Chapter 17 The Disconnection

Mu Wanqiu leaned on the combat pod and stood up, immediately delivering a slap.

A wisp of green smoke rose.

"I say, ancestor... why did you hit it?"

An exasperated voice sounded from the side. "This thing isn't cheap, one costs millions!"

"I'll pay for it if it's broken!"

Mu Wanqiu slowly turned her head, staring at the two spectators not far away, her gaze finally locking onto the floating Lu Zhe. She gritted her teeth and questioned, "Why did you cut the connection?!"

She was at a crucial moment in the fight, and suddenly the connection dropped!

Only her captain could do something like this!

Lu Zhe shrugged and spread his hands in one smooth motion, putting on an innocent expression, and giving an impeccable reason: "Zhongyuan and I didn't do anything. Just now, maybe... there was a power outage?"

Mu Wanqiu's mental power swept out.

She discovered that the power switch on the thirty-seventh floor had been turned off. Needless to say, this untraceable act was done by the captain.

"..."

She glared at Lu Zhe angrily, but said nothing.

On the other side, Gu Shen emerged from the combat pod. He looked at his opponent, Mu Wanqiu, the genius s-level member of the Northern Continent Investigation Corps. He hadn't expected that beneath her fierce and ruthless offensive style, she would be so pretty.

No wonder she was someone the Investigation Corps placed so much hope on.

This woman named Mu Wanqiu, like the Corps Commander... was a ruthless person with a gentle appearance.

"Little Gu, we meet again."

Zhongyuan walked forward with a smile. "I just saw the message you sent earlier... I thought you might be in the Source Armor combat pod on the thirty-seventh floor, so I brought Lu Zhe and Mu Wanqiu to find you."

So that was it...

That was why the combat link popped up.

Gu Shen smiled and said, "Greetings, Brother Lu, Miss Mu."

The man suspended in the air was truly special. Gu Shen noticed him the moment he disconnected from the combat pod.

This leader of the Investigation Corps' First Team had unfathomable mental power, like an abyss!

He was probably the strongest transcendent in the entire Corps, aside from Corps Commander Zi Yu... Lu Zhe brought Gu Shen an even stronger sense of power than Zhongyuan, despite both being at the "Eleventh Layer Perfection."

This was a monster among monsters!

"Little Gu, amazing, amazing." Lu Zhe smiled, without the slightest sense of oppression, and reached out to pat him from afar.

The clothes on Gu Shen's shoulder were smacked loudly.

He was stunned.

Was this... Lu Zhe's ability?

He didn't feel the spread of mental power, nor did anything fly over... Lu Zhe's palm seemed to penetrate the distance of these dozen meters, directly landing on his shoulder.

This guy... was a bit strange.

"Have you two finished?"

Mu Wanqiu said coldly, "If you're done, then don't stop me from continuing with Gu Shen... I haven't finished my fight with him yet."

She had already restored the power switch.

Tsk... this woman was also a battle maniac, which was a bit like Shen Li.

However, fighting Mu Wanqiu was much more challenging than fighting Shen Li... Gu Shen was also immersed in the tension and excitement brought by the recent battle. She was a powerful and respectable opponent.

He said with a smile, "Miss Mu wants to fight? I'm ready to accompany you anytime!"

If this fight could be finished, perhaps his mental power could increase, and he would be one step closer to breaking through the golden shackle!

However, Lu Zhe spoke up.

"You two... it's getting late today, why don't we put this duel on hold for now..."

The voice of the First Team Captain was as warm as a spring breeze.

But it was impossible to refuse.

He placed his hands on the shoulders of the two young people impartially, and said with a smile, "Oh... Xiao Qiu, your mental power still needs a lot of rest, it's not suitable for high-intensity duels. It's time to go back to your room and rest now."

After speaking, he looked at Gu Shen again. "Little Gu, Zhongyuan said earlier that he wanted to chat with you..."

Clearly, he was going to forcibly interrupt the duel.

The always stubborn Mu Wanqiu gradually calmed down after Lu Zhe held her shoulder.

She uttered a few words, then left without looking back.

"Next time."

Gu Shen looked at this eccentric woman, smiled, and didn't force it. "Alright, then we'll fight again another day."

Lu Zhe smiled and waved goodbye to Gu Shen and Zhongyuan.

Then he slowly floated forward, chasing after Mu Wanqiu.

...

...

Leaving the thirty-seventh floor, Gu Shen took Zhongyuan to his room.

"Mu Wanqiu suffered some 'mental trauma' in the Dolu River Disaster Zone." Zhongyuan said, "The Corps Commander ordered Lu Zhe to stay with her at all times to prevent accidents..."

"Accidents?"

"The higher the rating, the higher the risk. If an s-level ability goes out of control... the consequences are unimaginable." Zhongyuan glanced at Gu Shen. "You should know how powerful the flame between your eyebrows is, right?"

Gu Shen subconsciously touched between his eyebrows.

If the Blazing Fire went out of control...

He had seen that scene once in the "Cage of Specters." If it were to happen in the real world, the scene would be too beautiful to imagine.

Gu Shen smiled and said, "However, the probability of an s-level transcendent losing control is very low."

Transcendents of this level paid great attention to mental training!

