Chapter 865: Chapter 865

Inside the Landing Craft

"We will arrive at the designated location in three hours,"

the Speech Master’s voice came through the communicator, "At that time, the lander and the orbital returner will separate, then head toward that transparent planet."

"How is the situation on the ground?"

He Ao asked softly after she finished speaking.

"The morning has already arrived in the areas near the Yika Republic, and the Blood Sun is rapidly recovering,"

the Speech Master replied quickly after a brief pause, "The places that maintained ’eclipse’ darkness yesterday are now starting to show blood-colored glows, and the number of missing persons has begun to increase rapidly.

"Based on our estimates, it’s likely that soon after we land, the Blood Sun will be completely revitalized.

"Judging from the current strength of the Blood Sun’s power and its effects, after this revival, the disappearance phenomenon within the Blood Sun’s covered range may experience explosive growth, and will be faster than before it ’darkened.’"

"So we need to race against the clock now?"

Li Cheng spoke up from the side.

After a brief pause, the Speech Master answered, "Yes."

Meanwhile, her tone paused for a moment as if something had disrupted her.

Everyone inside the lander was silent; the electromagnetic waves took time to travel from the ground to the synchronous orbit relay satellite and then to the lander, now tens of thousands of kilometers from the surface.

Thus, both sides would wait for the other to finish speaking before responding.

Shortly after, an image slowly loaded onto the screen in front of everyone.

This image was a photo of the starry sky, but the ’starry’ light at the center of the image appeared slightly ’reddish.’

"Director, Mr. Hao Yi, Mister Jie An, Miss Goya, bad news,"

the Speech Master’s voice, somewhat rushed, followed,

"According to calculations from the Aviation Administration, the ’transparent planet’ from whence the Blood Sun originates seems to be releasing power on a large scale, exhibiting strong interference with the surrounding space to the point that even the ’Starlight’ not within the changing range has taken on a reddish characteristic.

"Based on intelligence from Rodan, just now, the Blood Sun’s recovery speed has further increased,

"Moreover, we’ve discovered strong magnetic field interference near the transparent planet.

"According to calculations, at the latest, when we land, the Blood Sun will fully recover, and the magnetic field around the transparent planet will also reach its strongest.

"The suggestion from the Aviation Administration,"

the Speech Master’s tone paused, "is to immediately change course, return to the ground, as landing under strong magnetic field interference is likely to fail. In space, we have no backup."

Even for B-level, exposure to space would cause suffocation due to lack of oxygen and result in death.

The entire spacecraft fell into some sort of silence.

"Any news from He Ao’s side?"

Li Cheng slowly spoke, inquiring.

the Speech Master hesitated before responding,

"According to news just sent from Rodan, Minister He has been uncontactable since midnight yesterday,

"He seems to have gone to explore some key area, his last order was to tell Rodan to continue maintaining evacuation order,

"However, Rodan has sent a ’strange tale,’ saying that before Minister He disappeared, he said to send this tale if he couldn’t be contacted."

The image on the screen gradually faded, then turned into a block of text.

Jie An stared at the text, pensive, "Is this kid hinting that at a critical moment, we can achieve some purpose by ’calling ourselves’?"

’Hao Yi’s’ clone, seated in the corner, controlled by He Ao, spoke up, "This must be a ceremony that can communicate some sort of special Extraordinary Power."

Once again, everyone fell silent.

"Hao Yi, what do you think,"

Li Cheng turned his head, looking at ’Hao Yi’, "about the sudden eruption of ’Strength’ from this transparent planet?"

The other two also shifted their gaze.

At this moment, among those present, ’Hao Yi’ was the one most versed in Mysticism Knowledge.

"I fear that the transparent planet is getting ’closer’ to our world."

He Ao, pondering, spoke slowly.

"Isn’t that transparent planet just there?"

Jie An was somewhat puzzled.

Li Cheng, however, had some reaction; he had the most communication with ’Hao Yi’ and had experienced some high-level Transcendent events to some degree,

"That transparent planet is not a real ’physical object’ but rather a kind of ’reflection’ in our nearby cosmic space of some enormous entity in a distant world.

"Through this ’reflection,’ it projects its strength over here and then affects the real world, creating disappearance cases, where these missing people become some kind of ’ritual sacrifices,’ further allowing the power it can project to become increasingly strong until it fully descends into the real world,"

He paused, then looked at ’Hao Yi’ and continued, "That being said, it is indeed getting ’closer’ to the real world."

He Ao nodded lightly.

As he had previously guessed, during the time after ’Blood Sun Disappearance’ when the powers converged, the transparent planet was not idle.

