey." A figure stepped forward, distributing dry towels to the group.

"I am Wang Xinye, the person in charge of this survey."

"Elder Wang, we meet again." Lu Xun wiped his face with a dry towel and exhaled deeply. "What's the situation now?"

"The first team sent for reconnaissance is still out of contact. It's been eight hours now... The second team departed two hours ago and has also reported no response."

"Out of contact?" Hearing those words, someone behind Lu Xun turned pale.

"Dr. Lu, didn't you say this was just a meteorite fragment survey? How... how can anyone be out of contact?" A research scholar with slightly curly hair couldn't help but ask.

"Perhaps some component within the meteorite is causing electromagnetic interference. That's quite normal." Before Lu Xun could speak, a female doctor calmly replied, "Dr. Wu, there's no need to make a fuss."

"I'm making a fuss? Dr. Su, haven't you noticed that everyone here is armed?" Dr. Wu's eyes widened.

"When does surveying a meteor ever require involving the military??"

"Alright, alright, we can't blame Dr. Wu... I didn't explain things clearly enough to him." Lu Xun sighed. "Old Wu, we'll talk privately later."

"You... *sigh*, alright then." Dr. Wu seemed to want to say more but held back.

Wang Xinye's gaze swept over the group. He checked the time and spoke to Lu Xun:

"Dr. Lu, the weather is too severe right now. This round of the survey needs to be postponed... You all should rest in the tent area and recuperate. I'll handle the rest."

"Understood."

As Wang Xinye and his team hastily departed, only nine research scholars remained in the tent, besides a few soldiers on guard duty. Lu Xun gave Dr. Wu a look, and the two walked out of the tent alone.

The others dried themselves off. Some began to converse with each other, while others headed towards different tents, seemingly out of curiosity.

Meanwhile.

On the outskirts of the rain-drenched tent area, a drenched figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

He stood on a hillock, saw several figures in white lab coats moving within the tent area, and let out a long breath,

"Did I make it...?"