Chapter 1 Mission Accomplished

The misty carriage vanished as though its mission had been fulfilled, and the colossal demons that had been relentlessly pursuing them disappeared as well.

At this moment, what appeared before everyone was an extremely vast and expansive space that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The interior of the space resembled the bottom of the ocean.

A tiny, round moon hung from the dome above.

The cold moonlight illuminated the surroundings, revealing wave-like ripples of light and shadow reminiscent of the sea.

The air was filled with the salty, fishy scent of the sea, and the cold touch of seawater could be felt on the skin.

Only breathing remained unobstructed, as if one were breathing air on land.

The uneven surface of the space's floor was covered in a layer mixed with fine sand.

Jellyfish, fish, squid, prawns, whales, seals, sharks, seaweed, sea anemones, swimming crabs, and other marine life were everywhere, thriving and flourishing.

It looked just like a vibrant ocean—only the ecology of this ocean was far too prosperous and diverse, completely unlike the natural ocean of the real world.

"Is this an illusion?"

Ashes, who had put on a gas mask like everyone else, gently crushed the fine sand under his feet, hearing the clear sound of the grains rubbing against each other.

A large group of pomfret swam casually in the air above everyone's heads, their bodies flat and covered in a dense layer of small, circular, silver-white scales that reflected a bright white light under the moonlight above.

Suddenly, a five-meter-long man-eating shark swooped down, opening its mouth wide and rushing into the school of pomfret to devour them at will.

The school was instantly devoured by a small half, and the remaining pomfret fled in panic. The man-eating shark did not continue to pursue them, nor did it seem to attack the people below, lazily wagging its tail and swimming away.

Strands of blood from the dead pomfret drifted down and dissipated, and half a fish body fell down, grabbed by Ashes in his hand.

"The physiological structure is no different from that of real-world fish."

Ashes looked at the half-fish in his hand, which was slowly turning into a wisp of smoke, and said quietly, "This is Shen Long's dream."

Li Ang, carrying the palace lantern, looked at the Libationer, whose hands and feet were in shackles. The latter didn't waste any time and took out a stone dial that looked like a Sinan (magnetic pointer) from his pocket.

The dial was surrounded by crooked, illegible small seal characters, and a long-handled spoon made of metal was placed on top of the dial.

The long-handled spoon slowly rotated, eventually pointing in one direction.

"The site of the ritual is there."

The Libationer said, "According to the original plan set by Tanhua, the ritual is now halfway through. Those patients infected with Tanhua's disease will spontaneously chant under the influence of the potion and mental manipulation, accumulating 'pollution'.

"As long as I take the palace lantern over and open the mist gate that locks Shen Long,

"The contact person, whose specific information is unknown, will be able to transmit the 'pollution' to Shen Long's crown inside the door, taking control of it.

"The level of 'pollution' determines the extent to which the formation's array eyes control Shen Long.

"About half of the 'pollution value' will not be able to completely control Shen Long, but it will be enough to influence His behavior.

"In other words, sneaking over now is the best time to interrupt the ritual and seize control of Shen Long.

"And after controlling Shen Long, you can use the palace lantern to return to the surface."

The Libationer laid out the plan in detail, but Li Ang's face still didn't show much emotion. He quietly looked at the Libationer and slowly said, "You shouldn't know so much."

According to common sense, as a mere executor of Tanhua's organization, the Libationer should only know a part of the plan due to confidentiality principles, rather than knowing where the lifeline of the final plan is, as he does now.

The Libationer was silent for a moment, then punched his lower abdomen, gagged for a while, and spat out half an ear.

"I have a skill called \[Memory Devouring]. As long as I eat more than 30% of a fresh body part of a living creature, I can see the other person's memories from the past seven days."

The Libationer said expressionlessly, "In the evening, the leaders of the Yanshi Tanhua organization received news and fled. I attacked the superior officer who was riding a speedboat on the sea, as well as the Tanhua members who were protecting him.

"In order to avoid the pursuit of the Special Affairs Bureau, he did not turn on any positioning devices or communication equipment. Neither Tanhua nor the Special Affairs Bureau knew that he was dead.

"His brain contained most of the content of this mission, but unfortunately, he didn't know who the specific host of the ritual was."

If according to the plan, Wraith Demon Gururugulu, plus Libationer Lord, could completely hunt down those lone wolf teams one by one,

Instead of entrusting the hope of realizing the Libationer's personal long-cherished wish to outsiders as it is now.

"..."

Li Ang was silent for a moment and looked at the Libationer, "Why?"

What Li Ang questioned was naturally the Libationer's motive.

"I said before that I don't agree with Tanhua's philosophy, especially in the handling of Shen Long,"

The Libationer slowly said, "They hope to use Shen Long to maintain their wealth, power, and status.

"And I hope for world peace."

————

In the deep, dark trench of the vast space, a lantern became the only light.

Li Ang, disguised as the Libationer, walked along the cliffside path in the middle of the trench, holding a lantern and a Sinan.

The other players were all above the trench, ready to descend according to the plan at any time.

Below the cliff, the sound of human chanting was continuous.

Using the word chanting may not be appropriate. The voices of countless people were mixed with screams, laughter, sobs, and roars.

Primitive, savage, similar to the calls of beasts,

Chaotic and noisy, yet uniformly filled with malice.

Li Ang held the lantern and looked down, seeing tens of thousands of people crammed into the trench.

There was no sign of marine life at the bottom of the trench. The ground was also covered with fine sand, but upon closer inspection, one could faintly perceive the traces of the fine sand on the surface, which seemed to outline some kind of huge and magnificent pattern.

Above the pattern, a densely packed crowd of people held hands, forming countless nested concentric circles,

The outermost circle rotated clockwise, while the second circle rotated counterclockwise, repeating the cycle to form a circle that almost filled the trench.

The expressions on the faces of these people infected with Tanhua's disease were as ferocious and terrifying as beasts. They muttered vaguely and danced wildly, with black smoke constantly rising from their mouths.

Strands of smoke condensed into a deep, rotating circular cloud in the air.

On the cliff wall of the trench in front of the circular cloud, there was a mist gate that almost filled the entire bottom of the trench.

The surging mist gate guarded the entrance to a mountain cave that was equally huge and inconceivable. Facing the concentric circles composed of humans, it stood silently, unaware and unresponsive.

It is difficult to describe what Li Ang saw with more delicate brushstrokes.

All the words in the world could not express the darkness, coldness, and inhumanity contained in this scene.

The flowing wind, the surging human heat, the heavy air, the oppressive atmosphere—

All the details that made up the "magnificent" scene could not be specifically expressed by the camera's screen. Even if filmed with a camera, the resulting picture would appear old-fashioned and dull due to the lack of detail.

Only by being there in person and seeing this scene with one's own eyes can one feel the gloomy and deep, dark and cold nature of this unknown formation.

As if sensing something, a humanoid creature sitting cross-legged in the center of the concentric circle formation quietly stood up and looked at Li Ang on the cliff.

Li Ang, holding the lantern, made eye contact with it, tapped his toes lightly on the ground, and slowly slid down the cliff toward the trench below.

It was time for Yanshi's nightmare, Batman, to make his appearance.

Wan Jia Xiong Meng