Lu Zhe blinked, subconsciously hiding the momentary surprise.

He couldn't figure out how his flawless acting and seamless explanations...

...had been seen through.

But these disguises were unnecessary. As the chief commander, Osmond only cared about Lu Zhe's report. After issuing orders, he didn't even bother to look at him.

He waved his hand, "Stop acting and get lost. Bring the person back safe and sound, and we'll pretend nothing happened... otherwise, I'll report your allowing Mu Wanqiu to act without restraint to the Legion Commander."

"Yes!"

Lu Zhe immediately composed himself, stood at attention, saluted, and then quickly took off.

Leaving the airship.

Lu Zhe asked, puzzled, "Xiao Zhong, what part of my acting was bad?"

Zhong Yuan silently looked at him.

"Every time I see you... I can't help but marvel at how fair the Creator is." Zhong Yuan held up a finger and said seriously, "Captain Lu, although you're invincible in a one-on-one fight, there are some things you're really not good at, like lying."

Lu Zhe: "..."

He scratched his head.

"After bringing Mu Wanqiu back, don't even think about falsifying the case files." Zhong Yuan kindly reminded, "After all, she's like you, someone who will never lie. If you two occasionally overstep the rules once in a while, the Legion Commander won't mind."

Lu Zhe opened his mouth, hesitating.

This was all different from what he had imagined.

Mu Wanqiu's mental state wasn't good after leaving the Dolu River Disaster Zone... this even alarmed the Legion Commander, who specially sent him to keep a close eye on her. Of course, Lu Zhe was always concerned about his favorite team member. He thought that the disappearance of his S-rank subordinate would attract strong attention from Lord Osmond, and even affect the entire Reboot Mission.

So when he released Xiao Qiu in the mountains, he was torn by a difficult choice.

It wasn't that he was afraid of facing internal punishment for letting Xiao Qiu go.

But he was worried that Mu Wanqiu's departure would have an unpredictable impact on the entire mission... after all, nearly a hundred transcendents had put their heart and soul into this mission.

Now it seemed he had completely overthought it.

After his report, the chief commander, Osmond, didn't even ask a detailed question... even Lieutenant Lin Lin didn't say much.

They just told him to set off and bring her back.

"I know what you're thinking."

Before parting, Zhong Yuan patted the captain's shoulder and said softly, "It's not that we're not worried about Mu Wanqiu... but we trust you too much."

Lu Zhe was stunned. Zhong Yuan's words awakened him.

So that's how it was...

Lord Osmond didn't say a word because he felt that entrusting the task to him would definitely be foolproof.

Setting off and bringing the person back was the obvious thing to do.

"After all, you're the captain of the Investigation Corps' First Team, with a 100% mission success rate." Zhong Yuan smiled gently, "I've already sent you the precautions for Black Snow Mountain... remember to check your mental sea, and then, take a look at the scenery on the other side of the mountain for me."

For him, returning to Black Snow Mountain was not just to rescue Gu Shen and arrest Meng Xiao.

It was also a kind of "wish."

Whether it was Mirror Dream or Black Snow, they were just newly unfolding unknowns to the Investigation Corps, which would be explored and understood sooner or later... Zhong Yuan had recommended himself before because, in his opinion, no one was more suitable for this kind of thing than himself.

Of course.

Except for Lu Zhe.

Since this guy was taking action, there was no need for him to go to Black Snow Mountain.

If it was said that the stronger someone was, the more qualified they were to see the end of the "Black River," then the person in the Reboot Mission who was most qualified to cross Black Snow Mountain and continue forward was Lu Zhe.

If Lu Zhe couldn't do it, then he certainly couldn't do it either.

...

...

After the pillar of light disappeared, the entire Dolu River Disaster Zone seemed to fall into silence.

But this didn't feel abnormal.

Because this vast Black River had been desolate for years... From this perspective, the North Continent transcendents and these source energy airships that had descended here were uninvited guests who broke the "peace."

Dozens, hundreds of people, no matter how much noise they made, couldn't stir up too much turbulence on this Black River.

Of course.

There wasn't much turbulence under the Black River either.

Gu Shen was moving forward at full speed at the bottom of the Styx. The tail of the exoskeleton mobility device spewed out black flames, and the momentum of the spewing visibly decreased, indicating that his source armor's energy was almost exhausted...

The distance traveled had far exceeded the original plan.

But at this moment, Gu Shen had to speed up, faster than before!

Because the sense of crisis coming from the cross pendant was getting stronger and stronger.

The devil in the ruler also issued teasing reminders from time to time.

"Five thousand meters."

"Three thousand meters."

Meng Xiao was right behind him...

Although he didn't know how the Light City's Blessed Son did it, Meng Xiao's speed of advance in this Black River was unbelievably fast... It should be known that this was the River Styx! No matter what level of transcendent entered the river, they would immediately be attacked by mental toxins!

"Is it that Moon-Suppressing Robe?"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

Recalling the scene of the confrontation on Snow Mountain, the robe on Meng Xiao's body was indeed a holy object of extremely high grade. It was very likely that it had been personally blessed by the Light Throne, which could help him resist the River Styx's "river poison." This was reasonable.

After all, Light City was obviously well-prepared for this mission!

This was not good news.

No matter how fast he was, he couldn't widen the distance between them—

Dozens of seconds later, the sense of vigilance transmitted by the cross pendant was already approaching his back.

