So You Were Here (4K)

Contaminated Land, frontline observation point.

Two fully armed Devil Knight trudged through the muddy soil.

They each held a staff that was completely out of place with the style of their equipment. The top of the staff was inlaid with a grayish-white crystal, and as they went deeper, the color of the crystal became darker.

When the color on the crystal turned dark gray, they stopped and looked around.

The surroundings were shrouded in mist, and tiny, granular things floated in the white fog, their exact nature unknown.

"This is our limit," one of the Devil Knight said to the other. "Captain, any deeper and our protective suits won't be able to handle that level of contamination. We need a Purification, or..."

You Li, the captain of the Devil Squad, raised his hand to his Knight, signaling them to stop talking. Then he tapped his neck, and a deep voice came from under his mask. "Check if the Emergency Device are working properly."

The Knight nodded and then began to check the Emergency Device under his mask.

You Li took two more steps forward, extending his staff further into the distance. The crystal on the staff grew heavier and gradually turned black.

As my subordinates said, we have indeed reached our limit here.

If they went any deeper, their protective suits wouldn't be very effective.

"Can't we create another Purification Source Crystal?" A subordinate's voice came from behind You Li. "With that, how come we've been stuck in this place for so long? Ten years and we still haven't reached the position of Xiaoxing ten years ago. It's like we're much worse than them."

You Li turned around and looked at his complaining subordinate, focusing mainly on his neck.

The subordinate raised his head, letting You Li see the device on his neck, which had a timer that was constantly making a "click-click-click" sound.

This device looks like a bear trap, and its function is similar to that of a bear trap... that is, it will cut off the wearer's head in an instant when activated.

The condition for it to start is that the timer on the device reaches its end.

Of course, this timer can be adjusted manually; you just need to wind it up fully.

Therefore, as long as the winding is done on time, this device will never start.

You Li spoke only after noticing that his subordinates had already stretched their strings to the limit.

"It's not that easy. Neither the Purification Source Crystal nor this detector..." He pointed to the top of the "staff", "Neither of them are our Lyra's technology, they are the Holy Sound's. We haven't traded with the Holy Sound for the past ten years. The Purification Source Crystal we had is the last one. Even these detectors we have, if lost, cannot be replaced. So we have to be extra careful."

Hearing You Li say this, one of his subordinates said indignantly, "It was Xiaoxing who lost the Purification Source Crystal, but we have to bear the consequences."

Facing his indignant subordinates, You Li said calmly, "They've given their lives here; isn't that paying the price?"

His subordinates were momentarily speechless.

He raised his head and looked into the misty distance. After a long while, he said in a low voice, "We paid no less price than they did. We were also making sacrifices."

"So you don't want to be blamed for your efforts being in vain after you've sacrificed yourself."

The subordinates were speechless.

You Li was also looking into the distance.

According to the records, they will soon reach the point where Xiaoxing once recorded the location.

Ten years ago, that heroic team, led by its heroic captain, ventured deep into territory they had never entered before, and none of them returned except for the captain, who also lost his memory.

Why they went there, and what happened to them, remains unknown to this day.

But their departure changed the course of many people's lives.

The most direct victims are them—the second-generation Pioneer Force, the devils. They did not receive the same heroic treatment as the former Evening Star Knight.

Furthermore, because they lost the only Purification Source Crystal, the current Devil Squad has to pay a greater price and make greater sacrifices when entering the Contamination Zone.

All of this led the demons to have a very negative view of their predecessors.

This was especially true for the captain of that unit.

Thinking of this, You Li suddenly remembered Ina.

She joined the Devil Squad, probably hoping to find something, right?

Hmm... I'm thinking a bit too far ahead.

You Li shook his head, then wound up the Emergency Device again, while listening to his subordinate say, "So the Purification Source Crystal must have been lost inside, right? I wonder if it's broken after all these years. If it's not broken, can we still try to recover it? After all, Contaminated Land can only pollute living things, so something like Purification Source Crystal shouldn't be affected, right?"

