Chapter 177 A Way Out

The moment the number of gravel stones exploded…

Every member of the team felt that something was wrong…

Yuan Yuan's expression turned ugly. He accelerated the speed of his blade, but the power of these gravel stones also became stronger. Obviously, the wind pressure was too great, causing the land of the [Old World] to collapse once again. These gravel stones were newly born not far away and contained brand-new "power of destruction."

His Dao Domain, which could originally cover six people, suddenly shrank, only able to cover three.

Even so, it became very difficult.

The three members in the team took a deep breath and unfolded their Domain Embryos. They were all experts among Tier 3 transcendents. Even if they had not condensed a complete Domain, they possessed powerful "Embryos"!

"Bang bang bang bang!!!"

Continuous shattering sounds exploded in front of their masks.

The soundproofing function of Gu Shen's mask was damaged. It might be the source quality power after the gravel exploded that invaded the Source Armor. It was foreseeable that the Source Armor would suffer different degrees of attacks next…

The [Source Pupil]'s mental link began to tremble violently.

Li Chen looked pale.

His mental strength was not strong, and it was already quite remarkable that he could support it until now. However, the pressure before the storm made people feel mentally exhausted… This journey had lasted for more than ten days, and the final return trip, although it took the shortest route, was even more rugged and tortuous than the long road of departure, tormenting people's hearts.

It was necessary to ensure the stability of everyone's mental link…

Gu Shen调 back a small wisp of Cinnabar Flame, calmly said, "Captain, the Dao Domain can continue to shrink."

Because of the increased pressure.

Yuan Yuan's final Dao Domain only covered the two most important people in the team.

One was Li Chen.

The other was Gu Shen.

As soon as these words came out, Li Chen turned to look at Gu Shen, his expression a little worried: "Brother Gu…"

"I have the ability to protect myself."

Gu Shen's Cinnabar Flame, after being gathered, became slightly more condensed. It was a cluster of firelight the size of a finger, like a shooting star, surrounding Gu Shen's body. This was the ability after the "Mental Domain" had been developed to a certain extent!

Gu Shen's mental strength was far greater than his current transcendent strength.

Even if there was only a wisp… in terms of self-protection ability, his "Cinnabar Flame" was stronger than all the Tier 3 transcendents in the team!

Letting Yuan Yuan free up his spirit could better protect Li Chen.

Then the mental link of the [Source Pupil] could be better maintained!

The sound in the command channel was already a little chaotic. Once the twelve people's "mental link" was broken, the subsequent actions would become chaotic… In this case, they must unite to have a chance to grasp a glimmer of hope in the desperate situation.

Once the team collapsed, the ending was already doomed.

"Hold on, can you see what's ahead?"

Yuan Yuan's voice came over. He waved his dual blades, chopping gravel, and at the same time cheered for Li Chen, encouraging him: "The Umbrella Defense Line is less than fifty kilometers away from us!"

Li Chen, who was doing his best to use his abilities, causing tears to flow from his eyes until they were dry, looked towards the distant sky.

At the end of the chaotic sky, stood a large umbrella.

That was the home of mankind.

It was also the hope at the end of the journey.

"Captain… I can hold on!"

In the [Mental Link] channel, the will of each team member was quite tenacious. In the almost desperate adversity, everyone completely stimulated their desire to survive in their bones.

This was good.

Only in this way could they survive!

Gu Shen found that he had "liked" these guys, probably from the beginning of the journey to the Old World. These men, trekking alone in the broken world, used their shoulders cast from flesh and blood to carry a heavy thing called "hope."

No one can prove that this ethereal belief is real.

So they should survive.

And in this storm… everyone should survive!

"Golden穗 Flower." (Golden Sui Flower)

"Say it again… Leave here, that's an order."

In the Pure Land's mental link, Gu Shen's voice became cold.

The storm was coming.

Golden穗 Flower was destined to be unable to return to the Giant Wall with him… After leaving the maze, it had been following him. Gu Shen knew exactly what this big guy was thinking.

If his party was really swept into the storm, then this "foolish" big guy would probably choose to sacrifice without hesitation, using that "flesh and blood body" to resist the source quality storm!

The golden shadow of Golden穗 Flower floating above the clouds began to tremble.

Its blood flowed with the power of the "Hades Seed."

This also doomed it to be unable to disobey Gu Shen's order!

"My King…"

A hoarse and unwilling voice surged in the clouds.

At this moment, the entire team was running for their lives in tension. No one noticed the abnormality above the sky.

