"Izak is dead, Ingar and Eller are injured, everyone is here."
In the corner of the Crack Realm, beneath the broken walls, the Returning Knights had regrouped once again.
After counting their numbers, a hint of emotion emerged in Slan's expression with his goatee. He hadn't expected that their expedition into the Crack Realm would face losses so soon, with virtually everyone bearing some injury or another.
They hadn't fallen absurdly from mid-air like Ji Jue's group, but some had fallen directly into the lairs of monsters, while others were buried under collapsed buildings within just a few steps, scrambling out covered in dust and dirt.
Fortunately, their positions weren't far apart, and by relying on the resonance between matrices, they had simply annihilated several monsters lurking in the mud like crocodiles before regrouping.
They maintained vigilance, keeping Lou Feng protected in the center.
The moment the anomalies of the Crack Realm occurred, the experienced Slan had protected his employer first, ensuring they never separated upon arrival, only appearing a bit dusty now.
Unlike some unlucky ones who were hunted immediately upon landing, Lou Feng had ample time to analyze their surroundings. Thankfully, the instruments stored by the Gate of Eternity hadn't been damaged during the transition.
"We can't manage, the spiritual frequency is terribly chaotic, there's no trace of anything Superior, and the stability index is way below safety limits," Lou Feng shifted his gaze away from the handheld device's screen. "However, the data shows that the Crack Realm and the real world are still overlapping. As long as we find the opportunity to open the gate again, we can leave this place."
"So, you mean to say, first establish a safe base?" Slan understood, "I'll send men to scout the surrounding area later to see if there are any traces of the workshop that Master Kong mentioned."
Being a veteran mercenary, he was well-prepared for various emergencies; even if major equipment couldn't be transported and was lost, enough food and emergency supplies remained. Without even Slan's instructions, people had already begun searching the nearby buildings for a suitable site for their camp.
"Also, find an opportunity, no, create an opportunity ..." Lou Feng's expression twitched, as he squeezed through gritted teeth, "Find that Ji guy out!"
Setting aside their personal grievances, just the possibility that he might possess some of Ye Xian's contingencies and guidance was trouble enough. Among all the new entrants, his threat was paramount!
If they finally found the workshop after great difficulty only for that bastard to snatch the fruits, then Lou Feng might as well find a rope to hang himself.
"Remember, if possible, try not to kill him, understand?" Lou Feng seriously warned, "That way, we'll also have something to explain to Master Ye."
"Understood, BOSS."
Slan smiled slightly, "Don't worry, we're all professionals."
For someone who didn't even possess a matrix, they wouldn't even need a gun to tackle him—it would be a breeze!
But at that moment, someone nearby suddenly asked, "The Ji guy you mentioned, is he the young male with a scar on his face?"
"Yes," Lou Feng nodded.
The Returning Knight further inquired with confusion, "Riding a small motorcycle? Hmm, and has a rather annoying laugh?"
"Yes, exactly."
Lou Feng lifted his head, about to ask, "How did you—"
His words abruptly stopped.
Stunned on the spot.
As if summoned by his call, at the end of the ruined street, the roaring sound of an engine emerged; amidst the rising dust, that face he would recognize even in ashes gradually became clear.
Ji Jue!
He had arrived.
Under the astonished stares of everyone, the small motorcycle roared and rushed, towing a figure who soared through midair towards them!
"Hello! HELLO! こんにちは!!!"
Ji Jue waved his arms ecstatically, as if afraid Lou Feng wouldn't see him, and he shouted, "Brother Lou! Long time no see! How have you been?
Hahaha—"
And accompanying his words, the sound of the engine soared again until, accompanied by the severe trembling of the earth and the collapse of crumbling walls, a resounding explosion erupted!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Half of a ruined building groaned as it fractured, a huge sinister monster slithered among the debris, enraged, it raised its body, bellowed furiously, and gave chase!
"—I've missed you so much!!!!!
Ji Jue, accelerated once more!
Laughing wildly, he plunged towards them.
"You Ji, you motherf—"
Lou Feng suddenly saw darkness before his eyes.
He didn't even realize that for the first time in his life, he had cursed, and then, he was already lifted by Slan and hoisted over his shoulder.
"Run!!!"
The bearded Knight yelled at the top of his lungs, not even sparing a glance for the freshly calibrated expensive instruments and the scattered supplies on the ground.
Without a second thought, he led the mad rush!
On the battlefield, any hesitation or wishful thinking only brought death, having seen countless others stand dumbfounded amidst whistling shells, the survivors had learned the most precious lesson in life about decisiveness!
Unfortunately, even decisiveness couldn't alter reality.
