"Bai Ye, how are you feeling?"
Hearing Jin Sha's voice, Bai Ye snapped back to reality. He stopped thinking about the distress signal device and, baring his teeth, retorted, "Try getting hit by it yourself and see how you feel!"
Cursing, Bai Ye tossed a talisman to release warm mist, healing his injuries.
"It's okay, it's okay. I have something good for healing," Jin Sha quickly produced a greenish-blue fruit with spots. "Eat this and you'll be fine."
Bai Ye warily used his data screen to check the fruit's information. It was indeed for healing, a fruit called a Great Tree Fruit, capable of restoring half of any injury.
What a treasure!
Bai Ye looked at Jin Sha as if she were the Virgin Mary, so incredibly kind. He felt like a villain, judging a noble person with petty thoughts. Still, if a similar situation arose, Bai Ye would still check the information with his data screen first.
Lost in thought, Bai Ye bit into the fruit, finishing it in a few mouthfuls.
And surprisingly, it was quite sweet!
With the healing effect of the warm mist and the Great Tree Fruit, Bai Ye felt significantly better. A warmth spread through his body, and the pain noticeably subsided.
After resting on the ground for a short while, Bai Ye gritted his teeth and stood up. "Let's go, we need to leave here immediately."
The end of the restricted zone did not mean the end of the danger.
In fact, the end of each restricted zone often heralded the arrival of danger.
Some "scheming individuals" would immediately begin hunting, searching for those weakened by injuries and then killing them.
The reason was, of course, simple: to obtain fragments of God Stones.
Of course, currently, not many people had formed this concept. Similarly, few people had the concept of evacuating immediately after the restricted zone ended.
However, for Bai Ye, this habit had been ingrained from his previous life.
Jin Sha nodded, helped Bai Ye up, and then they began to move through the snowfield.
Bai Ye's original intention was to follow the snowfield back to the uncanny region, a journey of only two or three days. But to Bai Ye's surprise, around the morning of the second day, a regional boundary appeared before them.
Looking at the boundary, Bai Ye turned to Jin Sha and asked, "Do you know which region this is?"
Jin Sha shook her head. "Not really. When I came to the glacier, I came from the west, much farther away."
Bai Ye nodded.
Getting lost in the glacial snowfield was normal, as there were no landmarks. However, while the outcome was slightly beyond expectations, it wasn't bad.
After Bai Ye and Jin Sha crossed the boundary, a vast forest appeared before them.
"Hmm?" Bai Ye looked around. "Fantasy Zone?"
This was a forest that looked truly magical.
Bai Ye saw trees no bigger than his thumb, mushrooms as tall as five or six meters, like small huts, the branches of one tree coiled to form a huge disk at the top, and another tree covered in a mirror-like sheen, shimmering with iridescent, three-colored light.
The incredibly fantastical colors made Bai Ye feel as if he had stepped into a fantasy zone at first sight.
Jin Sha asked, "What do we do now? Continue forward?"
"No need. It's enough to leave the glacier region," Bai Ye replied. "We'll explore the surroundings, check if the environment is safe, find a place not too far from the boundary but sufficiently hidden, and one that overlooks the boundary. Then we'll rest for three to five days to let my injuries heal."
Bai Ye actually had chocolate energy bars that could instantly restore all injuries.
However, his body, modified by the T-virus, possessed strong regenerative abilities. Thus, despite the severe injuries from being hit by the Alien Queen, three to five days, coupled with continuous treatment from the warm mist, would allow him to recover to a level where he could fight normally, even if not fully healed.
Therefore, since it wasn't a fatal or difficult-to-heal injury, Bai Ye felt it was best not to waste the chocolate energy bars.
Jin Sha nodded from the side. "I'll let my beast explore."
Jin Sha released a mouse-like creature the size of her head. "Little Rattata, go explore the surroundings and see if there's any danger."
Beasts of burden, sometimes, were quite useful, capable of assisting with many tasks.
After about a quarter of an hour, Little Rattata returned, reporting that its exploration revealed no danger. It also helped them find a large, non-poisonous mushroom as a temporary resting place. The ground was dry, and the mushroom cap provided shelter from the wind and rain. It was quite decent.
Bai Ye sat down on the ground and said to Jin Sha, "You can leave first. I can handle things from here."
Jin Sha thought for a moment. "I don't know where to go for now. I'll stay with you for a couple of days until your injuries heal."
Bai Ye nodded, then took out a contraction net ball. After a moment's thought, he reluctantly switched to his Zangetsu blade and tossed it to Jin Sha.
Jin Sha fumbled to catch the Zangetsu blade and asked, "What's this for?"
Bai Ye replied, "It's yours, to repay you for the fruit."
"Ah?" Jin Sha blinked in surprise, then quickly shook her head. "No, no, you don't have to."
"I'm not being polite, I just don't like owing favors," Bai Ye grinned. "That way, when the time comes that I need to kill you, I won't hold back."
Jin Sha froze again, then said, "Don't joke like that."
"Do you think I'm joking?" Bai Ye pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put one in his mouth, and continued, "Take my advice, put away that so-called kindness. In the World Battlefield, that kind of thing is useless. Here, either you kill others, or others kill you. There are no companions. The moment you step into the World Battlefield, you have no companions."
Bai Ye recalled some past events. In his previous life, he too had been naive, believing they could all work together to escape this damned place.
And then...
They died, and Bai Ye lived.
Bai Ye killed them!
Jin Sha was silent for a while. "I know."
Bai Ye smiled. "I can tell."
Jin Sha wasn't foolish. Bai Ye could tell from certain details. Although she had a kind side, her actions revealed a guarded nature.
When they rode the snowmobile together, Jin Sha had a dagger hidden in her sleeve. When they walked together towards the scientific expedition base, Jin Sha only stayed close when releasing her beast of burden; otherwise, she maintained a distance that allowed for escape or counterattack. Even when supporting the injured Bai Ye, Duoduo Bing always floated between them.
Actually, Bai Ye could understand Jin Sha's mindset, as he had experienced a similar period in his previous life.
She had understood what kind of place the World Battlefield was, yet she hadn't yet let go of the kindness in her heart, existing in a state of inner conflict and struggle.
However, as long as one lived, one would eventually become cruel.
...