Golden穗 Flower's huge body stopped.

After Gu Shen issued the order, he forcibly interrupted the "mental link" between the two parties.

It could only watch the squad disappear into the field of vision swept by heavy snow.

…

…

Everyone in the team gritted their teeth.

The captain's words rekindled hope in them.

But the real world immediately poured a basin of cold water on them.

"Rumble…"

A violent tremor, like beating a war drum, sounded directly above them!

Golden light flashed!

A giant mountain shattered. Looking down from the sky, it looked like a small ripple exploding on the surface of a pond, but this scale of turmoil falling on Gu Shen and his party was a real catastrophe and disaster.

Thousands of meters apart, the strong wind swept through.

The aftermath alone blew people almost unable to stand. The Source Armor burning to the limit forcibly changed its propulsion mode. The twelve people resisted the violent storm, struggling to fly in the low sky!

Misfortunes never come singly. Just a few seconds later, a hoarse voice sounded in the mental link.

"Captain! My backup energy is not enough!"

It was Mo Hongyi's voice.

Because the degree of resistance to "source quality" was different, the degree of energy consumption of the Source Armor itself was also different.

After the scale of gravel stones increased sharply and lost the protection of Yuan Yuan's Dao Domain, in addition to Li Chen, the energy consumption of everyone's Source Armor increased again!

Old Mo's strength was relatively outstanding among the Tier 3 transcendents.

And his abilities were "twisting" and "ejection." In the aftermath of the explosion just now, he did his best to use his abilities to help the team resist a wave of resistance…

This also led to his Source Armor energy being greatly consumed!

After the news came out, everyone in the mental link was silent, and no one spoke.

Gu Shen also did not speak.

He silently calculated the final data in his heart.

"Fifty kilometers away from the Umbrella Defense Line… At this speed, it is expected to take another thirteen minutes…"

This speed was already the fastest speed.

It was a pity.

Before the source quality tide, this speed was too slow.

If they looked back at this moment, they would see an unparalleled shocking scene. Behind the small humans, an entire piece of the sky and the earth were connected together. All the vision was filled with the wind that ran through the sky!

The reason why no one spoke in the mental link was very simple.

It wasn't just that Old Mo's energy was not enough…

After the explosion just now, everyone in the team didn't have enough energy.

Before reaching the "Umbrella Defense Line," the storm would swallow everyone.

Old Mo lowered his head and checked the core. His expression in the mask could not be seen. He suddenly said, "…I should not be able to reach the fortress. Why don't you take my energy and leave!"

This was what he really wanted to say.

He didn't want to live anymore.

Instead of twelve people running out of energy together and dying here, it was better to give his comrades a push.

He could die.

But… someone had to live.

"Little Chenzi," Mo Hongyi smiled as if trying to make light of the situation, but in fact his voice was shaking very badly, "You come over, pull out my core, and then disconnect the link. That'll save a little more effort."

An overloaded ship.

Either all sink.

Or… unload the goods, heavily throwing down the heavy, useless, and broken goods.

Exchange it for the survival of other people on the ship.

"What are you kidding about?"

Suddenly someone shouted loudly.

Zhu Xiao scolded angrily: "You motherfucker said you would introduce me to a girl after we went back! If there is no girl, burning a paper figure is also fine. Why are you talking about unlucky things at this juncture? You haven't paid back the money you owe, and you haven't washed the socks you owe. If you want to go back on your debt, I will be the first to disagree!"

He wanted to ease the atmosphere, but didn't notice that his voice was also trembling very badly.

There was a deathly silence in the team.

"Your memory is really good. You still remember these things at this juncture…" Mo Hongyi smiled. He suddenly looked sincerely into Zhu Xiao's eyes and asked very softly, "Why don't you pull out my core?"

Zhu Xiao seemed to have been hit by something.

He couldn't say anything all of a sudden.

At this moment, he realized that what he was saying now was not the playful words before embarking on the maze, nor the jokes and jokes in daily training.

What he was facing now was an extremely cruel life-and-death choice.

It was an unprecedented desperate situation.

In the Investigation Corps, such things often happened… It was just that he was relatively lucky. Since joining the Corps, he had joined the elite team, and his expeditions had been victorious in every battle. Even after experiencing a few setbacks, he had never encountered such a desperate scene.

"There are some words that the captain is not convenient to say, so I will say them."

Old Mo took a deep breath and said, "Everyone doesn't have enough energy, right? I joined the Investigation Corps, and I never thought that I would be able to retire alive. Why are you hesitating at this juncture? Let's get as many as we can out of here!"

