Chapter 1 Black River

The vast river surged with black water.

Snow fell upon the river, melting in an instant... these pale white flakes were like drops falling into an ink pool.

Gu Shen silently watched the riverbank beside him. The flow of this black water wasn't frightening; on the contrary, it was extremely tranquil, preventing any sense of "danger" from arising in one's heart...

This great river wasn't rapid.

It was like a stagnant lake.

No matter where he went, all he saw was a scene of utter desolation. The riverbank was jagged with rubble, and in the distance was an endless expanse of black water, as if connected to the dome of the sky, without end.

During the previous campaign, it was said that the Third Army attempted to cross this great river, taking several hours, because the Duolu River seemed capable of absorbing extraordinary source matter. Once an airship approached, it would be dragged down by the river's suction, and resisting it... required a massive consumption of fuel, greatly reducing travel speed.

This time, all the teams kept far away from the river's main course.

They maintained a very great distance from the riverbank!

Gu Shen originally thought that this black river was related to his Nether Fire, but along the way, the Blazing Fire hadn't produced much of a reaction... that black river might have a power that could draw him in, but he might need to search carefully to find it.

If the Lord of the Underworld really had cast "something" into this place.

Then he should have some kind of premonition...

Since the Blazing Fire was calm.

Gu Shen wasn't in a hurry either.

This disaster zone was too vast, and exploring it thoroughly required patience.

Gu Shen released his meager Blazing Fire, sensing the anomalies on the river's surface, while transmitting his voice to ask, "Brother Zhong, where does the name of this disaster zone come from?"

"You're asking about the origin of the name Duolu River..."

Zhong Yuan replied, "The name was given by General White Lizard. It's said that before the campaign began, the General entered the disaster zone alone to explore. At the end of the black river, he saw a stone tablet with the characters 'Duolu' engraved on it, surrounded by towering black water, a gloomy scene. But... unfortunately, the image of that stone tablet wasn't preserved."

"The image wasn't preserved?"

As soon as Zhong Yuan spoke, the other team members, besides Gu Shen, became curious.

Most of the extraordinary individuals on the roster of generals chosen for the rebooted mission hadn't participated in the previous campaign... this was to avoid attrition, so their understanding of the disaster zone wasn't as good as that of the conquerors who had personally set foot there.

"To be precise, it wasn't that it wasn't preserved, but that it couldn't be preserved," Zhong Yuan said slowly. "Of course, General White Lizard wouldn't carry equipment with him to record it; a transcendent of that level has mental power that's more useful than any device... but strangely, the scene of the stone tablet at the end of the black river couldn't be projected with mental power."

"That's the General we're talking about!" Yuan Yuan frowned, muttering, "How could such a thing be possible?"

"No, it's possible." After hearing this, Gu Shen roughly understood the truth. He said slowly, "It's not that the General's mental power isn't strong enough, but that this kind of scene... its transcendent nature is such that it can only be understood intuitively, not expressed in words."

The team members exchanged glances.

They were all important figures in the border fortress, but they had rarely heard of what Gu Shen was talking about.

"What was carved on the stone tablet probably wasn't the characters 'Duolu'," Gu Shen said slowly. "But ancient writing. Those two characters might only resemble or sound like 'Duolu,' so after the General viewed the stone tablet and left the black river, he named it that way."

"That's right, it was ancient writing..."

Zhong Yuan glanced at Gu Shen with some surprise. "The fact that the stone tablet was engraved with ancient script has already been confirmed at a high-level meeting. Aside from General White Lizard, no one else has actually seen the 'end of the black river,' so we don't know... the true meaning of the ancient script."

"The end of the black river?"

One of the team members asked, puzzled, "Captain... you said earlier that on the previous exploration route, you discovered that the Duolu River was blocked by a snow mountain, and unable to find a way out, you had to return the way you came. If that's the case, how did the General see the so-called 'end of the black river'?"

"That's the General we're talking about..."

Zhong Yuan smiled helplessly, then composed himself and said reverently, "General White Lizard's combat power can't be compared to ordinary titled experts. With his strength, he can naturally see what I can't... as for crossing that mountain, it shouldn't be difficult either."

He paused slightly.

