"Butler, connect me to their channel."
"They have rejected the call request."
"Try other ways to contact them."
"They have exited war mode. Unless we initiate a system intrusion on their vehicles—which takes time—we cannot reach them. They are currently entering the Divine Surge active zone."
"Do your best..." Mu Zhong couldn't bear to watch the people on those vehicles go to their deaths. The ambition of a few leaders shouldn't result in the sacrifice of three thousand people. After a pause, he added, "Start the vehicle. Chase them. Attempt to intercept. If necessary, use weapons to stop their advance!"
Though the conversation was brief, everyone in the meeting room deduced the situation. Some frowned, some were anxious. Human nature won out; no one spoke to stop the rescue. Three vehicles meant three thousand lives—most of whom were likely innocent and unaware of their impending fate.
As the vehicle roared to life, the walls of the meeting room lit up with a 360-degree projection. Outside, the water was a murky gray under the Level 8 lights. In the distance, three vehicles—having cut all communications—were diving recklessly toward the seabed.
Through the assistance of the Heart of Steel, the iridescent, shimmering Divine Surges appeared on the screen. From this vantage point, it was clear the three vehicles were charging into the most volatile areas. It wasn't tragic; it was foolishly ignorant—like moths throwing themselves into a furnace.
Without the Heart of Steel, navigating these surges was impossible. These people saw only profit, not peril. They assumed that because Wei Huan could enter, the area was safe. They had even shut off their comms to prevent being "stopped" from getting to the treasure.
"Catch up!" Mu Zhong ordered. "Fire weapons here! Force them to stop!"
A Level 8 light ring hissed out, grazing the top of the three vehicles. It wasn't an attack, but a warning. The result? The three vehicles only sped up.
The remaining vehicles at the wreckage site, seeing the white vehicle leave, were forced to follow. They shouted over the comms, "What happened, Commander Mu? Why are you attacking them?" One even added, "Resources are first-come, first-served. Attacking allies is wrong!"
Mu Zhong looked at the speaker—a captain from the same faction as the fleeing ships. "Captain, if you have a line to them, tell them the path ahead is filled with violent energy. They must stop immediately!"
The captain sneered. "You didn't seem so 'careful' when you went in earlier. Stop with the alarmism."
Xu Qingqiang laughed out of sheer frustration. "You idiot. You think a Level 6 ship can compare to a Level 7? You think you're on our level?"
"You—!"
"Did they leave you behind to stand guard," Xu Qingqiang mocked, "or because they didn't want to share the 'priceless' resources below with you? They're grabbing your share right now, you know."
"You... you really did find a treasure! You're trying to monopolize it!"
Xu Qingqiang smirked. "What if we are? What are you going to do about it?"
The captain was livid, but he quickly turned to contact the lead ships.
Mu Zhong watched the lead vehicle heading straight for a massive Divine Surge. "Faster! Stop them! DON'T GO FURTHER! STOP!"
But the message, even when received, was met with suspicion. Having committed to the "rebellion," the captains couldn't turn back. Their greed made them view Mu Zhong's warnings as a desperate attempt to protect his loot. They chose to slow down to "investigate" rather than stop.
The white vehicle surged forward, trying to get between the lead ship and the Divine Surge. This was the baseline of human decency—saving them despite themselves.
But the move only triggered Pandit. His eyes were bloodshot as he watched Wei Huan's ship close in. "Damn them! Do they want everything? These Daxia people already control Blue Star with their wealth and power—is it not enough? They won't give an inch! Greedy! Selfish! Keep going!"
His vehicle rolled forward a few more meters. No impact. No pain.
"See? I told you it was a lie," Pandit began to boast to his crew, but then he noticed the other two "rebel" ships behind him had come to a dead stop. Wei Huan's white ship had also stopped a great distance away.
A ridiculous, primal fear gripped his heart. He wasn't entirely stupid, but he felt like an arrow already shot—if he went back empty-handed after offending Wei Huan, he'd be the laughingstock of the world.
"Go! Faster! Get out of here!" Pandit urged. "Why are we slowing down?"
The vehicle didn't just slow down; it ceased movement. A horrific heat seeped through the hull. It wasn't just temperature; it was a force beyond resistance. Before Pandit could utter another word, his vision blurred. From a slight buzz to total unconsciousness took less than three seconds.
He died. And in those final moments, he didn't even realize it. A Sequence 5 powerhouse didn't last three seconds in the Divine Surge.
