People are in Star Iron; who says they're just NPCs?

[Hiluva]: Friends, my sister Lingke and Pella, the intelligence officer of the Silver Case Iron Guard, have gone missing while exploring the snowfield. I beg you all if you have any way to save them!

[March 7th]: Your sister? How long have they been missing?

[Hiluva]: They went out in the latest snowmobiles. Linke has a tracking device I specially prepared for her, but today...

The location device lost signal this morning, and she didn't reply to my messages!

[Himeko]: Could it be that they've gone too far and exceeded the communication range?

[Silva]: When the signal disappeared, they were about a thousand kilometers away from Beloborg. This was within the signal coverage area. Lingke and Pera acted cautiously and would not easily go beyond the communication range.

Although Belleburg's technology is relatively outdated, its communication technology is actually quite good, and its signal coverage currently extends to a radius of about 2,000 kilometers around Belleburg.

Furthermore, Himeko provided them with advanced communication satellite technology, which would further expand their communication range once the satellite was launched. Returning to the matter at hand, a thousand kilometers is definitely within signal coverage; if the signal suddenly disappeared and people couldn't be contacted, then something must have happened.

accident!

[Himeko]: It's urgent, let's meet at the machine shop for a face-to-face discussion!

At the Mechanical House, Himeko, March 7th, and Firefly have arrived. Hilva is trying to contact Reiko repeatedly, but has not received a response. Her brother, Jepard, has already led the Silver Guards on a search and rescue mission. Hilva has not yet set off because she wants to seek help from the Starry Sky Train.

The Star Train possesses far more advanced technology than Bellenberg, so perhaps they can find a way to locate Ling Ke and the others. Lin Li also teleported to the Mechanical House and listened to Hilva's explanation of the current situation.

It turns out that Lingke and Pera set off a few days ago to explore the snowfield in depth. This time, they planned to explore a location about a thousand kilometers away in detail and draw maps.

This location is quite deep; no other Belobergian has reached such a depth before. They are paving the way for future large-scale exploration and development.

Lingke and Pera are both highly experienced snowfield exploration experts, which is why they were given the only state-of-the-art snowmobile to carry out this mission.

Everything was going smoothly until this morning when the location signal suddenly disappeared and the two of them vanished as if they had evaporated into thin air!

Snowmobiles cannot be mass-produced yet, so the Silvermane Iron Guards cannot quickly reach the location where the signal disappeared to investigate the situation. Rescue is a race against time, the faster the better! That's why Hilva thought of asking the Star Train for help.

The train crew certainly wouldn't refuse such a request. March 7th and Firefly Princess immediately piloted the train crew's small flying vehicle and set off with Hilva.

Lin Li didn't rush to go. The number of people the aircraft could carry was limited. Although he had a lot of fancy skills, he didn't really have any suitable ones for finding people. Going there wouldn't be of much help.

Moreover, when he really needs to take action, he can simply teleport there.

However, Lin Li's indifferent attitude still caught Ji Zi's attention. Lin Li had been acting mysteriously and rarely appeared these days, and Ji Zi had been secretly observing him for a long time.

However, saving lives was the priority, so Himeko kept it in mind and would definitely not cause trouble at this time.

The train crew's aircraft performance was naturally excellent, and the group landed in the area where Lingke and the others lost their signal in about an hour.

"Look, there's a snowdrift over there that looks a bit odd!" As soon as everyone stepped out of the cabin, the sharp-eyed March 7th spotted an unnatural-looking snowdrift on Bai Fanfan's snow.

"Let's go! Let's go check it out!"

When everyone arrived at the snowdrift, they could vaguely make out that it was a car. Hiluva brushed away the snow and confirmed, "It's Lingke and the others' car!"

Chapter 227 Lingke and Pera's Dilemma

The car was found, but the person was nowhere to be seen. The area was all white and didn't look like a place where someone could hide.

