Whispers faded, followed by a cacophony of chaotic, bizarre sounds…

The gurgle of flowing liquids, the howl of wind, the sizzle of flesh dissolving in boiling oil, the crunch of bones… each sound resonated as if right next to one’s ears.

Angry roars, pained moans, maniacal laughter, heart-wrenching sobs… every utterance stabbed directly into their minds.

The sheer aural pressure was enough to make one feel as if they were falling into hell.

At this moment, the players weren't without light sources, but the darkness was like a raging beast, tightly clutching every source of illumination within the city in its claws, allowing none to escape.

Some tried to shout, hoping to communicate with their teammates nearby, but they couldn’t even hear the sounds coming from their own throats.

Some tried to wave their hands, wanting to use their sense of touch to assess the situation around them, but their fingertips only felt a fluctuating, alternating current of hot and cold, dry and damp air.

Fear and helplessness rapidly spread and grew within the players’ hearts…

Objectively speaking, the descent of this darkness hadn't been long, but to those trapped within it, it felt like an endless night.

Finally…

After about a minute, the “darkness” receded.

A blood-red moon rose in the sky.

The mist that had served as the “connecting medium” had dissipated, and the real Nuka City… appeared before the players’ eyes.

Looking around… jagged scorched earth, a boiling river of blood, thickets of withered bones, writhing decaying corpses, flying demonic shadows… countless terrifying things that only appeared in nightmares painted a scene of the underworld in its prime.

All those bizarre sounds had materialized, becoming genuine, tangible threats of death.

…

West side of the city, where the Golden War Hammer team was located.

“What the hell is going on!” Huang Dachui was completely out of sorts. Under the combined influence of the Z virus and his fear, he was drenched in sweat and deathly pale. “How did it suddenly become like this?”

“It feels like it suddenly shifted to the reverse side of the world…” Xuan Ling Wangzhe was also still shaken, but his fear level was more stable than Huang Dachui’s.

Qi Doushi wiped away cold sweat and added, “I’m saying… could it be because of that man we met earlier?”

“It’s certainly possible,” Jianxing Nan nodded in agreement. “Maybe he angered the Boss or forced it into its ‘second phase’…”

“So…” Huang Dachui tentatively asked, “the current situation… is essentially because this script’s Boss used a big move?”

“Who knows…” Jianxing Nan truly didn't know the specifics. “I’m more concerned about whether such a drastic change in the script’s map will affect our search for the antidote…”

“That’s right!” Xuan Ling Wangzhe immediately realized. “Let's assume that man really did leave us the antidote, but if the antidote was left in the ‘surface world,’ won’t we be unable to get it?”

“Indeed…” Jianxing Nan replied in a deep voice. “Taking a step back, even if the antitoxin serum was also transferred to the reverse side of the world, take a look around…” He paused for two seconds. “Putting aside the fact that there are wandering monsters everywhere, even the change in terrain is worrying… What if the antidote falls into the lava or blood river? Or what if the stone tablet with the riddle disappears?”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Huang Dachui exclaimed. “Let’s hurry up and keep looking!”

“Hmph… I’d like to as well…” Jianxing Nan said with a wry smile.

Before he could finish speaking, a circle of shadowy figures had already surrounded the four members of the Golden War Hammer team…

“But these monsters don’t seem to be willing to cooperate with us…” Jianxing Nan muttered as he once again summoned his dual scythes.

…

On the other hand, where the Hell's Frontline team was.

“Even if you squat there looking all aggrieved, the script won't change back to how it was,” Xiao Ling said to her boyfriend with a look of disdain, earnestly adding, “Hurry up and get up to help.”

As she spoke, she was holding her arms out straight, using [Slayer of the Moon] and [Falling Star] to mindlessly shoot at some monsters dozens of meters away. Since both guns had a certain degree of automatic correction, when shooting small monsters, Xiao Ling only needed to aim with her peripheral vision and fire at will.

“I know…” Xiao Tan replied, already standing up. “My fear level was a little high just now, let me recover a bit…”

“You’ve already recovered for thirty seconds, are you not done yet?” Xiao Ling asked impatiently. “Are you seven years old?”

“So the amount of time to recover is related to age…” Xiao Tan replied, his mouth twitching. “People over the age of seven must calm down within thirty seconds when encountering a terrifying event?”

“Of course,” Xiao Ling said matter-of-factly. “Didn’t you just stay in a state of panic until the end of class when you saw a question you couldn’t answer on an exam paper when you were a kid?”

“Uh…” Xiao Tan was momentarily speechless.

“I’m saying… what are you guys discussing about the ‘thirty-second principle’ at a time like this…” At this moment, Hua Jian also chimed in from the side. “Concentrate on fighting the monsters.”

