Chapter 123 The Forsaken Land

"Boom!"

Zhu Que's pupils constricted.

The force of the punch blasted out, directly shattering an alloy gate ten meters away!

Ye Quan looked grim, glancing down at his arm.

A figure had forcibly inserted itself between the two. This figure's arrival was so swift that it exceeded everyone's expectations. Just as Ye Quan's punch was about to explode, the newcomer gently pressed a palm against his forearm, shifting it sideways by several centimeters.

A hair's breadth can lead to a thousand miles astray.

This punch naturally missed its mark.

"...Jia Wei."

Ye Quan retracted his fist.

He emotionlessly regarded the heavily armored man in front of him, clad in shining armor. This Great Knight of Light City always appeared in armor when on missions. A number of Light City believers had already gathered at the distant base. The Storm Church and the Light City believers maintained a distance from each other. Under the control of the "Saint" of Southern Continent, the two groups were currently able to coexist peacefully.

"In my memory, you weren't one for meddling."

Ye Quan's voice was cold.

Years ago.

Light City and Central City were still allies. As a capable assistant under Zhu Xue, he had once set out on a mission to the Western Continent, where he met Jia Wei. In a sense, they were former "comrades."

But.

The Lin and Meng families' marriage alliance had broken down, and the alliance between Central City and Light City was dissolved as well...

Suspicion, separation, scheming.

Under the general trend, teammates who had once fought side by side had become "strangers."

"I still am not."

A muffled echo came from beneath the heavy mask of the shining armor, "I just don't want you two to fight...and destroy the Holy City Research Institute base. There is still 'Sang Zhou Cave' information and data inside. As you just said, if this place is damaged, Mr. Zhu Xue will be angry."

"..."

Ye Quan indifferently glanced at Zhu Que, not bothering to waste words, and turned to leave.

There was a vast difference in height between the two, one resembling a giant beast, and the other, a fledgling bird.

Jia Wei's intervention meant that this fight would not happen, no matter what.

The Great Knight of Light City was the strongest among the "Fourth Order."

For this mission, the World Conference had already established some tacit rules. Because it was an extremely rare joint support from the four continents to the south, titled experts would not cross the line. This was a requirement from the Holy City.

Once Mr. Tian Shui, the Elder of the Light, the Legion Commander, or the heads of the Five Great Families, all titled experts, went south to Sang Zhou Cave.

The Saints of the Storm Church would be unable to control the situation.

At this moment.

The research base on the northern shore of Sang Zhou Cave was unprecedentedly lively. Support teams of transcendents from the four continents had already arrived. The two bishops of the Storm Church, who had originally tried to control the scene, had completely given up and abandoned the idea of dispatching believers.

The Saint simply did not want to interfere with the mess that was the Sang Zhou Cave incident.

Therefore, the main force of the Church did not approach Sang Zhou Cave at all.

They...could not afford to offend these top Fourth Order experts from outside the Southern Continent.

People from all sides had basically arrived.

Gazing at the group of believers clad in Light Robes, Ye Quan's gaze locked onto the young man at the head. It was an unfamiliar face, but the aura was quite powerful.

He looked at Jia Wei and asked, "The Light really is ruthless. Meng Xiao just died, and you've already chosen a new 'Blessed Child'?"

"One person's death cannot stop a group of people from moving forward."

Jia Wei's eyes, hidden behind the iron armor, were as still as the sea, "So...the Blessed Child always exists. When one dies, another will rise."

"Also," he said leisurely, "Aren't you the same? When a general in the legion falls, a successor will take over the banner. When a garrison member dies, a new one is immediately arranged."

"I used to think so too."

A lazy voice drifted from the distance of the base.

The hovering source energy艇 (tǐng –艇，boat) main craft all landed, and the last main craft's hatch opened. The elites of the Investigation Legion also arrived at the base.

One of the figures, cross-legged and floating, fell gracefully.

He propped himself up on his elbow, looking at the Great Knight of Light City.

"A long time ago, I thought that Light City was towering and great, and that the Blessed Child was brave and righteous. This world cannot lack a 'Blessed Child,' just as it cannot lack a legion general or a garrison member."

Lu Zhe said faintly, "Later, I realized that the Northern Continent and Light City are very different after all...Without generals and garrison members, the legion and the stronghold would fall, and the world would become chaotic. But without a 'Blessed Child,' this world should be a lot more peaceful. At least the Doru River battle wouldn't have so many problems."

The Doru River mission...had become so complicated because of Meng Xiao!

The elites of the Northern Continent had suffered considerable injuries, and several source energy boats had been lost!

