Volume 1, Chapter 33: Discovery of the Native Inhabitants of Parallel World 87

The sight of hundreds of massive Brontosauruses on the move was nothing short of staggering. Li Yan’s mind raced back to the scenes of cavalry charges from historical dramas he had watched, but those warhorses would have appeared puny compared to these titans; a single charge from these beasts would have shattered any army into oblivion.

"Li Yan, can you hear me?" Yue Chengze’s voice crackled through the communicator. Hearing that familiar voice brought a sudden sense of security to Li Yan. As a rookie who had just joined the Order Division, he had never encountered a situation like this. A simple mission had thrust him straight into the Jurassic era—if he told anyone he was facing a herd of dinosaurs, no one would believe him. Yet, here he was, experiencing it in the flesh.

"Captain, I hear you. Where are you?" Li Yan checked the spatial-temporal locator on his wrist. To his shock, he was over ten thousand kilometers away from Yue Chengze and Wu Xu. That was an immense distance, especially in a world overrun by dinosaurs.

"Li Yan, you are closer to Team Leader Aliya. Find them and regroup first. Remember, do not attack these dinosaurs unless necessary, or you will disrupt this timeline," Yue Chengze cautioned urgently. With the enhancements of their combat suits and the advanced weaponry of the Order Division, slaughtering a dinosaur was not difficult for them. However, they were currently in a world where the timeline had collapsed into chaos. If killing a single dinosaur triggered a butterfly effect that further destabilized this reality, it would be a disaster.

"Understood, I will be careful." Li Yan grasped the gravity of the situation. He activated his combat suit's defensive field but refrained from engaging the giants. Besides, these Brontosauruses were herbivores, and he didn't feel particularly threatened by them.

Yue Chengze continued, "By the way, I heard from the third squad that some dinosaurs have been corrupted by Void-Eaters. If you encounter those, you are authorized to engage."

"Understood. I am about a thousand kilometers from Team Leader Aliya; I will head to them now." After the brief exchange, Li Yan began to move toward Aliya’s squad. In this unknown world, sticking together was the safest course of action.

Navigating this terrain was far more difficult than in the civilization of World 87. The dense, alien primeval forests were filled with who knew what kind of bizarre and dangerous creatures. Everything was foreign. On his way to meet Aliya, Li Yan was attacked by numerous unknown organisms—crimson snakes with feelers, basketball-sized spiders, and even plants that lashed out at him. If not for the protection of his combat suit, he would have been done for long ago.

"Mommy... Mommy..."

As Li Yan sprinted, he suddenly heard the sobbing of a child. He slowed down, puzzled. Why would there be a child crying here? Was it some sort of unknown creature? But the sound was unmistakably human. Out of caution, he activated the scanning function of his spatial-temporal locator.

The scan startled him. Within a ten-kilometer radius, it detected ten living humans and over forty corpses. A horrifying possibility dawned on him, making his hair stand on end. Could it be that all the people from World 87 had been transported here? That was a terrifying thought. For ordinary people, this environment was nothing short of a death sentence.

"Team Leader, I’ve found humans here. How should I proceed?" Li Yan reported immediately.

Yue Chengze did not seem surprised. "We have found some here as well. If you can save them, do so, and find a safe place to shelter them. These are the original inhabitants of World 87. Also, remember: do not kill any non-corrupted dinosaurs unless absolutely necessary."

"Understood!" Li Yan’s heart grew heavy. So that was why everyone in World 87 had disappeared—they had been swept into this world by the shockwaves of the overlapping timelines. A collective displacement? He dared not imagine the consequences. He pushed the thoughts aside; the priority was to save as many as he could. Checking the scan data, he realized with a sinking heart that many of the original inhabitants had likely already perished.

He moved quickly and soon reached the source of the crying. A little boy was shaking a female corpse, wailing for his mother. She was dead—poisoned by the bite of some unknown creature. The boy was in bad shape, his small foot swollen from a similar sting.

Li Yan’s heart ached. He hurried over and scooped the boy up. The child, dazed by grief and exhaustion, looked up at the giant figure in the strange suit. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with the terror of this alien world and the desperate sorrow of realizing his mother would never wake up.

"It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry," Li Yan whispered, patting the boy’s back to comfort him. The locator scanned the boy’s foot and identified the toxin; without treatment, the child would surely die.

"Initiate medical mode." Li Yan did not hesitate. However, the system warned: "It is not recommended to use spatial-temporal energy for treatment, as it will leave traces of the Order Division. I have scanned the surrounding flora and detected five types of plants that can neutralize the toxin."

"Good, locate them." Li Yan realized he had been too impulsive. If he used the device’s energy to heal the boy, it would leave a trail that could be tracked by the Magic Eye or his subordinates, leading them straight to the parallel timeline. He followed the locator’s instructions, found the medicinal plants, and applied them to the boy’s foot. Perhaps feeling the pain subside, the boy slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

Along the way, Li Yan saw many more corpses of the people from World 87. Some had died from poison, others had been torn apart by unknown carnivores, leaving behind only mangled remains. It was both sickening and heartbreaking. He didn't know why this had happened, and there was no one to explain it. All he knew was that in the vastness of the infinite timelines, anything could happen.

As he carried the boy forward, a thunderous roar echoed in the distance. As he drew closer, the sound grew clearer, mingled with the screams and weeping of people.

"No, big brother, big brother..."
"Ah..."
"Everyone, get back into the cave! Quickly, leave them behind..."