Chapter 146: The Last Piece of Land

Chapter 146: The Last Piece of Land

Half an hour later, the friends who had been staying at the hotel had all checked out.

Some of them had just woken up and were unaware of what had happened, but they quickly understood after Shu Fu's brief explanation. This was a serious matter—the soldiers were heading to Zhashui County to rescue the people still trapped there!

Moreover, time was tight, so most of them didn’t pack their belongings, only taking their personal items, and quickly cleared out all the rooms. While Shu Fu returned to Zhashui County, they would stay at the temporary command center.

After all, they were no longer guests of the hotel and were no longer protected by the protective shield. They also couldn’t enter Yao Ruoyun’s cabin, including Longsheng and Xu Jiechu, who had previously stayed with Yao Ruoyun.

Although Chen Fa and the others also had rafts and could use them to rest on the water, since almost everyone had a raft, deploying them would attract too much attention. Therefore, they decided to keep a low profile.

The temporary command center had been equipped with lightning rods, so the safety factor was quite good.

The two newly added three-person rooms were located on the first and second floors. One was on the first floor, at the end of the corridor where rooms 104 and 103 were located. A door had been added to what was originally a wall, leading to a roughly 40-square-meter room with a horizontal rectangular layout. The basic facilities were similar, but there were three 1.2-meter beds inside.

The other three-person room was located in the same direction on the second floor.

The Raft Points for the three-person rooms ranged from 20 to 40, but Lu Zheng had uniformly set them at 20 points per room.

The public men’s bathroom was on the first floor, next to the stairs, while the women’s bathroom was on the second floor, also next to the stairs. Although small, they were well-equipped and had everything needed.

Perhaps because the hotel bathrooms were free facilities, accessing the bathrooms after adding the two three-person rooms did not require any additional cost.

Cheng Yu had already selected 22 people, including the three of them. Awen and a few other old acquaintances were among them, while Qi Kai stayed behind to hold the fort, as there were still many team members left, and two vehicles were kept as backups.

Lu Zheng and Lu Ce got busy, while Yao Ruoyun and her family of three also entered the hotel to help scan the team members' personal information and assign wristbands.

As for the items needed to exchange for Raft Points, they were all provided by Shu Fu.

Since all the exchanged items would go into her space, and these team members were going on a raid, she naturally couldn’t let them bear the cost of the items themselves.

She was quite straightforward, grabbing a handful of small gold items like gold rings and necklaces, standing between two machines, and tossing gold into them as soon as the metal doors opened.

The team members who were checking in were both startled and anxious. Everything was happening too fast. Although they had interacted with Liu Shuang and Han Lan’s rafts before, they had never seen anything like this!

However, they were all aware of the "Sacred Mini Raft" from the North Plateau and had a good impression of its owner even before today. Everyone agreed that, in the face of such a disaster, it was rare to find an individual with special abilities who would help others without any profit motive.

Because of this, although most of them were meeting Shu Fu for the first time today, they had an innate liking for her. Additionally, the label of "Star Candy Girl" had already given Shu Fu a positive image in their minds.

So, despite their anxiety and bewilderment, they still trusted her.

Cheng Yu looked at the dark brown wristband on his wrist and reminded his teammates, "The room is just a means of identification. Their personal belongings are still inside, so everyone should stay in the public area on the way there."

"Understood!"

All 22 people quickly completed their check-in. Shu Fu opened the protective shield to check and, after confirming everything was fine, disabled the shield. She then asked Cheng Yu to take her to the vehicles and tell her which ones needed to be taken inside.

After that, all the team members—including Shu Fu’s own companions—witnessed this amazing spatial ability.

Jeeps, armored vehicles, tanks... one after another disappeared. In the end, only two lonely vehicles remained on the highland.

And in one of those two vehicles, all the weapons and equipment had been removed.

"Wow..." Yao Ruoyun, who had insisted on coming ashore wearing a raincoat to watch the excitement, couldn’t help but clap her hands. "My Senior is so cool!"

Lu Ce, holding Lan Lan, nodded beside her. "I feel like she’ll be even cooler in the future!"

"Alright, let’s go now!" Shu Fu turned around and, as she passed the temporary command center, hugged Chen Fa and Zheng Feifei, who were standing at the edge of the rain shelter. "Sorry, I have to go on this trip. If all goes well, I should be back in about twelve hours. Wait for me!" After all, they had just escaped danger late last night, and now they had to leave their safe haven again.

