Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 665: The Maze Moves

Chapter 665: Chapter 665: The Maze Moves

Two large cargo ships, hundreds of small boats, over fifteen hundred people, a grand parade moving forward in the fog. Such a spectacular formation should have boosted morale, but everyone remained on edge.

Gu Fan stood at the bow, faint outlines of an island revealing itself through the fog, indicating their imminent arrival. He knew they wouldn’t be so lucky to have two foggy nights in a row, so this time they must acquire something useful after landing on the island.

Under Qian Feng’s command, two small boats were sent ahead to scout. After a signal flare rose from the island, the rest of the troops followed.

Over ten ships headed toward the island, hundreds of pirates wading through the waters to land. After meeting with the advance party and confirming safety, they relayed the information through whistles.

Qian Feng, the Boss, Gu Fan, Su Hui, Ouyang Jin, Xu Haowen had also landed. Despite having more people this time than before, Gu Fan felt as if something was missing.

Ouyang Jin couldn’t help but sigh, "We need trusted people to secure the escape route, and also to serve as hostages. I’m finding that we’re short-handed."

In response, Qian Feng scoffed disdainfully, "How could we be short-handed? Aren’t there a great many pirates?"

Countering, Su Hui stated, "They ultimately don’t share the same goals as us. If anything goes wrong, it’s unlikely they would stand with us."

"You make it sound as if we three factions are united." As Qian Feng continued walking, she cast a spell, easily lifting the fog shrouding the island, revealing the land more clearly.

"You’re powerful!" Gu Fan couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up as he finally saw what lay in front of him - not a single plant, but a rocky island.

Qian Feng flew around the island revealing her findings: a mountain at the center, surrounded by a huge labyrinth made of rock formations. Besides that, there was nothing else.

Gu Fan concluded that if the island did hide anything, it would likely be within the mountain. They would have to investigate no matter what this time.

Just then, the fog rolled back in, the surroundings once again veiled in white. Many were puzzled, looking towards Qian Feng, who merely shrugged, "Sorry, I need to conserve my supernatural power. I can’t stay in the spell-casting state all the time."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s hopes were dashed. However, Qian Feng had a point. If she exhausted her supernatural power now, they may not be equipped to handle an emergent situation later.

After pondering it over, Gu Fan came up with a compromise, "Launching into a potentially moving labyrinth in the fog would be unwise. Qian Feng, I suggest you cast your fog-clearing spell for a while, then we’ll venture in. We’ll rest as you recover, then you can cast again, and we’ll proceed further. It may be slow, but I’m confident we’ll succeed."

Most people agreed with Gu Fan’s plan, and Qian Feng had no objections. She began to cast the fog-clearing spell again.

Staring at the towering rocks, everyone took a deep breath before splitting into twelve teams. Ten people per team, all plunged into the labyrinth, moving side-by-side and looking out for one another.

Each team entered the maze ten seconds after the previous one, maintaining a safe distance between them, providing mutual support.

Gu Fan and Su Hui were in the third group. Their progress was steady, all the while keeping a close watch on their surroundings. They knew that though many sea snakes had been killed, the surviving ones could attack at any time.

"If you spot any statues, notify me immediately." Gu Fan was still concerned about the previous encounter with Lisa’s statue, and this time he wanted to strike first.

The teams moved like a long serpent, each following the other. Gu Fan arranged it this way, intending to alert the front if the maze configuration changed, preventing the ones at front from venturing too far and losing their way back.

However, after quite some time, Gu Fan found none of the teams reported any changes. Even if they had language barriers, they had agreed upon a signal: let out a howl if they found any anomalies.

About this method, people suspected that Gu Fan utilized it for his amusement. The idea of howling seemed absurd.

The progress was smooth so far, with no team encountering any danger. Gu Fan realized that they had spent more time on the second landing than the first, but no team reported any changes in the maze’s configuration.

Gu Fan began to doubt, "Could it be that we got lost due to the fog last time, and mistakenly believed that our way back was blocked by rocks?"

To verify his hypothesis, Gu Fan walked back from the third team to the fourth, then to the seventh, until reaching Ouyang Jin and Xu Haowen.

Ouyang Jin looked puzzled, "Gu Fan, why did you come back? Did you encounter something?"

"No, just that there were no abnormalities reported for such a long time, it made me worried. So I came back to check, and found that I was retracing our original path. The maze hasn’t moved." Gu Fan’s words left Ouyang Jin mystified, thinking whether they had mistaken the last time, or if the labyrinth might not move when it’s not foggy.

Gu Fan was of the opinion that the movement of the maze and the foggy weather were not connected, but it seemed unlikely for everyone to have been mistaken at the same time.

Pondering over the differences between this and their last visit, Gu Fan suddenly realized something, leaving him horrified.

At that moment, the group containing the Boss, the eighth team, arrived. The Boss noted Gu Fan’s change, sensing trouble, and approached to ask, "What is it, Gu Fan? Have you discovered something?"

Without saying a word, Gu Fan began to walk backwards, causing puzzled glances along the way.

The Boss became anxious, thinking Gu Fan was in danger, and followed him. Qian Feng, who was in the eleventh team, also came over to check, trusting Gu Fan’s judgment.

Under the questioning of the Boss and Qian Feng, Gu Fan shared his theory, "If there’s indeed a difference between our two visits, it would be the number of people and teams. We had fewer teams last time, this time they’re more dispersed. I’m thinking, what will happen when we all enter into the maze?"

"You mean...?" The Boss also guessed a bit of Gu Fan’s implication, frowning deeply.