"That's just theoretical. Who knows what's actually deep inside the Contaminated Land?" You Li had clearly thought about this as well, and said, "If the Purification Source Crystal were truly effective, Xiaoxing wouldn't have only brought back that one person, and..."

He paused.

"Even if the Purification Source Crystal is not contaminated, it is still surrounded by a large number of medium and even Large Pollutant. Although those pollutants are not interested in the Purification Source Crystal, even if they pass by unintentionally, they are enough to cause devastating damage to it."

"... Hopefully they'll take a detour." The subordinate shrugged and asked, "Captain, shouldn't we turn back? With our current equipment, the two of us can't possibly go any further, can we?"

You Li grunted, "Okay, mark the coordinates, we'll come back later... huh?"

He suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The soil beneath my feet, formed from piled-up mud, was trembling slightly, as if it were boiling water.

"What's going on?" The subordinate noticed this as well and immediately became alert. "Has Medium Pollutant passed by nearby?"

You Li didn't speak, but quickly bent down and put his hand into the mud, feeling the earth beneath.

The earth trembled.

"Captain! Captain!" a subordinate suddenly cried out in terror, "Look what that is?!"

You Li immediately raised his head.

Through the mask, You Li saw the scene that he would never forget.

Countless pollutants are gushing out from the deepest part of the Contaminated Land.

These monsters, which should have been devoid of any intelligence, were now rushing toward the same place like migrating animals, creating a commotion that made the earth tremble.

And their destination is clearly...

After a brief moment of shock, You Li drew the sword hanging at his waist and then twisted the hilt.

The sword's edge was then ignited by the flames.

"Notify the camp!" You Li roared at his men, "The Pollutant Outbreak... All units, prepare for battle! We absolutely cannot let them invade Lyra!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a huge shadow loomed over him.

He looked up and saw a giant pollutant already standing in front of him.

Clang.

De Ni also lit the blade.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, he had witnessed the changes in Yong Xin.

Now, Yong Xin is nothing but bones; his flesh and blood are scattered throughout the office like dandelion seeds.

But the drifting dandelions can evoke a sense of beauty.

The sight of scattered flesh and blood only sends chills down one's spine.

This change is clearly beyond what humans can achieve.

It can only be... a contaminant!

The rules of the Devil Squad stipulate that anyone who exhibits inhuman changes, regardless of the nature of the change or who they are, must be executed immediately to prevent contamination from entering Lyra.

Now, this obvious pollution has erupted, and it's happening inside Lyra, in the very heart of the Tower of Babel.

De Ni considered calling for help, but the problem was that it was late at night, there were hardly any people in the entire Tower of Babel, and most of the Skeleton Corps were still outside searching for Jie La Er's whereabouts. He had no idea where to look for him, and if he left rashly, would the filth spread directly?

By then it will be too late.

Thinking about this, De Ni realized he only had one choice left.

That is, to nip pollution in the bud!

Even if the other party is Yong Xin, the most powerful person in the Fourth District after Bishop Holman's death, he is still someone he wants to curry favor with.

De Ni strode forward, sword blazing, ready to finish off the monster before him.

But he paused for a moment when he came in front of him.

Because he didn't know... where to cut.

At this moment, the only part of Yong Xin's body that still had a human form was a pile of bones, and these bones looked like they could fall apart at any moment.

But he didn't have time to think about it anymore, so he could only chop at the part with the most skeleton.

However, even such an attack failed.

With a clang.

The flaming sword was grasped by an arm that had turned to bone.

"What are you up to?"

Yong Xin's voice came from all directions.

De Ni was stunned.

Because he saw the flesh and blood scattered in the room rapidly returning to the skeleton, and that little by little accumulation and buildup made the skeleton quickly outline the shape of Yong Xin.

In less than a minute, Yong Xin was back to normal.

He sat calmly in the chair, his expression indifferent, looking exactly the same as before, as if nothing had happened.

But his hand was still gripping De Ni's flaming sword.

His hand, scorched by the flames, was making a constant hissing sound, but he seemed oblivious to it.

