Chen Luo lay unconscious there for a long time. Eventually, after an indeterminate stretch of time, he gradually came to.
-"That really hurts... I'm so sore. Good grief, I actually survived." His arms and legs were trembling like those of someone with Parkinson's disease, but when he thought about it, that was hardly surprising. After climbing for so long through a hellish abyss, it would have been far stranger if he could stand up without feeling exhausted.
Chen Luo continued lying on the ground for another ten-odd minutes, waiting for his breathing to steady and the numbness and soreness in his body to ease. Only then did he press both hands against the ground and slowly sit up to look around. Dirt still covered his clothes, and the scrapes from the battle and the climb had not completely healed, but at least he had truly made it back to the surface.
Chen Luo glanced at the upper-right corner of his view. There were still 327 days until the deadline, and the time was approaching 5:45 p.m. Only then did he realize how strange the passage of time was. By his calculations, he should have spent at least eight hours underground, yet it was only 5:45 p.m. Something beyond his understanding must have happened to space and time down there.
-"I know what you're thinking, and you're right." At that moment, the Guardian inside Chen Luo spoke up. He then carefully explained everything that had happened from the moment he had pulled Chen Luo into the battle above to the very end. From the time Chen Luo entered that room until the battle ended, only a brief instant had passed in the outside world. He called that place an Isolated Space—a space with an absolute time differential from the outside, although it could occasionally become extremely unstable.
After hearing the Guardian's explanation, Chen Luo nodded thoughtfully. The long period that had felt almost half a day to him had, in the outside world, amounted to little more than an instant. That absolute time differential made everything he had experienced even more bizarre and also explained why the outside world's timeline did not match his own perception.
The sky was beginning to darken. Chen Luo stood up, brushed the dust off himself, and opened his Mind Map. His current location was quite far from the others, but fortunately, his stamina and strength had recovered considerably. He entered the System Shop and spent 7,500 crystals to buy ten V-rank 「Haste Potions」. Each potion lasted only two minutes and thirty seconds, but granted an astonishing burst of speed. He now had just over 7,000 crystals left; most of the crystals he had earned from killing monsters earlier had gone toward ammunition, leaving him with very little.
Chen Luo glanced at his remaining crystals and felt a pang of regret. But he had no other choice. The others were still quite far away, and night was approaching. If he did not hurry back, he would only make the people waiting for him worry even more.
-"Quest issued successfully. Current objective: retain all Black-and-White Society equipment, return to the base, and successfully explain the situation to everyone."
***
A little over two weeks earlier, at the headquarters of the Black Net Organization.
-"That's the situation." A receptionist had been discussing something with a mysterious figure. After the receptionist left, the meeting in the room resumed.
The people gathered there were nodding or shaking their heads over the matter, every face showing deep concern. They had just received word that another team they had sent out had gone missing without a trace. When they reached the last place where bodies had been found, all that remained were pools of blood and a number of desiccated corpses.
The meeting room had already been heavy with tension, and now the atmosphere had become suffocating. No one wanted to be the first to draw a conclusion, because one mistaken judgment could cost them hundreds, or even thousands, of lives.
-"What do you think we should do?" another voice rang out in the meeting room. Everyone understood what the speaker meant. They were not fools, but even though no one wanted to take on this hot potato, they still had to offer an opinion. If they truly had nothing to say, they would not have been sitting here.
-"If you're willing to trust my assessment, then this is what I'd say." A low voice sounded in the room. It was not loud, but everyone heard it clearly. "Last time, at the arrangement of the esteemed leaders, we sent out more than 1,400 reconnaissance teams, but only the Black Eagle Squad was killed. This time, however, we sent out three regular units, and all three were wiped out. If my assessment is correct, he may possess some special means. Otherwise, he must be at least Level 50, or have a powerful figure backing him." At that moment, a screen was projected into view. "According to the investigation, most of the dead had been killed by a single horizontal slash across the neck or cut cleanly in half. Only one person had lost all four limbs. I don't believe people like them could have inflicted wounds like these."
-"Then your assessment is..." Before the other person could finish, the person seated at the head of the table spoke up. "A powerful figure is backing him?"
-"Exactly. This powerful figure must be at least on the level of an Eight-Star General or a Twenty-Eight-Star Archmage. With someone like that backing him, the force behind him must be extraordinary—perhaps even on equal footing with the Eight Great Archmages."
Everyone around the table fell silent in thought. They knew what kind of beings the Eight Great Archmages were. The first reconnaissance operation had been arranged personally at the request of the Eight Great Archmages' organization; otherwise, it would never have been carried out on such a massive scale.
***
Whoosh, whoosh—thud, thud.
