Inside The Black Mist

After entering the town, Tianyang noticed that it was much smaller in scale compared to Wild Valley Town. The buildings were generally low and many structures resembled factories along the main street.

They were clustered closely together.

The reason he thought they were factories was because most of these buildings had an empty lot in front of them. In these lots, there were usually one or two pieces of machinery whose names were unknown to him. Some of these machines were already covered by fungal growth.

Those that hadn't been overtaken by the fungi were merely hollow shells, leaving behind only large frameworks.

They looked somewhat like the lifting machines found in the factories of the lower districts of the fortress, so Tianyang figured these might also have been factories.

As they passed a building, a Wanderer crawled out from its main entrance. Or rather, half a Wanderer. The lower half of its body was missing, with a segment of its spine protruding from where its waist had been.

The Wanderer used its two hands to crawl along the ground, while the exposed spine dragged along like a short white tail.

The already terrifying and twisted entity had fungal growths sprouting from its body. One such growth was emerging from its left eye socket, pushing the original eyeball out to an unknown location.

In the subsequent journey, Tianyang saw several more Wanderers infested with fungi.

He glanced at Adam and saw that the burly man looked equally disturbed.

"Something must have happened here. I visited Gemstone Town two years ago. Back then, while dark creatures were wandering around, they weren't infected by fungi," Adam said, wiping sweat from his forehead. This was odd, as the vehicle's temperature control system kept the cabin cool, so Adam shouldn’t have felt hot.

The vehicles finally stopped at a small square surrounded by a wall and gate, which appeared to be some important institution of the town.

Near the two-story building behind the square laid a discarded flag-like object, but it was so stained that its original colors and patterns were no longer discernible.

As the vehicle doors opened, Kong Zhang, wearing protective clothing and a helmet, stepped onto the ground in Gemstone Town with the help of his students.

The fungal infestation here was relatively light. Aside from the left side of the building being covered in fungi, the rest of the area had only sparse fungal patches.

Adam planned to use this place as a temporary camp since the surrounding wall provided a natural defense and concealment.

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Members of the Sun Spear squad disembarked one after another, with Adam directing the soldiers to reinforce the wall, set up firing points on high ground, and park several Falcon vehicles in front of the building.

When needed, the heavy cannons on the vehicles could form a powerful firebase.

Just as they were about to explore the building and clear any potential threats, Yunze approached, politely but firmly taking on the task.

Adam seemed to have expected this and neither objected nor showed surprise.

Yunze then ordered Zhou Wang to lead the exploration team, consisting of another War God class Ascender and five regular soldiers, into the building.

The Frost Cloud Guard quickly set up a table and several folding chairs in the small square. They placed a holographic projector on the table, allowing real-time footage from the exploration team to be displayed.

Yunze pulled out a chair for Elder Kong Zhang to sit in and then invited Tianyang. “Mr. Tianyang, this is your first time seeing our Frost Cloud Guard in action. You’re an experienced Night Walker, so please help me identify any deficiencies in our family guard.”

Tianyang finally responded, “Mr. Yunze, I’m just an ordinary member of a Night Walker. I don’t deserve the praise of being experienced, nor the title “Mr.” Please just call me by my name.”

Yunze smiled happily. “Alright, using names is more friendly. But don’t call me “Mr.” either, it sounds too formal. Since I’m older, just call me Brother Ze.”

Tianyang found himself unable to utter that name…

In the holographic projection, Zhou Wang's voice rang out, slightly distorted due to the transmission signal. "Mr. Yunze, we've searched the first floor and found nothing unusual. We're now proceeding to the second floor."

In the projection, Zhou Wang and the other War God class Ascender walked ahead, while other soldiers followed behind, forming a firing formation.

It was evident that the Yun family had put effort into training this guard unit. The soldiers' steps were almost synchronized, and whenever there was any movement, the muzzles of their guns immediately pointed toward the suspicious areas, showing quick reactions.

Soon, the team reached the second floor, where a corridor extended to the left and right from the staircase.

The staircase was right in the middle of the corridor, indicating that splitting up for exploration was not wise. Zhou Wang immediately decided to explore the left side of the corridor first.

As the team turned left, they soon arrived at a room. The door was open, with the frame empty and the door missing.

Light shone into the room, revealing what seemed to be a meeting room with a long table and chairs scattered around and various items littering the floor.

In the holographic image, as the light swept over the corner of the meeting room, Tianyang suddenly saw something move.

There was a gasp from the projection as the light, which had already passed over, returned to shine on a figure in the corner.

It appeared to be a person, curled up in the corner with hands around knees and head buried within.

However, what made it uncertain was that this humanoid figure was covered all over with fungi!

The dense, dark blue fungal growth completely occupied it, making it impossible to discern its true appearance.

Zhou Wang exchanged a glance with the Ascender beside him, who drew a silver-white longsword, while Star Essence manifested around him, ready to attack at any moment.

Meanwhile, Zhou Wang raised his hand, and grey light whistled as he formed an elemental spear.

He threw this grey light spear, piercing through the creature's head.

Though Tianyang despised Zhou Wang's character, he found the reaction quite appropriate. Since the creature didn't appear human in any way, it was better to eliminate it directly rather than probe if it was alive.

After the attack, the fungal-covered humanoid showed no reaction, indicating it likely had no mobility.

There was a sigh of relief from the team in the holographic projection, and then the light passed over the creature.

Zhou Wang said, "We'll clean it up later and transport it in a body bag..."

Just then, Tianyang noticed something strange happening in the dim corner of the room where the elemental light had been dissipating.

It suddenly disappeared!

Then, cries of alarm, shouts, and curses erupted in the holographic projection.

Yunze stood up abruptly, shouting, "What's happening? Answer me! What's happening?!"