Wrong Path
The Tidal Warplane slowly descended onto a flat rock amidst the mountain peaks.
After the hatch opened, Chen Xiaolian was the first to jump out, then he turned and reached out his hand towards Qiao Qiao.
However, Qiao Qiao seemed somewhat hesitant and avoided Chen Xiaolian's hand, jumping out of the plane on her own.
After the rest of the team had jumped out one by one, Roddy was the last to emerge. He glanced at Chen Xiaolian and whispered, "Just now... I saw it, what's going on between you two?"
As he spoke, Roddy sneakily glanced at Qiao Qiao.
Chen Xiaolian remained calm, saying, "It's nothing... we'll talk about it later."
Just as the Meteor Rock Guild stood on the rock, Chen Xiaolian and all the team members received a system prompt simultaneously!
"System Prompt: The Dark Camp has arrived at the final mission location, the second phase has been forcibly terminated, and the remaining countdown time will be reset to zero! Participants who failed to enter Tel Aviv before this will be forcibly removed from this Instance, and the mission will be deemed a failure, subject to punishment!"
...
"That was close!"
Tian Lie patted his chest forcefully, then grinned, "You saw the system prompt, right? It seems my guess was pretty accurate!"
Just a few seconds ago, the pickup truck had just entered the sign that symbolized the outskirts of Tel Aviv City!
Nicole slammed on the brakes, bringing the pickup to a halt by the side of the road. Her expression was complex as she said, "The Dark Camp has reached the final mission location?"
Tian Lie glanced at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Previously, the system had locked their coordinates, and it was over the sea," Nicole frowned.
"So, it means we'll eventually go to that place too," Tian Lie pondered. "Let's complete the Tel Aviv mission first. I have a feeling it won't be easy."
...
"System Prompt: The Dark Camp has completed the second phase of the mission and entered the third phase of the Instance, the Demon Island Journey.
Please find the hidden magic array on Demon Island and activate it before the target character dies. Once activated, Young Will's life weakening effect will be temporarily suspended, and the life weakening BUFF on Young Will will be lifted.
Maintain the operation of the magic array for thirty minutes to complete the third phase of the mission and receive system rewards."
Chen Xiaolian wiped his face vigorously... at some point, fine rain had begun to fall from the dark clouds in the sky, leaving his face damp.
"Now we have two options: First, find the magic array, activate it, maintain it for fifteen minutes, and revive Young Will. We leave immediately! Perhaps we can do it before other members of the Light Camp arrive here - even if other Light Camp members arrive midway, we only need to maintain the magic array for 15 minutes! Our goal is to save Young Will and prevent our team members from being forcibly eliminated.
As for the third phase of the mission, maintaining the magic array for 30 minutes... it's not a necessity. If we fail, we can leave this Instance and face the punishment mission next time.
The second choice is to... complete this mission! Since we've come this far and things have already gotten to this point... why not see it through? Moreover, knowing the nature of this damned system, it's likely that if we try to leave midway, the system will impose some restriction to prevent us from leaving."
Lun Tai spoke loudly, "Exactly, I also suspect that the Instance will continue to play tricks on us."
"Then, let's take it one step at a time! If we can leave, we'll wait until we revive Young Will and then leave! If we can't leave, then... we'll fight to the end!"
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath, he had already drawn the Stone Sword and held it in his hand.
"I think someone from the Light Camp will definitely arrive soon," Roddy shouted, the strong wind causing his voice to break intermittently. "We received a system prompt a long time ago that some Light Camp members have already reached Tel Aviv and completed some task. That's what led to Young Will's weakening. It has been... 42 minutes since then!"
Everyone glanced at the time.
Young Will's life countdown still had 17 minutes remaining.
Indeed, it had been 42 minutes since that system prompt.
42 minutes, and who knows if any members of the Light Camp had already arrived.
"Let's make the most of our time," Chen Xiaolian waved his hand. "We're going up!"
...
"System Prompt: Dark Camp, the storyline for the third phase of the mission is as follows:
First, please enter the Abyss of Darkness according to the coordinates marked in your personal radar and proceed to the Abyss of Darkness to find the magic array remnants.
Second, activating the magic array must withstand the trial of dark forces. Completing the trial will grant you the dark power needed to activate the magic array. When the dark power reaches the critical point, the magic array will be activated; otherwise, it will remain dormant."
The entrance to the Abyss of darkness?
That name didn't sound welcoming at all.
Chen Xiaolian's heart skipped a beat, and he opened his personal system's radar. Sure enough, he saw a set of coordinates appear on the radar.
"It's not far from here. Let's go!"
...
The 17-minute countdown seemed to be speeding up.
Chen Xiaolian walked at the front of the group, followed by Lun Tai who was personally carrying the unconscious Young Will.
Behind them were Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo, and Qimu Xi.
