"Where were the missing guests taken? Take us there!" Wen Yao grabbed the collar of the man in black and demanded.
The man in black shook his head in a pleading manner, saying, "We don't know about that. I only know they didn't return to Hua Country."
It was certain that they didn't return to Hua Country, otherwise, after so long, the missing guests from previous seasons would have been discovered by now. Nowadays, netizens and media professionals had the skills to dig out every detail, even if it meant digging deep into the ground.
The situation had developed to such an extent that it was impossible for Wen Yao to continue filming on the deserted island. She just wanted to figure out what was really going on.
What illicit dealings did the producers have?
But what followed might be extremely dangerous. Wen Yao looked up at Luyunxi, questioning her with her eyes.
The two had spent so long on the deserted island that they had developed a lot of rapport.
So when Luyunxi caught Wen Yao's gaze, she immediately understood. Without any hesitation, she replied, "No matter what, we'll face it together."
For Luyunxi, of course, she was afraid of the unknown, but she had no way out now.
As far as the audience was concerned, she was already "dead". So, even if she didn't go with Wen Yao to face the ordeal, the outcome wouldn't be much better. Either she would be taken away by the show's team again, or the show's team would let her fend for herself on the deserted island. Even if she survived until the end, the show's team wouldn't let her leave the deserted island.
Since the outcome was the same, she would rather uncover the truth and die with clarity. Wen Yao nodded in agreement, giving Luyunxi a determined look, then lifted the man in black and said, "Lead the way."
Several men in black came on foot to carry the man, indicating that they had backup nearby.
Sure enough, under the guidance of the man in black, they arrived at a relatively open area after about twenty minutes, where they found two helicopters in the air.
Wen Yao asked, "How do we get on the helicopter?"
Although this place was relatively open compared to other dense jungles, it wasn't feasible for a helicopter to land. Now, the men in black were scared of Wen Yao's fists, so they didn't dare to conceal anything from her. They admitted, "A button was concealed under the third button of my shirt. If you press it, they will receive a notification, and then a helicopter will drop a basket."
Wen Yao quickly pressed the third button as the man in black had said, then looked up at the sky.
Sure enough, the two helicopters started descending. When they were just a few dozen meters from the ground, the bottom of the helicopters opened, and a folded metal frame began to extend towards the ground.
As the metal frame extended and unfolded, it gradually turned into a bed the size of a double bed, with a metal basket about one meter high on the side.
The metal basket quickly reached the ground. Wen Yao had two of the men in black stand on it. After confirming that the metal frame was safe, she and Lu Yunxi stood on it, and then let the other two men in black stand at the bottom.
After the people were in place, Wen Yao pressed the button again, and the helicopter quickly retrieved the metal frame. Soon they boarded the helicopter.
Wen Yao remained vigilant, afraid that the people inside the cabin would attack them when they boarded the plane. However, in fact, there was no one inside the cabin except for the pilot and copilot.
The pilot and copilot, on seeing Wen Yao and Lu Yunxi, showed no surprise, as they had already received orders to bring the two back to the base.
The pilot immediately adjusted the flight direction and headed towards their destination.
As Wen Yao kept her guard up, she also observed the situation on the plane.
She found that this helicopter was completely different from the ones she had taken before. It was obviously more advanced in its internal structure and equipped with a lot of medical equipment.
Obviously, this aircraft was used by the program team to transport wounded.
But to where would these wounded be transported?
Wen Yao and Lu Yunxi held hands tightly, completely unsure what they would face next, but they couldn't turn back once the arrow was released.
The helicopter flew for about three hours before starting to land.
Wen Yao observed the scenery outside the window and realized by the exotic architectural style that they were definitely not in China's territory.
Lu Yunxi read the few signs in a foreign language and determined they were in German.
English is a global language, but German is not, so this country should be using German.
"So are we in Germany?" Wen Yao was not familiar with the geography of this world.
Lu Yunxi shook her head, "German is not only the official language of Germany, but also of Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and other countries, so I can't be sure where we are."
This place is too remote, with only this one runway and building nearby, and no iconic buildings or signs representing countries, not at all.
Faced with this unfamiliar environment, Wen Yao suddenly felt like a warrior going to battle.
Back in the day, she had led her soldiers to the border to conquer those foreign countries that invaded Daxing's territory.
She thought that in this so-called peaceful era, she would never have such a feeling again.
Yet it had quickly reappeared, except this time she had no soldiers, only herself going to wage a war without gunpowder.
As the plane landed, Wen Yao took a deep breath and raised her vigilance to the highest level.
But when she stepped out of the plane, she saw two very warm smiles, both familiar faces.
Zhou Zhen, the chief director of the program team, and Liu Ya, the program coordinator.
"Yao Yao, Yunxi, welcome to the headquarters of the 'Deserted Island Survival' program team."
Wen Yao had imagined millions of scenes in her mind, but she had never thought of this one.