"No need to apologize, we’re all Chinese. If you’ve got the skills, you should definitely pitch in!" Chen Fa patted her shoulder.

Zheng Feifei also nodded: "Whether it’s for the greater good or personal reasons, I hope those people get what’s coming to them!"

Five minutes later, the protective shield reactivated, and Shu Fu and the others stood in the public leisure area on the second floor of the hotel building. She stood by the window, tapping ‘confirm’ on the map panel in her hand.

In the next second, the team members inside the building immediately felt the rapid movement of the raft.

The Drift Island House didn’t have any warm-up time because she directly pushed the speed to the fastest 100, so the moment she hit confirm, the raft shot forward at top speed.

At the same time, those still on land quickly realized the other raft on the shore had vanished again.

**

Back when Liu Shuang and Han Lan weren’t yet people with special abilities, they’d ridden Shu Fu’s villa raft in awe and wondered why Shu Fu’s raft was so special. They privately wondered if some people with special abilities were just built different, but they were few and they hadn’t seen them before.

But later, as more and more people with special abilities were recruited by the authorities or voluntarily joined, they realized that only Shu Fu was special.

Later, even they themselves became people with special abilities—still belonging to the more special category, with props and backpack space that other ordinary people with special abilities didn’t have. But compared to Shu Fu, their rafts felt like cheap knockoffs.

But now, they felt they had been too conservative in their description.

Compared to Shu Fu’s raft, theirs felt like cheap knockoffs.

In the hotel building, even Cheng Yu, Liu Shuang, and Han Lan stood by the window in shock, watching the outside, let alone the other team members.

The raft sped across the lake, but inside the building, they felt none of the usual jolts or side effects of high-speed travel. They were as steady as if they were on solid ground, whether sitting or standing, a level of technology impossible in this world.

However, when they were already shocked enough, something even more shocking happened.

When the raft reached a certain spot on the lake, the building suddenly began to sink—no, not sink, but dive!

The soldiers, though part of the mission, had no idea how the other side planned to move people and weapons near Sha City so quickly—until this moment, when the raft dived, sinking into the water, heading towards a cave entrance on the underwater rock wall ahead.

"Is this—an underground river? Are we going under the mountains?" Han Lan couldn’t help but take deep breaths. Even though he now had special abilities, powers beyond normal understanding, he felt a slight panic as the raft he was on rushed towards the dark underwater cave at such speed.

"Yep, this is the quickest route, and the only one the raft can handle." Shu Fu had already put away the map panel and placed various foods and drinks on the table in the rest area. "It’ll take about 5 to 6 hours to get there, so let’s grab a bite and recharge."

The team members were reluctant to tear themselves away from the view outside the window, even though they had just experienced a sea battle, disembarking from those massive vessels that could withstand disasters. But this was something else entirely; those ships, no matter how massive or well-equipped, were still within their grasp, but what they were experiencing now was beyond their comprehension.

It felt like being in a holographic sci-fi movie, with sights, sounds, and sensations so real it was mind-blowing.

But all that awe vanished the moment they glanced back and saw the food on the table.

Dozens of takeout boxes filled with various stir-fries, neatly stacked boxes of white rice, a large pot of fragrant yam and pork bone soup, and about ten boxes of beef burgers, two large boxes of pizza.

Shu Fu kept it simple, avoiding seafood sashimi, hotpot, or even fried chicken and soda. She skipped drinks altogether, setting out just a water dispenser and plenty of disposable cups, allowing everyone to pour water when thirsty and fill their water bottles.

After all, they were about to go on a mission soon, and it was not suitable to eat too greasy or raw food, and drinking water was better.

The stir-fries were picked from the earlier Sichuan Cuisine Package, not taking too greasy types like spicy blood tofu, but more home-style stir-fries: green pepper potato shreds, twice-cooked pork, chive scrambled eggs, wood ear meat, home-style tofu, garlic spinach...

These dishes were quick to eat and very appetizing. Although she knew that such a large team would not lack food, she was well aware of the standard rations for people on the march, which were either military rations, dehydrated vegetables, or compressed biscuits and energy bars.

It was impossible to have such a variety of flavorful dishes and staple foods.

