The king, seeing Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian preparing to leave, became very nervous. He wanted to detain them, but they completely ignored him.
Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian left the palace and rushed to Yao and Dai Xiaomei.
"Are you two alright? What happened? Why did you suddenly call us back in such a hurry?"
Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian were also very anxious. Seeing Yao, Dai Xiaomei, and Gun Gun in front of them, they finally felt a little relieved.
"Where have you been? We just received a piece of news and urgently had you come back because we missed something important."
Upon hearing Yao's words, Jiang Fan found it utterly baffling.
"What's going on? Tell us quickly, what happened? We were almost at the exit, right in front of it. We can go back together now."
As Jiang Fan finished speaking, a child beside them quickly shook their head.
"Impossible. Not a word I said was a lie. No one can get out of here, let alone the trouble you've stirred up now."
"While it's highly probable the king didn't kill you, he absolutely wouldn't let you go. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come back like this."
Hearing this, Jiang Fan was very incredulous. The king had just given him the core, the most crucial item, so why wouldn't he let them leave?
"Is this the core?"
Without hesitation, Jiang Fan took out the bead from behind him. Upon seeing it, the child was instantly startled and retreated a few steps with their companions.
"What's wrong? Tell us why you're so afraid of this thing."
Hearing this, the child signaled Jiang Fan to discard the item immediately.
"That thing isn't a bead, nor is it a core. It's a bomb."
Jiang Fan was completely dumbfounded. He never expected such a sophisticated-looking object to be a bomb. However, this explanation made a lot more sense.
If it wasn't a bomb, why was it so intricate inside?
Jiang Fan set it aside and immediately went to the child's side.
"What's going on? Why is this happening? Your king clearly told me this was a core. Why did he lie to us?"
Hearing this, the child lowered their head again.
"I've already told your companion. If you want to hear it again, I don't mind repeating myself."
"Let me tell you, this world is a world of the dead. Living people cannot enter or leave here unless through special means. Since you could enter, you definitely cannot leave alive."
"Unless you all die, trying to get out of here is simply wishful thinking."
"Perhaps that core can save you, but getting out of here easily is absolutely impossible."
Jiang Fan was utterly bewildered by the child's words.
Yao also nodded in agreement, indicating that it was precisely after hearing this news that he had urgently called Jiang Fan back.
"So, you called us back because of this news?"
Yao nodded vigorously.
"That's right. It was because of this news that we called you back. I was afraid you might be threatened or deceived in the palace, which is why we were so anxious."
"It's a relief to see you and Zhou Niannian back. We are finally at ease."
Zhou Niannian still looked shaken as she spoke to Jiang Fan.
"Fortunately, we didn't take that thing with us earlier, or all of us would likely be dead by now."
"He probably intended to trick us into taking the item out and then kill all the creatures in Atlantis."
Hearing this, Jiang Fan hesitated for a long time. Everyone's lives had been on the brink of disappearing at that very moment.
Fortunately, Yao reacted in time and deployed his flashbang. Although it was very dangerous, Jiang Fan arrived immediately.
This prevented tragedy and allowed Jiang Fan and the others to survive.
"It's fine. At least no one is injured now. If anyone had been hurt, I wouldn't know how to explain it."
Jiang Fan had nearly caused the death of everyone. Fortunately, Yao had called him back, and Jiang Fan was extremely grateful.
"In that case, we won't worry about anything else. It's good enough that we're alive."
Yao nodded at Jiang Fan's words. Dai Xiaomei quickly interjected.
"What about this child now? And according to what you said, you two should have died long ago, right?"
The child and their companion nodded quickly and then said.
"Yes, just as you imagine. We are no longer normal living people. We are merely residual souls of the long-dead, lingering in the Huakaluo world."
"The way we looked before we died wasn't so tragic, so our appearance after death isn't so unsightly."
"As for retrieving things, they weren't as fortunate. Most of their bodies had already rotted before they were found."
"That's why you see their bodies pieced together from so many parts."
This explanation was clearly completely different from what the king had said, and the probability of the king deceiving him was even greater.
Jiang Fan was furious. If he were to see the king again, he would undoubtedly kill him without hesitation.
"What do we do now? We can't stay here forever. Staying here is no different from being dead. After all, this is a spiritual world. How can we remain here indefinitely?"