Inside The Black Mist

The journey back to the camp went smoothly, without encountering any dark creatures along the way. It seemed that the number of dark creatures in this town was quite sparse.

Additionally, with the invasion of the fungal colonies, there were likely only a few dark creatures left capable of free movement.

Upon entering the camp, the members of the Sun's Spear team led Tianyang to the room where he had previously rested. After Tianyang went inside, they didn't leave anyone to guard him and directly closed the door.

Only then did Tianyang finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Reflecting on it now, it seemed the Yun family had no intention of pursuing the matter. Otherwise, given Wang Liangyi's strength, even Adam wouldn't have been able to protect him.

Recalling the encounter in the hall, Tianyang still felt a pang of fear. That man was truly unfathomable.

Being able to evade his first attack was likely because Wang Liangyi and Zhou Wang made the same mistake, underestimating Tianyang as just a Level 1 warrior.

It was due to their carelessness that they failed.

The second time Wang Liangyi attacked, it was entirely different.

The invisible force field used for restraint, coupled with the three different types of power incorporated into his attack, all conveyed one thing to Tianyang.

He was no match for Wang Liangyi.

So far, Wang Liangyi was probably the strongest Sublimator Tianyang had ever encountered.

Judging by his use of a sword, he was likely of the War God class, though which specific level was unknown.

Calming his mind, the young man took out his blindfold to cover his electronic eye. Then he looked at the mechanical combination lockbox in his hand and sat down in the corner.

Cross-legged, with the box resting on his legs, Tianyang gently placed his hand on the combination lock.

"Under the cross, the sky is illuminated by the sun..."

He softly recited the phrase left by Su Lie. "Under the cross" referred to the location of the suitcase.

Could "the sky is illuminated by the sun" be the password for the box?

Tianyang repeatedly murmured this phrase, hoping to find inspiration, but after several readings, he still couldn't find the connection between the phrase and the password.

Feeling a surge of frustration, he put down the box and went to the window.

Outside, the fungal colonies still emitted a blue glow, with the deep blue light illuminating the window and reflecting Tianyang's silhouette.

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As he inadvertently glanced at his reflection in the window, he suddenly jolted. "Could it be..."

He stuck his head out the window and looked at the dark sky shrouded in black mist above the Inverse Universe. "The sky, that's the sky. And the sun... isn't the sun ”Tianyang?”"

"The sky, the sun... Tianyang?"

The young man suddenly stared at the suitcase. "Am I the password?"

He picked up the box again, confirming that the combination lock used a now obsolete mechanical structure. "But this isn't a biometric key system. Or is it..."

With a hesitant look, Tianyang struggled internally before finally making a decision.

He started rotating the mechanical dials on the combination lock to specific numbers.

When he reached the last number, Tianyang hesitated briefly, then gritted his teeth and turned the dial.

As the last number aligned, there was a soft click from the combination lock, the surrounding mechanical components simultaneously released, and the lid of the box popped open slightly.

Tianyang exhaled deeply and leaned against the wall, the fatigue from the intense tension making him momentarily immobile.

He had guessed right.

The password was his birthday!

But this also subtly increased the possibility that Su Lie was his biological father.

After resting for a moment, Tianyang gently pushed open the box. Inside, lined with black padding, were several items.

The first thing Tianyang saw was a wildly designed handgun!

This handgun, with a silver-gray body marked with several scratches, had a large-caliber barrel big enough to fit a finger.

Modeled after the revolver structure of Inverse Universe handguns, it couldn't actually be opened, indicating that it didn't use physical bullets.

The black grip made of special materials had an inscription at the bottom, ”Ring of death, knell for your enemies!”

Finally, Tianyang discovered that the gun had an energy conversion component, meaning it could accept a Sublimator's Star Essence and convert it into energy bullets!

There was no doubt that this was a star-quality weapon, a weapon that used Star Essence as a medium. However, it was significantly different from modern star-quality firearms, especially handguns.

Today's handguns were designed with fluid shapes and were small and easy to carry, like a lady with delicate makeup.

But this rugged and massive handgun was more like a rough, stubbly man. Looking at it, Su Lie's image in Tianyang's mind seemed to become more vivid.

Tianyang picked up the handgun and tried infusing his Star Essence into it. Despite being abandoned under that building for countless years, the energy conversion components inside the handgun still functioned.

The drum on the gun's body lit up, and one of the bullet-shaped crystal slots was filled with a silver, mercury-like liquid.

In no time, one bullet slot was completely filled.

Tianyang was surprised; filling just one bullet slot consumed nearly ten percent of his Star Essence.

