"I've finally found you guys. Thank God!" Gaia said joyfully.
"Where did you go? We've been looking all over for you." Millie quickly stood forward, her words shifting the blame towards him.
"Just now, the area was suddenly shrouded with fog. As I was walking, I realized that you guys had disappeared. The communication device had also malfunctioned." Gaia said while taking out his phone. It was displaying a zero-bar signal.
"We also faced this problem. The fog in the area also felt suspicious." Millie nodded.
Without any warning, the fog had suddenly appeared and only dissipated after more than two hours.
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"Are you okay?" Chris asked Gaia once Millie finished talking with him.
Gaia felt a little weirded out. The leader of the expedition team - professor Chris - was the one who was the most worried about his wellbeing, whereas his girlfriend was the one worrying that his actions would delay the expedition's progress.
Gaia nodded. With that, Chris finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"As long as you're safe. Go ahead and change your clothes. We'll wait for you. Don't worry."
Gaia was currently covered in mud and dust, and he had even lost one of his shoes. He was in a pathetic state.
Additionally, there was a huge ten-centimeter-long gash on his back.
This was caused by the bone arrows shot by the goblins.
Although the wound was not too deep, who knew if those disgusting goblins had smeared anything strange on their bone arrows.
"Professor Chris, I might need to go back. The wound on my back needs to be treated," Gaia said.
"But our expedition is still ongoing. Can't you just endure it?" Millie looked at Gaia with a frustrated look.
"I'm sorry." Gaia frowned.
"Gaia, you barely got scratched. Stop being a drama queen!"
Herman walked over and jeered at the injured Gaia as he looked at the wound.
"That's right, Gaia. Right now, our communication devices aren't working, so it's not like we can actually call for help. If you want to go back, the entire expedition team would have to accompany you back." Hearing Herman's words, Millie persuaded Gaia once more.
"Okay, then can you guys at least accompany me to our last campsite to get some medical supplies?" Gaia asked again.
Herman said unhappily, "The last campsite was several kilometers away from us. If we keep going back and forth, the sun will have already set before we can even reach the next campsite. Hell no!"
Millie also nodded.
"Professor Chris, what do you think?" Seeing Millie's reaction, Gaia had completely lost hope in her. He turned his head and asked the leader, Professor Chris.
"Gaia is also a member of our team. We are a team. We can't just ignore his situation." As soon as Chris said that, Gaia knew that the professor was on his side.
"Professor!" Millie stomped her feet.
"Professor Chris, why don't we let Millie stay here to accompany her boyfriend? We have to continue moving." Herman sneered before proceeding on his own.
The other two male students looked at Gaia with disdain. They cursed at him under their breath and followed Herman.
Seeing this, Millie also followed the group without so much as another word to Gaia.
In the dilemma between love and career, Millie chose to sacrifice love without any hesitation.
This expedition related to her graduation thesis. Although Gaia was handsome, his family did not have money. He could not give her what she wanted.
Professor Chris looked at Gaia hesitantly. Gaia immediately understood and nodded.
Only then did professor Chris make his move.
"Oh well, not that I didn't warn them." Gaia shook his head slightly as he swiped the dust off his clothes and followed suit.
After walking for 300 meters, the expedition team arrived at their next destination.
It was the ruins of a temple.
As soon as they walked into the temple, both professor Chris and the other members of the expedition team were stunned by what they saw. In front of them was a grand-looking altar with the huge stone door on top of it that was emitting swirling rays of blue light.
Unlike the others, professor Chris's gaze was focused on the stone tablet on the stone door.
On the tablet were what looked like words that seemed illegible to the layperson.
Seeing these words, Chris could not help but walk forward. He stared at the stone tablet in a daze and muttered.
"The Legend of the Family is true! So the Stairway to Heaven really did exists."
The other people's faces were filled with shock and jubilation.
With this discovery, they could already imagine the wealth and fame that would follow.
The few of them suddenly remembered Gaia's strange behavior earlier. They guessed that Gaia was afraid that they would discover this, thinking that he wanted to take all the credit.
When they turned around, they saw Gaia following right behind them.
"Didn't you want to go back due to your injury? Then, the discoveries of the expedition team now have nothing to do with you," Herman said mockingly.
"That's right, the credit for this discovery is all ours now." Another boy nodded.
In the face of such a huge discovery, these people had thrown all their relationships and moral ethicality out the window.
Moreover, Gaia was the one who said that he wanted to go back in the first place. It was not like they forced him to do so.
"Do you regret it, Gaia? You were so close to greatness, but now you've lost it all," Herman said with delight.
Seeing that Gaia lose out on such a big discovery, he could not be happier.
"I don't regret it, it has nothing to do with you guys after all." Gaia shook his head and turn around to leave.
After taking two steps, he suddenly turned around once more. "I suggest you stay where you are and don't move, or you might regret it."
Gaia had already heard the sounds of the helicopters whirring in the distance. That was enough to give him some confidence.
"Have you gone mad?" Herman said in anger. He looked at Gaia as if he was looking at a crazy person.
The other two expedition members also showed intense levels of hostility in their eyes.
Gaia said calmly, "I have already reported this discovery to the Federation. They are sending troops to this location as we speak."
"What the f*ck is wrong with you?" Herman screamed out in rage, so much so that the veins on his neck started to pop.
"If you don't want to make money, then f*ck off and leave us be! Why did you have to go report this to the government like an idiot? Is there even any benefit to you for doing this?"
"Herman, Gaia is definitely trying to trick us. Our communication devices have no signal here, right?" One of the boys pointed out.
Gaia looked at the boy in surprise. He didn't expect this guy to have such a level-headed mind in the face of such a huge revelation. The kid immediately found the "flaw" in his statement.
"Oh yeah! There's no signal here!" Herman said happily.
"Haven't you heard of satellite phones?" Gaia replied indifferently.