Chapter 1096: Mobius Strip

Ning Chen called everyone out and told them the current situation.

"We can't determine what's inside right now. If any issues arise, Lin Yi and Gu Yanqi, you two stay in the vehicle; if anything happens, drive the car out. Xiao Han and I will go down. Facing Huo Jinglin, you stay in the car to protect them."

Ning Chen had arranged everyone's tasks in advance. Although everyone had some reservations about this suggestion, upon careful thought, it was indeed the best method.

Actually, only three people wanted to object, since Xiao Han does whatever he is told.

Seeing that no one objected today, Ning Chen was somewhat surprised; he had originally thought he would have to discuss it with them for several rounds.

Now that the plan was settled, Ning Chen returned to the driver's seat and used manual control.

The conditions inside were unstable, and there was no way to use autonomous driving.

The car slowly entered the interior. Towering trees blocked out the light completely, making the inside very dim, with only a sliver of sunlight filtering through the leaves.

After entering, they realized these trees were much larger than Ning Chen had imagined.

The trunks were so thick that two or three people would have to wrap their arms around them to measure the girth.

Tree trunks hundreds of meters high exerted a powerful oppressive force.

If these trees here were to fall, they would probably be crushed into pancakes.

Ning Chen carefully dodged the surrounding trees while driving the car forward.

Fortunately, although every tree here was huge, the distance between each was very far; the gap between every tree was just right, ensuring that only the very top leaves barely touched each other.

This patterned arrangement of trees made Ning Chen realize immediately that these trees were not wild but likely planted by humans.

However, for them to grow this well, they must be centuries or even millennia old.

Driving deeper inside, less light penetrated through, so Ning Chen had to turn on the RV's lights.

There were many trees around, and the range illuminated by the headlights was not very far.

To prevent unexpected situations, Ning Chen drove while Xiao Han scanned the surroundings, so they wouldn't be unable to handle any sudden incidents.

The car drove for an unknown duration, with Ning Chen driving in a straight line along the outer edge of the forest.

A sliver of light appeared ahead; gradually, the light grew larger. Ning Chen knew they were about to exit.

The moment the car drove out, Ning Chen frowned, turned the car around, realigned it toward the forest, and then stopped.

Everyone was stunned by Ning Chen's sudden drift; they looked outside.

"Huh? Isn't this the place we just entered from?" Lin Yi looked at the familiar scenery outside the window and exclaimed in surprise.

Xiao Han looked at Ning Chen, as if to confirm something.

Ning Chen nodded at Xiao Han; they had indeed walked out of the forest.

But the problem was, he had been driving in a straight line the whole time without making a single turn; how could they have returned here?

Thinking of this, Ning Chen left the passenger seat, went to the door, opened it, and stepped down.

The familiar surroundings and the familiar entrance all indicated that they had indeed returned.

The others also got out of the car. Lin Yi, who still didn't understand, spoke up: "Brother Ning, did you get lost inside and then turn your way out?"

Ning Chen shook his head and said nothing.

"No. Just now, while Ning Chen was driving, I was constantly scanning the surroundings with my ability. If the RV made a big turn, I would have noticed," Xiao Han explained calmly, looking at the impenetrable forest.

Now everyone also understood the severity of the situation.

A gust of wind blew, and the forest made a "rustle" sound; even the entrance to the forest emitted a faint whimper, as if issuing a warning to the few people.

Ning Chen glanced at the entrance and decisively returned to the RV.

Sitting on the sofa, Ning Chen pondered this situation. In his impression, under such circumstances, it was either a Mobius strip or a ghost blocking the wall.

A Mobius strip is a dead loop, which means there is more than one dimension in this forest. Inside a Mobius strip, no matter which point you start from, you will always return to the origin.

As for a ghost blocking the wall, in the past, Ning Chen certainly would not have believed such a thing existed, but now that everything is possible, a ghost blocking the wall is not necessarily impossible.

While Ning Chen was thinking, everyone else also sat on the sofa, and no one disturbed him.

After Ning Chen finished thinking, he saw the three people sitting opposite him staring fixedly at him.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"No, no. By the way, Brother Ning, did you think of anything?" Lin Yi looked at Ning Chen enthusiastically, wanting to know what Ning Chen had been thinking about just now.

Ning Chen told everyone about the possibilities of the Mobius strip and a ghost blocking the wall.

Lin Yi was a bit confused; he had never heard of what a Mobius strip was.

"Huh? What is a Mobius strip?"

Ning Chen remembered that in Lin Yi's world, there was no concept of a Mobius strip.

"It's very simple: it's a loop. This loop exists in different dimensions; no matter how you walk, you will always return to the origin."

Lin Yi listened, completely baffled; he had never been able to understand things like this before.

After Ning Chen finished speaking, Facing Huo Jinglin understood his meaning, but would such a thing as a Mobius strip really exist?

"So, how do we verify this problem?" Facing Huo Jinglin raised a very realistic question.

That's right; there is no way to verify this.

For a Mobius strip, nothing can be verified unless one can find the cut point within it.

As for a ghost blocking the wall, that is an even more demonic phenomenon.

Ning Chen sighed and pinched the area between his eyebrows.

It seemed that to find a breakthrough, they still had to go into the middle to check the situation. Ning Chen had a premonition that to leave this forest, they probably had to enter the central void to check the situation.

"It's already very late today; let's rest here for now. We will go in again tomorrow morning."

After speaking, Ning Chen stood up and went to sit in the driver's seat.

Not long after, Xiao Han also walked over. He looked at Ning Chen and said, "So, you want to enter the middle of this forest tomorrow?"

Ning Chen nodded: "Let's go in and circle around once more. If the result is the same, we will go to the middle."

Ning Chen hadn't felt this uncontrollable sensation in a long time.

At this moment, he wanted to light a cigarette to calm his inner turmoil.

Not knowing whether Xiao Han had heard Ning Chen's thoughts, Xiao Han actually pulled a pack of cigarettes from his clothes and tossed them to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen looked and recognized it as a type of cigarette that had been fairly popular in his previous world.

"This is the only pack I've got—smoke sparingly."