He didn't finish his words.

The wind swept across the earth, like a blade!

Su He, at the end of the team, let out a muffled groan.

He raised his gun to shoot, and while dodging sideways, he shattered a slender stone that was rapidly sweeping over, but a crack also opened in his own Source Armor.

The storm was already very close.

Even if the team was still thousands of meters away from the "outer edge," everyone felt the terrifying suction… The constantly sweeping tornadoes were like a "饕餮" (glutton) that could never be fed, frantically devouring everything it touched!

"It's too late…"

Mo Hongyi lost his patience. He stretched out a hand, grabbed Zhu Xiao's hand closest to him, and then pressed it to the position of the source energy core on his chest…

"Pull!"

These words of his were like a heavy hammer.

Heavily struck down.

Smashed in everyone's heart.

"I have a way… There is no need to pull out the energy."

At the very front of the team, a voice sounded quietly.

Old Mo was stunned.

Even Yuan Yuan was stunned.

Because this voice was not transmitted to their minds through the [Source Pupil]'s mental link.

Every person's Source Armor was attached with a wisp of tiny "Cinnabar Flame."

This was the "preparation" that Gu Shen had made before setting off. At that time, he didn't understand this team yet. Due to the ominous premonition of the Hong Zhong incident, in order to ensure that there would be no "betrayal" in this expedition mission, Gu Shen deliberately held back a hand.

This small wisp of Cinnabar Flame could ensure that Gu Shen "heard" everything he wanted to hear, and could also ensure that Gu Shen could take action to counterattack at any time. After all, in this [Old World], he was wearing a "golden hoop" (referring to Sun Wukong's headband in Journey to the West, symbolizing restriction), and his combat power would be greatly reduced.

However.

In the second half of the journey, the role of these Cinnabar Flames completely changed.

Gu Shen recognized this team, and the Cinnabar Flame attached to the Source Armor was used to "protect" these team members and check whether their mental state was stable.

"Gu Shen?"

Even Yuan Yuan didn't realize when this small spark on his Source Armor was attached.

"But before this method is implemented…"

Gu Shen said softly, "I need to hypnotize everyone here."

He looked at Old Mo.

Then he looked at Zhu Xiao.

"As for the reasons for this, I can't explain them. Everyone can only choose whether to believe me."

A silent [Mental Link] became noisy under the roar of the storm.

The eleven team members looked at each other.

They knew very well what [Hypnosis] meant…

For transcendents, falling into a "hypnotic" state meant that their lives and deaths were controlled by others. Once they fell into a mental dream, there were thousands of ways to make them wish they were dead.

Mental transcendents could erase memories, distort wills, and even brainwash and change beliefs.

If the person who proposed hypnosis was an old teammate who had been fighting for many years.

Then they would not hesitate at all.

But… this young man was on his first expedition.

Yuan Yuan asked in a deep voice, "Can we trust you?"

Gu Shen said calmly, "I won't do something like taking the core after hypnotizing you…"

It was a coincidence.

The current situation was somewhat similar to the choice that Hong Zhong's team faced back then.

The story of that returning hero who unhesitatingly drew his sword and killed his companions to take their energy had probably added a layer of psychological shadow to everyone in this squad.

"That's not what I meant. You may have misunderstood."

Yuan Yuan was a little dumbfounded.

The trust he had just said was not referring to taking the core, but… he really couldn't think of any way to outrun this storm.

Hypnotizing eleven people was a great burden on the caster himself.

Could Gu Shen's mental strength withstand it?

What cards did he have to outrun the storm?

"What the captain means is actually to ask you about the specific certainty…"

The taciturn vice-captain Su He spoke at this moment: "If we all accept your hypnosis, what is your chance of bringing the team back to Gu Fort?"

Yuan Yuan nodded.

Following his gaze, all the members looked at Gu Shen.

In Yuan Yuan's heart… even if there was only a 10% chance that one or two people could return to Gu Fort, it would be enough to implement this adventure.

"…50%."

The silence did not last long.

Gu Shen gave a conservatively estimated answer.

The next moment.

"Damn it!" Mo Hongyi cursed angrily, "Hypnotize us quickly! What are you waiting for? The wind behind us is burning our asses!"

Immediately afterwards, he slapped away Zhu Xiao's stunned hand and glared angrily: "What are you looking at, brat? You really want to pull out my oxygen tube?"

…

…

(ps: The promised extra update will definitely come. There is another chapter tonight. Those who can't wait can go to sleep first.)