Chaos erupted anew as both sides tore into each other. Force fields rippled and shattered, only for new ones to spring up. What had been a relatively restrained confrontation grew increasingly volatile in the stifling, heated atmosphere, the stench of gunpowder sharpening in the air.

The temperature plummeted abruptly, and snowflakes began to dance.

At the same moment, a blaze of flames exploded, consuming several bodies from both friend and foe alike.

[I have neutralized 1065N!]

“You think you’re something…” growled some of those who had been struck, their fury mounting as the brawl seemed poised to escalate.

“Watch out for the fire.”

“The monsters are coming!”

Boom, boom, boom-doom! From the other side of the ground, a swarm of Bound Spirits came stampeding in. The two sides continued their fight as they retreated into the hall.

Gleaming threads flickered and darted through the air, weaving between the chests of countless silhouettes.

{Find the people first—don’t get bogged down by them!}

Luo Bin and his group charged straight toward the underground passage. With them leading the way, Zhang Zhiquan and the others followed effortlessly.

“If I don’t show my teeth, you’d think I’m playing house.”

Glancing at the people rushing from behind, Luo Bin’s eyes flashed with anger.

In the dark hall, footsteps echoed in disorder.

“Follow my command!”

Luo Bin said in a low voice to those beside him, “Based on our previous formation, Team One and Team Two will disperse left and right after my signal. Team Three will continue forward, find a chance to use the Dispatcher Ability Sphere. Watch my hand signs.”

The people around were somewhat surprised, looking at this fat man from Yang Zicang’s team. The camp’s affairs were mostly handled by him.

“Luo Bin, are you serious? They’ve been pretty restrained toward us.”

Luo Bin glanced at the man beside him.

“This time, if we can take down a few, we will. If not, it’s still a deterrent. I don’t have time to play games. Dare to do it? If not, you can head back tonight.”

The group’s expressions flickered. After some thought, a few reluctantly nodded.

“Then get ready!”

The door where the mysterious person had disappeared was right in front.

Luo Bin cast a sidelong glance at the figures chasing behind and raised his hand. Following his gesture, the seemingly scattered figures immediately shifted direction, fanning outward, while some continued charging forward.

{Halt!}

Cheng Yunze’s financing model spread in an instant. Zhang Zhiquan and the others jerked to an abrupt stop as if hitting the brakes, reddish phantom flames flaring up around them.

{Luo Bin, right? Trying to surround my men? Great. Now I have to reassess you.}

Sensing this financing model radiating without discrimination, Luo Bin let out a snort of a laugh.

{What, did you think I’d play along with your boring games?}

Cheng Yunze said flatly:

{Stop. Let the people inside come out with us, or else, because of the move you just made, all of you here today will remain here forever.}

Luo Bin responded with actions. Several figures quickly dashed towards the double doors that had been torn off, leaping down into the cave opening.

……

Hong Haocheng scrambled about like a headless chicken.

The blade in his hand swept through the webs, startling these small creatures into scurrying away. He only dared walk this way, as it meant no other large creatures had come here.

Gradually, the sound of his own footsteps bounced back with hollow echoes, indicating he was in a relatively open and spacious area.

A wisp of red light from the map between his fingers pierced the darkness like a firefly, as the boy scanned left and right with a wary gaze.

Even after being forced to adapt to the dangerous darkness and loneliness on the island for over ten days, the fact that only his footsteps echoed in the dark, deserted underground hall still left him trembling with a hint of fear.

Suddenly, he felt his leg knock against something that was standing upright.

As his fingers reached out, an object within a rock vessel here, resembling a large dump truck bucket layered with thick spider webs, gradually appeared in his view.

“A pillar.”

He used his sword to poke through the gray, web-like material, revealing a pale blue, lusterless scene beneath.

“Legs… This is a Bound Spirit!”

The Bound Spirit, devoid of its blue, silky radiance, lay there as if dead. Perhaps it had truly died long ago, its body merely failing to shatter like other Bound Spirits.

“Could those broken walls be for transporting you here?”

Hong Haocheng circled the massive stone, looking to see if any burial objects lay within.

Having risked danger to enter, he’d at least need to take away some gain to make it worthwhile!

Unfortunately, this rectangular stone trough, half again as large as a bedroom, contained only this Bound Spirit.

Thump, thump, thump.

Chaotic footsteps sounded from afar.

Hearing the noise, Hong Haocheng glanced around, finding no place to hide. In the end, he simply rolled over and jumped into the stone trough, squeezing into the gap beside the giant corpse.

He haphazardly draped the cobwebs over the hole, hoping to bluff his way through.

“Where is he?”

“Not here.”

“Those bastards are coming down. Quick, block them!”

Bang! Clang!

“Don’t run!”

Hong Haocheng burrowed deeper inside. Luckily, the body was massive enough. Pressed close to the Bound Spirit, he caught an indescribable odor—not unpleasant, yet instinctively repelling.

He couldn’t help but feel the urge to lick it.

But in the end, he managed to restrain himself.

“Damn, am I some kind of pervert?”

Another beam of flashlight light swept past.

“There’s a stone coffin over there!”

“It’s huge.” Several sets of footsteps approached quickly.

Hong Haocheng closed his eyes tightly, gripping the [sword] tightly in his hand, while continuously communicating with the Wish Talisman inside the model in his mind.

[I want to use the Wish Talisman.]

