Arrival in Cloud City

"How long has it been since you went outside the Barrier of the Residential Zone?" Lin Nieran asked curiously.

Tao Yuan said, "It hasn't been long. I went to see them about a year ago, and the situation wasn't good."

Lin Nieran, recalling the enormous blood moon and the collapsing mountains he had witnessed, tentatively asked, "So, you don't want to do anything?"

"What can we do?" Tao Yuan stared at the water for a moment, then slowly said, "All we can do is delay that day as much as possible, every day we can postpone it is a day more."

Lin Nieran asked, "Then... haven't you considered completely eliminating them?"

"Solve it?" Tao Yuan laughed, a self-deprecating laugh. "Us? Boss Lin overestimates us."

"We're still too weak. This kind of thing seems like something only that mysterious organization could accomplish, right?"

Lin Nieran stretched and chuckled, agreeing, "You're right, this wind makes me sleepy. I'm going back now."

Okay, good night.

Back in his room, 007 couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Why don't the Protagonist Group have the will to save the world? That shouldn't be the case!

"That only proves they're normal people," Lin Nieran said. "Those 'chuunibyou' (middle school syndrome) kids only exist in comics."

[Really?] 007 Remains skeptical.

"Otherwise what? With their current abilities, do you expect them to shout about bonds and friendship and charge straight in to their deaths?"

"Or do you think that as long as they have a heart to save the world, all the world's the Catastrophe can be solved? It's not that simple."

Lin Nieran said, "If saving the world were so easy, what would be the point of having me?"

007 was persuaded once again and showered his host with compliments.

[Host is amazing!]

"007, let me ask you a question."

[Host, you speak!]

Lin Nieran stared at the little fox. "If I complete my mission, will you leave me?"

007 nodded: [Yes, after completing the mission, I'll go find the next host and continue saving other worlds!]

Will the memories between you and me remain?

007 shook his head: [No, we don't have memories, only data. The data will be erased after the mission is completed.]

[Is the host reluctant to part with 007?]

"Ha, you heartless scumbag system." Lin Nieran's expression changed.

007[?]

The following day at noon, after lunch, the Mulan Boat came to a steady stop in the nearby waters.

There was no Dock nearby, and the water level under the boat was too low, so they had to disembark halfway. Fortunately, they had some temporary water-avoidance Weird Object that allowed them to safely reach the shore.

The six memorized the location of the dock, said goodbye to the people on the ship, and entered the Weird Zone.

As soon as they stepped onto this land, a cold wind suddenly swept by, and they all shivered.

"Hiss..." Cheng Shanshi rubbed her arms. "Why is it suddenly so cold?"

Wang Ding gazed at the dilapidated trees and mud around him, then looked down at the map. "We are currently near Cloud City, on the border of the Zhixia Weird Zone, close to the Lily Weird Zone."

An Ying led the way, Cheng Shanshi followed behind him, using her luck to assist him, and Lin Nieran brought up the rear. The group carefully made their way through the withered branches.

As they walked, Cheng Shanshi suddenly squatted down and quickly grabbed a strangely twisted plant. "I've never seen this before!"

After saying that, he wanted to try some, but then he remembered that Lin Nieran was watching him from behind, so he gave up the idea and threw the food into the basket on his back.

An Ying hesitated, but all her unspoken words boiled down to one sentence. "Don't pick up things randomly."

"Oh, okay." Cheng Shanshi listened, but soon saw the second unfamiliar plant and rushed over to pick it, forgetting An Ying's words.

An Ying helplessly, but Tao Yuan smiled and said, "Just let him pick it up. He's lucky, nothing will happen to him."

Cheng Shanshi has always been very interested in plants, which is normal for someone who comes down from the mountains.

Lin Nieran, watching from behind, found it amusing. She turned her gaze back to Wang Ding and continued chatting, "If I remember correctly, the Zhixia Weird Zone is also S-rank, right?"

Wang Ding said, "Yes, but the eerie atmosphere in the Zhixia Weird Zone is relatively stable, so it's safer to go through here."

"To get to the Mianchuan Weird Zone, you have to pass through a section of the Lily Weird Zone; this is the safest route."

Whether it was Wang Ding's prediction that was accurate or Cheng Shanshi's luck that was good enough, they arrived at the Lily Weird Zone, which was also the gate of Cloud City, in just half a day.

Standing here, everyone looked up at the massive and majestic Ancient Castle inside, their faces full of questions.

"Was this Ancient Castle this big when we left?" Mi Chuchu asked, staring at the Castle's spire, which was almost as tall as the moon in the sky.

"Back then, the Instance didn't have a physical form. After we cleared the game, they materialized in the real world, making it difficult to compare sizes," An Ying said.

Tao Yuan shook her slightly sore neck and looked away. "That doesn't make sense either. Weren't the people in this eerie Castle recruited by the organization? Who could be inside this Castle now?"

Wang Ding said, "Could it be that Butler? The Authorities announcement said that this Instance has been materialized, but there were no details, and they didn't send anyone to investigate. We were the first batch."

The group exchanged glances, all harboring very bad memories of this Instance.

Cheng Shanshi tightened his grip on the basket on his back, and seeing that the others remained silent, he asked directly, "Should we go in and take a look? This Instance looks like it's already at S-Rank. Didn't you say you wanted to find Wang to ask him for clarification?"

That was their plan, and they made some preparations for this trip, but they didn't expect the Ancient Castle to look even more dangerous.

With such size and oppressive force, it's at least an S-Class Aberration Instance, and one of the most dangerous S-Rank Instance at that.

They had never seen anything like it before— Instance, once conquered, could continue to level up, even after its manifestation. While it wasn't quite at the SS level, at this rate of expansion, it was inevitable that such a day would eventually come.

Is this the real reason behind the organization's recruitment spree?

This was also the first time Lin Nieran had seen the materialized form of this Instance card in reality. He had to admit, it was truly worthy of being Instance he had designed; he was extremely satisfied with it.

The Ancient Castle, full of the style of the last century, stands out in the ruins without being out of place. Although the Gardens and ponds were not brought out from the Instance, and only a few Castles were brought to life, it is still impressive enough compared to the dilapidated facilities in reality.

Lin Yi looked at him with disdain. "Take that look out of your head, you're about to give yourself away."

Lin Nieran ignored his attempt to make conversation, but also stopped staring at him. He turned to the silent group and asked, "Are you guys going in or not?"

Tao Yuan finally made up her mind and nodded, saying, "Go in and take a look. If anything seems amiss, run back out."

"Also, bring all the immune-controlling Weird Object with you. Remember to use them if anything feels wrong."

"Good."