The journey back was surprisingly smooth, especially at the beginning. They didn't encounter even a single ant, but occasionally saw the corpses of a few crawling creatures.

Chen Mu approached to take a look and found that the corpses were covered in injuries, especially to their heads, which had suffered multiple blows. Around them were scattered small stones, indicating that they had been killed remotely by someone using stones.

"Could it be the person from Yizhong?" He Ying immediately thought of their arch-enemy from Yizhong and became tense.

Sun Yuan also activated his ability to listen to the surroundings.

"No sound."

"It's also possible it's not them," Chen Mu said, "From the looks of it, they died not too long ago, and it's very likely... it was done by Song Yu and his group."

"Moving objects..."

"From the looks of it, this person is indeed very strong."

As Chen Mu spoke, he carefully observed the scattered stones around and the corpse of the insect.

It was a small green worm about the same length as a person, with thighs as thick as a finger. It was a relatively small type of insect, clearly the herbivorous kind.

The scattered stones around were all quite small, even smaller than the ones Dong Junwei used to make hand grenades. For the current humans, they looked more like glass marbles. If they hadn't been spread almost uniformly all around, Chen Mu might not have noticed anything unusual.

"He can control so many of them at once?" He Ying's expression changed slightly.

"It might not be all at once," Chen Mu observed for a long time and said, "Judging from the size of the stones, our previous speculation was correct. He can't currently control larger objects, so he has to rely on continuously attacking the insects with small stones. But from the wounds, it's evident that his ability to move objects is quite fast."

"Is Song Yu really that strong?"

"He is undoubtedly strong; otherwise, he wouldn't dare to move around freely outside," Chen Mu shook his head, "But that's not what's strange to me."

"What is it, then?"

"Throughout our journey here, most of the dead insects have been quite small, just like this one. They obviously wouldn't pose a threat to humans. I don't understand why they insist on killing these insects, needlessly depleting their mental power. It doesn't make sense."

"Perhaps it's to vent their frustration?" Feng Xiaoyu interrupted after listening for a while, "Because they couldn't win over Senior Sister He Ying, so they're angry?"

"Song Yu doesn't seem like that kind of person," Chen Mu shook his head, "There might be some things we don't know about. After all, they have more people, and they understand abilities better than we do. It's normal."

"What should we do then?"

"Let's go back first and discuss today's events with everyone."

...

Silence prevailed during the journey back. By the time they returned to the storage room, it was already noon.

Dong Junwei and the others came to greet them, but their expressions seemed somewhat unnatural upon seeing an extra person.

"What happened?"

"We were intercepted halfway."

Seeing that Chen Mu's expression wasn't too grave, Dong Junwei knew the two hadn't met any accidents and asked, "Intercepted?"

"It was those people He Ying mentioned last time."

Chen Mu briefly recounted what had happened today.

He Ying added, "The ones sent from the Qingbei faction were led by Song Yu."

"Song Yu?"

Dong Junwei didn't show much reaction, but she nodded thoughtfully, "He was outstanding before, and it seems he has awakened powerful abilities now."

Chen Mu reiterated his speculations.

When they heard about the opponent having these two extraordinary abilities, everyone became tense.

Chen Mu smiled, "There's no need to worry too much. We're not enemies, and besides, if they're stronger, maybe it will keep those people from Yizhong in check."

Tang Jing said, "I suspect something special must have happened on the playground on the day of the disaster.""Something special? What could it be?"

"Not sure, but it's evident that the survival rate of people there is much higher than in other places. Also, conflicts must have occurred on a large scale between Yizhong and Qingbei factions to lead to the current situation."

"In the cafeteria, there's Yizhong; at the playground, there's Qingbei. Our current location is right in the middle."

"It sounds scary..."

"Well, actually..." Chen Mu said, "Joining Qingbei might not be a bad idea, but I can't make decisions for everyone, so I dare not promise Song Yu. However, I think we should discuss this matter officially."

Chen Mu had discussed this matter with Dong Junwei and Tang Jing before, and overall, the three of them didn't have much desire to join others.

This was quite normal.

Not to mention Dong Junwei's strong personality, even Chen Mu himself wouldn't like the feeling of being dependent on others. Currently, their team was still ruled by the three of them. If they went elsewhere, they might lose control.

But ultimately, such matters depended on each person's wishes.

"I think we're doing fine right now. No need to go to Qingbei," Wei Dalei was the first to express his opinion.

"Mainly because their name is too silly," Chang Junyan scratched his arm and said.

Dong Junwei thought for a moment, "How about we vote by raising hands?"

"This kind of vote is meaningless," Tang Jing said, "Even if someone wants to go to Qingbei, they won't say it under pressure from the majority. Besides, as you said earlier, they didn't even leave a contact location, so how do we find them?"

After pondering for a moment, Chen Mu said, "I have an idea."

"Tell us."

"We'll have a non-anonymous vote. At least we'll know how many people have this idea. If more than half of us want to go to Qingbei, then we'll actively search for them. After finding them, those who want to go can go, and those who want to stay can stay. But if less than half of us want to go, we'll continue with the status quo and stick to an independent plan. If we happen to encounter them again in the future, we can still decide whether to go or stay, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good."

"I agree."

"..."

"But why non-anonymous voting?" Du Jiajia asked.

"I'll make a small iron wire for each person," Chen Mu explained. "Then, one by one, we'll put the iron wires into an iron box. If you want to go to Qingbei, you can bend the iron wire before putting it in the box. If you don't want to go, leave it as it is."

Without paper and pen, they could only resort to this primitive way of voting.

There were twelve people in total.

Chen Mu quickly made twelve thin iron wires, each about the length of a finger.

Then, they made an iron box.

There was only one circular hole on the iron box, large enough for a hand to reach inside.

Like this.

When each person put their iron wire into the box, they could freely decide whether to bend it or not, without others knowing.

The voting ceremony began quickly.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy at first.

Wei Dalei wanted to discuss it with Zhao Xiaoyan several times but didn't dare to broach the subject, unsure of how to approach it.

He Ying exchanged glances with Feng Xiaoyu, but their final decisions were still unknown.

Dong Junwei was the first to step forward.

She reached into the box's hole with the iron wire in her hand.

After keeping her hand inside for about three seconds.

She pulled it back and opened her palm, indicating that she had put the iron wire inside.With her leading by example, everyone naturally lined up to vote.

No one said a word.

The scene was very quiet.

But each person's action was decisive, following Dong Junwei's lead, keeping their hands inside the box for three seconds.

After everyone had finished voting.

Dong Junwei said, "Chen Mu, open the box."

Chen Mu nodded and walked up. Without any fanfare, he opened the iron box and then turned it over, emptying its contents onto the ground.

Clang, clang...

A series of iron wires fell to the ground.

Everyone's gaze focused on them.

On the ground.

Lying haphazardly were more than a dozen iron wires.

The quantity couldn't be counted immediately.

But it was clear at a glance that all the iron wires remained perfectly straight.

Not a single one was bent.

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