Xia Xiaolei and Roddy were in the middle, with Thirteen between them.
There was a rugged mountain path on the rock, and they reached the end of the path after about two and a half minutes.
Countdown, and there were... 14 minutes and 28 seconds left.
"There's a cave there! Looks like that's the entrance to the so-called Abyss of darkness, right?"
Chen Xiaolian pointed to the end of the road.
On the rocky platform, an oval-shaped cave appeared there.
The wind and rain became more intense, hitting their faces like needles.
The howling wind, along with the roaring of the waves.
Looking down from the mountain, the sea was more than a hundred meters below, and the waves were getting rougher.
The group reached the entrance of the cave, and after a glance, Chen Xiaolian took the first step into it, followed by Lun Tai carrying Young Will... and then Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo... and the other team members.
As the last one, Roddy entered the cave, suddenly, the entrance of the cave flashed... and completely disappeared!
...
Inside the cave, it was pitch-black, with no visibility whatsoever.
Chen Xiaolian was the first to enter. The moment he stepped into the cave, he suddenly couldn't hear any sound at all.
The furious howling of the wind, the rolling of the waves... all these sounds seemed to have completely disappeared in an instant.
It was as if someone had pressed the mute button on this world.
Chen Xiaolian felt a strange sensation and immediately turned to look at his team members behind him.
However, as he turned around to look, he was stunned!
Behind him... was empty!
Lun Tai, Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo... Roddy... and all the other team members!
Not a single trace of them!
In less than a second, in the blink of an eye!
Just as he had taken a step into the cave and turned to look, everyone had disappeared!
Wait... that's not entirely true.
They did not all disappear.
On the ground, Young Will lay unconscious on the rocks.
The entire team had vanished, leaving only Young Will!
Only one Young Will!
Chen Xiaolian's gaze suddenly narrowed, his face turning grave!
...
"Hey! Where is everyone? Fuck!!!"
Roddy fiercely punched the mountain wall.
What the Fuck was going on?
Just one step inside, and how had everyone disappeared? Even though he was walking at the rear, the distance to the person in front was just over half a meter!
Roddy looked down... only to find a person lying on the ground, and it was none other than the unconscious Young Will!
...
Lun Tai clenched his right fist, his face solemn as he looked around.
Pitch black and completely silent.
All his teammates had vanished!
"Team channel... Huh? Is everyone gone?"
Lun Tai tightened his arm and held Young Will, who was on his shoulder, tightly.
...
"Where are the others? Did you see them?"
Xia Xiaolei asked Qimu Xi angrily.
Qimu Xi seemed to be in shock. "I... I don't know what happened... as soon as I entered, everyone... everyone just disappeared! I, I only saw you... the others, the others..."
Seeing Qimu Xi's panicked voice, Xia Xiaolei took a deep breath and said, "Don't cry... let me think about what's going on... Fuck! The team channel doesn't work either! There are only two of us left in the team channel!"
"He... he's still here," Qimu Xi bent down, pointing to Young Will on the ground.
...
"Sister?" Soo Soo firmly grabbed Qiao Qiao's clothes.
Qiao Qiao reached out and held Soo Soo's hand, whispering, "Don't be afraid, it seems like the Instance is playing tricks again, hmph!"
"Sister, he's still here."
Following Soo Soo's pointed finger, Qiao Qiao glanced at the unconscious Young Will on the ground. Her expression became somewhat complicated. Then she bent down, checked Young Will's breathing, and picked him up.
"It seems like we should keep moving forward."
...
"Damn!"
Thirteen touched the wet mountain wall and looked around.
"People... all gone? Hahaha! Hahaha!!"
...
Crack!
Chen Xiaolian lit a glow stick, holding it up in his left hand while carrying the Stone Sword in his right.
Behind him, Young Will had been securely bound to his back using Black Widow's silk.
He looked ahead in the pitch-black tunnel, and there was only his shadow.
Chen Xiaolian frowned and glanced at his personal system.
Young Will's life countdown had... 12 minutes and 39 seconds remaining.
He had just tried, but the team channel couldn't connect him to his teammates.
Communication equipment had all been blocked.
Chen Xiaolian felt a heavy weight in his heart as he took a step deeper into the tunnel.
The tunnel was getting wider as he walked further. It gradually transformed from a narrow, winding path to a broad and clear passage.
There was no sense of stuffiness here, and as he continued forward, the air felt fresher.
However, Chen Xiaolian didn't feel any relief in his heart. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter!
Finally, after walking for about 2 minutes inside the tunnel...
Suddenly, there was a burst of brightness ahead!
Chen Xiaolian took a few quick steps, emerged from the tunnel, and was immediately stunned by the scene before him!!
It was a vast... forest of steel!
Young Will's life countdown... 10 minutes and 6 seconds.