DF Chapter 59
by VolareChapter 59 “I’ve always wanted to ask, do you think it looks good?”
The group acted as soon as they spoke, quickly heading from the edge of the island towards the nearest supply points.
As Sheng Jia and the others had anticipated, the supplies within the several supply points were ridiculously scarce. They had marked a total of eight supply points on their map, and just to fill their own needs for a day and a night, the three of them had visited nearly six points. After confirming that Dong Zhen and her group hadn’t been in this area, they destroyed the remaining two supply points.
This time, they were a step ahead of Dong Zhen and her team. Zhou Qing likely had fewer supply points than Tawana. The supplies in the eight points they had visited were identical, so the remaining unknown points were probably the same. Based on their calculations, the remaining supplies definitely wouldn’t be enough to feed three people for a day and a night.
The three glanced at the time; it was already midnight, 4:00 AM.
After replenishing their energy with some rations, Sheng Jia pointed to the volcano area on her map.
“It’ll take at least three hours to get there,” Sheng Jia was wearing fingerless gloves and had a gas mask strapped to her waist. They had found seven sets of these around the supply points, all in this area.
Of course, Dong Zhen’s team’s equipment hadn’t been destroyed, but Sheng Jia and the others had still tampered with it. Except for the set in the nearest supply point, the rest were scattered around the remaining supply points, requiring some effort to find.
This was a calculated move to buy them time.
“Three hours, that’s too long,” Meng Yeran grumbled, checking her boots. “Just because Aunt Selena was a Girl Scout, does she think we’re all special forces?”
“She’s putting her younger self’s gear on us. The tropical rainforest climate is hard to endure, even in winter.”
This was why they needed to be fully armed.
The further in they went, the closer the environment resembled the island’s original ecosystem. The cold winter couldn’t affect the area within the Tropic of Cancer, and the mosquitoes on the island were enough to fill a whole pot.
But complaining was one thing; they still had to move.
Even if it meant crossing mountains, they had to go that way.
Selena had long developed many viewing platforms on the central volcano, even building stairs down to about ten meters inside the crater, costing an unknown amount of manpower and resources. Unfortunately, these internal viewing platforms were now closed based on the advice of the experts she had hired.
Fortunately, in addition to clothing, the supply points had provided each of them with a trekking pole, preventing the three-hour journey from becoming even longer.
They walked in silence, stepping over and leaving behind jagged, large stones on the ground. Even though the dense forest overhead blocked the view, it couldn’t hide the tiny, sparkling stars between the leaves.
Without any equipment, all they had to do was look up to see the vast starry sky.
Perhaps winter had some use after all; at least they wouldn’t overheat in their stuffy gear.
Song Ji’an stepped on a stone, the cleats on her boots creating a slightly grating sound as they scraped against it. She looked up at Sheng Jia, who was walking ahead, knowing that she should conserve her energy, but couldn’t help humming a slightly out-of-tune melody.
No one interrupted her.
The long road was boring, and even such a small interlude didn’t stop Sheng Jia and Meng Yeran from being willing to support her and become her loyal listeners.
“After so many years, you’re still a bit off-key when you sing,” after a long while, Meng Yeran couldn’t help but tease. “But your abundant emotion makes up for it.”
“So what?” Song Ji’an wasn’t angry; she said with a smile, “As long as I’m happy singing. You’re really getting a bargain and still complaining. It’s good enough that you get to listen.”
“Sheng Jia, I remember the first time I met you in high school, you really didn’t pay me any attention,” Meng Yeran, seeing that she couldn’t get the better of Song Ji’an, teased Sheng Jia instead. “How come your personality reversed in senior year, and you’re treating Song Ji’an differently?”
“I haven’t changed,” Sheng Jia said slowly, her head down as she walked forward. “But Song Ji’an is indeed special.”
Song Ji’an paused slightly upon hearing this and pressed, “How am I special?”
“Your energy is stronger than anyone else’s,” Sheng Jia said only this.
Or perhaps it should be said that Song Ji’an basically didn’t bring negative energy to anyone. Being friends with her meant never having to bear the other person’s negative emotions, allowing one to frankly be a receiver, feeling valued and respected by her. As for whether her regard was sincere or out of politeness, that simply wasn’t important, because ordinary people couldn’t tell the difference.
Few people could resist such a Song Ji’an, including Sheng Jia at this moment.
Song Ji’an clearly understood her meaning, lightly curving her lips, barely managing to keep her smugness from showing on her face.
“Tsk,” Meng Yeran clicked her tongue. “If you were willing to communicate with me, you might see that I’m also like that.”
Sheng Jia’s silence was her response.
Meng Yeran picked up her trekking pole and tapped it on the ground with some amusement, complaining, “If you don’t say anything at a time like this, it makes me look very awkward.”
“You’re not,” Sheng Jia turned to face her, the jungle behind them almost completely gone, the exposed rocky ground covered with sparse grass. The starry sky that had accompanied them all the way finally revealed its full glory.
“You’re just interested, you think I’m unique, the situation is difficult, and I’m stubborn, so you just want to play with me,” Sheng Jia’s words were unadorned and devoid of emotion. She bluntly replied, “Whether it’s seeing me being bothered by others, or encountering other problems, you don’t care. You even enjoy watching me struggle from the top of the building.”