Of course, if they were pretending to be innocent, there was no need for her to rush to expose them. If they angered the other party and caused them to immediately start a fight, it would not benefit them in any way, and they might not be able to find out anything useful at all.
She gently squeezed Lu Yunxi's hand to signal her not to act rashly, then looked at the several men in black and said to Zhou Zhen, "Director Zhou, after so long, what do you have up your sleeve?"
Wen Yao's tone was mixed with many emotions, but her hostility and anger were kept to a minimum.
After hearing this, Zhou Zhen recalled Tang Bureau's instructions over the phone today, telling him to downplay major matters and trivialize minor ones, and to not cause trouble if they could avoid it.
Although Wen Yao was just a small entertainer, Ruihan Entertainment seemed to attach special importance to her, so if Wen Yao could avoid stirring up trouble, it would be for the best. Otherwise, if they offended the head of the Han Group, they wouldn't be able to handle the consequences.
If this matter were exposed, everyone would be finished, and they would be in deep trouble.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhen smiled, "Yao Yao, it's a misunderstanding, all really just a misunderstanding!"
"This airport can't be stayed at for long, it's too dangerous with the helicopter traffic. I'll take you to the headquarters to rest for a while."
"You must have suffered these days, I see you've been going hungry and eating well on the island. I'll have them prepare some food, and we can explain while we eat later."
Zhou Zhen looked at Wen Yao, his eyes narrowed into thin slits as he spoke sentence after sentence, not giving Wen Yao a chance to speak at all.
Wen Yao listened to Zhou Zhen's words and didn't believe a single word, but she didn't refute him. She listened while also carefully noting the surroundings.
They walked from the runway into the building, and then turned right into the elevator.
This was an eight-story building, rented temporarily by the program team as a base for shooting Deserted Island Survival. Despite being a three-hour flight from the deserted island, this was already the closest country to the deserted island.
"So where are we?"
Zhou Zhen smiled and replied, "On the border of Switzerland."
Wen Yao nodded and looked at the buttons in the elevator. It was clearly an eight-story building, but the buttons for the seventh and eighth floors were sealed.
A higher floor would definitely require an elevator. At that moment, Wen Yao thought that there could be a problem on the seventh or eighth floor, but she didn't show it on her face, and instead followed Zhou Zhen to the fourth floor.
Wen Yao was carefully observing the environment all the way, but what she saw was not much different from the office buildings in China.
As Zhou Zhen briefly introduced the surroundings, he led Wen Yao to the end of the fourth floor where a corridor led to another building at the back.
"The other building at the end is where everyone stays. I'll take you to your room to wash up and change clothes first. When the meals are ready, I'll let you know."
Wen Yao replied with an "okay". She seemed to have let down her guard, but in fact, she was even more alert than before.
Zhou Zhen arranged a room for the two people similar to the hotel room, and after entering, Wen Yao first checked for safety issues before feeling a bit more relieved once she confirmed that there were no problems.
After Wen Yao and Lu Yunxi finished washing up, Zhou Zhen came to inform them to go for a meal.
Inside the basic employee cafeteria, there were no others besides the three of them. After sitting down, Wen Yao patted the dagger strapped to her waist and looked towards Zhou Zhen.
Zhou Zhen warmly said, "Yao Yao, Yunxi, it's difficult to buy certain Chinese seasonings and ingredients here, so we can only keep it simple. Please don't mind."
"No problem," Wen Yao glanced at the flavorful dishes and did not pick up her chopsticks.
She directly asked, "Director Zhou, those four men in black really scared us, so we are very curious about the truth of the matter. Please tell us first, or else we won't dare to eat this meal."
She wanted to hear how Zhou Zhen would explain.
Zhou Zhen was taken aback at her words, then quickly put on a smile and said, "Well, since you two have discovered some clues, I can't hide it from you any longer."
"Yao Yao, as someone from the industry, you should understand the situation in China. Even slightly sensitive topics can't be aired, let alone real deaths."
"So what?"
"So, the existence of the mortality rate is just a gimmick to attract viewers. The 'deceased' guests have all been rescued by our program team. Otherwise, do you think our show could pass the regulations?"
"What about the people themselves?"
"In order to prevent them from being discovered by the domestic media, after the program team saved these guests, they signed an agreement with them. We will give them another sum of money and let them live abroad."
Wen Yao knit her brows and remained silent.
Observing Wen Yao's expression, Zhou Zhen continued, "Yao Yao, are you most curious about what the men in black injected into the seriously ill guests?"
Wen Yao did not deny it.
"In fact, it's a new type of vaccine imported from the United States, which has the function of stabilizing injuries and controlling the spread of toxins. They injected this to the guests in order to buy time for rescue."
"Really?" Lu Yunxi asked wide-eyed.
"Absolutely, we can't joke around with people's lives."
Zhou Zhen's tone was very affirmative, but Wen Yao thought back to the scene at the time. She could be certain that whatever was injected into the guests was definitely not something good.