At the fog gate, Dragon Soul and his four teammates hesitated, unable to move forward.
They couldn't determine what was inside the gate, nor why Shadow had entered without the slightest hesitation. Wasn't he worried about the risks within?
"Captain, let's go in!" Black Shark said. "If that guy Shadow isn't afraid, what do we have to fear!"
"I think it will be very dangerous inside, Captain," Flying Eagle said calmly. "This fog is emanating from this gate. There's likely even more fog and Nightmare Beasts inside. Most importantly, we can't guarantee we'll be able to co back out after entering."
"Flying Eagle is right, we can't act recklessly," Dragon Soul stated.
In truth, he had a personal desire to enter. If he were alone, he wouldn't hesitate for a second and would imdiately follow Shadow inside.
But he wasn't alone; he had four teammates. If he led them in and sothing happened, he couldn't bear that responsibility.
Moreover, the five of them didn't just represent themselves; they represented the official investnt. A massive amount of Ascension Coins had been poured into them. Since they had chosen to accept it back then, it ant their lives were no longer solely their own but also belonged to the official side.
"...Captain, I also disagree with entering. But it's still your decision," Silver Fox said.
"Fall back," Dragon Soul ordered. "Regroup with the armored unit and deal with the giant bird Nightmare Beast together. We can't afford the risk of the team being wiped out."
"Yes, sir."
All four obeyed Dragon Soul's command.
They had also already guessed Dragon Soul would make this decision, as he had always been very conservative regarding team decisions.
Just like that ti on Holy Grail Island, it was Dragon Soul, as captain, who made the decision "not to participate in the Holy Grail competition."
That decision ultimately earned their team third place, a very good result.
So now, Dragon Soul once again made a conservative decision.
"However," Dragon Soul added, "after eliminating the Nightmare Beasts, we need to return and guard this fog gate. If Shadow later erges from here, we must detain him imdiately."
...
Did those official team mbers not follow him in?
After entering the fog gate, Guan Tong noticed no one had followed, realizing they must have chosen not to enter the fog gate.
This was actually a prudent choice, as no one knew what lay beyond the gate.
With no one pursuing him, Guan Tong could also set his mind at ease and focus on what was inside the gate.
He found himself in a cave. To his surprise, there was no fog inside the cave.
"If the place connected by the fog gate has no fog, then where does the fog co from... huh?"
In the blink of an eye, Guan Tong discovered the fog gate he ca through had disappeared.
Did this an it was a one-way trip? Or was there another way back?
The reason he wasn't particularly worried and could enter the fog gate without hesitation was actually related to his possession of the "Body Swap" ability.
Here in the cave, he could feel that his connection to his Mind Power-related objects had not been severed.
This ant if necessary, he could use Body Swap to return at any ti.
"This cave seems to have only one path forward... then let's go."
Guan Tong proceeded along the narrow path inside the cave.
Perhaps because there was no fog, there were also no Nightmare Beasts in the cave.
He walked the entire way without encountering any attacks from enemies or monsters.
After about ten minutes, reaching the cavern chamber at the end of the tunnel, a look of astonishnt flashed in his eyes.
"This is..."
He saw a wall covered in murals.
These murals mostly depicted bizarre and varied forms of creatures, inexplicably giving Guan Tong a feeling similar to reading the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" before his transmigration.
At first, he couldn't make much sense of it, but after looking for a while, he actually noticed that several of the creature images resembled so of the Nightmare Beasts that had attacked him in the fog before!
If there was a difference, it was that these creatures in the murals possessed organs that the Nightmare Beasts lacked.
One painting depicted a four-ard creature with wings, very similar to the Nightmare Beast that attacked Guan Tong just after he descended the mountain.
But that Nightmare Beast only had a tubular body besides its arms and wings. However, the mural's image also depicted a head with an eye and a mouth.
Guan Tong frowned. "Could it be that the creatures in the murals are their original forms... and they beca Nightmare Beasts because they were corroded by the fog?"
He arrived at this speculation because he had personally witnessed Yu Hong transforming into a Nightmare Beast.
At that ti, more than half of Yu Hong's face had already been corroded. If it continued, her entire face would certainly be dissolved by the fog... what monstrous form she would ultimately beco, no one could know.
Furthermore, Guan Tong also noticed that among these murals, so creatures were depicted as extrely large.
The largest ones stretched from the bottom of the wall all the way to the top, their expansive forms filling the space. One painting of a five-legged creature strongly matched the giant Nightmare Beast Guan Tong had encountered by chance not long after descending the mountain, the one where he could only see its legs.
The number of these creature murals was imnse. Guan Tong roughly counted thousands, large and small. This made him think of Tianshui Star, the planet he was on, and an idea ford in his mind.
Could these Nightmare Beasts... all be the original inhabitants of so planet? Then, sohow, they were eroded and transford into Nightmare Beasts by that strange fog?
But why were they incorporated into one of the Doomsday Rules and then transported to Tianshui Star through so thod? What was the Fire Thief's purpose in doing this? rely using them as monsters to reduce the human population?
Just as Guan Tong was pondering this, the murals carved on the wall suddenly began to emit a faint glow, bit by bit.
He took a few steps back, watching cautiously.
The glow started as just a point, then slowly expanded to cover the entire wall, before rapidly contracting again.
After the light contracted, the wall beca completely empty. Those murals had vanished without a trace, leaving only a single, small puzzle fragnt lying quietly on a stone on the ground.
So this mural was the puzzle fragnt?
