Jennifer and Zoey tumbled out of the black monolith, fortunate that their strong physiques prevented any injuries.

Derek, Dodge, and the mercenary medic weren't as lucky.

Dodge face-planted in the dirt, while Derek and the medic landed hard, their bodies aching and feeling like they were about to fall apart.

Scorched earth, scalding smoke and dust.

The three lying on the ground couldn't bear the heat rising from the earth, so they quickly got up.

"Where is this? How did we get here?" Dodge said, dazed.

Zoey vaguely remembered that she had been hiding behind the black monolith when someone suddenly grabbed her, pulling her into a dark tunnel. Just before entering the tunnel, she had instinctively pulled Jennifer along, dragging her in as well.

Zoey and the others were propelled through the tunnel by an unknown force, eventually arriving here in a confused daze.

The desolate scene before them filled everyone with a sense of bleakness.

The scorched earth was covered in ash and soot from burned vegetation, and the remaining walls of buildings continued to be roasted by the intense heat.

"Was there a battle here recently?" Derek asked, scratching his head.

Derek picked up a branch that hadn't completely burned and poked at the charred remains of an unknown creature, unable to determine what it was.

It was too large to be an animal, yet too short to be a human.

As Derek pondered, Jennifer's voice came from nearby: "There's another… charred corpse here…"

Derek went to Jennifer's side and used the branch to poke at the charred corpse she had mentioned.

The corpse's features hadn't been destroyed by the flames, and Derek was able to identify the species.

"It's a chimpanzee," Derek said.

"A chimpanzee?"

"How could there be chimpanzees here?"

"Are you sure, Derek?"

Everyone discussed animatedly, offering many guesses about the desolate environment and the chimpanzee's corpse.

However, none of these guesses could be confirmed, as they weren't eyewitnesses and hadn't seen what had happened here.

Jennifer suddenly seemed electrified and hurriedly asked Zoey, "Where's Fatty? Where did he go?"

When they first arrived, they were immediately captivated by the environment and began discussing it, forgetting that the most critical and central figure in their team, Fatty, was missing.

Zoey realized the problem as well. She asked Jennifer, "You were the last one pulled into the black monolith. Did you see Fatty before that?"

Jennifer shook her head, saying she couldn't remember. She only remembered being fine one moment, and then suddenly being pulled here by Zoey.

Fatty hadn't come with them.

Without Fatty, the team felt like they lacked a backbone, and no one dared to step forward to take charge and lead the team.

Zoey walked to the black monolith they had emerged from and said to the others, "I have a feeling our sudden arrival here is related to this black monolith… It's eerie and terrifying here, so why don't we go back through the black monolith to find Fatty?"

Everyone agreed.

Zoey decided to study the black monolith to understand its principles. She walked around it, but found no mechanisms. The entire monolith was smooth and complete, like a black stone.

Zoey didn't know where to start, or how to get back to the original plaza.

Zoey reached out to knock on the black monolith, wanting to see what material it was made of. The moment she touched it, she was immediately sucked inside.

The others were startled to see Zoey suddenly disappear before their eyes.

However, they understood the principle behind the black monolith from what had just happened: they could be transported away by simply touching it.

But they had no idea where they would end up or how to control their destination.

Jennifer was afraid of Zoey being alone, so she followed her and touched the black monolith, immediately being sucked inside.

Dodge knew who the strongest member of the team was and who they should rely on, so he followed Jennifer into the black monolith.

Derek and the medic, seeing that everyone else had left, didn't want to stay in the ruins any longer, so they touched the black monolith as well.

*Thump*—they placed their hands on the black monolith.

However, nothing happened.

Derek and the medic weren't sucked into the black monolith like the others, and remained in place.

*Thump*—they started to panic and slapped the black monolith again, but there was still no reaction.

In their panic, Derek and the medic searched the scorched earth for other black monoliths like headless flies, using the same method of touching them, but nothing happened. They remained where they were.

"Fuck, this black 'teleportation device' must be broken."

Derek was covered in sweat, completely lost.

As the two racked their brains to find a way out, three figures in white robes suddenly appeared at the edge of the scorched earth, slowly walking towards them…