22:05, with a chilling surge crashing down to the earth, the Inner Tides began. Baicheng boiled with turmoil as the massive central Mother Nest slowly erged in the darkness. Like a corrupted program, it began frantically generating, stitching, spawning—Eerie Entities flooded into the dark.
Beneath the Baicheng Sewage Plant, the Main Control Room of a hidden chamber was lined with neatly arranged server racks. This was the terminal core of the entire Crimson World’s underground research facility in Baicheng.
The air was deathly still. Everyone—including Senju Shun—looked at Lin Xian with varying expressions. The communication channel was silent. Even Silent City’s City Lord Moonlight Shinji went quiet for several seconds. Within those monts, his quantum computation palace, capable of five-digit teraflops, had completed millions of calculations. The result: unless Lin Xian possessed so unknown power, there was no better strategy to resolve the current crisis.
Launching a behemoth like Silent City to charge through the Abyss Zone was clearly more dangerous than small-team operations like Senju Shun’s unit. And since there were no imdiate concerns for Silent City, Moonlight Shinji dared to make such a bold gamble.
“Help find the midpoint between Baicheng Orbital Station, Xishan Fortress, and Silent City.”
“Input train track speed, fortress base vehicle, Silent City launch ti…”
At this mont, Lin Xian was having Grace project a scanned 3D terrain hologram of Baicheng and its surrounding areas. While communicating with Grace, he continuously inputted data.
【Position: 12 kiloters west of Wangshan Pass, rail deviation at 12°, ti offset 4 minutes, estimated landing radius ~5.1 kiloters】
Grace provided precise computation results. On the side, KIKI furrowed her brows. She wanted to speak but knew better than to interrupt. Instead, she waited quietly, casually flicking her finger to silence the whimpering Zhou Lei in the corner.
“You want to have your train, the fortress vehicle, and Silent City converge in one direction...?” Senju Shun crossed his arms, watching the holographic simulation in front of Lin Xian. “You planning to combine forces and face the threat together?”
“Not exactly,” Lin Xian replied, turning to Ning Jing. “It was the Holy Revelation’s description of the rlion Giant Statue that gave this idea.”
“Sister Ning, do you rember when we were in the Aksai Dead Zone, it was the observation of the rlion Giant that triggered the Abyss Tide, or what they call the Black Edge effect? It swallowed us whole.”
Ning Jing nodded. “Old Shi and I didn’t get a direct view, but we definitely detected sothing.”
“Then we appeared near Lake Butuo and got caught in an Eerie Entity outbreak.” Lin Xian pointed at the sand table. “Have you noticed sothing odd? The position we were in was less than 100 kiloters from Baicheng’s rlion Giant. Even Silent City, which was drawn in, ended up just 70 kiloters from here. And Boss Hu and his people— they appeared right inside Baicheng.”
Hearing this, Chen Sixuan couldn’t help but interject:
“You an... the transfer isn’t random within Abyss Zone No. 5, but specifically between the three rlion Giants?”
“Rember when Boss Hu and Old Mo got dragged in last ti?” Lin Xian continued, “They were with Silent City when it was drawn in. But because their convoy got separated, their location shifted. Yet no matter the change, they all still ended up near one of the rlion Giants. So why did they appear near Akesai instead of Baicheng like Silent City?”
KIKI’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh—!”
“You’ve guessed it, haven’t you?” Lin Xian didn't leave room for suspense. “Exactly. The Crimson World was moving the third rlion Giant to the Bailutan Star Observatory at that ti. Boss Hu’s team, separated from Silent City, got rerouted—Silent City landed near the Baicheng statue, but Boss Hu’s group ended up near Akesai. That’s how they crossed thousands of kiloters overnight from the Wei River to the Western Gobi north of the Abyss.”
Monica nodded.
“And there was just a report of a Forbidden Item appearing in Nie Qingtai’s area. Our luck’s seriously warped.”