On two legs, one simply couldn't outrun two wheels…
Especially when Ji Jue effortlessly accelerated, waving past them in the face of enraged stares and a barrage of bullets, all the Returning Knights eventually turned, their expressions gradually dulling, rigidly looking back.
Staring at the massive monster now only inches away, feeling the enormous dark shadow it cast over their faces…
Dryly, they swallowed.
The last thing they heard was the monster's piercing roar:
"ROAR!!!!"
.
.
After much effort, Ji Jue and his companion finally stopped in a ruin, both covered in dust and catching their breath.
Below An Ran's feet, a continuously twisting corpse was entangled.
In fact, even Ji Jue found it difficult to identify what that thing actually was.
It resembled a mix of octopus, hippopotamus, cheetah mashed together with a human, lurking in the darkness, and suddenly pouncing as they stopped their vehicle.
But before Ji Jue could lift his gun, An Ran's dart had cleanly blown its head off.
On their journey, they had already seen too many of these creatures, not only gigantic bugs like those in a typical sci-fi movie but also rotten butterflies larger than normal humans, chaotic spiders made of various limbs... and even more, frenzied mutated walking corpses.
He even wondered if he had taken a wrong turn and walked onto the set of some cheesy horror film.
On the ground, the headless bizarre body continued to struggle, leaking blood and some kind of clear liquid, its broken flesh stalks constantly growing, changing shape.
"How weird, it clearly doesn't have a heartbeat anymore."
An Ran skillfully sliced through vital areas like the heart and throat with a sharp dagger held upside down, fluidly dismembering the body. The split pieces of flesh finally ceased moving.
That revealed a strange internal structure.
Mixed with pieces of iron, metal, ceramics, and plastic!
After analyzing multiple times, he seriously said, "Ji Brother, this is not human."
"Humans wouldn't look like this, would they?" Ji Jue's face twitched, having realized something when its head had exploded from the dart.
"I mean it has nothing to do with humans, it's not human, it's different."
An Ran tried to clarify further, seeing the confusion on Ji Jue's face and getting increasingly anxious, struggled to find the right words, and finally found a description that Ji Jue could understand, "They, were never humans to start with."
Not transformed from a human into a monster.
Rather, from the beginning… they were never human at all!
Caught off guard by the revelation, Ji Jue lapsed into silence.
Now, as An Ran mentioned it, he also pinched his nose and came over, took the dagger from An Ran, and carefully opened the skull of the corpse. The mashed brain matter leaked out of the crack.
But as he endured the nausea and reached into search, he stiffened.
Why did the parts with lymph nodes and nerve plexus show slight traits of a Spiritual Circuit? It was vague and indistinct, and without a specific goal in mind, it was almost unnoticeable.
It was as if the nerves naturally grew like that.
No, on the contrary, it was like… the Spiritual Circuit had grown into the form of nerves?
What the fuck!
Was this some kind of synthetic being designed to mimic humans?
Yet it appeared almost identical to a living being, whether it was neural reflexes or operational mechanisms, even the dissipating Spiritual Matter seemed just like that of a dead person!
Watching the convulsions and twitching on the ground grow weaker, Ji Jue took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and forcefully attempted to communicate with it again through Mechanical Descent.
But what resounded in his mind was only a piercing scream that made his hair stand on end, not of one person, but of thousands... an endless screech.
Exploding in an instant!
Ji Jue, his vision went dark, and blood immediately seeped from his nose and mouth, causing violent coughing.
If he could have made a sound, he would have almost shouted:
This shit is toxic!
So much shit!
In that instant, he felt like he foolishly tried siphoning gasoline with a tube in his mouth, only to have the other end stuck in a dirty water tank…
If the consciousness of alchemy creations resembled various beverages like cola, Sprite, or as untamable as strong liquor, or as pure as water, then what he just blissfully gulped was a Hai Province herbal tea mixed with canned herring.
The dense, nearly substantial insane Spiritual Matter surged backward towards him, explosively bursting in his soul, leaving behind a headache far worse than being hammered right on the forehead and likewise gifted him with a psychological trauma he would never forget in his lifetime.
Mechanical Descent is not a Miracle Medicine.
He recalled what Professor Ye had said when first showing him the Ghost Work Ball, that relying too much on it would sooner or later be detrimental.
Now, not only had the Ghost Work Ball suffered consequences, he himself was close to fully suffering because of it.
Ji Jue leaned against the wall, retching.
At least by now, he could be sure that these things were definitely not human.
But all he wanted to know was...
What the hell did Mercury do back then?!
How could he have created such a batch of insane things that are unbearable?
"Shush—"
Just as he was about to curse, An Ran placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "There's a sound."
Crying.
Coming from the dim distance.