# Chapter 965: Bringing Them Home! (Bonus Chapter)
The air suddenly became very still.
Zi Yuan's eyes dimmed. In just three or four days within the Void Sea, she had already experienced life and death multiple times!
Even someone as formidable as Jiangnan was now forced to hide within the planet's core!
The danger level of the Void Sea far exceeded everyone's imagination!
Even though Zi Yuan was unwilling to face this reality, she could already guess the outcome.
Because she simply couldn't imagine how the Dragon Abyss Pioneer Squad could survive five years in this Void Sea, where danger lurked at every step!
"Don't bother looking anymore. There's no way Zi Cheng and the others made it through..."
"You know the situation outside better than I do. If we're exposed during the search, even we risk being wiped out!"
"The risk is too great. Just being able to follow you into the Void Sea this time is enough for me. At least now I know what kind of place my brother and the others fought in!"
"Thank you for not finding me a burden, for protecting me all the way... thank you..."
Zi Yuan lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, her eyes red!
Jiangnan stepped forward, cupped Zi Yuan's face, and looked directly into her eyes.
"Never determine the outcome until the very last moment. You said I was dead, but I didn't die!"
"Yes, the risk is great, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I will find the Dragon Abyss Squad!"
"If they're alive, I'll bring them home! If they've fallen, I'll still bring them home!"
"This is about giving those Dragon Abyss warriors closure, and it's also about giving yourself closure!"
Zi Yuan stared at Jiangnan with wide eyes. Though she didn't speak, large teardrops kept welling up and falling.
Jiangnan took a deep breath. "Running away won't solve anything. No matter what the outcome is, you have to face it!"
Zi Yuan bit her lower lip tightly and nodded heavily.
"Is it really worth taking such a huge risk for people who went missing five years ago?"
Jiangnan rubbed his nose. "There are some things in this world that can't be measured by whether they're worth it or not..."
"When I faked my death, didn't you all come back for me? Same principle."
With that, Jiangnan stepped out of the RV.
Zi Yuan watched his retreating figure, lost in thought.
She felt like she finally understood why Wu Liang, Zhong Yingxue, and the others would risk their own safety to follow Jiangnan into the Void Sea.
Even though he was usually unreliable, he had his own code of conduct.
Perhaps this was Jiangnan's charm.
...
The underground base had everything, except Wi-Fi!
Jiangnan didn't waste this time. He calmed his mind and focused on cultivation.
After all, the opportunity was rare. The spatial power emitted by the Core Fragment was of great help to Jiangnan.
With the assistance of Black Garlic and Throbbing Heart Pop Rocks, everyone was blasted to the point of ecstasy and agony every day.
They seized every moment to improve their strength!
When they got tired of training and confirmed the surrounding area was safe, they would sneak out to Rabbit Island nearby to bond with the pocket rabbits.
Three days passed in a flash.
Jiangnan's level was on the verge of breaking through to Platinum 5 at any moment!
But he didn't continue to hole up in the underground space.
"Xiong Da, Xiong Er, Xiao Jiuwo, you three still need to infiltrate the enemy ranks. Blend in with that goose or the black wolf!"
"Report the monsters' search progress at all times!"
"Liu Mang and I will explore the floating islands that the bad beasts have already searched, looking for traces of the Dragon Abyss Squad, and simultaneously map the floating island terrain!"
"Xuexue, Wolfbane, you guard the base! Move out!"
After assigning tasks, everyone sprang into action. Zi Yuan went straight back to sleep.
Hoping to dream of something useful.
And so, relying on Xiong Er and the others blending in among the bad beast groups,
Jiangnan and Liu Mang avoided the search squads and checked every floating island one by one!
During the day, they returned to the base to cultivate; at night, they conducted searches.
Another five days passed this way. Jiangnan and Liu Mang had nearly run their legs off!
They had drawn terrain maps for over seventy floating islands, yet still found nothing.
That night, Zi Yuan, who was lying in bed, suddenly woke with a start, tears soaking her pillow.
She sat blankly on the bed for a full three minutes before wiping away her tears and running out.
"I dreamed of the location!"
Jiangnan was startled, but seeing the tear stains on Zi Yuan's cheeks, his heart sank.
Liu Mang's eyes lit up. "What location? Project it for me to see?"
Zi Yuan took a deep breath, pressed her hand against the back of Liu Mang's head, and multicolored mist burst forth, projecting the scene from her dream.
It was a place beneath a towering cliff, covered by thick vines and overgrown with vegetation.
Liu Mang was cutting away the grass on one side, revealing a rock crevice hidden beneath the vines.
Meanwhile, Jiangnan emerged from the rock crevice with a grim expression, holding a rusty iron box in his arms.
Crouching on the ground, Jiangnan opened the iron box, and his eyes slowly reddened.
Liu Mang said hoarsely, "Should I tell Sister Yuan? She..."
Jiangnan rubbed his eyes. "I'll tell her."
