"Yes."

The seven spoke in unison, a strange mental link forming between them.

A perfect, closed loop.

This link was more refined, more stable, and more powerful than the Eye of Origin… and the medium that formed the link wasn't one person's super-powered ability, but the large robe they were all wearing!

The robe with the 'Town Moon' pattern engraved on it!

"Sir… is what General White Lizard said true?"

One of them spoke cautiously after a moment of thought.

He was a follower of Duke Zhen Yue in Light City, and had traveled all the way to Central City because of the reboot mission.

According to intelligence from Light City...

The Doru River Disaster Zone had no end... Before the Northern Continent military had completely taken over this disaster zone, the first batch of extraordinary individuals to enter the zone included believers of the Light Throne. At the time, this believer risked his life to find the 'door' of the disaster zone for Light City, and so he traveled along the main branch of the Black River.

The final result… was that the believer returned his soul to the Light.

And the intelligence that returned to 'Light' along with his soul was that the Black River had no end.

This Black River was blocked by a huge snow mountain!

But General White Lizard said that he saw a stone tablet and ancient writing at the end of the Black River!

Putting these two pieces of intelligence together attracted the attention of Light City... And so, Zhen Yue's trip came to be.

As the newly appointed Duke of the Northern Continent, it was only right for him to participate in this mission, especially since he had brought followers from Light City. With such assistance, the Northern Continent had no reason to refuse!

"We will know the answer when we cross that mountain."

Meng Xiao gazed into the distance and said in a steady voice, "However, with General White Lizard's reputation, why would he fabricate such a message out of thin air?"

"Sir…"

Ba Kui, who was following beside him, asked in a low voice, "After we enter the 'Disconnection Zone', can we make our move?"

"That snow mountain is quite extraordinary."

Meng Xiao narrowed his eyes and said expressionlessly, "After entering, don't rush to find people. First, find the correct path through this snow mountain. When the time is right, I will lock onto Gu Shen's location... All of you, do not let your guard down. If you die in the snow mountain, I won't have time to collect your corpses."

Ba Kui scratched his head.

He said seriously, "If we are going to make a move… Zhong Yuan's team is a force to be reckoned with."

Ba Kui paused, hesitated slightly, and said, "That blond guy is really strong."

Meng Xiao said two words coldly.

"Idiot."

Ba Kui was stunned and felt a little wronged, wondering what was wrong with what he had just said.

…

…

"Lord Osmond, we are approaching Black Mountain and will soon enter the 'Disconnection Zone'."

Zhong Yuan successfully established a mental link with the control room.

On the screen, the old man and the young man sitting in the control room did not look relaxed.

From Osmond's eyes, Zhong Yuan vaguely sensed something was wrong, "Lord?"

"Captain Zhong Yuan, I have some bad news to tell you."

Lin Lin spoke for Osmond, saying, "There may be unknown 'extraordinary beings' in the Doru River Disaster Zone... Other teams discovered long-buried, damaged skeletons downstream of the river branches."

"?!"

Everyone on the team could hear the mental link with the control room!

After a moment of surprise, everyone's expression became heavy.

"What?"

Zhong Yuan frowned and said, "But I haven't sensed any living presence along the way."

As he said this, he looked at Gu Shen.

Gu Shen's Blazing Fire had also been probing.

Gu Shen met Zhong Yuan's gaze and slowly shook his head... This news also took him by surprise. The Blazing Fire spread around the 'Black River', and although there was only a wisp, the range of perception was quite large, and he hadn't sensed even a trace of life!

"You need to be careful…"

Lin Lin solemnly reminded, "It may be that the dead silence of the main river is too strong, and no living beings can survive, but in any case, you must be careful."

"Received."

Zhong Yuan's expression was solemn, and he reacted extremely quickly, realizing something deeper after hearing the news—

If there really were living beings!

Then why didn't the Allied Forces discover anything during the first subjugation mission?

They… were very likely hiding!

In that case, it wasn't just a simple 'extraordinary being'. These things living in the Doru River Disaster Zone might also have their own intelligence!

Knowing how to hide meant they must also know how to attack!

