Chapter 237: Severe mental trauma, needing to release pressure

After several hours of driving.

Until night fell, Ning Hai's family arrived at the experimental research base.

Before entering, even his wife and daughter underwent a thorough security check, and their carried phones were temporarily confiscated.

Lin Lina couldn't help complaining, "Isn't this the place where you lead the work? Why are you so strict with me? Are you afraid I'll leak secrets?"

Ning Hai could only smile and soothe, "It's just the normal procedure; everyone is the same, even if I come back from outside I have to undergo inspection—doesn't this better show how important my work is?"

"That's also true," Lin Lina relaxed, then asked, "Can this place cure Yao Yao?"

Ning Hai said, "Not sure, let's try and see. I have here a top medical team from M Guo; let them first examine our daughter."

Afterwards, Ning Hai sent people to send the comatose Ning Yao Yao to the medical room.

He set aside his work and took Lin Lina around some places not involving the core area.

At first Lin Lina found it quite novel.

Because everywhere was full of sci-fi feel, even the corridors and walls were like those in sci-fi movies, full of futuristic vibe.

However, the place was too big; walking around, she found everything looked the same, and since she couldn't enter the core area, she became a bit bored.

Ning Hai then accompanied her to the cafeteria to eat something.

Lin Lina complained while eating, the food here is indeed healthy, but the taste is really hard to describe.

Ning Hai waited until his wife was tired from wandering and had eaten her fill, then finally arranged a solitary rest cabin for her; after she fell asleep, he hurried to the medical room to check on his daughter's condition.

At this moment Ning Yao had already awakened.

But her mental state was poor; she lay dazed on the hospital bed, and upon seeing Ning Hai she only called out "dad," with no further reaction.

"What's wrong with my daughter?" Ning Hai pulled the attending physician aside to ask.

The attending physician said, "Her body is fine, very healthy, but her mind has suffered massive trauma, generating enormous pressure."

"Then... can it be cured?"

"Given current mental treatment methods, we cannot guarantee effectiveness; her case is very special—the pressure from her mental trauma is entirely accumulated in her brain, while her body has activated a self-protection mechanism, making it even harder for that pressure to be released; we need to devise a specialized treatment plan."

"Pressure... release..." Ning Hai mused while speaking, "Would letting her release the pressure make her better?"

The doctor said, "In theory that's right; we need to first release the pressure before we can treat her mental trauma, but this must be done gradually, such as step-by-step guidance, diverting attention, etc."

Ning Hai recalled the sleep-talk his daughter had said while sleeping in the car.

It seems she truly harbors a huge anger inside; as for how to release it...

Suddenly, Ning Hai had a flash of inspiration and whispered a few sentences to the doctor.

The doctor seriously considered, "Hmm, letting her encounter an environment and events beyond her previous cognition should produce a good attention-diverting effect; plus, if she can be free from rules, perhaps she could actively release pressure, Mr. Ning, your method is worth a try."

Ning Hai breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, let's try! Please give me a certificate; otherwise the supervisory team arranged by the military here might not agree."

"No problem, Mr. Ning."

With the assistance of the laboratory medical team, Ning Hai obtained special permission from the supervisory team.

He brought Ning Yao into the base's core area, taking the elevator straight to the deepest point.

"Yao Yao, look what that is."

Ning Hai pointed to the transfer platform.

Ning Yao slowly lifted her eyes, as if she had just slightly regained her senses.

Various unknown huge machines, plus a giant platform only seen in sci-fi movies, aroused her curiosity.

"Dad... this is... what place?"

"This is Dad's workplace, and also a place capable of changing the world."

Seeing his daughter finally able to speak a few more words, Ning Hai hastily grabbed the walkie-talkie and ordered the opening of the time-space gate.

Accompanied by the influx of electric current, the machines roared.

The black sphere was activated.

Immediately after, an energy vortex with a diameter of about fifty meters appeared on the transfer platform.

Multicolored light slowly rotated, magnificent and gorgeous.

"Wow! So beautiful!" Ning Yao's eyes widened.

Ning Hai proudly said, "At first this thing's diameter was less than two meters; with my in-depth research and M Guo's all-out, no-expense-spared assistance, I have now expanded it to this extent."

Ning Yao couldn't bear to blink, staring at the energy vortex, asking, "What is this thing, what's it used for? Is it just made to look nice?"

Ning Hai laughed, "Of course not! This is a miraculous gate connecting to a world beyond your imagination; now I'll send someone to take you there, you can play to your heart's content!"

Saying that, he turned and waved.