The Descending Ceremony was still proceeding normally, and those ’disappeared’ were still somewhere, serving as ’material’ for the ceremony, advancing the real colossus behind the transparent planet’s Advent.

It was merely because the number of ’missing people’ had decreased, which had slowed down the speed of the ceremony somewhat.

"Then are those missing people already completely sacrificed?"

At that moment, the previously silent Goya suddenly spoke up.

The moment this question was asked, Li Cheng and Jie An both fell somewhat silent.

"Probably a portion of the people have lost their lives, but certainly a large part of them are still alive."

And at that moment, He Ao suddenly spoke up.

When he activated Super Memory, he could still sense the presence of Lin Chichi, and her ’emotions’ seemed to be quite good.

The key to the enormous entity behind the transparent planet’s Descending Ceremony probably does not lie in ’flesh and blood life’ but elsewhere, so those ’abducted’ missing people should still have utility, potentially having no immediate danger to their lives.

And hearing ’Hao Yi’s’ words, everyone was momentarily stunned.

If it was anyone else saying this, they might have just taken it as a comforting guess, but if ’Hao Yi’ was the one speaking, then it was very likely that many of the ’disappeared’ were still alive.

After all, this B-level character, suspected to have come from the ’Ruins,’ held a vast amount of Mysticism Knowledge and mystic techniques unknown to them.

Unconsciously, everyone’s mood relaxed somewhat, as long as there was hope, it wasn’t the worst scenario.

Goya turned her head, glanced at ’Hao Yi,’ blinked, and then withdrew her gaze.

"So, are we returning?"

And at that moment, Li Cheng turned his head to look at everyone and quietly asked.

"You old kiddo already have an answer in your heart, why ask it out loud?"

Sitting beside him, Jie An smacked his lips, "Do we even have the possibility to return? If we go back and that Angel descends into the real world, wouldn’t that still lead us to a dead end?"

He gripped the chair, took a glance at the starry sky outside the porthole, "Instead of pondering whether to return or not, you’d better look forward to your beloved He Ao finding the key clues for us, helping us resolve the potential issues we may face upon landing. That kid is definitely in a critical moment of the investigation right now."

Hearing Jie An’s words, Li Cheng opened his mouth, dumbfounded, then turned his head to look at ’Hao Yi’ and Goya.

"Continue with the landing."

Goya also slowly began to speak.

After confirming that the group of four had unified their decision, Li Cheng turned towards the direction of the communicator, "Contact the space agency on their end, we will maintain the original plan."

Li Cheng himself was definitely in favor of continuing the landing, but since this time’s lander was from Central Earth, as the host, he still needed to confirm the opinions of the other ’teammates.’

The Speech Master immediately responded, and the communication was cut off.

"Li Cheng, do you think we can land successfully this time?"

At that moment, Jie An, leaning back in his chair, suddenly asked.

"Haven’t you already prepared yourself for landing? You were all set to charge forward."

Li Cheng turned his head, smiling as he asked.

"Preparation is one thing,"

Jie An smacked his lips, "but it doesn’t mean I’m not afraid of dying. Dying on the Battlefield with a sharp blade is one thing, but if I die in space without accomplishing anything, if someone unearths our story in the future, it would become a historical joke."

"So the way you were acting just now was intentional, for the others to see, wasn’t it?"

Li Cheng chuckled at the moment.

"How can you accuse me of tarnishing my innocence out of thin air?"

Jie An shrugged his shoulders. "Don’t I have any face to lose?"

In an instant, the entire space capsule was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"We’ve done the best we can,"

As the mood eased slightly, Li Cheng turned his head to look out the porthole, "Like you just said, now we just have to trust."

He Ao also turned his head to look at the distant blue planet outside the porthole.

Goya searched around the control panel and pressed a button.

A distant, lingering song echoed in the brightly lit space capsule, as if resonating among the dark expanse of stars.

With a heavy and lingering sound, the tightly closed stone doors were slowly pushed open, revealing the scene behind them.

It was a vast, circular dome hall. Bright light shone down from the top of the dome, illuminating the entire hall.

In the center of the hall stood a cylindrical platform, with a small, translucent three-dimensional ’statue’ floating above it.

The structure and appearance of that statue were exactly the same as the castle they were currently in, as seen from the outside.

Some twisted and chaotic aura was emanating from the statue.

Just as they stepped into the hall, the brilliant lights that lit up the entire hall went out abruptly, leaving only the emerald glow from the lantern in Kavina’s hand spreading around.

"Is the lighting in this place so unreliable?"

Komo smacked his lips, scratching his head.

"You two go ahead side by side, I’ll bring up the rear."