The scene cut off there, and everyone in the base fell silent.
Clearly, Jiangnan had found something left behind by the Dragon Abyss Pioneer Squad, but judging by the outcome, it wasn't something to be excited about.
Jiangnan turned to Zi Yuan. "Do you still want to go? I can..."
Zi Yuan bit her lower lip and nodded firmly. "I'm going!"
Jiangnan smiled. "Then let's go bring them home together!"
Liu Mang changed the subject. "I... I think I've seen this terrain somewhere before. Let me go look through my records."
Sure enough, a terrain feature on Island 027 matched the location from Zi Yuan's dream.
Apparently, they hadn't paid attention during the previous search and missed it.
That night, after receiving word from Xiong Er and the others that Island 027 was safe,
Jiangnan and his team made thorough preparations and sneaked over to the cliff.
Zi Yuan's face was pale, her hands and feet ice-cold, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Zhong Yingxue stepped forward and tightly grasped Zi Yuan's hand.
Jiangnan and Liu Mang cleared away all the surrounding vines and weeds, revealing the rock crevice.
But as Jiangnan was cutting away the vines, his movements suddenly froze.
Because lying beneath the vines was a skeleton. He carefully brushed off the weeds covering it.
There stood a misshapen bluestone stuck in the ground.
Neatly nailed onto it were 48 Dragon Abyss unit badges, all rusted and corroded by wind and rain.
Jiangnan's heart trembled violently.
These were Dragon Abyss unit badges, also the soldiers' nameplates. Each badge had the basic information of every warrior engraved on the back.
The battlefield was brutal, and many bodies were even incomplete. The existence of these nameplades was to facilitate identification.
In the heat of battle, if a comrade fell and their body couldn't be retrieved, the survivors would remove their badges.
And these badges were only removed when their owner had fallen.
The 48 badges nailed onto the bluestone said it all.
Jiangnan fell silent. In the end, no miracle had occurred.
A line was carved into the bluestone with a knife:
"We have set foot upon this fertile land"
"And never taken a single step back"
Reading these words, Jiangnan's eyes grew moist. He looked down at the skeleton lying beside the stone.
The uniform on it had long since rotted away, and the bony hand clutched a rusted unit badge.
Jiangnan picked it up. On the back was engraved the owner's identity information.
"Wang Yi?"
Zi Yuan's body trembled violently. "Captain Wang... he was the captain of that pioneer mission. They went in seven groups, seven people per group..."
The 48 badges on the bluestone were so glaring, and the one in his hand was the very last one.
Wang Yi had been the last to fall, with no comrades left to nail his badge onto the bluestone.
Jiangnan couldn't imagine what Wang Yi must have been feeling as he lay by the bluestone at the very end.
Jiangnan gently blew the dust off the badge, then crouched down.
He firmly nailed Wang Yi's badge onto the very end of the bluestone.
"Captain Wang! I've come to bring you home!"
With that, he stood up straight, his body rigid, and saluted the bluestone.
Zhong Yingxue, Liu Mang, Zhang San, and the others did the same.
Zi Yuan, dazed, walked up to the bluestone. She was already sobbing.
Even though she had long guessed this outcome, seeing it in reality still broke her down completely.
She found Zi Cheng's badge in the forty-first position. In the lower left corner of the badge was carved a small smiley face.
It was from a long time ago, when Zi Yuan had playfully carved it on there while messing around with her brother.
Zi Cheng, who treasured his badge dearly, had been angry with Zi Yuan for a long time over that.
Memories from the past flooded in. Zi Yuan covered her face and silently wept.
"Brother... big sister has come to find you. Big sister is taking you home, wuwu..."
Xia Yao wanted to go over and comfort her, but Jiangnan grabbed her arm and gently shook his head.
At this moment, Zi Yuan needed to be alone.
In the watery night, only Zi Yuan's sobs echoed.
Jiangnan turned and entered the rock crevice. Inside, various daily necessities were scattered about, all covered in a thick layer of dust.
Clearly, this had been Wang Yi and the others' temporary base.
In a corner of the rock crevice, Jiangnan found the rusty iron box.
He took it outside and opened it. Inside was a thick stack of bound notebooks.
They contained detailed topographic maps of the various floating islands, along with a handwritten notebook.
The handwriting was delicate, like a girl's, recording the characteristics and spiritual art effects of various Space System spirit beasts, complete with illustrations.
However, the handwriting changed in the latter half of the notebook, suggesting that the person who wrote the first part had met with an accident.
The last page of the notebook was somewhat wrinkled, as if it had been soaked by water.
"Sixth opening day. Still haven't found the door. Don't know if we can get out anymore. So many brothers didn't make it. I don't know how much longer I can hold on."
"If any brothers come in later and discover these notes, hope they can help you."
"That's all..."
Jiangnan's nose stung. The iron box also contained a dozen or so Space System Spirit Beads.
Most were Gold grade, with a few Platinum, and one Diamond...