The two ships Mu Zhong had successfully blocked belonged to the Fence Country and Tula. As old Western powers, they usually moved in lockstep with Ausam. With Ausam fallen and Meyer missing, they had no intention of actually submitting to Wei Huan. They had intended to use Pandit and the Three Nations as "canaries in the coal mine." To them, Pandit was a subordinate, an errand boy.
When Wei Huan's ship fired the warning shot, they had already slowed down. When the warnings from their allies came through, they stopped completely. Yet, they felt no gratitude. "See," they grumbled over comms, "he's blocking us. Those in power never want to share the path to wealth."
The complaints died in their throats.
They watched Pandit's vehicle, which was simply "drifting" ahead, suddenly open its doors. A man jumped out. He wore the Three Nations uniform. He leaped into the crushing depths of the sea, his fragile body exposed to the abyss.
Surprisingly, he didn't die instantly. He swam like a fish toward the seabed. However, those with keen eyes saw trails of blood leaking from his eyes, nose, and ears—his body was rupturing under the pressure. Yet, he didn't stop. He swam with eerie agility and vanished into the darkness.
Then, more people began jumping out of the open doors, one after another, swimming toward the bottom without a backward glance.
"What's happening? Contact Pandit!"
"Are they mad?"
"Is no one going to save them?"
"Don't go," Mu Zhong sighed. "They are in that energy. Their bodies are being controlled. They are no longer themselves."
"How? It's only been seconds!"
"Never underestimate a Challenge World. A single drop of water here can kill. This sea is a nightmare."
The communication channel erupted into chaos. The captains of Tula and the Fence Country were terrified. Seeing someone die just a step ahead of you changes your perspective instantly.
"Can we... can we save them?" the Tula captain asked, still clinging to hope.
"You are welcome to try," Mu Zhong replied coldly.
No one moved. For the next few minutes, they watched as a thousand people queued up to jump to their deaths. Every attempt to interfere with the Divine Surge was rebuffed; weapons and energy simply slid off the surge as if it existed in a different dimension.
The gap in strength was laid bare. After two months of training, these captains thought they were ready for a Sequence 6 world. Reality had just slapped them in the face. A reckless move had cost five thousand lives (including the earlier lost ships), leaving a permanent shadow on the survivors.
---
Inside the Dark Source chamber, Wei Huan was oblivious to the drama outside. He was at the precipice of his breakthrough.
From [Gatekeeper of the Underworld] to [Plague Spreader]. The name alone suggested the shift: he was no longer a "worker" for the power of the Nether; he was becoming its master.
But he was stuck. He couldn't find the "direction." Desperate for a breakthrough, he felt himself hitting a wall. He decided to relax, reset his mind, and try later. He began summoning undead to replace his losses at the seabed.
Just as he was about to leave the Professional Temple, he felt it.
An abnormal gaze. It felt like a needle pricking the back of his head, or a few strands of hair being pulled. Tiny, yet impossible to ignore.
Wei Huan's fading silhouette solidified. He looked toward the source of the gaze. With a thought, "Dot Mom" surged forward like a turbocharged engine.
'Finally!' Any anomaly was a chance for a breakthrough. He was hunting for a direction, and this gaze had delivered itself to his doorstep.
Dot Mom moved at full speed. Only the elites on her back and the fast Ghost Crows could keep up. Within minutes, they had covered hundreds of miles across the desolate, flat terrain of the Great Tomb.
Ahead, a mound of mud appeared. It was pitch black, slimy, and looked like a giant had slapped layers of sludge together to form a thirty-meter-high heap.
Wei Huan's eyes lit up. 'Is it what I think it is?'
His elite undead lunged forward. Before they could touch the mound, the mud "stood up" and ran. It transformed into a six-legged, shapeless mud beast and sprinted away, splashing sludge in its wake.
'Is this... an Ausam Royal?' Wei Huan looked at the filthy thing with a mix of disgust and excitement.
The creature was fast, but nothing in the Great Tomb was faster than its master. Wei Huan was the sole ruler here. Furthermore, his undead were no longer "wild"; they were trained in the [Undead Ranch], evolving into Heroes and Legends.
Dot Mom, a Legendary Hero, swelled to a thousand meters in height. With a single graceful leap, one of her long, slender legs impaled the mud monster, pinning it to the ground.
'Eeeeee!'
Wei Huan sent a pulse of mental energy to soothe Dot Mom, then walked to the edge of her back and looked down. His army of 150,000 undead swarmed the mud heap, tearing at it to see what lay beneath.
As the "mud" was ripped away, it became clear the creature 'was' the mud. Wei Huan sensed his time in the temple was running out. He swept the area with his divine sense.
There, in the center of the dark sludge, a ball of white light shone as bright as a star.