"Oh… there's one more thing."

Lin Lin lowered his voice and said, "Gu Shen, you need to be careful. You're about to enter the 'Disconnection Zone'. In addition to the possible 'extraordinary beings', you also need to beware of those guys following behind you."

Lin Lin knew that it was impossible for Gu Shen not to have noticed.

"Thanks for the reminder."

Gu Shen said seriously, "I will come back alive."

"Not only must you come back alive… but you must also come back unscathed." Lin Lin said quietly, "You are a distinguished guest invited back by Her Majesty the Queen. As the host of the Northern Continent, I hope that after the mission is over, I can safely send you back to Nagano."

Gu Shen smiled brightly.

A rustling cold wind blew past, and gray fine snow drifted with a gust of mist. The already unstable mental link was cut off, and the two young people on either side of the screen, separated by several miles and looking at each other, were forced to end the conversation before they could say more.

Zhong Yuan put away the communicator and let out a breath of stale air.

He looked at Black Mountain in the distance, and the hallucination of 'severance' in his mind began to emerge.

It was a scene he had dreamed of more than once.

"Let's go, everyone."

The blond man said, holding his breath, his voice low, "This time, follow me up the mountain and see what's on the other side…"

Control room.

After Lin Lin's mental link was cut off, he felt quite uneasy.

All the teams had basically been notified once... Except for Zhong Yuan's team, which had been traveling on the main river and had not discovered any so-called "skeletons", the other teams had more or less noticed traces of living beings having been active!

Now, all he could do was wait!

Osmond looked much calmer after completing the intelligence mission of communication.

He held a cup of hot tea and said calmly, "Little Lin, have all the teams been notified?"

"Yes, sir."

Lin Lin came back to his senses, "There is only one team that is the exception… that team disconnected the mental link in advance, and the control room cannot establish a communication platform with them."

Needless to say, he knew which team it was.

Osmond smiled.

A deep smile appeared in his only remaining eye, and he asked with a hint of irony, "What should we do? Contacting the team leader is a big deal. Do you want to try again?"

Of course, Lin Lin heard the irony in the commander's words.

"Sir, we have tried our best."

He said calmly, "The signal from Duke Zhen Yue's side is too bad… I'm afraid this news won't reach him."

"Yes, we have tried our best, it's really… too bad."

Osmond took a sip of tea and sighed for a long time, "Since that's the case, we can only wish him good luck."

Lin Lin raised the teacup in front of him and touched cups with the commander in a tacit understanding.

With a clang.

At the moment when the two tea cups touched, they couldn't help but laugh.

…

…

The Doru River is called the Doru River because General White Lizard saw a stone tablet at the end of the 'Black River'.

Based on the ancient text on the stone tablet, it got such a 'literal' name.

But Black Mountain has no stone tablet.

At least Zhong Yuan didn't see it, and General White Lizard didn't see it… So Black Mountain has no name. It can only be called Black Mountain for now, but that doesn't mean that this mountain is an ordinary mountain.

With the propulsion efficiency of the Source Armor at 75%, it didn't take long for Gu Shen to see the scene of Black Mountain magnified dozens of times in front of him.

A huge black shadow stretching across the sky and earth.

As if… it had absorbed the snow of the entire world. The blackness that covered the mountain peaks was all paved by the gray snow falling from the Iron Dome.

Snow is the cleanest and purest thing in the world.

But here.

It was faintly dyed with evil, ominousness, and the meaning of disaster.

The mental strength of the team members was very tense.

Yuan Yuan clearly felt the oppressive feeling that this Black Mountain brought to him… It was stronger than the Labyrinth. His memory of the previous Outpost mission to Gu Fort was erased, and he couldn't remember the scene of encountering the Golden Spike Flower in the end, so only the exploration memories from the early stage remained.

The danger of the Labyrinth lies in the final wrong guidance!

But Black Mountain is different…

From thousands of meters away, one could feel the invisible 'pressure' spreading, as if it were a huge plaque with clearly engraved characters, hanging in front of the mountain, warning visitors not to enter easily.

It was because of this majestic warning that Zhong Yuan made the move to enter the mountain alone during the last mission.