Seeing the team members gathering around, Shu Fu first looked back at Cheng Yu and Liu Shuang, asking with her eyes if it was okay to eat these foods before the mission.

"Eat, but don’t eat too much, rest after eating." With the commander’s okay, everyone dug in.

But before they started, they suddenly stood up again and said in unison to Shu Fu, "Thank you, sis!"

Cheng Yu: …

Shu Fu: ??

**

After the meal, while everyone was tidying up, Shu Fu secretly pulled Liu Shuang and Han Lan to the rest area on the third floor, which had a few more sofas than downstairs, making it more comfortable to sit.

This trip to Zhashui County was a one-way journey, meaning that after she delivered them, they would not return on her raft. They would directly engage in the battle, and it was unclear when the battle would end.

Since they rarely met, she had some things she wanted to discuss with them, and she needed to find an opportunity to finish the conversation.

However, she didn't expect that they also had something to communicate with her.

But Shu Fu, who spoke first, slightly surprised the two: "Now that you have also become individuals with special abilities, you should know that you are different from ordinary people with special abilities. You and Lu Zheng—the manager of this small hotel building—are the same. If you are willing, you can also make such changes to the raft. The modified raft is completely safe on the water, and you and your families can live on it. So, after this is over, would you consider moving to the water and living with us?"

Liu Shuang and Han Lan looked at each other. In fact, since they reunited, they had never told her that they had also become individuals with special abilities. How did she know? And how did she know so precisely?

"You can think of me as the overseer of special individuals with abilities. I haven't found the exact answer myself, but with your help, I can get closer to the answer." Although she wasn't in a rush to complete the hidden mission, if there was an opportunity, she would still strive for it.

"So—" Liu Shuang looked at her, "Do you also remember another world?"

Time was limited, and Shu Fu didn't mince words. Liu Shuang and Han Lan didn't either, and they directly provided her with their memory fragments.

Han Lan's memory fragments weren't particularly useful, but Liu Shuang's were different, making Shu Fu more certain that her timeline differed from others from the same world.

"Water Planet"—clearly the disaster animation series she last worked on in her memories. In Liu Shuang's memory, this animation had already been successfully released and, for some reason, became a sensation with its realistic animation effects and gripping story, even leading to the production of a second season.

Shu Fu also wanted to know why. The production company was just a small company, so where did they get the money to create such realistic animation effects?

But before the second season could be produced, something terrible happened. The disasters from "Water Planet" manifested in reality. In other words, the real world was overtaken by the disaster animation, and the disasters in the animation "escaped" into reality.

What about them? Were they dragged into the world of the animation series?

But the world of the animation series isn't just a two-dimensional world; it's also a flat virtual world. If they really entered such a world, why do all the sensations feel so real now?

She had already dismissed the possibility of a man-made consciousness stream crossing through Hua Qiong's memory fragments, which means she ruled out the possibility that "they were all trapped in a huge virtual digital game world." After all, a virtual world does not require physical crossing but can still create an incredibly real sense of body.

This also means that the world they're in now is entirely real, which is why they have such a real sense of body, but it just happens to overlap with the world of the "Water Planet" animation series.

So the question arises: Can a flat two-dimensional virtual world become a real world?

The question Shu Fu posed was too profound for Liu Shuang and Han Lan to answer, especially since their situation was the same as Chen Fa and Lu Zheng. For Shu Fu, the "original world" was just "that world" for them. They only had memory fragments of "that world" and couldn't even remember if they had relatives in "that world."

But they retained all the memories of this world, which felt more real to them.

However, Shu Fu's proposal to change their raft and live on the water was very appealing to them, especially after witnessing the incredible functions of Shu Fu's raft.

If the modified raft could become a completely safe residence on the water, then moving was not impossible. Moreover, after the raft was changed, even if they left the raft, it would not automatically return to the backpack space, meaning their families could continue to live in this safe house while they were out on missions.

"No rush, take your time to think it over. The priority now is to deal with the situation in Sha City." After the three ended the conversation and returned to the second floor, Shu Fu didn't see Cheng Yu in the rest area on the second floor.

Awen, who was nearby, obviously noticed who she was looking for and gestured towards the raft in front.