“So…” Chen Sixuan slowly realized, “if City No. 7 gets dragged into the Abyss, it might also erge here in Baicheng?”
“Exactly.”
“So his plan isn’t just about combining forces…”
“Right.” Ning Jing suddenly interrupted, her voice sharp. “You’re not asking us to fall back— you want us to go out!”
“Shun.” In the fortress control room, Moonlight Shinji narrowed his eyes slightly. Watching the holographic screen, he spoke with a tone of insight: “Lin is calculating how to converge the Unified Train, Xishan Fortress, and Silent City at Wangshan Pass Plain. Then, he wants to leverage the rlion Giant’s unique property…”
“Spatial transfer!”
“What?!” Amano Ran exclaid, hands raised in shock.
The others, including Monica and even the usually calm Xiao Qing, turned to Ning Jing with sharp, focused breaths.
KIKI gaped, looking at Lin Xian.
“You… you’re not seriously thinking…”
“Yes,” Lin Xian replied, still running calculations. “I’m going to replicate the spatial transfer phenonon from the Aksai Dead Zone.”
“Huh?” Chen Sixuan was clearly confused. “You want to use the rlion Giant above to do that?”
“Lin, that seems impossible,” Senju Shun interjected, frowning even deeper. “The problem is—”
“The problem is that the rlion Giant only triggers the Black Edge effect after it leaves the Abyss, right?” Lin Xian had finished his calculations, his gaze steady as he exhaled slowly. He looked to Senju Shun and Moonlight Shinji and said, “Well, it just so happens I know how to solve that.”
He turned to KIKI and the others.
“Director Ding’s ssage confird this—Silver Dragon Tenfold Thorn has grown a second flower cluster.”
Everyone—KIKI, Chen Sixuan, Monica, Ning Jing, Qian Dele—suddenly understood.
“Captain Lin, you an…” Ning Jing exclaid in disbelief.
“Creating spatial stratification?!” Monica asked.
“No way…” Qian Dele’s eyes flickered wildly. “That’s... way too abstract!”
To ensure synchronization, Lin Xian quickly explained the spatial stratification ability of Silver Dragon Tenfold Thorn to Senju Shun, Moonlight Shinji, and the others.
As soon as they heard it, Senju Shun’s face changed dramatically.
“So… you're planning to gather everyone together, then use that Blood Scourge Flora to create spatial stratification, then observe a Forbidden Item to trigger the Abyss Tide, and transfer all of us out of here?”
“No wonder you want to bring all three factions to Wangshan Pass Plain.” “You're worried that the Eerie Entities going berserk in Baicheng would generate too many Dark Marks, right? But… how will you move the rlion Giant out of the city?”
“He’s planning to use Ye Yi’s thod, Shun,” Moonlight Shinji said over the comms, finally understanding Lin Xian’s plan.
Senju Shun looked at Lin Xian with a complex expression.
“I see... I really do.”
“This plan is completely insane...”
Lin Xian zood out the sand table in front of him, expanding it to show the entirety of Abyss Zone No. 5, pointing out Baicheng and Akesai.
“The three rlion Giants are three anchor points. Aside from the one above this research base, the Crimson World has been moving the other two outward. As long as a statue appears in a non-Abyss area and is observed, it triggers tidal energy that expands the Abyss like a small droplet being swallowed by a larger one. So, theoretically, as long as we place a rlion Giant outside the Abyss, this plan is possible.”
“Ooh~” KIKI let out a long exhale. “Then if another spatial transfer happens, we’ll either end up in Akesai or near the Wei River, right?”
“Not Wei River,” Lin Xian corrected. “Rember, the second rlion Giant has already been moved to Luling Forest by the Crimson World.”
His gaze sharpened.
“If I’m not wrong, the transfer is still underway. It might not be as fast as a rocket launch, but the timing shouldn’t be too far off.”
“But even if we transfer, aren’t we still inside the Abyss?” Amano Ran, who had snapped out of her shock, raised the most obvious question.