The blond man took a deep breath and said solemnly, "It's because the General said he saw the stone tablet at the end of the black river that I was able to muster the courage to regroup and bring you back here again... that snow mountain left a heavy wound on my spirit. I can sense the guidance of 'fate.' To overcome myself, I need to climb the snow mountain again to break the ominousness and shatter these calamities!"

"Captain... don't worry, we're all here!"

"We can definitely do it this time!"

Everyone comforted him.

Gu Shen's thoughts, however, were drifting.

On the stone tablet at the end of the Duolu River... two ancient characters were engraved.

Upon hearing these words, the [Blessing of the Goddess of Fate] actually reacted. This cross pendant rarely issued a warning, telling him to avoid a certain place, but instead subtly vibrated with a guiding fluctuation.

Was it telling him to seek the so-called "end of the black river"?

Zhong Yuan's voice interrupted Gu Shen's thoughts.

"Mr. Gu?"

Gu Shen came back to his senses and smiled. "Sorry, Brother Zhong, for some reason, I feel uneasy. I'm afraid seeking that 'end of the black river' won't be easy."

"Uneasy? I feel the same way..." Zhong Yuan smiled. "It's just that you've misunderstood one thing, Mr. Gu."

"Oh?"

"I'm not seeking the 'end of the black river'." The faint light in the blond man's eyes gradually became bright and firm. He said in a low voice, "I only want to climb the snow mountain again, that's all... as long as I shatter the 'mirror dream,' I won't continue forward."

"I see." Gu Shen nodded.

Indeed, there was no reason to go deeper... these teams had all come with their own missions, tasks that had to be completed.

"So, among the many branches of the rebooted mission, I chose the path of exploring the main snow mountain," Zhong Yuan said. "For me, it's not just exploration... I want to find the source of that nightmare."

Speaking of which.

He looked at Gu Shen. "Brother Gu... I'm not a fool. If you join me in climbing the snow mountain and can eliminate the nightmare, then there's no need to hold back."

The meaning of these words was clear.

Zhong Yuan was heading for the shattered snow mountain's nightmare, but he didn't intend to deal with "that thing" alone.

What age was this, still playing one-on-one?

Gu Shen appreciated this approach and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Brother Zhong, I'll do my best."

"Thank you..."

Zhong Yuan drawled out the words slowly, "In return, if those few guys behind us really make a move after entering the 'signal dead zone'... I'll help you clean them up."

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the few "slow to realize" team members were still blank.

It took several seconds for them to figure it out.

"There's... someone behind us?"

They looked back.

The black river was desolate, the riverbank was full of large rocks, and the source armor's visors automatically captured the field of vision... but there was no discovery, not a trace of a figure.

"Brother Zhong, there's no need to get involved in this mess."

Gu Shen shook his head and said softly, "Since I dared to come here, I'm not afraid of them making a move... it's just that in the 'signal zone,' it's inconvenient for them, and it's inconvenient for me too."

Those few figures weren't hidden well enough.

He possessed Nether Fire, and although he had only merged with a wisp of the fire seed, his perception had been greatly enhanced... especially in the sensing of certain auras, he was extremely sensitive.

Town Moon Duke Meng Xiao released a wisp of light aura to track the progress of his team.

He was spying on this place.

Gu Shen was also spying on him.

However... Meng Xiao didn't bother to conceal his tracks. This guy was clearly planning to follow him, to see where he was going.

"After all, you're only one person, why confront him head-on? Should I report this to Lord Osmond?" Zhong Yuan's mental power was also sharp. He looked in the direction behind him and said coldly, "This isn't Light City, it's North Continent."

"It's useless."

Gu Shen shook his head and said indifferently, "Even if you report it, what good will it do? Meng Xiao, like me, is a 'privileged one.' He has the right to choose a free route... before he takes action, he hasn't violated the Iron Laws. Even if you report it, Osmond can't do anything to him."

Gu Shen could guess what this guy was thinking without even looking.

He ignored him, not because he was underestimating the enemy.

On the contrary.

When he confirmed that Meng Xiao was tailing him, Gu Shen had already harbored a "killing intent"... the pendant's warnings along the way, 90% of the fluctuations, were directed at this Light City descendant. He even vaguely suspected, could it be that his identity as the "Lord of the Underworld" had been exposed?