The death of this "Duke Zhen Yue" in the Doru River, the abolition of hereditary succession by the Queen, and the complete expulsion of the entire "Zhen Yue Meng Family" from the Northern Continent's mainland, were the biggest news from the border fortress last year. Many people celebrated overnight!

Meng Xiao was dead, to everyone's satisfaction!

But Light City would not think so...

As Lu Zhe's voice fell.

Those Light City believers led by the new Blessed Child became restless.

Jia Wei's expression did not change much.

He gently raised his hand, signaling for quiet. Those believers quickly calmed down, but they still glared at Lu Zhe and the Investigation Legion soldiers of the Northern Continent one by one.

"Everyone, the past is already in the past."

Jia Wei said softly, "Since we are all here to 'rescue' together, then we are now teammates. Why bother bringing up the past again?"

…

…

The transcendents from various continents began to gradually step into the inland of Sang Zhou Cave.

On the other side, Gu Shen and his party also arrived at their destination.

Under the guidance of Vias.

They crossed the jungle of the outer ring of Mount Tanya and headed towards the South Cave...The entire Sang Zhou Cave island was not very large, but the concentration of transcendent source matter was too high, so that normal people's sense of direction would often be wrong. In fact, the saying in common parlance of "ghost hitting the wall" is the most common type of transcendent anomaly, but if there is a mental transcendent to act as a "guide", then this situation will not occur.

"The main system controls the entire island."

Chu Ling said, "It seems to value 'Sang Zhou Cave' very much, and forcibly retained a portion of the data. Even after the World Conference ended, the map permissions were not made public in the Deep Sea Zone..."

The map of Sang Zhou Cave was not really a secret.

Most transcendents would never come to such a remote place.

It was just that the main system did not make it public to the outside world, so others could not view it...

"We are 'enforcers,' are we not worthy of having a map?" Gu Shen frowned.

"The explanation given by the main system is: the data has malfunctioned and is still being repaired." Chu Ling said, "No matter what the main system's considerations are, this reason is fine. The map collection of Sang Zhou Cave is not in the task list of the Awakening Experiment. If the data is wrong, then the wrong map will instead form a misleading...We need to collect the map ourselves."

Fortunately, Scorching Fire was the most top-tier "map opening ability."

Gu Shen left flames along the way.

Scorching Fire cleared the forest miasma and continued to expand outwards...The map collection of the outer ring's dense forest still required some time.

But there was no need to rush.

The Sang Zhou Cave mission was obviously a "stationed mission" with a long time span.

Along the way.

Gu Shen did not sense many powerful transcendent beings, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Having seen the "Empress Birdwing Butterfly," he had originally thought that the dense forest of the outer ring of Sang Zhou Cave would be rampant with beasts, and that there might be a large number of high-density transcendent beings stationed there, but he did not encounter any resistance along the way.

Of course, the reason for not encountering them may be that Gu Shen's team was too strong.

Gu Shen's [Scorching Fire] and Bai Xiu's [Thunder Realm Walker] only needed to reveal some aura to deter low-level creatures——

The natural world was a food chain.

These creatures that had awakened transcendent traits but did not have much intelligence did not dare to approach Gu Shen's "fire" or Bai Xiu's "thunder" rashly.

"Mr. Gu, we're almost there!"

The fake sky above Sang Zhou Cave alternated between day and night, and it was currently "dusk."

Vias's expression became a little nervous, but more than that, he was excited...He had not returned for three years, and he did not know what his homeland had become. When the Awakening Act was promulgated, he felt apprehensive and hopeful at the same time.

Many churches had withdrawn from Sang Zhou Cave.

The [Deep Sea] provided awakening.

Perhaps...this "abandoned land" could be rejuvenated?

Night was gradually approaching, the long forest was silent, and a clear, long howl could be faintly heard in the distance.

Gu Shen ignited the Scorching Fire.

The group walked out of the dense forest and stood in the open wilderness. Rather than calling it a wilderness, it was more like a blood-colored mire...Sang Zhou Cave had not rained for a long time, and many corpses were half-buried in this desolate wilderness. They were blown by the hot wind, emitting a burst of rotten aura. There were not only human corpses, but also various transcendent creatures, wolves, lions, and leopards.

These corpses had long rotted and had been half-buried here for who knows how long.

Vias was stunned.

He stared blankly at the blood-colored mire. Hundreds of meters away, was his "homeland" from before he left. The Storm Church had named it the S3 Living Area. The pillars of the living area had completely collapsed, the buildings on both sides were dilapidated, and in the farther night, a dark forest iron wall could be vaguely seen erected.