“Not quite,” KIKI perked up and responded. “Both Akesai and Luling Forest are on the edge of the Abyss. Getting out becos way easier from there.”
“But... doesn’t that still an City No. 2 could be pulled into the Abyss?” Shiori asked timidly, voicing a critical concern.
Lin Xian smiled gently at her.
“Aren’t you all forgetting one crucial detail?”
“According to Holy Revelation’s analysis,” Moonlight Shinji cut in, “the Black Edge effect only occurs after the Abyss has stabilized. That ans, if we trigger spatial turbulence before Crimson World stabilizes the Abyss in Luling Forest, that statue won’t activate.”
Lin Xian nodded.
“It’s not guaranteed, of course. These things are unpredictable. But we can act faster than their manpower-reliant, step-by-step movents.”
His voice turned steely.
“And if we manage to land near Luling, maybe we can finally catch these bastards and find out if their spines are as hard as their sches.”
The entire room fell silent.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The communicator crackled to life with slow applause from Moonlight Shinji. His tone grew excited:
“You’re going to use Flicker Bullets to return to the train line, use Maglev to leap the Unified Train to Baicheng, have the three groups converge on Wangshan Pass, then use active observation of the Sewage Plant’s rlion Giant to jump to the convergence point, use the Blood Scourge Flora to stratify space, observe the statue again, and trigger a spatial transfer for everyone to either of the other two rlion Giant sites for a grand escape—”
“Perfect! Lin, you’re a marvel. I rarely admire anyone, but you definitely qualify.”
Everyone else stared at Lin Xian—stunned, amazed, and overwheld. Even Xiao Qing, Fire Bro, and the usually silent ones were frozen in place. It was hard to believe this plan ca from a single man.
This wasn’t just audacious. It was downright unhinged.
At that mont, Lin Xian took out the tal case containing the silver bullet, ready to secure the Forbidden Item.
Buzz—!
The mont he opened the tal case, all the lights in the Main Control Room flickered. Several tal objects—chairs, tools—slid slightly toward the box, as if pulled by so powerful magnetic force.
Everyone looked on with stunned expressions.
Shiori stepped forward, her voice calm but grave.
“Lin, once you touch it… sothing terrible might happen. I’ll help you.”
“The one nad Ye Yi encountered this before too, didn’t he?” Lin Xian asked.
Hearing that na, Shiori’s gaze dimd, and she gave a silent nod.
Lin Xian didn’t hesitate. He opened the hand armor on his Black Hawk Armor, extending his finger toward the bullet.
Nearby, Chen Sixuan, KIKI, and the others tensed up, eyes fixed on him.
At the sa ti, Shiori activated her ability. A green energy enveloped Lin Xian completely.
Lin Xian’s fingertip hovered just above the bullet.
It lay silently in the lead box—its silver-black tallic surface glinting with cold light, like solidified night. Dried, dark red bloodstains still lingered on its casing, a clear sign that it had claid a life before it beca a Forbidden Item.
He took a deep breath. And then—his finger made contact.
The world shattered.
Darkness surged like a tide. His vision was torn apart into countless fragnts.
Lin Xian saw a bullet—rotating—piercing through a skull.
But he wasn’t a bystander.
He was the bullet.
He felt the tal shell scraping through flesh, crushing bone. The sensation of brain matter boiling under extre heat transmitted vividly to every nerve. The mont the bullet pierced through, it was as if Lin Xian himself tasted death.
Bang.
A gunshot exploded deep within his consciousness, echoing endlessly from far to near.
Darkness began to collapse. Space twisted like crumpled paper under an invisible hand—folding, distorting, tearing.
Lin Xian felt himself stretched into countless threads. Every nerve fiber soaked in an icy void.
From Shiori’s perspective, Lin Xian’s pupils contracted violently. His fingers clutched the bullet in a death grip—knuckles pale from tension. The spot where skin t tal had begun to take on a strange bluish-gray tint, as though so entity was slowly eroding him.