"Let's just travel together like this, until we reach the snow mountain."

Gu Shen said quietly, "That's a good place."

...

...

"This is Deep Scale Team--"

"Fisher, greetings to Lord Osmond."

The blurry image gradually became clear. One could vaguely see that this place was full of trees and snow, a dense forest. These ancient trees looked old, probably hundreds of years old... but after being covered with snow, they became lifeless. Even through the screen, one could feel the silence and desolation of the snow forest.

The reason was the "black stream" that ran through this snow forest.

This was a branch of the Duolu River. [Living Fish] Fisher was responsible for exploring this branch... Along the route, the team members constantly used mental power, along with equipment, to set up deep-sea temporary link points, trying to extend the connection with the general command center as much as possible.

"Fisher, how is the mission progressing?"

Osmond's voice was as deep and reassuring as thunder.

"Reporting to you, Lord, everything is going smoothly... it's just that it's been too quiet along the way. Thanks to my 'deep water' talent, we've been exploring along the Duolu River, without falling into dreams or getting lost."

Fisher reported seriously. He raised a very important question: "This road is much more winding than expected. The task of laying the deep-sea network is more difficult. It's estimated that in half an hour, the components used to 'build' the deep-sea link will be exhausted. By then, I can still ensure a mental link with you, Lord... but should this team continue to advance?"

"Our ultimate mission is to find the [Gate]," Osmond said in a deep voice. "If your intuition is not unusual, then lead the team to continue forward... Looking at the direction of this black stream, it won't be long before you find its end. If there's no [Gate] at the end of this branch, you can naturally turn back. As for the task of laying the [Deep Sea] network, you can resume it at any time from where you left off last time."

"Understood."

Fisher nodded, ending the conversation with the main control room.

On the other side, Lin Lin was also conducting a mental link.

"This is Lu Zhe Team--"

"I'm Captain Mu Wanqiu."

These two seemingly contradictory sentences came from the same person. The voice of the speaker didn't have the slightest fluctuation, like a piece of unmelting ice.

To make it easier for the main control room to record and remember, each team was given a unique name.

For example, Fisher's team was named "Deep Scale Team" because Fisher was the garrison of Deep Scale City in North Continent.

As for Lu Zhe Team... this name made it obvious that Lu Zhe had come up with it.

It had long been heard that a certain team captain in the Investigation Corps was powerful but lazy, and did things extremely casually. One could tell that after casually picking a name, Lu Zhe had thrown the position of captain onto Mu Wanqiu, who was under the S-rank.

Lin Lin's expression was solemn.

He stared at the "mental image" that Mu Wanqiu was sending back and asked in shock, "What is this?!"

This branch seemed to lead to the depths of a snow mountain range. It was very dark all around, and it was only by using a sealed artifact with a "burning trait" that they were barely able to illuminate a line of light. In this dark, unlit mountain range, the soil had been dug up, revealing a pitch-black, shattered skeleton.

"Mr. Vice-Captain," Mu Wanqiu said calmly, "Obviously, it's a broken skeleton."

Of course, Lin Lin knew... it was a skeleton.

But the Duolu River disaster zone hadn't had any exploration missions before.

Mu Wanqiu's team should be the first explorers to set foot on the Black Mountain range. How could they have discovered a skeleton?

He instantly became vigilant: "This skeleton isn't complete. Did you check the wounds?"

"The skull is broken and has been gnawed on."

Mu Wanqiu raised her hand slightly.

With a "whoosh"!

The soil broke open, and the incomplete skeleton seemed to come to life, floating in the air and piecing itself together, showing the specific details of the corpse in great detail.

The left shoulder of the corpse had collapsed, and the bones of half of its body had been destroyed and shattered. At the same time, only half of the skull remained, and one could vaguely see the teeth marks on the edges of the broken bones...

Mu Wanqiu's voice attracted Osmond's attention.

The old fellow came to Lin Lin's side at once, and together, they stared at the image sent back to the main control room, their expressions extremely solemn...

A broken skull was one thing...

But what did it mean to be gnawed on?

Were there transcendent creatures in the Duolu River disaster zone?!