“I’ve always wanted to ask, do you think it looks good?”
This was the first time Meng Yeran had directly faced Sheng Jia’s sharp eyes, but there wasn’t the slightest embarrassment at being exposed in her eyes. She could even smile slightly and answer, “I think it looks very good.”
“You also possess a strong vitality, so my interest in you has never disappeared from beginning to end.”
The three had completely reached the exposed rocks.
Song Ji’an probably hadn’t expected Sheng Jia and Meng Yeran to have had such interactions in the past.
She knew very well that Meng Yeran’s nature wasn’t that of a kind person. It could even be said that her aggressiveness and invasiveness were ridiculously strong, all hidden beneath her lazy exterior.
Probably because she had been cultivated as an heir since she was young. Grandma Meng wasn’t as tolerant a parent as Song Ningqiu; she was very strict with Meng Yeran. The result was that Meng Yeran wanted to do everything perfectly, but it was far from enough.
She was rarely praised; most of the time, she was subjected to comparative, suppressive education.
Just as she had once been compared to Song Ji’an.
And her earlier disputes with Dong Zhen were also because she had acted inappropriately at a banquet and was forced to apologize to her.
The Meng family rarely cared about Meng Yeran’s psychology; they only needed a qualified heir.
Meng Yeran’s personality was actually quite strange. In Song Ji’an’s words, she probably had a presentable appearance on the surface, but no one really knew what she was like behind the scenes.
So, although they had known each other for a long time, Song Ji’an and she didn’t hang out in the same circles. She didn’t show much enthusiasm when they met at the beginning of the semester until Meng Yeran made it clear, and then she started socializing with her.
But this didn’t stop her from analyzing the problem with her keen intuition the moment Sheng Jia revealed their interactions.
This wasn’t Meng Yeran’s normal friendship but her high-and-mighty condescension, watching Sheng Jia struggle and deriving pleasure from the observation.
“Meng Yeran,” she said seriously, standing in front of Sheng Jia, “If you want to go crazy now, I don’t mind ending the game for you early.”
“Why so serious all of a sudden?” Meng Yeran glanced at her and patted her shoulder. “Did you think Sheng Jia didn’t get her revenge later?”
“What good would it do me to go crazy and fight two people at once? The reason I dared to say that is because I was prepared for Sheng Jia’s straightforward language. If she can say it, can’t I retort? She herself doesn’t care.”
Song Ji’an was slightly stunned.
She had really been with Sheng Jia for too long and had forgotten how much of a grudge-holder she was.
Sheng Jia was accustomed to settling things, both good and bad.
Sheng Jia calmly nodded at her, acknowledging Meng Yeran’s statement.
She didn’t care what Meng Yeran said because she hadn’t suffered any losses. At least in the past, anyone who looked down on her would pay the price.
Meng Yeran was no exception.
The tense atmosphere eased a little. They continued to walk, one foot in front of the other. Song Ji’an asked curiously, “How did you get your revenge on her?”
Sheng Jia, holding her gun, chuckled briefly. “It’s a secret.”
Since she didn’t say, Song Ji’an didn’t press. She lightly hummed a little tune again. The three of them didn’t exchange any more words, whether to conserve their energy or to take some time to digest the small interlude that had just happened.
The exposed ground was as desolate as the surface of Mars. The closer they got to the dormant volcano, the faster the temperature dropped, and the fewer plants there were around.
Calculating the time, more than two hours had passed.
From 4:00 AM to 6:40 AM, even with the most abundant supplies, fatigue was already showing on their faces.
The towering central volcano finally gradually revealed its true face at this moment. Above the crater, the sky was already showing a hint of dawn.
This night was about to pass.
The sunrise came quickly, like a fiery red blaze bursting forth from the crater. The sunlight that scattered down was its lava, carrying a bit of scorching heat and transmitting warmth to their cold limbs.
Having hiked so far, the three simply lay down on the ground to rest, quietly waiting for the sunrise.
They put on their masks to protect their eyes from the glare.
Sheng Jia blinked, feeling sweat running into her eyes, but she was too lazy to wipe it away.
This time, the physical exertion was greater than she had expected. But on the bright side, Dong Zhen and her team might have expended even more energy, but with fewer supplies.
“How much further?” Meng Yeran asked in a hoarse voice.
She no longer had the mood to joke around as she had an hour ago. She spoke with a bit of listlessness. “I’m too tired.”
“The destination is half an hour away,” Sheng Jia squinted at the road ahead. Beyond this point, it wasn’t exposed ground but blackish-gray sand, with lava-eroded rocks beneath the sand. Neither was easy to walk on.
And after they arrived, they would only have two choices: either go in to search for important clues or stay in place to ambush Dong Zhen and her team, striving to eliminate them all from the game.
Based on their pace, they had at least two hours to search inside, but if they didn’t find the important clues Selena had hidden inside on time, it would basically be a complete loss.
So the three decided to stick to their original plan, giving up on entering the mountain and ambushing Dong Zhen and her team on the way in.
At that time, Dong Zhen and her team would have no choice but to engage in a three-on-three head-to-head confrontation, and they would be facing three opponents who had already had their fill.