Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 61 Patrol

The vehicle drove across the desolate wasteland, appearing exceptionally lonely.
Inside the car, Shandong University kept his hand steady on the steering wheel while taking out a handful of snacks from his pocket with his right hand.

He handed it to Xu Tong in the passenger seat. Xu Tong glanced at it, took off his mask, grabbed a few pills, and stuffed them into his mouth.

"What is this thing? Why does it look so much like an antidote pill? It just tastes sour." Xu Tong smacked his lips twice.

"These are raisins. How can your antidote pills compare to these?"

Shandong University gets angry whenever he hears about the antidote pill. During the potential test, Xu Tong almost made him gasp for air with a fart.

He glanced behind him and said, "Do you four want some? It's sweet and sour."

In the back of the car, besides Hong Kou and Po Xiao, there were two girls who were obviously younger.

"Thank you, Shan Da, but we won't eat it," Hong Kou shook her head and refused.

Shanda then looked at the two prospective Awakeners beside him: "What about you two?"

The girl with long, flowing hair shook her head and uttered two words.

"Need not."

Another girl with two small steamed buns in her hair reached out and grabbed a few.

"Thank you, it's delicious."

Seeing that there weren't many people eating, Shan Da poured a handful of raisins into his mouth, wiped them casually on his clothes, and then gripped the steering wheel with both hands again.

Xu Tong sat in the passenger seat, flipping through two thin files.

The file page contains photos and brief information of the two prospective practitioners.

Shattered stars and wine songs.

Xu Tong shook the file, then turned to look at the back of the car. "Sui Xing, Jiu Ge, right?"

Sui Xing was lean and wiry with sharp eyes, exuding a composure beyond his years.

The young girl, Jiu Ge, appeared much quieter, but her gaze kept drifting towards Hong Kou and Sui Xing.

"Yes," Suixing replied briefly, her gaze fixed on the scenery outside through the observation window of the carriage.

"You two don't need to be nervous." Shandong's deep voice came from the driver's seat.

"When you were kids, Boss Yang must have taken you out on patrols before, right? This is just a routine patrol."

Xu Tong chuckled and stuffed the file into the armrest box.

"Fatty is right. I see in your files that you've all autonomously activated your potential?"

Jiu Ge nodded: "Yes, my potential is to release specific low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields through skin contact. It mainly acts on the nervous system, requiring contact with the injured person's forehead and back of the head. It can accelerate cell proliferation and achieve extraordinary repair."

She paused, then added, "Old Xia said that my potential has very few side effects and very low risks, making it quite rare."

"Oh? Treatment?" Xu Tong's eyes lit up: "Then it should be about the same as Boss Yang's ability?"

He then looked at Suixing: "And you? Do you have good eyesight?"

Xu Tong noticed a composite bow next to Sui Xing.

Sui Xing raised her hand and gently tapped her temples and the area behind her ears.

"After my potential was unleashed, abnormal growths appeared in my brain and inner ear, which allowed me to perceive very subtle fluctuations in magnetic field signals."

"Wow, it's like a human radar!" Xu Tong exclaimed sincerely.

After asking some basic questions, Xu Tong glanced at the detection panel inside the vehicle: "Alright, we're almost out of the shielding tower's range. Keep returning to normal."

Everyone entered a state of returning to their original state.

Hong Kou, who had just been listening to Jiu Ge and Sui Xing's potential, couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Different people have different potentials, and so do different risks.

As she pondered this, Hong Kou noticed that someone seemed to be watching her. She looked up and saw the girl named Jiu Ge smiling at her.

Hong Kou nodded to Jiu Ge and returned a gentle smile.

The vehicle continued moving forward.

The surrounding area was no longer a vast, desolate land; everywhere were ruins left by destroyed buildings.

The vehicle stopped behind a relatively hidden section of broken wall at the edge of the ruins, the engine was turned off, and the dust it kicked up slowly settled.

The surroundings were unusually quiet, with only the whistling sound of the wind passing through the steel frame.

"We've arrived." Shandong University was the first to open the car door. He gestured to the back, signaling everyone to get out of the car.

Xu Tong followed closely behind, took off his skateboard and carried it on his back, his eyes scanning the layers of concrete debris in front of him.

Hong Kou, Po Xiao, Sui Xing, and Jiu Ge disembarked in turn, their movements swift and efficient.

Hong Kou took a deep breath, the unique smell of rust and dust in the wasteland mixed with an indescribable stench of decay filling his nostrils.

"Have you taken the antidote pills that the village distributed?" Xu Tong turned to look at the four of them.

The four nodded.

"Okay, that's fine. This place is close to a densely populated ecological area, so there will inevitably be some scarlet pigment or similar substances."

If he didn't eat, Xu Tong would have to fart for them to smell right there, which would be too embarrassing.

Shan Da nodded: "Yes, this is the same location I patrolled last time. There aren't many Devouring Beasts here, but we still have to be careful and make sure to maintain our Origin State."

“Redhead and Dawn, follow me. We’re going to check the distance of the ecological expansion.”

"You two can go with Xu Tong," Shan Da said, looking at Sui Xing and Jiu Ge.

"Understood," the group replied in hushed tones.

"Alright, let's split up." Shandong University's voice was clear and strong.

“Redhead, Dawn, come with me. We’ll follow the baseline we marked last time to measure the advance of the Mana ecosystem. Xu Tong, you take Shattered Star and Wine Song and patrol the route to check if any new Mana flowers have sprouted. Record their location and size.”

"Alright, Fatty." Xu Tong replied, patted the skateboard on his back, and grinned at the two young prospective Awakeners, though his expression couldn't be seen through the mask.

"Let's go, let's go take a look at the other side."

Sui Xing nodded silently, her sharp gaze sweeping in the direction Xu Tong had indicated.

Jiu Ge glanced at Hong Kou's fiery red hair before following Xu Tong's footsteps, and the three of them quickly disappeared behind the uneven concrete ruins.

Shan Da, leading Hong Kou and Po Xiao, turned to the other side. He was holding an instrument he had taken from the car, its screen glowing with a ghostly blue light.

He skillfully operated the interface, bringing up a view that overlaid the old map with the data from the last patrol. A flashing dot indicated their precise current location.

"This is an ecological detection and mapping instrument modified by the village," Shan Da explained in a low voice as he walked, avoiding the loose gravel and scattered bits of soil under his feet.

“It can record the frontier of ecological erosion and mark concentration anomalies. Last time we were here,” he pointed to a virtual line on the screen, “we buried sensor beacons. Today we’ll follow the beacons to see how much the ecosystem has spread.”

When the appearance of the ground vines causes disasters, the manna ecosystem expands rapidly.

Now, the expansion of the ecosystem has slowed down, but it is still continuing.

They cautiously moved through the ruins, with several other roaming, pan-evolving Devouring Beasts not far away.

"This way." Shandong University stopped next to a partially collapsed load-bearing pillar.

He crouched down and carefully pried open a concrete slab with his dagger, revealing a small metal cylinder buried underneath.

As the instrument approaches, it emits a soft beeping sound, and the data on the screen begins to fluctuate.

"This beacon also shows that it has spread for about two kilometers." Shandong looked at the data displayed on the equipment.

"It's about the same as what we measured before."

(End of this chapter)