The World Beyond

Normally, dealing with an extraterrestrial airship with only a little over a thousand people, whose strongest leader could barely be considered an ordinary Fifth-tier Extraordinary being, would have been easily handled by a Wyvern Legion of a few hundred people.

It's no wonder that Rein and his men went to such lengths, bringing almost all of Black Dragon City's top experts just for these "small fry".

These guys' backgrounds are just too sensitive.

Beyond the Mist lie other civilizations, Transcendent beings above the fifth rank, and even legendary god-level powerhouses.

This was information that Rein and his team had already deduced.

Therefore, they approach any visitor from outside the region with absolute caution.

The slightest misstep could be a devastating disaster for Black Dragon City, and even for all humanity on the entire Ice Ridge Wasteland.

Besides, what's more, they're facing a group of guys who have already shown hostility.

Rein and his team didn't know the exact number of the enemy, whether they had accomplices, or if they possessed any special "killer move."

Therefore, when facing an enemy whose abilities are almost entirely unknown, the best approach is to go all out.

Even if it's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, we must not give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage, lest we bring about unpredictable consequences due to underestimating the enemy.

Therefore, upon receiving the alarm message, all of Black Dragon City's top experts were activated and suppressed the scene with lightning speed!

Moreover, because they did not know the opponent's methods, even experts of the caliber of Great Shaman Mafat and Master Cavo entered a state of full preparation for "Demonic Release" the moment they appeared.

The game starts with Master Cavo's ultimate move, a spatial barrier.

This method prevented the enemy from escaping and also allowed for the possibility of sending a signal to summon comrades.

Before long, three thousand Flying Dragon Vine Armor Army arrived in a mighty procession, completely cutting off any possibility of escape for the "Red Shark Phantom Thief Group".

The dragon began patrolling, searching for anyone who might be an accomplice of the enemy.

In this emergency response, almost all of Black Dragon City's top experts were mobilized, including three of the former "Ten Great Legends": Cavo, Metternich, and Bazel.

There are also the legendary warriors of the Kolman Tribe: Mafat, Habu, Fofa, Imyu.

Then there are Guy, Ymir, and Canossa.

And then there's Rein, Fourth Tier warrior who's practically invincible below the legendary level.

Speaking of top-tier combat power alone, these dozen or so people are an absolutely luxurious lineup that no other force in the Ice Ridge Wasteland could field.

Those extraterrestrial thieves were completely terrified.

Only then did they realize what kind of terrifying reinforcements that female assassin had summoned.

One, two, three, four.

There are five phantom images of "Demonic Relief" appearing behind them alone!

There were also more than a dozen other beings whose auras were as heavy as mountains, making it hard for them to breathe.

Everyone here is at the Fifth-tier Extraordinary, so why are these natives so ridiculously strong?

Looking at the Black Dragon City's elite legion, which was as fierce as wolves and tigers, the thieves were like sheep trembling under the gaze of a group of tigers.

The sense of superiority I felt looking down on the "natives" just fifteen minutes ago has completely vanished.

They were filled with fear and shock.

What kind of place is this forbidden area shrouded in black mist? How could the natives be so strong?

If it were Beyond the Mist, even a "great empire" with a population exceeding one billion might not have one "divine favor" capable of dispelling demonic attacks. How come so many have suddenly appeared here?

Moreover, the gods behind these guys are all different?

They do not worship the same god?

But if they don't worship the same god, why are these people gathered together?

One question after another arose, but no one could provide them with answers.

Because of the language barrier, there was no persuasion or coercion involved.

Rein and his men will not give the enemy any chance.

After Master Cavo sealed off the space, the experts from Black Dragon City personally took to the field and resolved the battle in the shortest possible time.

The battle proceeded without any unexpected events.

With Rein, Ymir, and Canossa all Melee Extraordinary at the same time, the hundreds of thieves on the deck were almost killed with a single move each; as long as they didn't surrender, they were killed on the spot.

Then, they stormed into the cabin of the mechanical airship.

Those guys hiding in the sealed compartments were originally going to be a bit of a problem.

Even knowing that coming out would mean certain death, they would absolutely not leave. These steel compartments, heavily enchanted, were impenetrable to cannons, especially the core boiler room.

In the case of ordinary forces, they might be helpless.

But it wouldn't be difficult for Rein and his team to catch these guys.

Within the scope of the fifth-order laws, Black Dragon City has the ability to destroy almost anything under these rules.

However, such a violent demolition would inevitably destroy the finished mechanical airship.

This is a situation they would not want to see unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, it was Metternich who took action.

