Gu Rong Village was a settlement built by the river. It used to have a population of about one thousand. The squat houses and newly built bungalows were all occupied by villagers. The quaint tourist guesthouses had visitors as well. There were old people sitting under the banyan tree, children and dogs running along the riverbank.
But now, there was only silence, an eerie silence.
There was no sign of the villagers. The dogs and cats were nowhere to be seen. Even the vigilant rats were nowhere to be seen.
However, there were more patrols from Phecda's Action Department in the village. There were many new watchtowers, and there were people standing guard on them.
The dark sky appeared to be brewing a thunderstorm. Gusts of chilling mountain breeze caressed the wobbling electric poles by the roadside.
Gu Jun kept looking at the scenery outside through the window. The convoy passed by a grand and luxurious government building. It was also dilapidated. That was also the address of the Gu Rong Village's Cultural and Tourism Area Management Committee. He had once called there.
"This Gu Rong Village is one of the outbreak points of the Malformed Banyan Disease," Uncle Dan told him, "Whether it is the source or not is unknown, but this place is the earliest outbreak."
"Hmm …" Gu Jun was silent. If it was now, the villagers would have been saved by the Medical Department.
There was still some distance from the big banyan tree when the convoy stopped at an empty field by the river. There were some prefabricated barracks here, and they were connected to the surrounding villager's houses. It had become a command center. Some Phecda members were busy moving about.
After the Demon Hunters and Gu Jun got out of the car, they met up with the members of the Abnormal Energy Investigation Unit.
Gu Jun stood to the side and watched. The big banyan tree before him was different from the one in the promotional photos. It was no longer green and vibrant. The twisted branches and withered leaves were a withered grayish-black color. It looked like it had died a long time ago.
He noticed that there was a large hole at the bottom of the main trunk of the banyan tree. It was dark inside, but there was a hint of light.
"Uncle Dan, is the banyan tree contagious?" Gu Jun looked at the banyan tree, and a chill ran down his spine. One of the methods of transmission of the Malformed Banyan Disease was direct contact with diseased trees, but how the entire village was infected was a mystery.
"Yes, but temporarily, we cannot burn it. Let Captain Xue explain it to you first." Uncle Dan liked to keep people guessing, and that was not something Gu Jun liked.
After a while, Xue Ba, who had finished talking to the Investigation Department, walked over. "Ah Jun, do you know about the hand cave at the Pinturas River?"
Gu Jun seemed to have an impression of it, but he couldn't put a finger on it. "I don't know …"
"Simply put, it's a mural in a cave in a narrow valley in Argentina. It was drawn by ancient humans, and the most famous ones are the dense handprints." Xue Ba spoke slowly, like a teacher giving a lecture. However, his Soul Douluo physique and his scholarly demeanor did not match.
When he saw Gu Jun frown slightly, Xue Ba instantly became anxious. "It's true, I'm telling the truth! You can check if you don't believe me. "
Uncle Dan winked at Gu Jun, hinting at him to calm down. The man cared about his scholarly image more than anything else.
"I believe you. I've heard of it before." Gu Jun nodded. "What's the connection?"
"Take a look at that banyan tree." Xue Ba passed a pair of military binoculars to Gu Jun. "It's right next to the rotting tree hole."
Gu Jun accepted the binoculars and aimed them at the tree hole. This time, he could see clearly. Around the tree hole, there were messy handprints on the rotting bark. They appeared to be natural patterns on the bark, and they appeared to be the signs of a struggle … Gu Jun's heart jumped.
His heart skipped a beat. "Are those the villagers' handprints?"
"No, the Investigation Department has done a comparison of the samples. There are sixteen handprints, but none of them match." Xue Ba paused, and a trace of confusion appeared on his face. "Sixteen different handprints, sixteen people. That is the current maximum capacity of the banyan tree hole."
"The banyan tree hole?" Gu Jun was startled. 'Is he referring to that tree hole? No matter how hard I try, it will not fit sixteen people. '
"There is an abnormal space inside," Xue Ba said directly. He turned to look for a member. "The people at the Scientific Research Department are going crazy. Lin Mo, come over here and explain!"
Lin Mo was one of the researchers in the team. He was in his thirties, had a center parting hairstyle, and wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He had a gentle demeanor, and he looked like a scholar. Now that he was called, he did not come over. Instead, he gave the leader the middle finger without hesitation.
"Hahaha." Xue Ba was enjoying himself. Then he turned to explain to Gu Jun, "Even Einstein would not be able to explain it to you. You know about wormholes, right? Wormholes can twist time and space. There is a theory that one can travel through a wormhole to another place. That banyan tree hole is like a wormhole, and there is another space inside it. "
Xue Ba's tone was light as if he was talking about the yard behind his house.
It was as if he did not realize what kind of impact his words and this incident would have on the world.
It would make countless scientists ecstatic, but it would also break them.
'Wormhole?' Gu Jun looked at the immeasurably deep banyan tree hole, and his heart raced.
"I've told you." Uncle Dan guffawed. This was not something that Grade G personnel had the authority to know, and it was because of Gu Jun's special status.
So, Gu Jun listened to their detailed explanation.
After the plague at Gu Rong Village was discovered and contained, the Investigation Department immediately discovered this shocking situation. The area within three meters of the banyan tree had become a strange zone. The magnetic field and gravity field were all messed up.
Therefore, the Investigation Department, Scientific Research Department, Action Department, and many other departments joined forces to form a 'Gu Rong Village Emergency Team' and called in the Demon Hunters for backup.
Xue Ba used his phone to play some videos for Gu Jun.
Initially, the emergency team used remote-controlled robots and drones to explore the banyan tree hole, but once they entered, the signal was cut off. Later, they found out that the signal from the outside could not enter the abnormal space, but it could be transmitted from the inside. However, due to the severe attenuation, it could only be received by the command central.
Then came the experimental animals, but they lost control after entering and died of starvation a few days later — the signal from the calorimeter and the people who entered later confirmed this.
"The animals were wearing cameras and recording devices, but the pictures and videos taken inside and transmitted out were all like this …"
Xue Ba showed Gu Jun some more pictures and videos. They were all blurry and distorted beyond description. "The researchers tried their best to recover it, but it didn't work."
One week ago, the emergency team tried to send a living person in for the first time, and it was the Demon Hunters who took the risk.
Initially, there were still some members from the Action Department, but only one more person could enter. It was then that the 'capacity' of the banyan tree hole was discovered.
"After we entered, we discovered …" Xue Ba recalled the strange scenes. "Inside there."
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