Chapter 1683: Footprints

Chapter 1683: Chapter 1683: Footprints

Under everyone’s anticipation, Ji You said, "Going outside is definitely necessary, but safety must be ensured first."

"Safety is our primary concern," Ji You emphasized the word ’safety’ before continuing, "Once safety is confirmed, we’ll figure out how to proceed!"

At this point, Ji You asked, "Senior He Bi, how do you feel?"

As the first person to risk bringing air back from the compartments, He Bi had been isolated for more than half an hour and was still undergoing multiple physical examinations...

Hearing Ji You’s voice over the broadcast, He Bi replied to the microphone, "There’s no anomaly in either my body or spiritual power."

Ji You said, "No rush, let’s monitor for a bit longer."

He Bi nodded, "Alright."

He wasn’t in a hurry to begin with; the current situation was full of unknowns, testing a decision-maker’s ability to make the right choices. Any oversight could endanger the entire team or lead to total failure.

This kind of pressure, no matter who bears it, cannot claim to be completely unburdened.

But!

This junior... seems very calm and composed, which He Bi found impressive. No wonder Yaya likes this junior so much.

He Bi looked at his body data, all showing normal except for... a momentary excessive activity in his spiritual power.

He glanced again at the screen displaying the results, where the spiritual power column showed normal.

He Bi squinted and chose to ignore the minor fluctuation in his spiritual power, as if he hadn’t noticed anything at all.

It’s crucial to eliminate any abnormality as soon as possible, to assist Ji You at the right moment.

With that.

He Bi continued to rest with his eyes closed.

On the spaceship’s deck, Ji You said, "We’ve only determined that the air is harmless to us, but there are other uncertainties, like whether the compartments remain unchanged. Will they suddenly contract or expand?"

"The creatures in the compartments, do we just not see them with the naked eye, or are there many we can’t perceive?" Ji You squinted and said, "Remember the Spiritual Silk-like monster I consumed? That thing was like a ghost, formless and intangible, visible only with strong spiritual power."

At the time, Ji You saw it, but Chu Jiaojiao couldn’t because her spiritual power wasn’t sufficient.

So—

Could it be that everyone’s spiritual power level here is not enough, causing them to be unseen?

After saying this, He Bi, lying still in the Isolation Cabin, suddenly felt a twinge in his heart...

Simultaneously, he keenly sensed the previously very active spiritual power move again, feeling extremely strange, as if someone was stepping on his external Spiritual Silk, jumping from one strand to another...

Then—

The entity leapt away, suddenly out of reach.

He Bi only felt his spiritual power ache slightly, with the dull pain spreading, eventually affecting his entire Spiritual World.

It hurt a lot...a lot.

Inside the Isolation Cabin, He Bi’s expression didn’t change, though the pain seemed to reach his soul; he didn’t even furrow his brows. He just focused his energy on checking the readings on the detector.

On the display, the spiritual power values only showed slight fluctuations, all within the normal range. It was like suddenly craving fried chicken; the slight emotional shift didn’t signal abnormal thoughts.

Sure enough, the security system evaluated He Bi’s spiritual power as normal.

Then, He Bi carefully sensed his Spiritual World again, finding the dull pain had vanished.

Despite the earlier intense pain, the cabin’s detection showed no reaction... He Bi remained silent and observant.

He wasn’t sure if that thing was still around. What did it want by lurking on his Spiritual Silk?

He Bi didn’t act rashly; he couldn’t see that entity, but its sudden departure from his Silk was definitely related to what Ji You said.

Ji You mentioned the strange thing her Spiritual Silk consumed, and its significant reaction indicated... it must be related to that peculiar thing.

On the deck, Ji You continued sharing her speculations, potential dangers, and main action plans with the team.

Ji You and the other juniors were unaware of this.

Is it still there?

How close to Ji You is it?

How did it get in? Did it follow him in? Can the spaceship’s Protective Shield not stop it?

...

He Bi closed his eyes, carefully sensing his Spiritual Silk... grouped densely and chaotically, mostly uncleared. Only 30% of the Silk was orderly within the Spiritual World, separated from the chaotic Silk by a thin transparent barrier.

He Bi manipulated the 30% cleared Silk, stretching and contracting... except for the strands that were trodden on, feeling sluggish and somewhat beyond He Bi’s control.

He Bi frowned.

He noticed a few black dots at the ends of these strands. No mistake, these were his Spiritual Silk, his Spiritual World, and apart from the 70% tangled mess, everything else was under his control. A glance told him all.

Those black dots truly existed.

They were—

He Bi maintained a calm expression, striving to keep his emotions steady, and then scrutinized once more. Those black dots were where the other entity stepped, so—

Are they footprints?

The entity left footprints on his Spiritual Silk?

He Bi couldn’t say if this was good or bad, but he disliked anything beyond his control.

At this moment—

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Detection System: "Your body has passed the security check, and your physical metrics are very healthy. You can now exit the detection cabin."

Then.

After the system emitted a pleasant notification tone, the cabin door opened before He Bi—

He Bi stood unmoving.

System prompt: "Student He Bi, you may leave now."

On the deck, Ji You, Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing... everyone heard the system’s notification, and Yue Qiguang slapped his thigh, grinning, "Great! Senior He Bi’s test came out fine, so, can I immediately head to the compartments and explore?"

Yue Qiguang rubbed his hands, eager and raring to go.

But a hand slapped Yue Qiguang’s shoulder, Ji You retracted her hand, saying, "What are you thinking? There’s no way a weakling like you would be the first to enter the compartments. Just wait."

Yue Qiguang immediately furrowed his brow, huffing, "If I’m not first, then who? Who deserves to be first?"

Ji You replied indifferently, "Definitely not you, so just wait your turn."

After saying that, Ji You spoke to He Bi over the broadcast, "Senior He Bi, is your body alright? Later, you’ll join me outside."

He Bi heard this, his eyes flickered slightly, and without hesitation, he nodded, "Yes."