The mechanical airship of this phantom thief group isn't particularly advanced in terms of enchantment; it can withstand ordinary physical and magical attacks, but it doesn't have any enchantments specifically targeting mental power.

Metternich also unleashed his ultimate move, using his mental power to penetrate the iron wall, causing those guys to obediently open the door and come out.

In the end, they killed 800 enemies and captured nearly 500 alive.

There were no casualties in Black Dragon City; a fully functional mechanical airship and a large quantity of supplies were captured.

The battle started suddenly and ended quickly.

The Wyvern Legion and the Mechanical Legion sealed off the scene, and the situation was completely calmed down before the news could even spread.

Not long after, at a secret base in Black Dragon City.

The mechanical airship has been properly secured and hidden.

Old Master Tuster also came immediately to accept the mechanical airship. He will use the existing materials and technology in Black Dragon City to analyze, modify and replicate the airship.

Perhaps in the near future, Black Dragon City will be able to independently design and manufacture such complex mechanical airships.

Suddenly, another wave of visitors from outside the region arrived, and Rein and his group became nervous.

It seems that the existence of the Ice Ridge Wasteland has been exposed in the world outside the mist, and it may face a large number of hostile outsiders at any time.

Just like when the people of City of Radiance discovered the existence of the Kolman Tribe, those outsiders who discovered this place certainly didn't intend to befriend these "natives."

If they were to meet, the most likely outcome would be war, enslavement, and resource plunder.

Perhaps they have already arrived.

Therefore, Rein and his team now have an urgent matter to resolve.

We need to determine how many airships and how many people these guys have brought. And what the situation is like outside the fog!

Although there is a language barrier, there are some obstacles to communication.

Fortunately, Rein had found a large number of extraterrestrial documents in the Airship Wreckage that crashed in the "Karatva Basin" and deciphered the script called "Dark Faction Common Tongue".

The dictionary he personally compiled is now being studied by specialists in Black Dragon City. Most of the higher-ups also understand this foreign script.

Master Cavo, this "Grand Scholar," understood it; Tuster understood it; Ilubeck understood it; even Metternich, who had only been there for a year, had learned it.

Although they cannot speak, they can communicate in writing without any problems.

The five hundred prisoners on the airship were assigned to an interrogation team composed of bigwigs from various sectors of Black Dragon City, and interrogations began immediately.

The mechanic on the Steam Airship was given to Tuster, the magician to Cavo, and the doctor to Ilubeck.

Those who were unruly were thrown to the squinty-eyed Metternich for mental torture.

Unlike other written interrogations.

In a dimly lit little room, Rein was leisurely sitting with his legs crossed, flipping through some documents he had just seized.

Opposite him, a bright spotlight illuminated five pale, anxious faces.

These are prisoners of war captured from the mechanical airship: four Third Tier Extraordinary and one Fourth Tier Transcendent.

In the Ice Ridge Wasteland, five such "High-tier Extraordinary" would be considered big shots anywhere. Even fifth-level Transcendent would have to be careful when dealing with them.

But Rein had absolutely no such worries.

Because these guys were weaker than anyone imagined.

Even if Rein stood still, they couldn't kill him.

Rein didn't rush to ask them anything, but instead had these guys read one foreign book after another.

Henchman A: "While Gabriel, an engagement banquet was also being held in a magnificent aristocratic mansion, with the main guest being the court's prosecutor, Colfo."

Henchman B: "In the darkness, the Demon Hunter Fagen raised his musket."

Minion C: "."

The system includes all of these books; they are all popular novels from outside the region.

Five people reading at the same time can be quite noisy.

Rein didn't pay attention to what they were reading, but system notifications kept ringing in his mind.

[Ding! Unknown language system detected. System is automatically parsing and recording.]

[Ding! Named 'Dark Faction Common Tongue', Language Mastery Progress 55%, 58%, 61%]

Because they already knew this script, the five people read five different books, and the language was quickly deciphered by the Mind Core.

Finally, an hour later, the system sent a message.

[Ding! Language learning complete]

At this moment, Rein put down the book in his hand and looked coldly at the five prisoners in front of him.

He uttered a few slightly hesitant syllables and said, "Alright, now answer a few questions for me. If your answers satisfy me, you can be spared the death penalty. If you conceal anything, you will die!"

The five extraterrestrial thieves were taken aback when they heard someone speak.

Then they were surprised to find that they could actually understand the guy who had his face hidden behind the light!

Then, they instantly realized the purpose behind the young "native" man's earlier request for them to read the classics.

This guy is actually learning their language?

My goodness, this language learning ability is just too amazing!