Lu Xingfeng then came over.

"Yao Yao, this is Lu Xingfeng, Uncle Lu," Ning Hai introduced, "He's my best friend, sworn brother; he'll take you over, acting as your bodyguard and guide."

"Hello, Uncle Lu." Ning Yao politely extended her right hand.

Lu Xingfeng also extended his right hand, "Hello, Miss Ning."

At the moment of shaking hands, Ning Yao exclaimed, lowered her gaze to Lu Xingfeng's hand, "Uncle Lu, your hand... why is it so hard?"

"Hahaha!" Lu Xingfeng laughed, loosened his grip, rolled up his sleeve, and extended his entire right arm before her eyes, "This arm of mine was previously broken; your dad gave me a prosthetic mechanical arm, which looks almost like a real hand, just feels a bit harder."

Ning Yao cautiously touched it.

Indeed, without close inspection you couldn't notice any abnormality; only upon touch could you feel it.

"Alright, you two go on," Ning Hai said, "Older brother Wind, please take care of Yao Yao."

Lu Xingfeng lowered his sleeve, clasped his fists, "Brother Hai, no need to be polite; please rest assured."

Ning Yao asked, "Dad, you're not coming with me?"

Ning Hai rubbed her head, "Dad still has many things to do; here tens of thousands of research personnel need my direction; when I have free time, Dad will accompany you again."

Ning Yao said nothing more, and followed Lu Xingfeng onto the transfer platform.

When she passed through the massive Fluorescent Vortex, Ning Jinli was stunned.

Suddenly, a military camp appeared before her eyes, and a huge searchlight illuminated the surroundings as bright as daylight.

Numerous fully armed M Guo soldiers, along with big trucks and military off‑road vehicles, moved through it, all looking very busy.

"This… I… wasn't I just in a basement a moment ago? How…?" Ning Yao, incredulous, hurriedly turned to look behind her.

She saw the massive Fluorescent Vortex vanish right before her.

"Uncle Lu! What's going on?!"

Ning Yao had never seen anything like this, and she was instantly terrified.

Lu Xingfeng laughed heartily, placed a hand on her shoulder and told her not to be afraid, then roughly explained the situation to her.

Ning Yao was dazed for a long while, unable to recover.

"Time‑Space Gate?"

"This is a world over two thousand years ago?"

"I… I time‑traveled?!"

The massive amount of information left her in a daze.

She pinched her arm hard, the pain making her eyes water, only then believing she wasn't dreaming.

Afterward, Lu Xingfeng led her around the camp while telling her that this place lay on the North American continent over two thousand years ago, and under her dad's direction, M Guo had built a military base here capable of housing several thousand people.

The soldiers in the base go out on missions every day.

In addition, several resource‑mining sites have been built around the base.

With continual investment of manpower and material, the area of development expands day by day.

At present, the land controlled by this base is roughly equivalent to a medium‑sized city, and other bases are under construction.

In short, they continuously clear new land and gather every useful resource.

Ning Yao listened, mouth agape, never having imagined her dad could be so formidable, actually heading such a world‑shaking project.

She walked while curiously peering around, and Lu Xingfeng stayed close beside her.

Wherever they went, any M Guo soldier or researcher they met politely said a few words to the two of them.

"What are they saying?" Ning Yao couldn't quite understand.

Lu Xingfeng took out a headset and handed it to her, "This is the latest simultaneous‑translation headset. Many people in the base don't speak the M Guo language, they all use this to communicate; put it on and you can converse normally."

Ning Yao took the headset, slipped it into her ear, and finally understood that everyone she met was just greeting her.

"Uncle Lu, I want to see outside the camp," Ning Yao requested, "It's impossible to tell this is an ancient world from inside; I want to see what the North American continent looked like over two thousand years ago."

Lu Xingfeng readily agreed, "No problem, come with me."

Earlier, Ning Hai had already instructed him that, provided Ning Yao's safety was guaranteed, whatever she wanted to do, as long as it made her happy, he should comply.

Lu Xingfeng found an off‑road vehicle for her, and after driving about half an hour, they reached the edge of the camp.

Not far away lay the training field.

At this moment, M Guo soldiers were conducting shooting drills.

Bang—bang—bang, the gunfire rang across the night sky.

"Stop, stop, Uncle Lu, can I try the guns?" Ning Yao asked.

Lu Xingfeng decisively stopped the vehicle, led her into the training field, and casually assigned a soldier who was training to teach Ning Yao.

It was Ning Yao's first time handling such a thing, so she started with the most basic pistol.

