Chapter 124: Wooden Box

Chen Mu followed the same method and made another person an identical bird cage.

These two possess a symbiotic ability that seems effective only within a certain distance; once separated, there is no spell to chant.

The prison cage Chen Mu made has no door; even if someone wanted to rescue them, they would have to break the thumb-thick steel bars or move the whole cage.

Chen Mu hasn't decided what to do with these two.

Speaking of which, he had only heard rumors about Yi Zhong's misdeeds; the few people he met in the cafeteria before were somewhat overbearing but not to the point of deep hatred, whereas this time he was the one who first stole their vehicle, and the other side's violent retaliation could be considered understandable; truly killing two people who can no longer fight back is something Chen Mu simply cannot bring himself to do.

Therefore, he had no choice but to bring these two back first.

By the way, he also wanted to extract some information about Yi Zhong.

Of course, after questioning them, it would also be impossible to let them go, since the environment and personnel here have already been seen by the two, and Yi Zhong would not let it rest after they return.

These two obviously realized that as well, acting like dead pigs unafraid of boiling water—neither resisting nor cooperating.

Chen Mu originally intended to ask them roughly at first, but Tang Jing stopped him, saying to lock them up for a night first.

So.

The two bird cages were placed separately, and the people inside still had their hands and feet bound.

After settling these two, everyone's gaze returned to the container truck.

From the opened door, several huge wooden boxes could be seen outside, blocking the entrance.

But looking over the tops of the wooden boxes, the interior was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything.

Rashly going in seems inappropriate; if another pair like those two burst out again, it would be a big trouble.

After discussing with Tang Jing and the others, they decided to move the items out little by little.

Dong Junwei on the spot made a light bulb from plastic.

Because of her ability's progress, the plastic's luminosity is now noticeably higher; initially it could only resemble a 40-watt old-style orange-yellow bulb, but now it can roughly match an LED tube.

Moreover, its duration has been extended from originally one night to about 24 hours, although the brightness still gradually weakens over time.

Currently, the material Dong Junwei uses the least is plastic; although it's the easiest to make, its utility is not great.

Even though the door gap is now sealed, making it impossible for moths or similar things to enter, for safety's sake, everyone still won't keep the lights on for long periods at night.

If someone were to wander outside at night and happen to pass by here, being attracted by the light would amount to exposing themselves.

Such people are not nonexistent; Lu Shanshan and her three companions are an example.

Tang Jing's idea is that once conditions improve and everyone has a larger house made of non‑translucent material instead of transparent plastic, they can then light the interior without fear of being discovered.

A glowing plastic ball was quickly handed to Chen Mu's hand; he tossed it twice and casually threw it into the container, but it only passed the outermost few wooden boxes before being blocked by something.

Quite obvious.

The inside is almost completely filled.

No choice, we can only move them slowly.

Moving things, Wei Dalei is naturally the main force.

Soon, the wooden box nearest the door was pulled out whole by Old Wei, crashing to the ground with a bang.

"Easy, Old Wei," Chen Mu said, fearing there might be something fragile inside.

"This thing is too big and has no handles, making it hard to lift."

Judging by appearance, this wooden box is about a one‑centimeter‑edge cube, natural wood color, fully sealed, resembling a movie prop for transporting arms, as if opening it would reveal several submachine guns.

Tang Jing walked over and touched it, letting out an "eh".

"What's wrong?" Dong Junwei asked.

"Looks like it's an imitation of the wooden crates commonly used in logistics."

"What's strange about that?"

"The material is wrong."

"Material?"

"Wood is an anisotropic, non‑uniform material; when making wooden crates, one must consider the grain and distinguish radial from tangential directions, so a higher‑quality crate would use pine or similar softwood, which has straight grain, soft texture, is easy to work, and nails don't easily split it; but if only cost is considered, hardwoods such as birch and beech can also be used."

"What about this one?" Chen Mu had no idea what Tang Jing's remarks had to do with it.

"This is nothing at all," Tang Jing said, frowning slightly.

"What is it?"

"This seems not to be wood at all."

"Huh?"

Chen Mu stared, stepped forward and touched the crate; although it felt smoother than ordinary wood, it looked like regular wood, even showing growth rings and knots.

"It merely looks like wood."

"If it isn't wood, what is it?"

"I'm not sure either; it seems to be some kind of synthetic material," Tang Jing said, shaking her head.

"Then why make it look like wood?"

"I can't figure it out; maybe it's the work of some ability user, made this way just because of his personal aesthetic?"

"Ability to mix materials?" Chen Mu suddenly thought of himself, having recently fantasized about whether he could combine two different materials to form a brand‑new one.

"And now someone has actually done it?"

However, Tang Jing shook her head: "It doesn't look like that; a new material would need some special advantage to be worth creating, but this wooden crate shows nothing special at all."

"Why not open it and take a look?"

"Wait a moment, let's move all the boxes out first, then we'll talk."

Several guys pitched in to help Wei Dalei move the boxes.

Chen Mu made a flat board connecting the truck to the ground; once the boxes were placed on it, they would slide down like a chute.

One by one, the wooden boxes, each over half a person tall, were moved down.

The further inside he went, the more nervous Chen Mu became; if it weren't for wanting to preserve this vehicle, he could have violently dismantled it, and with his current ability, dismantling it would pose no problem, but wanting to restore the vehicle to its original state was still far off.

The plastic light bulbs really helped a lot.

For each step forward, Chen Mu installed two light bulbs on the inner wall of the carriage.

After about twenty minutes, judging by the inside‑outside comparison, it was nearly finished.

As of now, the interior of the container truck is filled entirely with wooden boxes of the same size and specification.

There is nothing else.

No horde of zombies appeared, and neither Gundam nor Unit Zero existed.

Chen Mu's perpetually tense heart gradually relaxed as the carriage was progressively emptied.

However, just as the last few wooden boxes were being moved,

Wei Dalei suddenly shouted:

"Holy shit, what is this."

Following the direction of his finger, Chen Mu saw at the far end of the carriage an iron cage resembling the bird cage he had made, placed in the corner, which became visible as the wooden boxes were removed.

It could be clearly seen.

Inside was a person.