Shu Fu was slightly surprised. Although the two rafts were only 15 centimeters apart at this moment, and one could step over, the raft was now traveling at 100 kilometers per hour in the dark underground river. Unlike her, who had a personal protective shield and could pause the raft at any time, if one was not careful and misstepped, they could fall directly into the river and be trapped in the dark river!

Shu Fu quickly turned around and headed downstairs.

**

Because they were entering the dark underground waterway, she had left a light in the Drift Island House in front, so she could see the direction clearly if she wanted to go back midway.

As a result, the moment she stepped out of the inn, she saw the tall figure standing on the rear deck of the Drift Island House.

Cheng Yu stood beside the stairs outside the eave, leaning against the wooden railing, gazing at the faint warm glow from the Drift Island House's door. The light inside the Drift Island House was actually quite bright, but filtered through the glass door, it appeared as a small, dim glow.

The dim light cast half his face in shadow, making the clean lines of his profile appear even more three-dimensional.

Shu Fu stopped and looked at him, puzzled as to why he was standing there alone. It wasn’t until a moment later, when she saw him take a step forward and reach out toward the eave in front of the stairs, that she suddenly remembered something.

That’s right!

Last autumn, in the waters of Xiangzhou Province, he had boarded this raft. At that time, due to the warnings from Chen Fa and Lu Zheng, she had decided to keep a low profile and absolutely not reveal to anyone that she was a person with special abilities.

But as it happened, the raft had saved some people back then, and among them was Cheng Yu.

He had stood in the exact same spot as he was now, staring at the back door for a long time, even relying on his keen intuition to guess that there were people inside, observing the outside through one-way glass.

At that time, she had been just a door away from him, yet she had calmly chosen to turn a blind eye.

Even when he later repeatedly dived into the water to search around, she had chosen to turn and leave...

Although by winter, everyone had already ridden on the villa-form raft and had long accepted her identity as a person with special abilities, today was indeed the first time they had officially seen the Drift Island House in its original state.

Cheng Yu clearly remembered this raft. He reached out to see if he would encounter the same air wall.

No wonder his expression was a bit off when he boarded the raft today. It seemed he wasn’t particularly happy—could he be angry?

And it was a silent anger...

Shu Fu felt a strange sense of novelty; she had thought he would never be angry with her!

She had initially intended to approach him, but now she suddenly didn’t feel like it.

Even though a lot of time had passed and all secrets were out, for some reason, at this moment, she still felt a bit strange inside. Her mind couldn’t help but recall the image of him diving into the water and searching around.

She felt an inexplicable dread...

She turned around, lightened her steps, and tiptoed back into the inn.

But what Shu Fu didn’t know was that as she turned and walked back toward the inn, Cheng Yu on the raft ahead slowly turned his head and saw her retreating figure.

**

Shu Fu went back to the second floor and quickly blended in with the other team members.

Awen, noticing she had returned alone, approached her curiously: "Hey? Didn’t you go to find our boss?"

Shu Fu leaned against the corner of the sofa, hugging a cushion and closing her eyes to rest: "I think he needs some alone time..."

Just as she spoke, Cheng Yu came up the nearby stairs.

Awen: ??

During the underground river journey that followed, she only felt that time passed too slowly because Cheng Yu kept sitting diagonally across from her. Every time she slightly opened her eyes, she could see him. And every time she saw him, she would remember the feeling she had when she opened WeChat and saw that message after choosing to ignore him.

—Was it you?

Ahem, yes, it was her.

Even though they were only a door apart, she refused to open it. Even though she saw him repeatedly searching fruitlessly in the cold water, she still chose to turn and leave.

Even though she knew he had been searching for her, staying in that water just to find her, she still refused to reveal herself!

Shu Fu was a bit hesitant. If he actually came over to ask if it was her, should she answer truthfully?

But Cheng Yu never came over, so Shu Fu naturally didn't approach him.

Later, even Han Lan sensed something was off. He first asked Liu Shuang, who was beside him, if she felt that Cheng Yu seemed a bit strange. He's usually quiet, but isn't he even more so today? Could he have known about their secret conversation with Shu Fu and thought they were planning to leave the team?

"He's always advised us not to keep running around outside and to spend more time with our families. Do you think he'd be upset about our plan to leave the team?" Liu Shuang glanced at him. Although they didn't include Cheng Yu in their small meeting, they didn't intentionally try to hide it from him either.