Under the soldier's instruction, she barely learned to fire at a target; although she couldn't hit anything, she was enthusiastic, and after mastering the pistol she tried all the other firearms as well.

"Ugh, I can't even hit a single target," Ning Yao pouted to the soldier teaching her, "Why are you so good, every gun hits the bullseye—are you a special forces soldier?"

The soldier nodded.

Ning Yao asked again, "Are you from the Raptor Special Forces?"

"Raptor Special Forces?" the soldier sneered, "They're only fit to polish my shoes."

Ning Yao's eyes widened to the point of bulging.

In her understanding, the Raptor Special Forces were the most elite unit in M Guo and even the world, yet this M Guo soldier clearly held them in no regard.

At that moment, a whistle sounded beside the training field.

The soldiers shooting at targets quickly ran toward the direction of the whistle, each looking quite excited.

"Miss Ning, you play by yourself; I'm leaving," the soldier who was teaching Ning Yao with the gun also walked away.

Ning Yao, looking stunned, asked Lu Xingfeng, "Where are they going?"

Lu Xingfeng explained, "It's their recreational activity; every now and then they hold hunting contests. Anyone without a mission—soldiers, researchers, engineering crews, even logistics workers—can join."

Ning Yao's curiosity was piqued, "What about me? Can I join?"

Lu Xingfeng smiled, "Of course, as long as you're willing."

Ning Yao said, "But I'm still very inexperienced with firearms; I'm sure I can't… "

Lu Xingfeng gave a mysterious smile, "You don't need guns for hunting here."

"No guns? Then what do we use?"

"We use ancient hunting tools—bows, arrows, spears, slings, and set traps."

"Huh? No guns? Why go so primitive, isn't it easier?"

"Hahaha, that's the true joy of hunting. Don't forget, this is a world over two thousand years ago on the North American continent, unlike the contemporary Huaxia Guo, this place is still quite primitive."

When Lu Xingfeng mentioned Huaxia Guo, Ning Yao's complexion turned pale instantly, her breathing rapid.

It triggered her traumatic memories, and scenes from the restaurant replayed involuntarily in her mind—Ning Jinli's smiling face, and countless faces of passersby hurling objects at her while shouting curses.

"Ah!!!"

Ning Yao let out a sudden scream, grabbed a rifle, and slammed the trigger, firing wildly.

Lu Xingfeng was also startled, hastily dodging back several steps.

Ning Yao had just finished firing a burst of bullets, but her fingers remained locked on the trigger as she held the rifle and swept it.

Only then did Lu Xingfeng dare to approach and snatch the gun from her hand, quickly pulling her back onto the vehicle.

Ning Yao covered her face and burst into tears; after just a moment she lifted her head, grinning, and muttered things like "I'll kill you, I'll kill you all."

Seeing this, Lu Xingfeng quietly raised his hand, wondering whether he should first slap her unconscious to let her sleep and calm down, lest she lose control of her mind.

"Uncle Lu!" Ning Yao suddenly turned her head, staring fixedly at Lu Xingfeng.

Lu Xingfeng lowered his hand awkwardly, "Miss Ning, what's wrong?"

Ning Yao leaned in, "Take me hunting; I want to join the hunt too!"

Lu Xingfeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and agreed.

Afterwards, the two arrived at the hunting gathering point; many participants had already set out, and Ning Yao also learned that everyone would return here in two hours to tally the hunt results.

A sign stood at the hunting gathering point.

It listed the top ten hunters, with their scores noted after their names.

Lu Xingfeng told her that after each hunt the rankings were updated, few could stay on the list permanently, the competition was fierce, so even without rewards, participants were very enthusiastic.

Ning Yao glanced at it and asked, "How are the points calculated?"

"Naturally, it's based on the game you bag," Lu Xingfeng explained. "A rabbit is one point, foxes, badgers and the like two points, wolves, leopards, monkeys, baboons and similar three points, and so on—basically, the harder the prey, the higher the score."

"What gives the highest score? Tigers, lions, brown bears? Or elephants?"

Lu Xingfeng laughed and shook his head.

Ning Yao pondered briefly, "Oh, those animals probably aren't all found in the same place."

"No," Lu Xingfeng said, "more than two thousand years ago, tigers, lions, brown bears and even elephants coexisted on the North American continent—there were far more species than you can imagine."

Ning Yao exclaimed in astonishment, "What could be harder to hunt than these big beasts, even elephants?"

Lu Xingfeng leaned close to her ear and whispered the answer.

Ning Yao's pupils contracted in shock, "What?! Uncle Lu… you… don't scare me!"