(Note: The Thirty-Second Principle, that is, "in a test, if you are still at a loss thirty seconds after reviewing a question, you should decisively skip it," because a question that cannot be figured out in thirty seconds may not be solved even after thinking about it for another thirty minutes; self-deceiving persistence will only waste time.

ps: This principle was made up by me in thirty seconds, please do not take it seriously.)

“Okay! Watch me!” Xiao Tan said, also using his hidden weapons and shotgun to suppress the approaching monsters.

After fighting for a few seconds, he seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and stopped to say to his teammates, “By the way… these monsters… I seem to have seen them somewhere before…”

…

Ten minutes ago, in the city center, inside the Alien Fortress.

Three figures entered through the main hall door and walked all the way to Samodier’s throne.

“Yo~ yo~ people~ we’ve already brought them~”

“Please Great King… check~ check~ check_out~”

Dian San and Dao Si reported to Samodier in rap.

“Alright, you can go now.” Samodier sat motionless on the throne, not even opening his eyes.

After receiving the order, the two exchanged a glance, then shrugged and turned to leave.

After they walked out of the main hall, Feng Bujue laughed. “Are your eyes closed because you can't bear to look at your two subordinates?”

“Crazy not aware…” Samodier didn’t answer Jue Ge’s question. He knew that if he followed this topic, he would be fiercely ridiculed by the other party again, so he only said what he had planned beforehand. “…Now that things have come to this, I have to admire that you can still maintain such a calm attitude.”

“What? Did you expect to see me with a look of panic and fear on my face?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Hmph… how boring…” Samodier said, opening his eyes.

Now, the color of his pupils was different from when he was on Jumo Island. At that time, he had a pair of yellowish-brown eyes, but now, his bestial eyes were pitch black.

“You are a frustrating opponent, Feng Bujue.” Samodier spread his huge bat wings behind him, stood up from the throne, and slowly walked down with his giant hooves. “I'm not sure if you are too crazy or too calm, but I can be sure… that I can't get even the slightest bit of vengeful pleasure from you.”

As he spoke, he had walked in front of Jue Ge. “Because… although you are just a humble creature, you always look down on everything from the perspective of a high-ranking person, looking down on… me!”

The word “me” brought out a roar, and the wave of air spewing from Samodier's mouth blew Jue Ge’s hair up.

And the next second, Feng Bujue glared back with dead fish eyes and replied, “Judging from the current situation, there are at least two reasons for me to show a superior attitude in front of you; first, I do a much better job in oral hygiene. Second, I still know not to get close to people when I have bad breath.”

Upon hearing this, Samodier took two steps back in considerable embarrassment. “Hmph… can your humans’ set of meaningless social etiquette also be used as a source of pride?”

“Putting aside social etiquette… this is mainly a matter of personal hygiene, right?” Feng Bujue’s rebuttal came quickly and was well-founded. “And I don’t have anything to be proud of; you should be feeling ashamed. If you insist on saying that I’m arrogant, I’ll put my arm around your neck and talk to you with shit in my mouth from now on. I wonder how you’ll feel.”

As soon as these words came out, Samodier took another half-step back involuntarily. “Enough! Stop dragging me into irrelevant topics!” He quickly realized that the topic had been inadvertently led astray by Jue Ge, so he decided to get to the point immediately. “Today, I want you to pay the price for what you’ve done in the past!”

With that, Samodier's demonic energy surged, and a wave of killing intent surged out like a tsunami.

“Huh? Make me pay the price?” Feng Bujue stood there without moving a step, not even taking out his spiritual energy weapons. “With you?”

“Hmph…” Samodier sneered. “It seems you’re nothing more than this…” He paused for half a second. “Do you think… you can get away unscathed like you did on Jumo Island?”

“Oh… you mean that time,” Feng Bujue replied in a very relaxed tone, with his hands in his pockets. “The fight where you pretended to attack me wildly, but were actually waiting for an opportunity to attack Xing Shi?”

Samodier’s expression changed slightly. “You…”

“How would I know?” Feng Bujue continued. “Heh… I know far more than just that.” He raised one hand, stroking his chin. “I also know that you are about three times stronger today than you were then, right?”

Samodier did not respond, but his shock was reflected in the fluctuations of his own demonic energy.

“I admit… when we first met, I did underestimate you a bit,” Feng Bujue continued. “But after that encounter on Jumo Island, I changed my mind. Later… after I sorted out the information about you, I gradually discovered that your scheming and potential… are both not to be underestimated.”

“Hmph… bluffing…” At this time, after Samodier calmed down slightly, he tentatively replied, “Your usual trick.”

“What? You think I’m using empty words to trick you?” Feng Bujue laughed. “Heh… then I’ll give you some substance.” He spread his hands and said with a familiar, infuriating expression, “Um… where should I start… Oh, right, why not start with that strange religion that you, Duo Ling, and Taliorum founded together.”