Chapter 219 - 218: The Formation is Too Large

Chapter 219: Chapter 218: The Formation is Too Large

"Ah! There it is! There it is!" Huangfu Miaomiao exclaimed, grabbing Feng Ling’s hand in excitement.

But the moment she said, "There it is," the exclamation mark above the Crow’s head vanished!

"How is it gone again?!" Huangfu Miaomiao was stunned. She let go of Feng Ling’s hand, raised the birdcage high, and looked closely—

The huge, eye-catching golden exclamation mark had vanished completely, as if what she’d just seen was a hallucination.

"Check the time," Feng Ling said.

Li Qing looked down at his phone. "...It’s 12:20 AM. The Maze’s opening window is likely between 12:00 AM and 12:20 AM."

"Alright, we’ve figured out the location and the time. Let’s get ready. We’ll enter the Maze this time tomorrow night." Feng Ling took the birdcage from Huangfu Miaomiao’s hands and said calmly, "To be safe, this Crow will have to stay with us until the Maze opens."

Li Qing looked at the Crow and nodded calmly. "That’s fine. The Crow will enter the Maze with us. As long as a player is present, the Maze Administrator can open the entrance an unlimited number of times."

He said this to remind Feng Ling that if they encountered dangers in the Maze that were too difficult to handle, she didn’t have to force her way through.

If they couldn’t find the Divine Statue on the first try, they could try a second, third, or fourth time... Although he hoped the Crow could return home soon, in the long run, he’d rather Feng Ling not act too impulsively.

He just didn’t know if Feng Ling had understood his underlying meaning.

"Let’s go, back to bed." Feng Ling started walking back with the birdcage, pondering at a leisurely pace. ’There’s still a lot to do... Food and water, a tent for camping... I’m not short on weapons, Su Yuqing packed several crates for me when I left. I just wonder what the weather is like in this Maze. It probably won’t be a blizzard like in Daling Forest, right?’

Li Qing followed her silently. He glanced at the quiet street and replied, "A Maze in a city probably won’t have extreme weather."

"Speaking of which, I think you said before that most Mazes are in remote places, right?" Feng Ling glanced back at him.

"That’s correct." Li Qing nodded. "Only a very small number of Mazes appear in densely populated urban areas."

Feng Ling sighed. "The residents of Guangshan City are so unlucky~"

If an Alien Species tore a few holes in this Maze and the pollution spread, wouldn’t the entire city’s population mutate? This isn’t some remote little town; it has a permanent population of several million.

Besides, Feng Shao and Ling Feiran both live here.

’It’s strange. Just because people I know live here, I feel a sense of closeness to this city.’

Just then, Feng Ling heard Li Qing speak. "The residents of Guangshan City are also lucky, because they have you."

Feng Ling flinched, turning to look back at him in astonishment. She never imagined the Daoist would actually suck up to someone!

"What’s wrong?" Li Qing asked, confused, completely unaware of anything wrong with what he’d said.

"Nothing..." Feng Ling silently rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and kept walking.

Xu Yiming asked, "Feng Ling, shouldn’t we report the Maze situation to the Inspection Bureau?"

"Right, we need to notify Han Xu." Feng Ling nodded. "I’ll contact him tomorrow morning and have him clear the pedestrian street in advance, to prevent ordinary people from being pulled into the Maze when it opens."

Li Qing said, "Not just the pedestrian street. To be safe, it’s best to clear everything within a three-kilometer diameter centered on the pedestrian street."

Hearing this, Feng Ling laughed. "He’s going to be busy tomorrow."

"Oh, right," she said, turning her head to Xu Yiming. "I haven’t asked you yet. Do you want to enter the Maze with us?"

Su Yuqing had arranged for Xu Yiming to be their driver; he wasn’t required to venture into the Maze. But seeing his eager attitude, it was obvious he really wanted to go, which is why Feng Ling made a point to ask.

"I won’t slow you guys down, will I...?" Xu Yiming chuckled sheepishly.

"It’s not about slowing us down. Once you’re in the Maze, you’re responsible for your own life and death." Feng Ling’s relaxed attitude suddenly vanished, her tone becoming serious. "However, I personally recommend you go in. Unlike Inspectors, Hunters don’t have professional combat courses or extensive real-world experience. The Maze is full of Pollution Bodies, which are perfect for practice. It will be very helpful for improving your combat ability."

Xu Yiming thought to himself: ’That’s our Feng Ling for you. Using Pollution Bodies as practice dummies... most people wouldn’t even dare to think of it.’

"Alright, I’ll go in with you guys and broaden my horizons!" Xu Yiming replied, puffing out his chest.

Not every Hunter gets a chance to enter a Maze, and Xu Yiming didn’t want to miss it.

He was a practical person and wouldn’t dare dream of making a big name for himself. But since he had become a Hunter, who wouldn’t want to get stronger?

Feng Ling’s logic was even simpler. Hearing that Xu Yiming was also going, she looked down at Huangfu Miaomiao and said, "We’ll need to prepare an extra set of bedding."

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded repeatedly. "Okay, I got it."

Xu Yiming thought silently: ’Her tone is so casual, like they’re just picking up an extra person for a tour bus.’

......

The next morning, Feng Ling called Han Xu early and sent him the location of the Maze entrance.

Upon learning that there really was a Maze in Guangshan City, the higher-ups took it very seriously, and all departments became tense.

Faced with such a large-scale civilian evacuation, and worried the local Inspection Bureau branch wouldn’t be able to complete the task in time, the higher-ups dispatched the military to assist the inspection teams with the evacuation.

Once the military got involved, the whole operation became massive.

As a result, the entire country found out that Guangshan City had a Maze and that Hunters were about to enter it to take action.

The evacuation began in the morning, the media had all arrived by the afternoon, and by nightfall, a human wall had formed beyond the 3-kilometer perimeter of the pedestrian street, blocking all traffic! The sky was filled with drones!

Feng Ling found it ridiculous.

"Is all this necessary?" she asked Han Xu, who had come to pick her up, truly unable to comprehend it.

Was it necessary to cause such a huge commotion?

Han Xu seemed used to it, saying matter-of-factly, "This arrangement from the higher-ups is a form of protection for you."

"Protection?" Feng Ling opened her mouth, speechless. "...This deep meaning is really hard to grasp. I just feel like I’ve become an even brighter, more conspicuous target."

Hearing this, the corners of Han Xu’s mouth twitched upward slightly, but he maintained his serious and calm expression as he said, "Under the watchful eyes of the public, I believe that even if the Alien Species want to cause trouble, they’ll have to think twice."

Feng Ling retorted, "Aren’t you afraid I’ll lose in front of everyone? Or die? What about shattering the Hunters’ confidence? Destroying the public’s hope?"

Han Xu finally couldn’t hold it in and started laughing. "Oh, that won’t happen. We’ll hold a grand funeral for you, just like Ye Zheng’s. Your courageous spirit of self-sacrifice will continue to inspire every one of us."

Feng Ling: "..."

In her twenty-plus years of life, it was the first time she’d ever found herself so short on words that she couldn’t speak.