The train crew and Silva split up to search in various places, but found no clues. After a fruitless search, they met up again in front of the snowmobile.

"Has anyone found anything?" Hiluva was extremely anxious, after all, the missing person was her precious younger sister.

“Liu Ying and I searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but we couldn’t find any trace of them leaving. There were only some traces in the direction of Belloborg, which must have been left by them when they came,” March 7th spoke first.

"Didn't you find any trace of them leaving? But there was just a blizzard here, and many traces are covered by ice and snow." Hiluva's expression was somewhat gloomy.

"Hmm... something's not right. I just checked the supplies in the snowmobile and found that the food and heating materials were still there, as were the backpacks containing the supplies, but the tent and sleeping bag are missing."

This shows that they did not leave the camp on their own, nor were they kidnapped or attacked.

“That makes sense. If it was an attack by bad guys, they would have taken away important supplies like food and earth marrow, instead of just heavy and useless tents and sleeping bags.”

March 7th nodded repeatedly, scratched his head, and muttered to himself, "But under what circumstances would only a person, a tent, and a sleeping bag disappear together?"

“A secret realm!” Himeko sighed. “Desire? What is that?”

"They are small, secret realms attached to the main world. They may be naturally formed or they may have appeared due to the influence of the rifting."

Himeko took out a strange instrument and said, "I just tested it. The spatial stability here is relatively poor, and the rift reaction is quite strong. It should have been a highly rifted location before."

After the star core was sealed, the rift disappeared, and this place may have formed a secret realm.

Lingke and Pera must have camped here last night, but they were accidentally swept into the secret realm along with their tent. This explains why the people, tent, and sleeping bag disappeared together, while everything else remained.

"Then...can they still be saved?" When Shiluwa heard that her sister was likely caught in the secret realm, her heart sank.

"If I can pinpoint the location and entrance of the space, I do have a way to open the entrance and bring them back."

However, the entrances to these hidden realms are not fixed; they wander within a certain area. We need to expand our search area and hurry. They definitely don't have many survival supplies in their tents; they can't last long!

Himeko didn't say it was a sure thing, but how could Hiluwa not understand that the chances of rescue were slim? What was the difference between searching for a spatial entrance that was invisible to the naked eye in the vast world and looking for a needle in a haystack?

But she didn't give up easily; she was determined to find her sister no matter what!

So everyone took the instruments given to them by Himeko and began to disperse and probe the surrounding space. However, there were only two instruments that could probe space, which limited the efficiency of the search.

Lin Li had been following the rescue progress in the NPC world through [Perspective Sharing], and after hearing Himeko's assessment, he also decided to join the search and rescue team.

In the script he knew, Lingke and Pera were not supposed to venture deep into the snowfield to explore, nor would they encounter such danger; at most, they would only run into a few escaped Rift Monsters.

The current unexpected situation is actually a butterfly effect caused by Lin Li's appearance.

Without his persuasion to get the train crew to stay and provide support, Bellberg wouldn't have been able to launch such a large-scale exploration and development so quickly, and Pera and Ling would not have been able to venture so deep into the snowfield.

Therefore, Lin Li was also a little worried that this butterfly effect might actually cost them both their lives.

However, he first went to the Black Tower Space Station. Himeko had too few space-detecting devices, so he planned to ask the Black Tower for help. With the genius Black Tower involved, finding a wandering secret space shouldn't be difficult.

However, Black Tower's recent project simulating the universe has reached a critical stage, and he is simply unable to leave his post. He can only provide Lin Li with some equipment for exploring space.

Forcibly interrupting Black Tower's research to have her help caused enough resource loss to buy several Arilo-VIs. Moreover, the simulated universe project involved more than just Black Tower as a genius, harming everyone's interests.

Lin Li would never be so selfish, so having her equipment support is already very good.

He used [Reality Mapping] to replicate these devices into the NPC world, and then brought them from the NPC world into the real world's Arilo-VI to search together with everyone.