The footsteps that were about to draw near were once again pulled away by the sounds of battle.

[I… I’ll just wait a bit longer.]

“Where did they go?”

“Boss, over there! Get over there and help—there’s light coming from there!”

“Charge, those bastards! They actually swung for real. Screw those dirty dogs from City 41!”

Thank goodness. Just get out of here quickly.

Hong Haocheng cursed these people in his mind, then once again ignored the red threads that swept past his chest.

There was a moment of silence, then suddenly the light streamed back and forth again.

“So this is the Bound Spirit! Why did they place it here?”

A woman’s voice came through.

Hong Haocheng was jolted awake. How had this person appeared right in front of him without him hearing any hollering or sounds of battle?

Who is she talking to?

“I think… these are the bodies of those legendary sinners.”

“Are these the ones who caused the destruction of City 11?”

Soft footsteps could be heard pacing in the vicinity of the stone coffin.

A man’s voice said, “Probably so. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been sealed and left here.”

“Then why not just kill them?”

“I don’t know. I’m afraid only the higher-ups in that company know the answer. Personally, I suspect some people still want to uncover the secrets of the Tenth City. After all, these sinners possess pure Void Zero Torrent bloodlines.”

 This person sure knows a lot , Hong Haocheng couldn’t help thinking.

The sound of footsteps gradually approached.

“Eh?”

“Hmm?” The girlish voice rang out. “It looks like the spider web here has been touched by someone.”

A low, chuckling voice sounded.

“Come on out. Don’t even think about hiding.”

Hong Haocheng held still, resisting the urge to move.

“Do you really want me to do this the hard way? If that’s the case, I’ll have to make a move.”

Hong Haocheng gritted his teeth tightly.

[I want to use the Wish Talisman.]

[I am preparing to use the Wish Talisman—Kilogram Scale.]

Near the stone coffin in the main hall, between two pillars, a slowly rotating light screen outlined a dim, chaotic light gate, casting long, elongated shadows of the two figures ahead.

The man outside reached out toward the stone coffin, and the emblem on his chest glowed.

A jagged line shot to his palm. A virtual sphere of glowing energy materialized in his hand. Within that sphere of light, a palm composed of skeletal bones slowly extended.

It was entirely made of jagged lines, replicating a humanoid but non-human skeleton. This skeletal arm seemed, in its entirety, to be the very skeleton of a living creature.

The broken lines continuously outlined this hand, extending it outward, tilting toward the stone coffin, gradually revealing a shoulder whose shoulder blade resembled a battle armor.

Hong Haocheng’s tightly shut eyes snapped open. He was about to decide on using the Wish Talisman when suddenly a buzzing vibration rang out.

The deepest layer of energy around him began to swirl.

The faintest yet purest energy emanated from the base, layer by layer propelling upward, stirring the air, agitating the blood coursing through his body, and even rousing his consciousness.

The Bound Spirit sealed within the sarcophagus suddenly snapped open its eyes. Within those eyes,

one, two, three rings of light representing the Cycle of Blood instantly materialized.

Bang! An enormous hand, with a blurry afterimage tearing through the air, instantly lashed out at the two people beside the sarcophagus.

Thump! Thump!

Ning Jiajia was swatted away on the spot to an unknown place.

A skeletal warrior composed of semi-transparent light shielded Cheng Yunze; the “two” rolled across the hall like a ball, smashing into the wall with a booming crash.

“Jiajia!”

“I…” Ning Jiajia’s pained voice came from behind. The light portal flickered unsteadily, as if about to dissipate.

“Ugh~!”

With a roar like rolling thunder, the figure charged toward Cheng Yunze.

Its massive, dim body trembled several times, with patches of energy light flickering across its surface.

But the moment the azure energy light flashed, shadowy cords across its body suppressed them, preventing them from truly emerging.

Bang! The Bound Spirit slammed a fist into Cheng Yunze, the immense force shattering the ground tiles and nearly destroying the skeletal phantom Cheng Yunze had manifested, but the model quickly reconstructed the missing parts of his body.

The Bound Spirit grabbed the collapsing light from the vanquishing skeletal phantom, and these supposedly fading rays of light appeared in the monster’s palm instead.

Inside the coffin, trembling slightly, Hong Haocheng propped himself up with both hands on the stone rim, half-emerging his head to peer outside.

The impact of these blows was horrifying—it was as if the massive bucket of an excavator were being swung and pounded into the ground. Boom, boom!

These trails of skeletal light should have naturally dissipated like the glow of a light after turning off its switch, yet the creature snatched the fading light right out of the surrounding air!

[I feel this big guy is truly terrifying.]

Marked by those silver fold-lines, these “shattered bones” were frantically shoved into the Bound Spirit’s mouth. After swallowing several “bones,” one of the dim corded shadows struggling to suppress the azure light snapped with a slap!

Cheng Yunze vomited blood through his mouth and nose, while Ning Jiajia, now older and hobbling, staggered toward him amidst the screeching voice of this elderly woman.

“Hurry, come quick! Bai Xiaoshou, invest for the captain—now!”

{I’m already investing—you guys lead it away fast!}

Footsteps and fluctuating lamplight came rushing in.

The Bound Spirit glanced back briefly, its gaze fixed on Ning Jiajia, who hadn’t been killed by a single slap. It suddenly accelerated and appeared before her.

“Run!” Cheng Yunze roared in agony. “That’s a Bound Spirit, what do you think it is?”