The sound of wind and hurried footsteps swept past the buildings lining the main street. It was Chen Luo, racing back. With a V-rank 「Haste Potion」, how could he possibly be slow?
His figure flashed through one desolate street after another, each step so fast that it left only a brief sound on the ground. The ruined buildings on either side quickly fell behind him, and the cold wind whipped across his face. Chen Luo, however, had no time to enjoy his speed.
-"Kid, have you thought about how you're going to explain this to your friends?" The Guardian started chatting with Chen Luo. There was nothing else to do, so they might as well talk for a while.
-"Just stay in there and don't distract me." Chen Luo stated his boundary bluntly. It was not that he did not want to reveal information about the Guardian; he simply had to keep it hidden. He could not tell them everything.
Chen Luo was also considering what he should say. He did not actually need to explain himself, but if he said nothing at all, the others would become deeply suspicious of his identity.
To him, the underground battle still held too many secrets that he could not casually reveal. Not only the Guardian's existence, but also the mysterious room, the Isolated Space, and everything he had seen inside might provide direct clues about the identity of the body's original owner.
-"Anyway, do you know what 「Spectrum Headphones - Source of Sound」 is?"
-"That? I don't know either. I only know it was there when you left the organization. I don't know what you were researching in that room, but I do know that the room suddenly disappeared the day after you left. Then, just as you fell down there, it appeared again. I'd like to ask you where it came from, too."
Chen Luo froze. He had not even uncovered all the answers, and now another mystery had emerged. Yet this also explained why he had never seen that room before and why nobody else knew about it. The fundamental reason was that it did not appear in the outside world at all; it only reappeared when its owner returned. If that was true, the identity of the body's original owner had become even more mysterious.
What concerned Chen Luo even more was when the room had disappeared. It had not vanished long after he left; it had disappeared from the outside world exactly one day later. Then, when he fell into the fissure, it appeared again, as though it had never vanished. This made him even more certain that there were still many things about the original owner he had yet to uncover.
Back where the others were waiting, more than two hours had passed since Chen Luo left them, and they had begun preparing a meal from whatever they could find. After more than a week without Chen Luo's help, their cooking skills had improved considerably. Everyone was preparing roasted meat seasoned in the Viking style. An extremely crude but practical grill stood in the middle of the hotel lobby, creating a contrast that was hard to explain yet strangely fitting under the circumstances.
Chen Luo's absence had forced everyone to adapt to their surroundings. Finding food, preparing ingredients, and cooking had gradually become tasks they could handle on their own. Perhaps for that reason, even though Chen Luo had not returned, the group's mood was no longer as tense as it had been during those first few days.
-"The meat's ready! Everyone, come and eat!" Alice called out to let everyone know the roasted meat was ready. They were all still busy working, and her loud voice soon drew them together.
The sizzling fat mingled with the distinctive aroma of wild herbs, making the meat look even more appetizing. A little salt Chen Luo had left behind made the smell even more enticing.
-"This is delicious, Alice! You're a better cook than I expected!" Aaron raised his hand to praise her. For a complete food lover like him, enjoying delicious food was only natural.
-"Exactly. The herbs aren't too bitter, and their flavor blends with the saltiness and the sweetness of the meat. It's been so long since I've eaten something like this. The last time I had food this good must have been more than ten years ago." Zhang Zewei spoke up, then began recounting a story from his youth as a soldier. Galahad had been his superior back then, and after one difficult campaign, Galahad had treated everyone to a lavish meal. Even in a wilderness camp, personally slaughtering three cows, butchering them, and roasting them had been a luxury for the soldiers—and Galahad had paid for the entire feast.
-"Hahaha! If you managed to do all that, then you certainly deserved a reward. We were all well-regarded soldiers. Completing the mission and receiving a reward was only right." Galahad laughed as he explained. As a soldier, he knew how important it was for a commander to maintain a harmonious relationship with the troops under his command.
They were brothers who had shared hardship, good fortune, and danger in the army, enduring countless trials in life to preserve peace for those in the rear. For soldiers who spent year after year on the battlefield, a simple meal of roasted meat could sometimes be more precious than a lavish banquet—not because it cost more, but because of the brotherhood it represented.
For once, the atmosphere in the hotel lobby was peaceful. Conversation, laughter, and the sizzling of roasted meat blended into a scene that seemed almost out of place in the apocalyptic world beyond. No one knew that Chen Luo was racing back outside, nor that this brief moment of peace was only one step away from being interrupted.
Just then, a piercing screech of brakes came from outside. Everyone inside turned toward the entrance and saw a figure slowly walking into the hotel lobby, accompanied by a familiar line.