Himeko was curious about how the elusive Lin Li had managed to obtain technical equipment assistance from the Black Tower, but ultimately it was a good thing, and she didn't...

To inquire about it.

However, this aimless search did not go smoothly, and nothing was found until nightfall. Lin Li had to find an excuse to leave after four hours.

The biggest concern right now is how long Lingke and Pera's supplies will last.

Back in the NPC world, Lin Li was also thinking about whether he could use the rules of the NPC world to find a solution.

Unfortunately, both Pera and Linco are still unbonded, so he can't help them even if he wants to. If only one of them could enter the NPC world right now.

Just as Lin Li was thinking this, his phone suddenly vibrated—a notification that a new user had entered the NPC world! Could it be such a coincidence?!

Pera and Ling were very grateful. Yesterday, they camped on a wide, flat snowfield, using their snowmobile to block the cold wind, and then pitched their tents next to the snowmobile. They each slept comfortably in their sleeping bags.

But who would have thought that when they woke up in the morning and opened the tent, the snowmobile and their supplies were gone!

They were left with only two sleeping bags and a small geothermal heater, the remaining geothermal energy of which would only last them a day at most. Their food was also gone; they only had a small amount of emergency compressed biscuits with them, which, if eaten sparingly, might last them two or three days.

Both of them were saddened by this sudden turn of events. They quickly packed up and tried to find the snowmobile, but all they could see was a patch of white snow, and the terrain didn't look like where they had camped the night before.

At this point, Pera and Lin Ke both vaguely realized that it wasn't the car that was stolen, but rather they themselves were missing. The best proof was that neither of them could contact Belloberg!

The two dared not delay in their search for a way out, and dared not stray too far from their tent. They searched all day until nightfall without any success.

Exhausted and starving, the two girls had no choice but to return to the tent, where they ate a little bit of compressed biscuits to fill their stomachs and hid inside the tent to keep warm with the ground heater.

The remaining earth marrow is only enough for tonight. If we still can't find a way out by tomorrow...

The two drifted off to sleep amidst the cold wind and exhaustion, then Pera opened her eyes as if startled from a dream.

Two chapters released in quick succession! Thank you to Merson, Ziyue, llyina, Qu Linghong, and E-era for your monthly tickets and virtual gifts!

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Chapter 228 Pera is in, what will Ling do?

"This is...Belloburg?!" Pera was stunned when she opened her eyes.

What greets the eye is not a snowfield with howling winds stretching to the horizon, nor a tent in the dim light of a cold storm, but one's own warm and comfortable home!

Am I having a hallucination before I die, or am I dreaming?

Pera got up from her desk and walked to the warm fireplace, where the fire was burning brightly and the crackling sound of the burning wood sounded so pleasant.

She instinctively pinched her hand and hissed! It hurt, it wasn't a dream!

But weren't Lingke and I trapped in this strange snowfield? How did we end up back in Beloborg after just one night's sleep? Where's Lingke?!

Pera felt a pang of regret, but more than that, she was worried about her good friend.

Before they drifted off to sleep, Pera and Lin already knew they had little chance of survival. Losing food and heat in the freezing cold of sub-zero temperatures was a potentially fatal mistake!

Their remaining earth marrow would only last until tomorrow morning. Once it ran out, they would quickly die of hypothermia without a heat source. Actually, it was better that they were asleep; they could have a good sleep before they died, and then die naturally after the earth marrow was used up, without any pain or fear.

You won't feel it.

But Pera never expected that when she opened her eyes again, she would be back in Belleburg! Who saved me?

What happened to Ling Ke?!

First, you're not dreaming; this really is Belleburg, and you're saved. Second, you and Lingke are not out of danger yet. Just as Pera was sorting through her memories to try and understand the situation, a gentle male voice sounded behind her.

Pera turned around abruptly. How could there be anyone else in her house?! "You...you are Mr. Lin Li?!"

