Human Alliance.
Edge of the underground town.
Groups of surface explorers slowly emerged from the tunnels one after another.
They carried all kinds of supplies in large and small bags on their backs.
There were some unknown metal instruments, large bundles of new clothes, and some were carrying bags of rice and meat seeds.
"Just found an abandoned interaction zone and the supplies inside,"
said Asalu softly to the town’s logistics officer who came to greet them.
"Thank you for your hard work. How are the Evil Spirit Bodies around? Did anyone get hurt?" The logistics officer was a young woman in her twenties, but despite her age, her speed in arranging personnel showed she was already quite familiar with the process.
"Not bad, we cleared three Evil Spirit Vehicles, no one was injured. But Lin Hu’s team encountered a troublesome Evil Spirit Horse, and three of them died...." Asalu said regretfully.
There were already very few explorers, and now three were lost all at once....
"It’ll be okay, the adaptation ritual is going to start again soon, and this year we have new medicinal baths to enhance heat resistance. We’ll definitely increase the number of explorers." The logistics officer comforted him.
In this land, death and injury were common occurrences.
Living peacefully was a luxury, and anyone living here was no waste. Everyone did what they could.
The ritual to adapt to the Celestial Light’s radiation had been tested for many years, and the Human Alliance had found many ways to increase the success rate.
But the success rate of becoming a Celestial Lighter, or an explorer, was still frighteningly low.
If one in several hundred made it, that was already considered good.
Fortunately, after the Celestial Light radiation, with extensive measures prepared in advance, those who didn’t become explorers didn’t die.
Instead, they became frail and sickly.
Being sickly was still better than not being able to survive.
"By the way, Dream Net City, the biggest underground city of the Human Alliance, sent the latest news." Asalu continued. "Notify the other team captains still in the city for a meeting. I need to convey that information."
Asalu, who led the exploration team, was also the actual manager of this small town.
So he had the authority to gather all the explorer team captains.
"Alright, I’ll go right away." The logistics officer nodded, quickly arranged for the deputy to handle the supplies, and hurried briskly towards the center of the town.
Not long after.
All the explorer team captains still in the town gathered inside a large stone pillar at the town’s center.
The stone pillar supported this vast underground space, its center was completely hollowed out, becoming layers of spacious areas like buildings.
The stone pillar itself was also reinforced externally, and with such large stone pillars supporting this underground space, there was no worry of collapse after hollowing it out.
At this moment, in the hall on the topmost layer, close to the ceiling.
The captains of the town’s five remaining explorer teams were all together.
Asalu stood at one end of a long stone table, wearing a purple long knife, his golden hair tied in a ponytail hanging behind him.
His well-fitted black uniform highlighted his strong physique unmistakably.
In this world, few explorers kept long hair, and those who did were exceptionally strong.
On either side of the long table stood the other four attending captains.
On the left were Bales and Lin Hu.
On the right were Ounan and Dongcheng Yun.
Bales and Lin Hu were both extremely robust, burly types.
One had a beard and wore metal shoulder guards studded with spikes, imposing as ever.
The other wore metal arm guards on his arms, exuding a serene aura, as someone who did not like to talk, resembling a silent volcano.
Ounan and Dongcheng Yun had relatively more balanced physiques; they were considered handsome, with well-defined, attractive features, completely different from the other two’s style.
"So, Chief, can we hear the news now?" Dongcheng Yun yawned, stretching, with a few red lipstick marks still lingering on his fair face.
"I just crawled out of a soft, fragrant beauty’s bed, my spirits haven’t recovered yet."
"Three of my brothers died," Lin Hu stared intently at Dongcheng Yun from across the table.
"What’s that got to do with me?" Dongcheng Yun raised an eyebrow.
"Be happy, but please don’t flaunt it in front of me." Lin Hu’s robust arm was placed on the table. "Otherwise, I can’t guarantee I won’t crush you!"
"Oh? I risk my life to protect them, of course, I have the right to enjoy everything about them. What? You have an opinion?" Dongcheng Yun’s tone had a hint of anger too.
"Alright! Quiet down, everyone." Asalu interrupted them. "I didn’t gather you all here to argue. Dream Net City sent people with news recently."
He glanced around, drawing everyone’s attention.
"The Eternal Palace was attacked by unknown forces. Just yesterday, starting at noon, there were heavy casualties among the Spiritual Line parasites heading to the Eternal Tower, and three brigades were wiped out.
They were likely caught in the crossfire...."
Asalu paused, then continued.
"Though Dream Net City didn’t have more detailed intelligence, they mentioned that the attacking force was extremely formidable, crippling most of the stone statue guards’ strength.
Di Mo, who tried to stop them, is missing, his life or death unknown. The Palace Master of Eternal Palace fought with the invaders and left the premises, whereabouts unknown."