There were six bullet slots in total on both sides of the drum. If he wanted to fill them all, it would consume more than half of his Star Essence.

Suddenly, Tianyang felt a bit excited, wondering how powerful a bullet that required so much Star Essence to fill would be.

Since the handgun was still usable, Tianyang didn't hesitate to take it.

He didn't know its name, but the inscription on the bottom of the grip gave Tianyang an idea. "From now on, you'll be called Death Knell."

After putting away Death Knell, Tianyang's gaze fell back on the suitcase.

Inside were several pages of a diary and a small, silver metal box.

The box's edges were adorned with intricate and beautiful patterns. Inside the box was a data chip. Unfortunately, Tianyang didn't have a reader with him, so he had to temporarily put the box away and read the chip's data after returning to the base.

He could only hope it wasn't damaged.

Finally, Tianyang picked up the diary pages and immediately recognized that they had been torn from Su Lie's diary.

So it was Su Lie himself who tore out the back pages of the diary!

According to the dates on the diary, he rearranged the pages and started reading.

“…September 16th, finally back! This mission was terrible! Terrible!”

“…September 19th, after resting for a few days, I feel a bit better. I originally wanted to find Nan Fei, but I have no mood for it now. Those things... are they real? Even now, back in the fortress, I still can't believe it. Jing Nan once said that our brains can deceive ourselves sometimes. I hope I'm deceiving myself.”

“…September 23rd, I met Nan Fei last night. She was very happy, but I couldn't be happy at all. Just thinking about the things I saw in the Inverse Universe makes me unable to smile. Although I smiled, it must have looked awful. I bet Nan Fei noticed, but she's very considerate and didn't ask anything. She's such a good girl. Forget it, let those things be handled by the higher-ups. I'll just think about the wedding.”

“…September 30th, is the military serious? They still want to investigate; they are crazy. Why don't they destroy those things! Damn it, Jing Nan was right; sometimes power corrupts people's hearts. The higher-ups want me to go back to that damned place again. But can I refuse?”

“…October 21st, yes, I'm back. I didn't expect to come back alive. No, these diary pages must be torn out. If someone finds them, they will think I leaked secrets. The higher-ups are crazy; they want to go through with that thing to the end. I don't know what to do… No, maybe I know what to do!”

This was the last entry. The force of the last few words almost tore through the paper!

Tianyang's eyebrows furrowed deeply. So, Su Lie was the one who tore out the later pages of the diary. But who stored the diary in the Upper City citizen's storage service?

And earlier, he didn't understand why his mother, having the storage receipt, chose to leave the diary there and not retrieve it.

Now he began to understand. Perhaps his mother knew what Su Lie planned to do in the end. Not retrieving the diary might be related to the "higher-ups" mentioned in Su Lie's diary.

Maybe they lived in the Lower City to avoid the "higher-ups" attention.

So who exactly were the “"higher-ups"* that Su Lie referred to? The military? Maybe, but other possibilities couldn't be ruled out.

The term was too vague.

Lastly, what did Su Lie discover in the Inverse Universe that made the "higher-ups" value it so much, even making him tear out the diary pages to avoid suspicion of leaking secrets?

The young man couldn't help but touch the box in his pocket. Perhaps the secret was in this data chip.

Tianyang looked up at the window, now hoping that Adam and the others would return soon so they could head back to the base. He couldn't wait to uncover the chip's secrets.

Time passed slowly, and Tianyang began to feel that something was wrong. It had been almost an hour since he returned to the camp. If it was just sample collection, Adam and his team should have returned by now.

Could something have happened?

However, he wasn't too worried. Not only was Adam's team there, but Wang Liangyi also had enough strength to protect the team.

That high-ranking warrior was no pushover.

Boom!

Suddenly, there was an explosion outside, seemingly coming from a distant place. Tianyang rushed to the window but saw nothing as the ubiquitous black mist of the Inverse Universe obscured his vision.

But the black mist couldn't block out the sound. More noises began coming from the distance, and occasionally, some lights could be seen through the pervasive mist.

Footsteps echoed outside his room. Tianyang tucked Death Knell into the back of his belt, covering it with his Night Stalker uniform, and opened the door.

A Frostcloud Guard ran past. Tianyang grabbed him. "What's happening?"

The soldier replied anxiously, "Mr. Yun and the others were attacked on their way back!"

"Is it the dark creatures?"

The soldier nodded. "Yes, and there are quite a few. Mr. Yun told us to prepare for a tough battle!"

With that, he hurried away.

Dark creatures! And in large numbers?

Tianyang looked out the window again. This Gemstone Town seemed far from the peaceful place Adam had described!