As an intelligence officer for the Silvermane Iron Guard, Pera had met Lin Li several times and knew a great deal about this great hero who saved Belloberg.

Because the train crew kept a low profile, the general public didn't know much about these heroes. They knew that such a group of people existed, but they knew very little about the specifics.

As an intelligence officer, Pera was naturally different from ordinary citizens. She had even had a brief exchange with Lin Li, so they could be considered acquaintances. Because she knew a lot of intelligence and information, she had a very good impression of Lin Li.

After all, Lin Li was the one who truly saved Bellberg. He was not only powerful but also had excellent looks. He was young, promising, and low-key, making him the perfect dream lover for young girls.

Every young girl dreams of love. Pera is a serious and capable intelligence officer, but she is also a pure young girl with feelings, so it's normal for her to have feelings for Lin Li.

Of course, this kind of vague affection is not enough to be called love. It needs more contact and communication between the two people to nourish it before the seed of love can take root and sprout.

In short, seeing a boy she already knew and who she had a vague feeling of affection for in this situation dispelled much of the confusion and unease in Pera's heart.

“Miss Pera, it’s a pleasure to see you under these circumstances!” Lin Li’s warm smile seemed to have a calming power that made her feel much more at ease.

"It really is Mr. Lin Li. I should be the one who is happy! May I ask what the situation is now? Why do you say that I am saved but Ling Ke and I are still not out of danger? Where is Ling Ke?"

Seeing the great hero who saved Bellenberg appear, it would be strange not to feel uneasy, but Pera still had many questions in her mind.

"Hmm... I know you have a lot of questions. Before I answer your questions, answer me first: how were you and Ling Ke before you fell asleep? Lin Li is most concerned about how the two of them are doing now."

"The situation is not good. We have enough food for two days, but the Earth Essence will only last until tomorrow morning before it runs out."

"So you mean it's safe for tonight?" "Yes, we can only hold out for one more night."

"That's alright, it's not the worst yet, we still have one night." Lin Li breathed a sigh of relief, as long as even one person could come to the NPC.

He has a way to stall the world. It's just that this method...

"Let me tell you what's going on. Last night, when we were camping in the snowfield..."

Lin Li first told Pella about Ji Zi's previous deductions. Based on what Pella and Ling Ke had seen and heard, it was basically confirmed that the two of them were trapped in a secret space.

"We are already searching for the entrance and exit of the secret realm as quickly as possible, but this can't be rushed. It's not something you can find just by looking. The problem right now is that you don't have enough supplies to continue."

Actually, Pera is alright. She can enter the NPC world through dreams, and her physical condition in the NPC world can be synchronously reflected in the real world.

She has enough to eat and wear here, so she won't go hungry or cold in the real world.

This is why Lin Li said that Pera had been saved; entering the NPC world was equivalent to being saved.

But only Pera was saved; Linko still had to suffer hunger and cold in the real world. Pera could give her the food that was originally hers, but heat sources couldn't be given away; if they weren't there, they weren't there.

Lin Li spent some time explaining to her the NPC world she was in and some of its basic operating rules.

Time was of the essence, so he spoke quickly, but Pella, who was skilled at collecting and analyzing intelligence, quickly discovered the key to the problem: what about Lingke's supplies?

The only way is to let Ling Ke enter the NPC world now, but the arrival of new people in the NPC world is completely random, and Lin Li has no way to directly bring in new people.

Oh, there's another way. If you raise half a degree to one hundred points in the real world, the member will automatically gain the qualification to enter the NPC world.

This approach is clearly impractical at present.

Therefore, there is only one way to solve the problem: Lin Li uses [Flying Together] as an anchor point to teleport to Pella's side in the real world.

He has certain permissions to bring items from the NPC world into the real world, so bringing food and heat sources wouldn't be a problem. As long as supplies are sufficient, they can hold out indefinitely, whether they wait for Himeko and the others to find an exit or survive until Black Tower.

There's absolutely no problem with them stepping in to help rescue people.