"Zombies? Resurrection? What's going on?" the fisherman asked repeatedly, "Could it be that these natives have long been infected by the Lianqu phenomenon... The entire tribe is full of infected people?"

"The documents don't record anything; the survivors of that battle only remember continually shooting at those 'revived' natives. After being shot down, it didn't take long for them to rise again, like a bunch of monsters that can't be killed,"

"From a certain perspective, Lianqu really can cure all ailments." Sun Hang nodded, "Even the dead can be resurrected for you."

"The ammunition of the landing troops ran out quickly, and the captain in charge immediately decided to retreat," Shino continued narrating, "He planned to request a bombing, using napalm to burn everything on the island, along with the mysterious creatures, to ashes."

"Don't tell me those natives turned into charcoal and could still revive," the fisherman couldn't help but say, "That's simply beyond a medical miracle..."

"No... the situation at that time was far more bizarre than you imagined." Shino shook his head, "After submitting his report, the captain quickly faced questioning from his superiors. To them, it was unreasonable for those people to keep resurrecting after being killed time and again, even if they had become infected, turned into ghost skeletons, or transformed into mysterious creatures."

"Unwilling to believe, the superior immediately decided to conduct another reconnaissance of 'Pratangbuck' Island. This time, they dispatched two light gunboats—if the captain's description was accurate, heavy firepower would bombard the island in several rounds, turning those 'unkillable natives' into fragments."

"What was the result of the reconnaissance?"

"The superior officer let the gunboats sail to within a few nautical miles of Pratangbuck. Through his binoculars, he saw the tribal natives singing and dancing around bonfires and totems on the beach; the entire island showed no signs of battle as far as the eye could see. Even the chief's large grass hut, which the captain claimed had been blown up by grenades, remained intact."

"Huh?" The fisherman looked bewildered, "What's going on?"

"The captain was immediately questioned, but he continued to insist that he had battled with the natives on the island—even though he was shocked by the view through the binoculars. Not only him, but his soldiers also stood firm... The empty magazines they had, the bloodstains and burn marks on their uniforms, the wounds caused by arrows and spears on a few soldiers, all these were evidence of their past battles with the natives. They had no reason to lie, nor any need to lie."

"Could it be the hallucinogenic effect of Lianqu, making them mistakenly believe they fought with the natives?" Sun Hang hypothesized, "In fact, were the bloodstains and injuries inflicted by themselves?"

"The accompanying mysterious creature researchers initially thought the same, until that superior officer ordered a bombardment on the coast."

The fisherman froze slightly, "Wow, direct bombing?"

Shino nodded and continued: "The natives celebrating on the beach suffered heavy casualties... Later, they called for bombers, dropping hundreds of tons of napalm into the dense forest, burning the entire Pratangbuck Island to ashes."

"I reckon... that Lianqu might have been fine, right?" The fisherman glanced at the bud in the tunnel, "Otherwise, the Xiazhou Federation wouldn't have gotten hold of its meme."

"After the bombing ended, the two gunboats circled the island. After confirming that there were no survivors or suspected strange beings on this not-so-large island, they left... Until four years later."

"Four years later?"

"Four years later, the captain, who had been promoted to major, was passing through nearby waters on a mission. He suddenly decided to take a short detour past Pratangbuck Island, wanting to see what had become of the island that was burned to charcoal."

"However, the major was astounded to find that the island was covered with lush forests, as if that bombing had never occurred! Natives wearing clothes made of plant fibers and animal skins were dancing around bonfires and totems on the beach, the chief with white stripes painted on his face sat on a high seat, with that special incense burning slowly in a bone dish beside him..."

"This is... spooky?" The fisherman's mouth twitched slightly, "Weren't those people all dead? And now... revived again? Along with the island's forest?"

Not to mention whether those natives migrated from other islands, just the forest alone defied science.

Such a rainforest requires decades, if not hundreds of years, to mature. After napalm washed over the entire island, within just four years, it's impossible for a dense forest to grow again.

"In fact, Lianqu's ability is not 'resurrection', but 'reset'." Shino sighed, then continued, "Lianqu's flowering period occurs every four years. When it blooms, it 'records' everything around it, and at the next flowering, everything within its domain, including the natives, is reset to the state it was in at the previous flowering."

"Meaning within Lianqu's domain, four years is a cycle... Those natives will never die because they can return to the festival four years ago whenever Lianqu's buds bloom," Sun Hang said.

"Hiss... it sounds terrifying, it's even more despairing than being imprisoned... Aren't these people trapped in a four-year loop of life? That's too miserable... By the way, what happens if during these four years, someone is taken out of Lianqu's domain?" The fisherman asked.

"The kind of experiment you're talking about was done by mysterious creature scholars in Indonesia back then... It's just that Indonesia didn't hold out for four years before falling, and the experiment was taken over by the South Sea Mysterious Creature Research Institute of the Xiazhou Federation."

"And the result?"

"After four years, the three natives taken off the island vanished into thin air right in front of the researchers," Shino said, "It's a pity that by then Pratangbuck Island was already part of the Surrendered Area, so they couldn't go back to verify if those who disappeared were reset to the state four years prior."

"So... once recorded by Lianqu, you can never escape it?" The fisherman asked with a pale face.

Shino nodded.

"However, I'm rather curious about what this fellow recorded when it last bloomed." Sun Hang squatted down, cupping his chin and scrutinizing the vibrant bud in the tunnel.

Its petals had begun to separate, indicating it wouldn't be long before it would bloom.

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