"So what's up with him? With only a few hours left, hasn't he been thinking about her every day? It's rare to have a chance like this to interact, why is he just sitting there, not talking to her?"

"I think you can ask him yourself?"

Han Lan: ...

Han Lan didn't want to stir up trouble with Cheng Yu, so he squeezed next to Shu Fu and asked her.

Shu Fu already had a headache and replied to Han Lan with two words: "Secret," then got up and went to find Lu Zheng, saying a few words to him.

Soon after, the innkeeper announced over the loudspeaker that the raft would soon leave the underground river area and enter the river connected to Zhashui County. At that time, the raft would speed up again, and the guests in the small building should brace for the acceleration. Even if they didn't find a place to sit, they should at least hold onto the walls nearby to stabilize themselves.

"Can it speed up even more?" The team members were all extremely surprised.

100 km/h is already incredibly fast for a watercraft. Speeding up even more? Are they trying to fly on water?

Shu Fu returned to the front of the Drift Island House. After the raft left the underground river area, she activated an acceleration card on the control screen.

She only had two acceleration cards. One was used for 45 minutes yesterday, leaving 75 minutes. The Broken River and the river through Zhashui County total over 300 kilometers. This time, she didn't limit the usage time and used the acceleration card for the entire 300 kilometers.

Zhashui County, originally a 3-hour journey, was reached in just one hour.

The raft automatically deactivated the acceleration card as it neared the destination, then began to slow down, finally mooring steadily by the riverbank.

This wasn't the riverbank where Chen Fa and the others left last night. She found a new spot, further from Zhashui County's residential area, to allow them to land discreetly.

Shu Fu changed the house type to a villa because she needed a larger rear deck. When she came out of the Drift Island House again, the others were busy checking out under the guidance of Lu Zheng and Lu Ce.

Rooms are booked on a 24-hour basis. If they didn't check out, even if the raft returned to the lake, other companions wouldn't be able to check in.

Although the rooms were checked out, the dark brown wristbands remained on their wrists. Since Shu Fu had only used small golden items, even after deducting the room fees, there were still many raft points left.

"Welcome to stay at our inn again next time!" Lu Zheng explained the function of the wristbands to each of them as per Shu Fu's instructions. "...Our inn and the surrounding rafts are under construction. Please keep the wristbands safe. The raft points won't expire and can be used for consumption at our inn and surrounding rafts in the future."

After understanding, the team members were all very happy, not just because they had extra points to use, but because they could come back here again. With its incredible speed and protection, the raft is like a floating seaside hotel!

"Did you all understand? As long as we finish this mission and make it out alive, I will bring everyone back to this raft inn. Next time, it won't be for a mission, but to truly become guests here. We can stay for a week, floating and diving with the raft on the water!" Liu Shuang had almost made up her mind. Even if she would continue to stay with the team and go on missions with other members, at least she could settle her family here first.

There is no truly safe place on land. After this experience, she only hoped that her raft could protect her family.

Han Lan immediately understood Liu Shuang's meaning. He didn't really care. If Liu Shuang decided to move her family onto the water, he could follow and be neighbors.

But—

He glanced at Cheng Yu walking onto the rear deck of Shu Fu's raft. What about him? He wasn't a person with special abilities—at least not yet. And according to Shu Fu, even among those with special abilities, not everyone's raft could be upgraded and taken to the water.

So, the chances were too slim...

Shu Fu first released their weapons and equipment on the rear deck, then their military vehicles: off-road vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks...

Each time a vehicle was released, the team member who drove it would step forward to inspect it. After the inspection, they would load a certain amount of weapons and equipment, then start the vehicle and drive off the raft, waiting on the shore nearby.

Each vehicle equipped with weapons and gear carries two soldiers, while the others have one person per vehicle.

Outside the raft, heavy rain poured down and thunderstorms roared, making it a completely different world from the one on the raft.

In such an environment, everyone's expressions changed instantly, snapping back to alertness. These individuals were all elites, leaders of small teams, selected because the number of people who could be transferred in was limited.

They all knew how crucial and challenging this mission was.

Though they had been eagerly anticipating a vacation at the raft hotel, they knew this wish might not come true.

This was war; ahead of them lay a world filled with gunfire and bloodshed, a cruel world where human life would become incredibly insignificant, and life and death would no longer be within their control.

This was their first time as guests at the raft hotel, but it might very well be their final visit.