Free Web NovelChapter 2466: Chapter 2467: Safe?
Upon learning that someone was coming to the rescue, and that even a Divine Beast was stepping in, the person in charge of Hot Springs Town joyfully brought people to welcome Feng Yuan’s group. The reason they weren’t worried about Veronia lying was related to her identity as a Divine Beast.
For Divine Beasts, resolving matters doesn’t require them to weave lies laboriously.
This is why, at times like these, they trust the Divine Beasts greatly. After all, this is a war between worlds, and even hostile Divine Beasts wouldn’t dare stir trouble now, risking universal condemnation.
When meeting Feng Yuan, the middle-aged man curiously sized up the Spirit Beasts around him. He couldn’t recognize many besides the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound and Big Cat.
Neither Xiao Ji nor Long Boduo nor Tamur belonged to conventional Spirit Beasts; even Najia on Yang Hongzhi’s shoulder was the same. Particularly, upon learning from Feng Yuan that they had four Divine Beasts capable of combat, he was even more overjoyed.
"Hmm, I think you might consider returning to the surface. After all, the survivors in the Data Domain should have started rebuilding in the city by now."
On the road, Feng Yuan couldn’t help but speak. Mainly, he wasn’t sure about the situation underground, but regardless, he didn’t think staying underground was a good choice.
They couldn’t possibly remain here, and underground, it was hard to say whether The Imperial Timeline might forcibly invade using temporal manipulation; that ability is a bit unfair.
Using temporal manipulation, they can break into any location without restrictions at any time. Perhaps only Data Cities can avoid this method; Data Cities are special areas created based on real-world cities as anchors.
The source of temporal manipulation’s ability to ignore defenses and easily breach grounds lies in the correspondence of spatial coordinates. Given the similar world environment, temporal manipulation leads directly to the corresponding spatial coordinates, where restrictions on their entry don’t naturally exist in the original timeline, or even if they do, they can overcome them.
Data Cities are different. The special aspect of the Data Domain is that its internal space freely transforms based on needs, rendering the coordinate correspondence in temporal manipulation meaningless within the Data Domain.
Because no one knows when the coordinates will change to which location, using coordinates to jump will only lead one to strange places.
In preventing temporal manipulation, Data Cities seem to have a unique advantage. However, Feng Yuan was very aware that Baiman City might not have the conditions to utilize Data Cities.
After all, not every city has obtained extensive data on Data Cities like Maomu City and conducted various experiments.
Poor mastery of Data Cities is one reason they can’t use them to fend off attacks. An unfamiliar defense system can easily have loopholes, but under the current circumstances, Feng Yuan felt they should follow Maomu City’s example and place ordinary people in Data Cities.
Even if the living conditions might not be as good, at least the people are alive, right?
On the road, Feng Yuan also inquired about the number of survivors. The good news was that most of the missing people were there, with roughly a third of Baiman City’s resident population present, which was slightly less than the initially rough estimate of about half. But adding the quarter of survivors from the Data Domain, at least more than half of the people survived.
Given Baiman City’s current situation, this is already considered great news.
Nonetheless, Qi Chen and his team remained downcast because nearly half the population perished in the attack, which dampened their joy in encountering survivors and even left a bit of regret for not preserving the remaining half entirely.
Feng Yuan didn’t offer any explanations for this; the whereabouts of the remaining missing people weren’t necessarily deceased. Feng Yuan believed they wouldn’t bother moving corpses, implying those missing might still be alive, but perhaps only might.
The biggest issue for these people now is whether to remain underground, knowing that it’s not particularly safe here.
"Return to the surface? But what if they attack again?"
The person in charge of Hot Springs Town pondered Feng Yuan’s suggestion. He had considered it many times, knowing the issues underground, but compared to the surface, underground was relatively safer for now.
This time was pure luck; he couldn’t guarantee saving as many people if it happened again.
"Hmm, we’ll temporarily stay here. During this time, you can learn from Maomu City and use the Data City. That place is somewhat qualified for protecting ordinary people. Although it’s not ideal for running away, if faced with a similar situation to this one, it doesn’t really make a difference."
Feng Yuan touched his chin as he spoke. Data Cities naturally have shortcomings. Unlike the freely roaming Data Domain, the innate restrictive and sealing abilities of Data Cities both protect them from sneak attacks and restrict them from escaping in separate directions if infiltrated.
It’s not entirely impossible to run, but it requires someone with permission inside the Data City to lift restrictions, allowing them to freely exit the Data City and leave the Data Domain.
As for the gate to enter and exit the Data Domain?
That’s impossible. Besides Maomu City, other places don’t have many Cast Cubes. Moreover, due to previous caution, they never established a gate to the Data Domain, relying entirely on Data-based Spirit Beasts for access.
Even now, they’re using relatively strong Data-based Spirit Beasts to open temporary channels for entry and exit.
They naturally don’t have the traversal ability of Maomu City’s permanent channels, making it difficult for opponents to use them to launch surprise attacks.
In any case, if it comes to fleeing chaotically from the Data City, fixed channels aren’t useful since they would likely fall into enemy hands.
On the road, Feng Yuan briefly explained Maomu City’s use of Data Cities and even let Qi Chen and his team share their experience since Feng Yuan hadn’t lived in a Data City. Qi Chen and his team had, and they knew the discomforts ordinary people might face there.
Through Feng Yuan’s group’s explanation, the person in charge of Hot Springs Town felt it might be an option, but he couldn’t make that decision.
Although a Special Duty Team member temporarily leads the Data Domain survivors, it doesn’t mean the official management of Baiman City is completely absent. The situation was chaotic at the time, and even the group staying underground was in a state of panic, which is why the person in charge of Hot Springs Town temporarily led the underground survivors.
Now, knowing that the rescue team has arrived and the attackers have been repelled, he can relinquish this burden.
As for whether to relocate to the Data City, that’s not up to him. Someone else would decide that.
Initially, Feng Yuan thought they were building massive fortifications underground, but upon arrival, he realized it was quite different.
The survivors were scattered in underground caverns that weren’t particularly spacious, generally accommodating a few hundred people each.
However, the number of caverns was large, and their scattered residence managed to house many people, though not without risks. People are too dispersed; if something unexpected occurred, the Beastmasters responsible for safety couldn’t respond timely.
Feng Yuan didn’t understand why they hadn’t transformed these underground caverns or what this natural underground system was.
He wouldn’t believe they purposely kept it that way. Human modifications would make the caverns less covert but would allow for defensive setups.
Now, these natural underground caverns provide merely a shelter, and it’s hard to say whether they ensure safety. Feng Yuan suspected the Imperial People left after their initial attack; otherwise, they couldn’t have escaped pursuit.
Indeed, the reason these people survived was entirely due to the Flesh Giant Mountain not being adept at burrowing underground, or rather, this area was outside its sensory range; the enemy wasn’t aware, so didn’t attack here, allowing them to survive by luck.
"Strange, this environment, could it be..."
Looking at the person in charge of Hot Springs Town, Feng Yuan had a thought.
