"Bai Ye, how are you feeling?"
Hearing Jin Sha's voice, Bai Ye snapped back to reality, abandoning thoughts of the distress signal device. He bared his teeth and said, "Try getting hit once, then you'll know how I feel!"
Muttering curses, Bai Ye threw a talisman to release warm mist, healing his injuries.
"It's okay, it's okay, I have something good for healing," Jin Sha quickly produced a green fruit with spots and said, "You'll be fine after eating this."
Bai Ye vigilantly used his scan screen to check the fruit's information. It was indeed a healing item, a fruit called a "Big Tree Fruit" which could recover half of any injury.
What a treasure!
Bai Ye looked at Jin Sha as if she were the Virgin Mary, so incredibly kind. Bai Ye felt like a scoundrel, judging a noble person with a mean spirit, though he knew that if he encountered a similar situation again, he would still check the information with his scan screen first.
Lost in thought, Bai Ye opened his mouth and bit into the fruit, finishing it in a few mouthfuls.
Not bad, it was quite sweet!
With the healing effect of the warm mist and the consumption of the Big Tree Fruit, Bai Ye felt significantly better. His body was warm and the pain was clearly subsiding.
After resting on the ground for a short while, Bai Ye gritted his teeth and stood up, saying, "Let's go, we need to leave here immediately."
The end of the restricted zone did not signify the end of danger.
In fact, the end of each restricted zone often coincided with the arrival of danger.
Some "people with intentions" would immediately begin hunting, searching for those weakened by injuries and then killing them.
The reason, of course, was simple: to obtain fragments of the God Stone.
Naturally, not many people had formed this concept yet, and similarly, few people had the concept of immediate evacuation after the end of a restricted zone.
However, for Bai Ye, this habit had been ingrained from his previous life.
Jin Sha nodded, helped Bai Ye up, and they began to move through the snowfield.
Bai Ye's original intention was to follow the snowfield back to the spiritual area, which was only a two to three-day journey. However, what Bai Ye did not expect was that around the morning of the second day, a zone boundary appeared before them.
Looking at the zone boundary, Bai Ye turned to Jin Sha and asked, "Do you know which zone this is?"
Jin Sha shook her head, "I'm not too sure. When I came to this glacier, I came from the west, much farther away."
Bai Ye nodded.
Getting lost in a glacial snowfield was common, as there were no landmarks. Although the outcome was slightly beyond his expectations, it wasn't entirely bad.
After Bai Ye and Jin Sha crossed the zone boundary, a vast forest appeared before them.
"Huh?" Bai Ye looked around and asked, "Fantasy Zone?"
It was a forest that looked incredibly magical.
Bai Ye saw trees no larger than his thumb, mushrooms as tall as five to six meters, like small houses. The branches of one large tree spiraled, forming a huge disk at the top. Another tree was covered in a mirror-like sheen, shimmering with tri-colored flowing light.
The fantastical colors made Bai Ye immediately feel as if he had entered a fantasy zone.
Jin Sha asked, "What do we do now? Continue forward?"
"No need. It's enough to leave the glacier zone," Bai Ye said, "We'll explore the surroundings, check if the environment is safe, find a place not too far from the zone boundary, but sufficiently concealed, and with a view of the boundary. Then, we'll rest for three to five days to recover from our injuries."
Bai Ye actually had chocolate energy bars that could instantly restore all injuries.
However, his body, modified by the T-virus, possessed strong self-healing abilities. Therefore, even though the collision with the Alien Queen had caused severe injuries, three to five days, coupled with the continuous healing from the warm mist, would allow him to recover to a level where he could fight normally, even if not fully healed.
Since they weren't fatal or difficult-to-heal injuries, Bai Ye felt it was better not to waste the chocolate energy bars.
Jin Sha nodded from the side, "I'll send my beast companion to explore."
Jin Sha threw out a mouse-like beast companion, about the size of a head, and said, "Little Rattata, go explore the surroundings and see if there's any danger."
Beast companions could be quite useful at times, helping with many tasks.
After about fifteen minutes, Little Rattata returned, reporting no immediate dangers. It also helped them find a large, non-toxic mushroom to serve as a temporary resting place. The ground was dry, and the mushroom cap offered shelter from the wind and rain, which was quite good.
Bai Ye sat down on the ground and said to Jin Sha, "You can go on ahead. I can handle the rest myself now."
Jin Sha thought for a moment, "I don't know where to go for now, so I'll stay with you for a couple of days until your injuries heal."
Bai Ye nodded, then took out a shrinkable Poké Ball. After thinking, he reluctantly exchanged it for his Zanpakuto and tossed it to Jin Sha.
Jin Sha fumbled to catch the Zanpakuto and asked, "What's this for?"
Bai Ye replied, "It's yours. In return for your fruit."
"Ah?" Jin Sha blinked, then quickly waved her hand, "No, no need."
"I'm not being polite, I just don't like owing favors," Bai Ye grinned, "This way, if I ever need to kill you, I won't hold back."
Jin Sha was startled again, then said, "Don't joke around like that."
"Do you think I'm joking?" Bai Ye pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket, put a cigarette in his mouth, and said, "Listen to my advice, put away your so-called kindness. In the world battlefield, that kind of thing is useless. Here, it's either you kill others, or others kill you. There are no companions. The moment you step into the world battlefield, you have no companions."
Bai Ye recalled some past events. In his previous life, he had also been naive, believing they could all work together to leave this damned place.
And then...
They died. Bai Ye lived.
Bai Ye killed them!
Jin Sha was silent for a moment, "I know."
Bai Ye smiled, "I can tell."
Jin Sha was not foolish. Bai Ye could tell from certain details. Although she had a kind side, her actions showed caution.
When they mounted the snowmobile together, Jin Sha had a dagger hidden in her sleeve. When they walked to the research base together, she only stayed closer when she released her beast companion. Otherwise, she maintained a distance that allowed her to escape or counter-attack. Even when supporting the injured Bai Ye, Dōdo Ice always floated between them.
In fact, Bai Ye could understand Jin Sha's state of mind, as he had gone through a similar period in his previous life.
She understood what kind of place the world battlefield was, but had not yet let go of the kindness in her heart, existing in a state of conflict and struggle.
However, as long as one lived, one would gradually become cruel.
...