But this time it was different.

This team was going to explore the secrets of Black Mountain!

After approaching Black Mountain.

Gu Shen's state of mind became extremely peaceful.

The pendant no longer vibrated, because being too close to the danger itself, giving a reminder again would instead cause the host to make a wrong judgment. At this moment, the pendant was as calm as Gu Shen.

Gu Shen knew that this Black Mountain was a certain lifeline connected to the Doru River!

Because the Underworld Fire residing in his mental sea had just trembled!

The 'root source of the lifeline' that truly moved the Underworld Fire was hidden behind the mountain… and it was very likely to be hidden at the 'stone tablet' that General White Lizard saw!

Gu Shen took a deep breath.

"Everyone… please grasp my Blazing Fire."

The small wisp of Blazing Fire that he had squeezed out after all the hard work of constantly fighting against the Indomitable Golden Hoop was now subdivided again, turning into eight extremely small flames. Because they were too slender and weak, they flickered and disappeared in the bitter cold wind, as if they would be extinguished in the next moment.

Gu Shen's heart moved.

These small flames were distributed into everyone's hands.

Zhong Yuan narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at Gu Shen's Blazing Fire. Few people currently knew the specific function of this S-level genius from the Eastern Continent… but from his long-term observation and his current performance, the Blazing Fire seemed to be inclined towards mental assistance, and its killing power was very average, incomparable to Mu Wanqiu's 'Judge' which was full of killing intent.

A few seconds later, the flame stood firm in the cold wind, seemingly weak, but always unextinguished.

This kind of 'tenacity' was really surprising.

However… this wisp of mental flame was really too small!

Zhong Yuan silently grasped the Blazing Fire, and a warmth came from the palm of his hand… Looking back, the other people in the team were also the same. It seemed that because of the temperature transmitted by this flame, the frozen snow that had been covering them was now beginning to melt.

"Hoo…"

Someone sighed comfortably.

This voice was clearly transmitted to everyone's heart lake by the Blazing Fire.

"This is…?"

Someone exclaimed, "Mr. Gu, can your Blazing Fire 'link' our spirits? Like the Eye of Origin?"

"Yes."

Gu Shen smiled and didn't say much.

What Blazing Fire can do is much more than Eye of Origin. These aren't abilities on the same level... There's no comparability.

The pendant had already issued a warning.

Gu Shen had been thinking about how to enter the mountain on the way. With the unknown 'disaster' in front and Zhen Yue's 'hunt' behind, he was not a fool. Even if there was no previous agreement, he would not part ways with Zhong Yuan after arriving at the destination, and then step onto Black Mountain alone.

These extraordinary individuals were all powerful teammates…

Use Blazing Fire to link them together! To ensure that everyone's spirits are stable!

At this time… it was time for him to contribute a little.

"The 'snowfall' in the Doru River Disaster Zone has spiritual corrosive properties… you should know about the spiritual toxins that swept through Gu Fort, right?" Gu Shen said slowly, "I was the one who resolved that disaster, and my Blazing Fire naturally counteracts these toxins. Grasp this fire and step onto this mountain. No matter where you are, I can sense it in my heart, so you won't lose your way."

"The poison of the Doru River and the River Poison are from the same source... If you can solve one, you can solve the other." Zhong Yuan said, "After entering the mountain, everyone grasp the 'flame'. This Black Mountain is no small matter. You don't know when you will lose your way. At that time, I'm afraid no matter how many people we have, we will not be able to escape the fate of separation and being lost."

The team's flying speed gradually slowed down, and the altitude also gradually changed.

The powerful mental pressure continued to spread…

Finally, the Source Armor could not fly off the ground, and everyone's feet were firmly on the snow. The black snow melted in the jet of the exoskeleton device, turning into sunken black puddles.

The black puddles reflected the gray sky.

The gray sky reflected the black river.

The team members stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up at the black giant mountain of unknown height.

"Rumble—"

In the next moment, a torrential snow swept through, engulfing all the figures—

After the black snow dissipated.

The foot of the mountain was once again empty, a cold and silent place.