He Ao spoke straight to the point and quickly directed.

Komo stepped briskly ahead of He Ao.

Kavina hesitated for a moment, then moved ahead of He Ao as well to walk alongside Komo.

The bright lantern light shone ahead.

A reversed triangular formation was ideal for their current exploration status.

The strongest, He Ao, was at the back, able to guard against attacks from behind and able to quickly support the two ahead.

The three moved forward through the silent darkness, the greenish glow lighting the path ahead.

What had seemed a short road under the bright light now stretched out exceptionally long in the darkness.

From within that profound darkness, a slight shifting sound seemed to be heard.

Komo instinctively looked up at his surroundings, but beyond the lantern’s glow, all was thick darkness; he couldn’t see anything.

At that moment, a huge stone platform appeared in the darkness ahead.

Kavina looked at the stone platform, pausing slightly.

"Was there a stone platform here before?"

Komo was somewhat baffled; he turned his head to look at He Ao behind him, noticing He Ao hadn’t reacted.

So the two of them bypassed the stone platform from the left and continued forward.

That subtle sound rang out again.

As the lantern’s glow continued forward, a massive stone column appeared in the field of view of the two ahead.

They were startled for a moment, then both turned to the left, and following the stone column, the vast stone platform once again came into their view.

"Is this a stone column connected to the platform?"

Komo looked at the stone platform, his voice carrying a hint of hesitation.

This time, the two in front stopped and turned back to look at He Ao behind them.

When they saw that He Ao’s expression remained calm, their emotions settled a bit. They still bypassed the stone platform from the left and continued forward.

After a few more steps, the surroundings seemed to have quieted down completely.

The faint sounds ceased, and the tall stone platforms and pillars did not appear again.

Komo’s mood gradually stabilized, and his steps became much firmer.

Perhaps it was all an illusion.

"Kavina, lift the lantern a bit higher."

At this moment, He Ao, who had been silent and stood at the back, suddenly spoke.

Kavina paused blankly for a moment, then lifted the lantern above her head.

And as the lantern lifted, Komo’s gaze followed it upward, into the dark abyss above.

The eerie green glow slowly dispersed the darkness overhead, revealing what lurked within it.

A massive "stone face" nearly covered Komo’s entire field of view, emerging slowly from the darkness and into sight.

The face was so close to them, less than half a meter above their heads, overshadowing the entire team.

The stone face watched over them, with corners of the mouth turned upward, presenting a sinister smile.

The green luminescence shone onto the stone face, flickering with contorted colors.

"Minister... Minister He..."

Holding the lantern, Kavina’s voice trembled.

He Ao said calmly, "Keep going."

Komo and Kavina both swallowed hard, Kavina lowered the lantern she held, illuminating the path ahead, not daring to look up as they continued forward.

The dim silence echoed through the still darkness.

It seemed as if a wind swept through the darkness, even causing the light of the lantern to flicker.

It sounded like a sharp blade piercing into something.

Komo dared not look back, walking forward in silence.

Accompanied by several loud noises, it seemed as if something had hit the ground.

Komo glanced sideways with the corner of his eye and saw several large stone rods, thick as a waist, rolling across the edge of the lantern’s light and disappearing into the darkness.

The two continued forward.

Having only walked a few steps, another loud boom resounded.

A huge pillar, connected to the stone platform, crashed down from behind them, laying across the ground, partially falling into the light on the right side of the lantern.

Holding the lantern, Kavina and Komo turned and, skirting a little to the left, continued forward.

A massive spherical object crashed down directly in front of them to the right, rolling slightly before settling into their field of view.

The green light illuminated the face of the sphere that faced them, the same "stone face" that had been looking at them.

The stone face still bore that eerie smile but was now utterly rigid.

Kavina carefully shifted the lantern downward, and at the neck area below the stone face was a neatly sheared smooth end, as if it had been harshly severed by a sharp blade.

The sound of a sword being slowly sheathed came from behind.

Komo swallowed hard and glanced at Kavina next to him, only to find that Kavina was also turning to look at him.

Those small stone pillars were likely the giant’s fingers, the large pillars its legs, and the stone platform its feet.

And now this, was the head.

Both of them took a deep breath and continued forward, circumventing the huge stone face in their path.

As the dense darkness ahead was dispersed, a cylindrical platform slowly came into the light of the lantern.

He Ao, who stood behind the two, looked up at the semi-transparent statue floating above the platform.

Kavina stepped aside, moving to the other side of the platform, clearing the space for He Ao.

He Ao glanced at Kavina, who was within his field of view, then slowly approached the platform, reaching out to touch the semi-transparent statue.