Are all the natives in this misty forbidden land such abnormal beings that they learned a complex language just by listening to them read a few novels?

Despite their shock, they were mostly delighted.

It's good that we can communicate.

The fear is that these "natives" will not communicate at all and will just kill them directly.

One of the prisoners spoke timidly, "My lord, may I ask you something?"

Finally, Rein narrowed his eyes and asked the first question in a deep voice, "Where are you from?"

Previously, they had only deduced some outlines of the world outside the mist from the documents found in the airship wreckage, but this was far less thorough than what some surviving people knew.

These prisoners are a good opportunity for them to learn what the world Beyond the Mist is really like.

"Where are you from? How many people are there in total? How many airships?"

Rein began his interrogation.

After asking the question, he warned in advance, "Think carefully before you answer me. If what you say is different from what your colleagues in the other interrogation rooms have said, all five of you will die."

This intimidation caused the five prisoners to repeatedly say they dared not.

Besides, there's no point in hiding these issues.

"We are members of the 'Blood Shark Phantom Thieves.' We come from the 'Mapson Empire,' a small empire in the southern part of the Dark Alliance."

"We brought three airships this time, but because we passed through an area with an ancient magical barrier, the other two encountered accidents, and only our one made it in safely."

What is your purpose in coming here?

"Find a treasure on the Treasure Map."

"Please elaborate."

"We plundered a commercial airship belonging to the Steam Brotherhood and found a Treasure Map. Our captain then sent us to search for it."

"What level of Transcendent is your leader?"

"Sixth-order Great Perfection".

"How does your team leader compare to that previous Captain Jimmy?"

"The captain is much more powerful Captain Jimmy. The captain is a high-level swordsman who has mastered the 'Gale Sword Intent'. Even in the 'Mapson Empire', he can be considered a top expert."

"You can advance to the Fourth Tier of the Transcendent without comprehending 'artistic conception'?"

"'Artistic conception'? My lord, isn't that an ability that only top geniuses can comprehend? Advancing to the Fourth Tier of the Transcendent only requires magic potions and Breakthrough Potion."

"."

After asking a few questions, Rein's expression became rather strange.

He seemed to understand why these guys were so weak.

Besides the objective environmental factor of the fog affecting physical abilities, there are also problems with their path to becoming Transcendent.

Beyond the Mist, there exists a special "Breakthrough Potion" designed to help one overcome bottlenecks. As long as the potion compatibility isn't too bad, almost any normal person can advance to the Third Tier, Fourth Tier, or even fifth level of the Transcendent.

Then, above the sixth level, one needs to comprehend other higher-level forces such as "momentum" and "artistic conception".

As for "Demon Liberation," that is a special and rare ability that only the so-called "God's Chosen" can possess.

In the eyes of these ordinary thieves, he was a "big shot" who was out of reach.

"The 'Dark Alliance' is composed of thirty or forty countries roughly the size of our 'Mapson Empire.' And south of the Foyas Strait, there are many such alliances. As far as I know, there's the 'Abyss Alliance,' the 'Dead Sea Alliance,' and the 'Sword and Axe Alliance.' Of course, the strongest is the 'Holy Light Alliance,' our enemy to the east; they are very powerful, with a high-ranking deity overseeing them."

It was only after asking this question that Rein truly gained a general idea of the world outside the fog.

According to these phantom thieves, the so-called "Mapson Empire" outside is very large, almost the same size as the combined area of the two great empires of Sid and Omar.

It took dozens of such empires to form an alliance.

There are many such alliances outside.

Moreover, this world doesn't seem to be a planet like Earth, where Rein lived in his previous life.

The outside world has oceans, land, and deep underground caves; it's very, very vast.

At least, the world these prisoners described was boundless and unbelievably large.

So large that even though these guys have airships, they have never left the territory of the "Allied Powers," and they have no idea where the end of the world is.

Moreover, it wasn't just humans; there were all sorts of strange and wonderful races, including centaurs, dwarves, goblins, elves, giants, and winged beings.

These races that existed in ancient myths are also present!

Rein listened to these messages with a solemn expression, which refreshed his understanding of the world time and time again.

At that moment, something occurred to him, and he asked a question.

"Have you heard of the name 'God Jaliad'? He should have three eyes and be a god-level powerhouse."

"Jaliyad? If it's the 'Three-Eyed Race,' perhaps you're referring to that one in the 'Holy Light Alliance'? Oh, that's a very powerful deity."

Finally.

Upon hearing this, Rein understood why the Holy Light Alliance had launched a war to attack the Mapson Empire.

Those guys are probably after this Misty World!

Those guys from "City of Radiance" are up to something big.