Chapter 4 Of Course You Can Go Back_1

"Good afternoon, everyone –– my name is Chang Qing." Zheng Yichen greeted the people around him who shared the same fate, although some of them looked...not human?

Just like the dog head from earlier.

"..." No one responded to Zheng Yichen; the people chained here were all observing their surroundings. Zheng Yichen lowered his head to fiddle with the handcuffs he held, confirming that they were not something he could tear apart with his own strength.

Moreover, while he stayed here, he distinctly felt some kind of change in his body, a kind of excitement that bubbled up throughout him.

The temporary detention center also provided water, but no one here touched it. It wasn't long before Dog Head George came over, carrying a stack of documents: "My name is George, and I'm going to start explaining the specific situation to you all."

Dog Head George distributed the documents as he spoke. Zheng Yichen slightly raised his eyebrows as he read the content, confirming the suspicion he had earlier: it wasn't because of some special reason that he could understand the speech of beings who clearly weren't normal humans, but because the language being used here was the same as in his own world.

The content of the documents mentioned their current predicament, simply put, they had transmigrated... the literal meaning of the word, from their own world to another world.

Not just anyone could achieve this; ordinary people would lose consciousness due to the pressure of the rift when they got close to it, collapsing near the rift, and aside from the very few unlucky ones who got sucked into the rifts, the remaining would not truly pass through them.

Zheng Yichen immediately thought of the Fog Travelers that Dog Head George had dragged out like corpses earlier. When he entered the anomaly, he indeed felt a pressure, but that pressure hadn't had much of an impact on him, and he passed through with ease after walking just a few steps.

The documents stated that being able to withstand the pressure meant a person had decent adaptability. The 'environment' of different worlds is distinct, and suddenly coming into contact with another world is like a person from a normal environment being directly transported to a high-altitude area; most normal people couldn't withstand it.

So, this kind of passive 'barrier' directly weeded out a large number of the excessively curious. As for the handful of remaining souls, they are the ones in this temporary detention center... including Zheng Yichen himself.

"Can we go back then?" A person with scales on their hands raised them.

"Of course, you can." Dog Head George said evenly, evidently not his first time dealing with such a matter.

"See that fog over there? The rift in the mist is connected to this world, but the other end isn't linked to just one world. You all came through the rift to get here, but leaving from here, you will need to make several attempts, and please finish reading the documents before asking questions."

Zheng Yichen continued to read the material in his hands. Returning was indeed possible; a rift might connect to multiple worlds, but such rifts have primary and secondary sides. The primary side is connected to only one world, and the secondary side might be related to multiple worlds. When people from a world linked by a secondary rift pass through, they arrive at the primary side of the rift.

When people from the primary side pass through the rift, they might end up in any of the worlds connected to the secondary side.

The variability is significant, and it's not something that can be controlled manually. The reason Zheng Yichen and some other beings who didn't seem like normal humans were gathered here is that their side's rift was 'secondary.'

Going back isn't difficult; one just needs to jump back and forth several times. Unless one is very unlucky, they usually can return. However, the documents mention that indeed there have been such unlucky individuals, who after many jumps, never returned to their own world and finally fainted in a world that was not theirs due to overwhelming pressure.

That time, the rift disappeared due to its duration, and some secondary rifts were connected to a dozen or so worlds and lasted for only a short period of time.

And the most crucial point mentioned in the documents is the issue of power deployment. In the past, some who had arrived here and then attempted to return faced worlds with individually weaker strength. Then, one of them, thinking to leverage their superior personal strength, decided to stay and do as they willed once the rift disappeared.

That person died.

The reason was simple; their power deployment in that other world wasn't very effective. The environmental conditions of that world constrained their power utilization, and they were shot dead in the ensuing chaos; it was a miserable end.

"Much of the information in the documents is concluded from the lives of people like you; you can choose not to take it seriously and give it a try." George spoke, and a smile appeared on that dog face, "When the document needs updating again, apart from the choice of going back, you have an additional option: stay. We will arrange suitable identities for you here, and those needing employment will receive a pretty decent job."

"I choose to leave." The first person that had spoken, the one with scales on their hands, said, "The environment here is too dire; I can't adapt to it."

They grabbed a nearby bottle, twisted off the cap, and poured it over their head as they spoke, "I prefer a moist environment..."

"Oh, don't worry about that; we can arrange that here as well. In fact, someone like you is quite welcomed." George's dog head showed a smile, resembling a smiling Shiba Inu. He typed something into a machine similar to a fax machine, then pulled out a few A4 papers and handed them to the man.

After the man finished reading, he fell silent, his hesitation indicating he was tempted.

Zheng Yichen's eyesight was good, and he caught a glimpse of some of the content on the papers. It seemed to be an ad for a marine-related job posting. Zheng Yichen also noticed that Dog Head George's attention was always focused on those who were clearly not ordinary humans; someone standardly human like himself was always overlooked.

"What kind of job would be arranged for someone like me if I chose to stay?" Zheng Yichen asked at that moment.

"That depends on your educational background and practical combat abilities."

In essence, humans with high education or exceptional combat abilities were easier to place, while the chances for average individuals were moderate at best.

"You all should seriously consider it; this rift is very stable and can last more than six hours. If you're tired, you can rest for a while."

"You can choose to go back now as well, but if you sneak back here later, you won't be sent here again."

Dog Head George did not mention the possibility of people deliberately staying in other worlds. The documents were clear: even if someone relies on their significant personal martial power to go to a world with lower levels of martial power, they might still be unable to do as they wished due to adaptability issues, or could even be killed and become research material for that world.

They were not responsible for individuals' choices, nor did they need to maintain peace in other worlds.

Zheng Yichen, having discovered a new world, would definitely choose to return.