A bone-chilling cold swept over him. In the instant his teammates cried out, Xu Jiali felt his steps suddenly falter, as though something had wrapped around his hands and feet. The kind of chill that could freeze even the soul made even a powerful Deep Diver like him instantly lose control of his limbs—and only then did he notice, from the corner of his eye, thin black threads appearing in the fog.
The barely noticeable black strands seemed to have condensed out of thin air, floating in the mist and crisscrossing above the street. Three Deep Divers had already touched them by accident, and the unstoppable cold, stiffness, and sluggishness had left their entire bodies rigid and motionless.
The next second, the Power Armor began to sound an alarm. The sensory module linked to the umbilical detected an abnormality in its user—
"Warning. Mild soul dissociation. Warning. Mild soul dissociation..."
The psionic servant walking nearby instantly sensed the abnormal condition of the contracted Deep Divers. Bell's pupils shrank into two narrow slits, and the fur on her tail stood on end. "Boss, what's wrong, meow!"
As she spoke, Gypsy Girl picked up her mechanical spell orb, preparing to raise a psionic field and disperse the eerie, spiderweb-like threads.
But Xu Jiali suddenly stopped her. "Wait—fall back and stand by. The other unaffected Deep Divers, retreat slowly beyond the threads as well."
All the Deep Divers immediately maintained their defensive formation and began slowly retreating, protecting the several psionic servants in the center of their formation. Xu Jiali and the other two affected Deep Divers remained in the fog where the threads crisscrossed.
"Don't force your way out. Move your hands and feet slowly," Xu Jiali said in a deep voice as he gradually moved his arms, slowly freeing himself from