Completing "Transcending the Realm" in the third stage was considered a necessary homework for s-level members.

"The Federal Security Committee has done a mental evaluation for Mu Wanqiu. Her score for mental stability is 96 points." Zhongyuan poured himself a cup of tea and sat on the sofa. "Being able to reach 80 points is a very high score. People who get a score of 96 points are basically impossible to 'lose control'."

Gu Shen nodded slowly.

The Federal Security Committee was a world organization established by the Council, spread across the five continents. It wasn't just in Nagano, but was independently established in each continent, with different people in charge. The president of the East Continent was Old Man Zhou Wei. Due to Nagano's special nature, the headquarters was also located in Snow Forbidden City.

He had also received a mental stability test from the Security Committee.

The test result was 99 points.

If he remembered correctly... Bai Xiu was 95 points.

Scores above 90 were all prodigy-level figures, and Mu Wanqiu of the Northern Continent scored 96 points, one point higher than Bai Xiu. Although this test only evaluated "mental stability" and had no other reference value, it could also be seen how powerful this Northern Continent s-level member was.

The road ahead was long!

Stability surpassed everything!

"How could such a person face the danger of losing control?" Gu Shen was a little puzzled.

"Mu Wanqiu experienced a special dream in the Dolu River Disaster Zone." Zhongyuan stared blankly into space and murmured softly, "That dream left a certain shadow on her, and her mental aura began to become unstable. That's why the Corps Commander asked Lu Zhe to stay close to her. At present, they don't know what she experienced..."

"Dolu River..."

Gu Shen's expression became solemn.

When Zhongyuan mentioned this word, his voice trembled slightly, which was a subconscious reaction of the body. Even this "Eleventh Layer Perfection" powerhouse felt fear in his heart?

And Zhongyuan's final words grouped the "Corps Commander" and "Lu Zhe" who had not entered the Dolu River into "they."

Instead of "us."

It could be seen that it wasn't just Mu Wanqiu who had shadows left in her heart.

Gu Shen vaguely guessed that Zhongyuan should have seen something in that river too.

"Don't think too much."

Gu Shen said softly, "The Disaster Zone has been conquered... The next restart mission will definitely be much easier. With the elite forces from the Northern Continent's border all here, we will definitely be able to sweep away the nightmare in your heart when we re-enter the Dolu River this time."

The blond man was stunned.

He laughed helplessly, covered his forehead with his hand, and said softly, "You saw it..."

"I'm not blind," Gu Shen took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "It seems that the Dolu River is really terrifying, even you are afraid. Actually, I'm very curious about what you and Mu Wanqiu saw, but it's just some curiosity. We'll have to enter the Disaster Zone sooner or later... If Brother Zhongyuan doesn't want to say it, it doesn't matter."

"No..."

Zhongyuan shook his head.

His voice was a little painful. "It's not that I don't want to say it... it's just... I can't say it."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, no longer interrupting, and waited quietly for what would follow.

"I only led the team into the Dolu River Disaster Zone after the official combat operation began. Before that, due to the rapid spread of mental toxins... many people had already died in the Disaster Zone."

"Thanks to the Corps Commander and General White Lizard's meticulous planning, after the main force entered, they crushed and eliminated those black holes with overwhelming force..."

"Originally, everything should have gone smoothly."

Zhongyuan murmured, "But when I led the team to find the upper reaches of the river... an accident happened."

Accident?

In an empty and silent Disaster Zone, what kind of accident could there be?

Gu Shen calmed down and held his breath.

"The upper reaches of this river were cut off by a snow mountain." Zhongyuan recalled the scene at the time. "I ordered the team to stand by in place, and I climbed the mountain alone... And several hours later, I came down from the mountain and returned to the original place."

"Returned to the original place, what does that mean?" Gu Shen couldn't help but ask.

"It's... the literal meaning."

Zhongyuan smiled self-deprecatingly. "I kept trudging forward, the wind and snow obscured my vision, and due to the 'river poison,' I couldn't use my mental power. And when I finally went down the mountain, what I saw wasn't the other end of the river's upper reaches, but my team members who had been waiting for me at the foot of the mountain..."

"At first, I didn't think there was anything wrong."

"But after the mission ended... I began to be plagued by nightmares."

Zhongyuan raised his head and stared at Gu Shen. "In the dream, I vaguely saw a huge mirror. That mountain was the mirror surface, and a voice told me... this is the fake world. In the real world, Zhongyuan disappeared. The members of the Second Team didn't wait for the captain's return and had already gone back."

Hearing this, Gu Shen suddenly felt horrified and a little cold in his back.

This dream was eerily real.

"I know... that dream is 'bewitchment.' I can distinguish between reality and dreams." Zhongyuan stretched out his palm, slowly clenched it, and smiled sarcastically, "But sometimes I wonder, can I really distinguish them?"

When they met at Gubao, Gu Shen felt that this Second Team Captain seemed unwilling to mention the "Dolu River Disaster Zone."

The Empress should have eliminated the river poison, so could this dream... also be a method left by the former Underworld King?

After thinking for a moment.

Gu Shen raised his head and said solemnly, "Brother Zhongyuan, perhaps I can help you. Would you mind if I enter your dream and take a look?"