"You're being a little too tense." Yong Xin slowly pushed De Ni's sword back. "Put your sword away, Mr. De Ni. Nothing happened tonight."

De Ni looked down at the sword that had been pushed back.

Yong Xin's body had not undergone any modifications, while his arm had long been replaced with a prosthetic. Logically speaking, the two should not be on the same level at all.

But Yong Xin simply pushed his sword back.

"... Nothing happened tonight?"

"Yes, Mr. De Ni, nothing happened tonight." Yong Xin looked at De Ni and said calmly, "Just now, I was just feeling a little unwell. Oh... by the way, Mr. De Ni, I've always heard that you seem to really want to be transferred back from the Devil Squad, is that right?"

Yong Xin spoke to De Ni as if they were having a casual chat.

"Actually, I can completely understand. After staying on the front lines for a long time, people will want to change their lifestyle."

De Ni understood Yong Xin's meaning. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can you help me?"

"Why not?" Yong Xin smiled at De Ni. "You should know that this is not a difficult task for me..."

De Ni did not answer immediately.

Yong Xin then added slowly, "Moreover, Mr. De Ni, you should know that some things are not so easy for others to believe, and if you say them, people will think you're crazy."

De Ni's pupils narrowed slightly.

Yong Xin's words reminded De Ni of a lonely figure.

... So that's how it is?

"Think it over carefully, Mr. De Ni." Yong Xin leaned back in his chair and looked at De Ni. "I believe you will make the right choice. The New Pursuit Society also welcomes you to join."

De Ni stared at Yong Xin for a long time.

After a moment, he nodded. "I understand, nothing happened tonight."

Yong Xin smiled and nodded, "Very good."

Having made his decision, De Ni bowed to Yong Xin, then sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

But when he tried to Open the door, he found it was locked.

Yong Xin's sigh echoed behind him, "It's a pity, Mr. De Ni, you still made a different choice... To be honest, it's a loss, because dawn was about to break, but you chose to die before dawn."

De Ni stiffened slightly, but he didn't turn around. He simply said in a low voice, "I don't understand what you mean."

Yong Xin gently beckoned with his finger.

Then, from De Ni's tightly clenched fist, a piece of bloody flesh darted out from between his fingers and quickly returned to Yong Xin's body.

"This is my flesh and blood," Yong Xin said lazily. "Where else do you intend to take him?"

Before Yong Xin could finish speaking, De Ni's sword was drawn again, and the flames that ignited once more tore through the darkness in an instant.

The next second, he rushed in front of Yong Xin, his sword pointing directly at Yong Xin's head.

"That's why I said..." Yong Xin said softly, "It's a pity."

After a while, a man in black robes pushed open the office door and immediately saw a corpse lying in a pool of blood.

"Lord Yongxin, this is..."

Yong Xin glanced at the man in black robes and said indifferently, "It's just a small accident. Hurry up and clean it up, it'll be dawn soon."

The man in black robes nodded repeatedly, and then immediately began tidying up the mess in the office.

After that, Yong Xin didn't say anything. He just stared quietly out the window, his heart filled with unease.

De Ni was just a minor incident.

But what he was wary of was the strange change that had occurred just now for some unknown reason.

Although [Domination] eventually returned to his body, the reason for it remained unclear.

And there's another point,

He'd had this feeling since just now.

It seems someone is there.

They were watching him.

In the Peach Blossom Paradise, Bai Wei slowly withdrew his hand from the giant tree, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Turn out to be,"

"You're here."

Ugh, I was planning to take a long break and relax on the 1st, but I got a real lecture from the editor. He even said that Boss Qing Ting has been keeping an eye on me, saying it's no wonder my average daily subscriptions aren't going up—his updates are so slow! I'm so ashamed!

My initial order exceeded 10,000! How could things have deteriorated to this extent!

Starting today! Massive updates!

I'm forgoing my sleep schedule and will be writing all night! I'll update another chapter around midnight!

Wow, I'm almost moved by my own words.

So, I'm asking for a monthly pass.