Guan Tong looked at the fragnt and stepped forward to pick it up.
Imdiately, he heard the Fire Thief's voice resound in his mind.
[You have obtained: Kimos Star Chronicle · Fragnt 3]
Kimos Star Chronicle...
Guan Tong imdiately opened his Storage Box and selected that puzzle fragnt.
[Kimos Star Chronicle · Fragnt 3]: A partial mural recording the past events of Kimos Star. There are a total of 5 puzzle fragnts. Assembling them completely yields the complete "Kimos Star Chronicle." The fragnt holder can sense the location of other fragnts. This item cannot be destroyed and can be traded.
"So that's how it is..."
After reading the item details, Guan Tong finally understood the aning of the puzzle fragnts.
Five fragnts combined would yield the complete "Kimos Star Chronicle," which should be the complete set of murals.
And the content of the complete murals should be the recorded history of this planet nad "Kimos Star."
Perhaps it would explain why the creatures on this planet were all turned into Nightmare Beasts...
Guan Tong rembered the Hidden Rule's content ntioned that this fragnt was "a piece of the puzzle behind the Doomsday Rules." In other words, the events that occurred on the planet "Kimos Star" might also have so relationship with the Doomsday Rules.
"To understand the complete picture, I must obtain the other four puzzle fragnts," Guan Tong resolved. "I have to get them!"
He wasn't particularly interested in power, wealth, or beauty. For him, curiosity alone was the strongest driving force that kept him going.
So, for him, being able to learn more about the Doomsday Rules, about alien planets, about the Fire Thief, was the greatest reward.
"The fragnt holder can sense the location of other fragnts... this is very important. It can help
find other holders."
For a mont, Guan Tong felt a surge of excitent, eagerly wanting to collect all five fragnts as soon as possible to understand what exactly happened on the planet "Kimos Star" and what its connection was to the Doomsday Rules and the Fire Thief.
At that mont, a new fog gate appeared before him.
Guan Tong put away his Terminal and walked into it.
...
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The armored battalion continuously bombarded the giant bird Nightmare Beast for over five minutes, but still couldn't kill it.
This creature was different from ordinary Nightmare Beasts. Its enormous size brought not only increased strength but also terrifying defensive capability. Even tank main cannon fire couldn't bring it down, which greatly troubled the commander.
Unable to breach the monster's defenses, their own side had already lost seven or eight armored vehicles, destroyed or overturned. Although the soldiers inside had preserved their lives by evacuating in ti and taking shelter in other vehicles, continuing like this was definitely not viable.
"Dragon Soul, can you and your team figure out a way to deal with this thing?" the commander had no choice but to seek help from the Ascendant squad.
Dragon Soul's team of five had just returned. Seeing the current situation, they weren't optimistic.
Although all five of them had received massive increases to their Mind Power upper limits from the Eighth Rule (and were also bound by the Mind Lock), in terms of destructive power, no matter how strong they were, they couldn't compare to an entire armored battalion.
If the armored battalion's firepower couldn't kill that giant bird Nightmare Beast, then with their five-person team's abilities and items, they similarly couldn't kill it either.
Dragon Soul, leaning towards stability, wanted to propose a temporary retreat, but then a sudden change occurred.
A sharp, shrill cry sounded from high above, followed by the intense sound of flapping wings.
The wingbeats were so powerful that they even dispersed much of the surrounding fog. People could look up and see the gigantic bird, its size almost blotting out half the sky, rapidly flying into the distance.
It had actively left!
Everyone watched, srized. Chen Na then said, "That's strange. That big bird actually has a mouth and can make sounds."
Hearing this, Dragon Soul and the others were stunned: She was right!
They had all been awed by the giant bird's terrifying size but had forgotten this point.
It must be rembered that all the Nightmare Beasts encountered in the fog lacked facial features like "mouth, nose, eyes, ears, or eyebrows." They didn't make sounds, only producing so airflow noises when moving or attacking.
But that giant bird could let out a screech. Why was that? Could it be that it wasn't a Nightmare Beast? What exactly was going on?
No one knew the answer. Only Dragon Soul shuddered all over. "Quick, let's return to the fog gate!"
He imdiately led the other team mbers back to the previously marked spot where the fog gate had disappeared. A new fog gate had appeared at so point, but no one was seen entering or exiting.
Dragon Soul said, "I suspect Shadow probably ca out and left. That giant bird cried out and flew away, perhaps related to sothing inside the fog gate."
"...Captain, let
go in and take a look!" Black Shark finally couldn't hold back. "I know you prioritize stability, Captain. I'll go in alone. If sothing happens, I'll bear the responsibility myself!"
Dragon Soul remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded. Black Shark imdiately charged through the gate. Less than ten minutes later, he walked back out, looking bewildered.
Silver Fox asked, "What's it like inside?"
"It's just a... cave," Black Shark scratched his head. "A cave with nothing in it. There's only one path. I ran to the end, and it was just an empty cavern chamber. There was also a fog gate. I walked into it and ca back out."
"This..."
"There should have been sothing in the chamber, but Shadow probably took it," Night Owl said.
Flying Eagle sighed. "Sigh..."
Dragon Soul said, "This matter is my responsibility. I will take responsibility for it."
"Captain, don't joke about that," Silver Fox shrugged. "We all agreed not to enter before. Besides, if Shadow took it, he took it... Judging from his previous action of eliminating the Yongzhou base, he probably isn't a bad person. It's better for him to have it than for soone with ill intentions to get it."
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