He was about to reach the "light spot."

Meng Xiao was about to catch up with him.

"Hoo..."

At this moment, Gu Shen took a deep breath. He made a decision: to shake off Meng Xiao first, and then set off to the place guided by the devil... This guy must have some means to completely lock onto him.

Once he went to the location of the "light spot," it was very likely that he would bring Meng Xiao with him!

At this moment, he suddenly changed direction!

...

...

In the dark River Styx, Meng Xiao was surrounded by dazzling light.

In this extremely dark riverbed, he was like a small sun.

The luminous aura emitted by the Moon-Suppressing Robe was constantly evaporating, burning the sinister toxins in this riverbed... He had long known the power of the Dolu River poison. Naturally, he had to be fully prepared when he arrived at the disaster zone this time.

Meng Xiao's biggest trump card was certainly not the North Continent Empress.

It was the Light Throne!

At this moment, the luminous aura surrounding the Moon-Suppressing Robe was burning fiercely, constantly burning the Dolu River poison gathered from all directions, and the effect was excellent... Meng Xiao could even feel that the "dark power" contained in the Black River water was completely countered by his light blessing!

Light and darkness were like water and fire.

Success or failure depended on who was stronger.

Originally, Meng Xiao was a little worried that he would encounter an irresistible attack when he stepped into the Black River... At this moment, he was completely relieved. Although the mental toxins in the Black River were huge in number, they were soulless objects. They rushed up indiscriminately, and he could completely stop them with this Moon-Suppressing Robe.

The bracelet's Calamity Divination helped him firmly lock onto Gu Shen.

The moment he stepped into the Black River, Meng Xiao completely abandoned his source armor, used [Oborozuki] to protect his body, and crossed the riverbed with just a robe!

The distance between him and Gu Shen was getting closer and closer.

But the doubts in Meng Xiao's heart were getting deeper and deeper.

Gu Shen's escape speed was faster than he had imagined!

The moment he entered the river, Meng Xiao had moved forward at full speed, but for a while, he hadn't caught up... In this damn place, he could use the light blessing to resist the Dolu River poison because he possessed the "Moon-Suppressing Robe"!

Was Gu Shen not affected by the river poison?

Most importantly, the direction of Gu Shen's escape seemed very stable!

Could this kid be able to see in the Dolu Riverbed? Or did he have his own "destination"?

The moment the Light Throne's descent failed, Meng Xiao had already confirmed... This disaster zone had inextricable connections with the King of the Underworld, and at this moment, he had an even bolder idea in his heart.

Could Gu Shen also be related to the King of the Underworld?

If so... then the bracelet's reminder and the picture of the Calamity Divination could be explained!

Thinking of this, Meng Xiao's expression became even more gloomy, and he sped up again.

The wisp of aura he had locked onto suddenly turned at this moment.

"Did he sense me?"

Meng Xiao narrowed his eyes, "Want to escape? It's not that simple!"

He was ordered by the Light Throne to enter the river to explore the connection between the King of the Underworld and the Dolu River...

Now his intuition told him that what he was exploring, those mists involving the King of the Underworld, were all related to Gu Shen!

The Moon-Suppressing Robe roared.

Meng Xiao turned into a meteor and sped across the Black Riverbed... However, to his surprise, after making a huge turn, Gu Shen stopped moving, but quietly suspended himself on the Black Riverbed, just waiting for his "arrival."

Countless flames were burning in the dark river water.

Meng Xiao suddenly stopped.

The magnificent light emitted by the Moon-Suppressing Robe slowly converged and no longer spread out with all its might.

He looked expressionlessly at the young man from the Eastern Continent who was waiting for his arrival.

The sound of "crackling" breaking came from Gu Shen's body. He reached out and patted his shoulder, as if dusting off dust, and shattered the source armor that had been eroded by the Dolu River to the point of being completely broken...

Like Meng Xiao, he also took off his source armor.

In land battles, source armor could play a certain auxiliary role.

But here.

Source armor was just a burden.

Meng Xiao couldn't help but sneer at the young man's action of removing his armor.

He clenched his fist slightly, and countless rays of light burst out from between his palms and fingers, vaguely encompassing the river water within a hundred meters. These dark lights seemed to turn into a huge sphere, enveloping Gu Shen.

Gu Shen looked at the dark lights flying all over the sky. Even without direct contact, the Netherfire still felt apprehensive.

This wisp of blessing from the Light Throne was too powerful.

He was a major realm away from Meng Xiao.

Unless he could complete the unprecedented third breakthrough...

Otherwise, there was no way to fight this battle.

However, Gu Shen still wanted to try. He wore the ghost mask, and a wisp of pale ghost fire slowly burned between his eyebrows.

Meng Xiao looked at the young man in front of him as if he were looking at a corpse.

He asked indifferently, "Gu Shen, jumping into the Black River to escape was originally a commendable act of courage, but it's too stupid to stop escaping halfway... Are you not afraid of death?"

Gu Shen smiled silently in his heart.

Asking the King of the Underworld if he was afraid of death.

This was a very funny question.

"What about you?"

Gu Shen spoke softly, asking word by word, "Are you not afraid of death?"

...

...

(There will be a big chapter updated around 12 noon tomorrow.)

(End of this chapter)