"The Awakening Act doesn't seem to have 'resurrected' Sang Zhou Cave..."

Gu Shen walked forward expressionlessly.

His Scorching Fire illuminated the night and incinerated these unattended corpses. The flames burned.

He stepped into the S3 Living Area. There were not many living people here anymore. Some of the buildings had collapsed, and some were still relatively intact. There were also some "corpses" inside...He was not able to use the Hades Authority right now, and he could not perform a spirit extraction.

But a simple "profiling" could reveal the past that this place had experienced from the traces of destruction in the S3 Living Area...

The awakened beasts launched an attack on the human settlement.

The S3 Living Area directly fell.

Bai Xiu, Shen Li, and Adam walked forward silently...The scene in this living area was too bloody. Countless corpses were lying around. There must have been a very terrifying attack here.

"I have a question."

Gu Shen asked softly, "Are these dead people considered samples of 'transcendent connection'?"

Adam was stunned.

Then he understood what Gu Shen meant.

"Probably...not."

He said silently, "After all, these people are already dead. If they did not die from the mental connection of the [Deep Sea], they would not be considered failures of awakening."

"...Okay, I understand." Gu Shen nodded.

Shen Li, who was listening from the side, suddenly felt a pang in his heart, "Wait, Gu Shen, do you mean..."

"If there is more than one S3 Living Area that has been slaughtered in the inland of Sang Zhou Cave."

Adam said in a hoarse voice, "Then this is actually a 'good thing' for the 'Awakening Experiment'. Because these people died, the 'success rate' of the Awakening Experiment will greatly increase, at least on the surface."

[Deep Sea] will not give false data.

But [Deep Sea] will choose the best algorithm——

"Let's take a look further ahead...It seems that 'high walls' have been built there."

Gu Shen could not bear to look at Vias's numb and dazed face. He raised his head and sighed softly, "If I'm not mistaken, that 'high wall' should have been built by the survivors."

The high wall was built at the end of the S3 Living Area.

90% of the living area's area had been abandoned.

On top of this high wall, there were also retro [lanterns] hanging, with "source matter fire" lit inside. One could feel the fluctuation of mental aura...

"Obviously, there are night watchmen on the high wall."

Gu Shen signaled Adam and Vias to stop.

He walked forward slowly alone.

This high wall was used to defend against transcendent creatures...He only needed to reveal his identity, and he should not be attacked. However, the Awakening Experiment had been going on for three years. If these people built high walls and completely closed themselves off.

It was hard to say what would happen.

"Bang!"

On the top of the high wall, a burst of light and fire ignited in the long night.

A bullet shot towards Gu Shen!

Gu Shen's figure blurred.

This bullet penetrated the position where he was, hit the ground, splashed a smear of arc light, and then dissipated.

Gu Shen turned his head.

Although this bullet was only made of red silver, even if it hit him, it would not damage his iron scale skin.

But he still felt some comfort.

Along the way, the backwardness and primitiveness of Sang Zhou Cave were really shocking.

Fortunately, they still had "guns"!

Although the "complete closure" of the Awakening Experiment led to the abandonment of the S3 Living Area, this high wall still maintained the level of technology brought by the Southern Continent Church.

This meant that they would not be slaughtered too badly at least.

Before high-level transcendents appeared.

Strong logic bullets were still more useful. Take the previous "Empress Birdwing Butterfly" as an example. Although he and Bai Xiu only took a few dozen minutes to slaughter all the "Empress Birdwing Butterflies" in the underground of Area F.

But if this thing had not migrated, the damage it would have caused inland would have been absolutely terrifying.

If the S3 Living Area had encountered the "Empress Birdwing Butterfly", then the current tragic scene would be even more shocking.

But if there were enough transcendents, even without high-level ones, if they had strong logic weapons, as long as they shot accurately enough and had enough bullets, red silver would also be enough to resist the crisis.

The awakening of transcendents, even the lowest level and most basic kind, would also improve physical strength, reaction speed, and movement speed.

With these basic strengths.

Plus weapons.

Then in the past three years, the survivors in the high wall should not have suffered too many casualties.

Gu Shen stopped slowly. He raised his hands and said in a deep voice, "...Don't shoot, it's me."

He didn't know if this would work.

At the same time as he spoke, Gu Shen ignited the Scorching Fire in the center of his brow and looked towards the top of the high wall.

"..."

Above the high wall, it was dark, with only a black muzzle.

Although there was only one gunshot.

There was actually more than one gun aimed at him.

Not long after.

A rough response sounded from the high wall.

"Who the hell is one of us with you? Take one more step...and you'll get shot!!"