As soon as the voice fell, several people immediately showed a look of shock on their faces.
The Eternal Palace has been a prominent age-old power for centuries, yet such a formidable force was heavily attacked?
"What does this news from Dream Net City mean? A force daring enough to attack even the Eternal Palace, we adaptors surely shouldn’t get involved, right?" Dongcheng Yun frowned and voiced his confusion.
"The intelligence mentioned that the Eternal Palace has suffered severe losses. Only another top-level figure in the statue army survived due to being on an external mission. So... what they mean is, with both the brigade and the Eternal Palace suffering major losses, unable to control the ground, we could try visiting some large interaction zones to search for survivors and resources."
The Human Alliance has existed for many years and naturally has grasped numerous fixed locations of interaction zones.
However, several of these large zones couldn’t be contacted due to their distance, making them easily detectable by ground activities of the brigade.
But now with the weakened Eternal Palace, the time is ripe.
"...More than anything, I’m curious about which emerging power could so swiftly cripple the Eternal Palace?" Ounan pondered for a moment before speaking up.
"We’ve never seen the power they harness, certainly it’s overwhelmingly strong. But I’ve witnessed Di Mo’s strength before," Bales frowned as he spoke.
"How is it?" Asalu quickly looked at him upon hearing this, while the other three also turned their attention to Bales.
"Di Mo is a rare hard skill type furnace. Once ignited, his body hardness and strength are greatly enhanced. Moreover, he’s a Martial Arts Grandmaster skilled in finale style, which boosts his physical prowess massively," Bales analyzed.
"How does he compare to me?" Dongcheng Yun asked curiously.
"He can match you with just one hand," Bales glanced at him.
"Then it seems I’m pretty powerful," Dongcheng Yun laughed.
"But Di Mo has at least thirty arms," Bales added, ignoring Dongcheng Yun’s smile that instantly froze, and continued looking at Asalu.
"The Eternal Palace has dominated the ground for centuries, and it’s suddenly bested; the force able to cripple it is not a small player. So rather than the Eternal Palace, I believe we should be more worried about the attacking power," Ounan calmly stated.
"Don’t worry, we hide in the shadows while the vast land is occupied by the Eternal Palace and Chana Tower. That mysterious force has no reason to compete with us for the barren underground cavities," Asalu shook his head slightly, "Alright, I’ve decided to go out and explore the large interaction zones this time. Who wants to join me?"
The large interaction zones are vast, and solely relying on his small squad couldn’t possibly explore them quickly.
The key is that if they can find an intact interaction zone, they can obtain substantial resource assurance.
"Speaking of which, the Spiritual Parasite I saved just recently underwent the Spiritual Line removal surgery; he seems to be from a large interaction zone. Perhaps we could have him guide us," Ounan suggested.
"Is it the one you rescued, Yue Dewen?" Asalu knew of the matter, as everyone entering the city had to register with him.
"Yes," Ounan nodded.
Asalu pondered for a moment.
"No rush, we’ll explore gradually; let’s first visit the interaction zones we previously discovered."
*
*
*
Eternal Tower — Fifth floor central.
In the central hall, beneath a suspended gigantic heart, heads swayed like grapes, turning their gazes toward La and Zhang Rongfang.
"Haha, you’re here again? Bringing back a wild man?"
"Does this woman not know she’s bald without hair, ugly beyond belief?"
"She doesn’t know that she used to look good with her long hair; later, she cut it off to focus on her research."
"No man would want to be with you! Give up, you ugly hag, hahaha!"
A string of mocking curses continuously entered their ears.
Zhang Rongfang glanced at La ahead.
"This welcoming ceremony is quite unique."
"Just the moans of a group of failures," La said calmly, "These were the villains who once attempted to strike at me and the Eternal Tower. They are powerful individuals from other passage worlds whom I’ve revived only their heads, forever hanging here to endure the pain of corrosive venom."
"Interesting." Zhang Rongfang observed the cursing heads, noticing their incessant insults.
The red blood flame in his eyes suddenly surged.
An invisible wave diffused out.
Soon, all the heads suddenly paused, silencing themselves.
Their faces turned blank.
"Mental Influence wave, huh?" La slightly shuddered, surprised at the opponent’s high proficiency in consciousness and psyche.
She looked at the now silent grape-like heads, immediately stepping towards a room on the circular corridor.
Sss.
The door automatically opened, revealing a spacious hall covered with thick blood membranes.
Inside were rows of dark red bookshelves filled with various hardcover leather-bound tomes.
"Using Spirit Eye Race technology combined with space engraving technology, the Book of Flesh can be made imperishable."
La went to a bookshelf, pulled out a book, and casually flipped through it.
"It’s an inspiration I gleaned from a passage world."
She handed the booklet to Zhang Rongfang.
"Basic information you need."