She bit her lip, then poured more power into her ability.
The hallucination continued.
Lin Xian saw thousands of versions of himself—so with heads exploding, so with chests blown open, so bodies twisted into grotesque spirals of flesh in compressed space. Every death beca a shard of mory, forcefully jamd into his consciousness—
This isn't a hallucination.
These were real lives claid by this bullet.
Cold sweat slid down Lin Xian’s temple. His breathing grew strained, like invisible hands were squeezing his lungs. But he still didn’t let go.
"Hoo—"
The terrifying vision vanished like a retreating tide. Lin Xian staggered back a step, a tallic taste rising in his throat. He looked down at the bullet in his hand—the skin in contact with it turning an ashen grey.
His expression shifted instantly. He quickly pulled out the Flicker Electromagnetic Rifle from his back and inserted the bullet into the custom magazine.
Imdiately, the cold sensation in his fingers faded, and the grey color began to recede. However, Lin Xian could distinctly feel a strange pressure on his brow, as if a bullet was constantly aid at him. At the sa ti, he felt a spatial link forming between him and the bullet.
“How are you feeling?” Chen Sixuan and KIKI hurried over, concerned.
Lin Xian took a deep breath and nodded.
“I’m alright.”
In the far corner, Zhou Lei watched in terror—another Forbidden Item. He trembled all over, lips sealed, letting out muffled cries.
Lin Xian signaled for KIKI to release him. Freed, Zhou Lei imdiately seized the chance.
“Captain Lin, please! Take with you! Lock up if you have to—I know lots of secrets! Just get out of this hellhole. I’ll do anything you say!”
Lin Xian frowned.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to live a few more days down here?”
Zhou Lei averted his gaze.
“Crimson World won’t let live. If I stay, I’m dead for sure. But out there… maybe there’s a chance.”
He wasn’t stupid. Once the Black Candle went out, he’d be dead anyway. Better to gamble with Lin Xian and his capable allies. Zhou Lei had been with Crimson World a while and had joined Holy Revelation—even if he was just a pawn, he’d picked up a few scraps of valuable intel.
One path led to certain death. The other? A sliver of usefulness might keep him alive. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Lin Xian didn’t plan to kill him outright. He figured keeping Zhou Lei alive might be handy—but the guy was slippery. If they didn’t restrain him, he’d vanish without a trace.
That’s when Monica stepped up, giving Lin Xian a aningful look.
“Let keep an eye on him. His tricks won’t work on .”
In Lin Xian’s earpiece, her voice ca through the private channel:
“Even if he hides, I can hear his heartbeat.”
Lin Xian’s eyes flashed with understanding. He nodded and conjured a containnt setup around Zhou Lei.
“Alright. He’s yours.”
“Thank you, Captain Lin!!” Zhou Lei dropped to his knees, ecstatic. He realized he’d just bought himself so ti.
Lin Xian simply shot him a cold look and said nothing more.
Lin Xian’s expression turned grim. The one thing he feared the most—had arrived.
Now, without the heavy weapons and top-tier Ability Users (who were defending other fronts), there was no good way to handle this monstrous serpent. He imdiately called out:
“Old Mo! I need that bridge—now!”
“On it!!” Old Mo shouted back.
Old Mo, who had already been leading the engineering team to reinforce the rear tracks, now charged forward with over a hundred n. As Lin Xian built track segnts and steel scaffolding, he leaped onto a tall, dead tree. His Power Armor’s radar continuously scanned for large biological signatures.
[Target detected – bearing 21.5° northwest.]
Without hesitation, Lin Xian raised his hand, preparing to deploy the Gravity Lens.
Suddenly, his chanical systems lit up with a warning. He turned—and saw it.
From within the dark mist, a massive serpentine silhouette surged forward, mountains of black fog rippling in its wake. It was headed straight for them—swift, colossal, and unstoppable.
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