No Way Out

"What the hell is that?"

As the ice stretched forward, Linsey certainly wouldn't remain indifferent.

He steadied himself, broke free from Hong's grasp, and immediately began placing the soil from his backpack into the tunnel behind him.

Clang! Clang! Clang! A series of sounds rang out in front of Linsey.

Using his [Hand of Construction] ability, he sealed off the entire tunnel in the blink of an eye.

Sizzle sizzle—

The next second, the soil that had just been sealed off was covered in white frost.

The forces within the glacier relentlessly eroded the surrounding area, and a single layer of soil was simply insufficient to stop them; the surrounding temperature also began to drop rapidly! "Is this never going to end?!"

Linsey raised an eyebrow and patted on several more layers of soil.

When the earthen wall was sealed to a thickness of more than one meter, the phenomenon of directly turning the soil into frozen soil finally stopped before the group's eyes.

What's going on?

Linsey breathed a sigh of relief, then turned her gaze to the human Awakener beside her.

This is the glacier leading towards the Courtyard in the Forest.

When Linsey were excavating the glacier from the other side, they didn't face such exaggerated dangers!

Unfortunately, he didn't get an answer this time.

Faced with Linsey's question, Bo Gong also looked bewildered. "We... Mr. Linsey, we don't know what's going on either."

"On our way here, we searched for a path through the glacier, and there was absolutely no change like this before!"

"..."

Linsey quietly changed her Equipment Slot to [Sapphire Glasses].

He couldn't tell if the other person was lying.

However, the Emotion Spectrum of Bo Gong was quite intense, and it was clearly astonished by the phenomenon before it, showing no signs of prior knowledge.

"Um..."

"You all wait here, I'll go and take a look myself."

Linsey planted the torch in her hand in the ground to illuminate Red and several other awakened humans.

He then turned around and moved to a different spot, continuing to dig towards the glacier.

Click click click—

Zi—

Bang bang bang!! A few minutes later, Linsey rushed out again.

Having already made preparations, he immediately blocked the passage behind him, and his expression became quite ugly.

He gritted his teeth and shook his slightly cold right middle finger.

Then he explained to the crowd watching him, "These glaciers are affected by the Dragon Beast and are emitting extremely powerful cold air, freezing any object that comes into contact with them rashly."

Linsey was able to obtain this information, of course, because he had done product authentication.

Protected by the [Ice Crest], he can briefly come into contact with these ice formations.

The result was just as Linsey had predicted.

The Dragon Beast residing atop Black Mountain seemed to have sensed something, and thus altered the nature of the surrounding glaciers.

The glacier was right beneath the Dragon Beast's feet, and it unleashed its power almost without restraint.

The impact of this change is that now, whether entering or leaving Black Mountain, the difficulty is incomparable to what it used to be.

It is almost impossible for Fifth Stage awakened being to escape!

"..."

"Why would Dragon Beast do such a thing?"

"Dig a little deeper?"

"This guy is trying to trap us here! This area, both above and below ground, is probably completely sealed off!"

The three awakened humans looked at each other in bewilderment.

His panicked expression was now tinged with a hint of anger that he hadn't shown before.

From their perspective, they would naturally come to this conclusion.

But Linsey and Red are quite different.

The two exchanged a quick glance and immediately understood— the Dragon Beast's true target was actually them! After all, the three human awakeners had been in the Black Mountain World for some time.

If the Dragon Beast had discovered them, they could have made their move long ago.

The real point in time when these glaciers changed occurred after Linsey and Red entered.

The Seventh Stage Dragon Beast has sensed the approaching danger.

It may not be fully aware of the details, but in this way, it begins to build defenses and an environment suitable for itself.

Linsey how to tell the truth.

An explanation will be given for these three awakened humans.

But without him having to speak, Bo Gong's attitude suddenly became resolute.

He and his two companions reached a decision, their eyes no longer showing any lingering hope, and their posture completely humbled:

"Mr. Linsey, I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"But under the current circumstances, only the plan you proposed earlier is a truly feasible option!"

"..."

It has to be admitted.

The mediator's way of speaking was indeed very pleasant.

He first admitted his mistake, and then praised Linsey's previous plan as correct, an attitude that was almost impeccable.

In addition, Linsey herself was aware of the reasons for this change.

He immediately accepted the decision made by the three people from Bo Gong.

There is no turning back now.

The group turned back to the location of the Icebound City, their eyes now showing a hint of determination.

On the way, Linsey reminded everyone, "Gentlemen, we must be as careful as possible this time!"

"Investigating how the Living Corpse are hiding will definitely require getting closer to the city, and the danger will be incomparable to what it was before!"

Oma, the Perceptor, approached Linsey and volunteered:

"Mr. Linsey, my perception should be of some use."

Linsey nodded slightly, signaling the other person to follow behind her and walk side by side with Red.

"Tsk—"

Hong's displeased gaze immediately drifted over.

The girl didn't seem to like this perceiver very much.

She glanced at him with considerable disdain, but considering that this was an arrangement Linsey had agreed to, she didn't immediately push Oma behind her.

The group searched for caves and tunnels underground, carefully increasing their altitude, but not to the point of directly breaking through the city's surface.

Half a day has passed.

They arrived directly beneath the Icebound City.

Linsey's method was quite simple: the place where these Revivalist gathered and were heavily guarded must also be a secret location.

He should just dig where there are more people.

The only thing to be careful about is not being discovered by the Dark Abyss.

This enemy from ancient times possesses unknown abilities; in the worst-case scenario, it could even be considered on par with Dragon Beast in terms of danger! Crack crack crack—

A faint digging sound echoed from underground.

Linsey led the group to dig towards the area with the densest Red Dot. But this time, it wasn't Linsey or Red's turn to play a role. When they reached the southwest of the city, Oma, who had been following behind Linsey, suddenly spoke up:

"Mr. Linsey, please wait a moment!"

The perceiver twitched his nostrils slightly, then pointed to the city above. "I can hear the aura of Essence fluctuations up there."

"And the smell here is different from other parts of the city. Perhaps we could go and take a look?"

Linsey looked at the map following the other person's directions.

On the vast map, the location Oma pointed out was not particularly noticeable.

But upon closer inspection, this area is where the Revivalist have gathered, yet it remains vacant.

Linsey gradually discovered these clues through her own research.

But it's definitely not possible to achieve the speed of Oma.

This awakened individual with synesthesia seemed to be able to see directly above the earth, even through the layers of the earth! The abilities of those with perception are indeed quite remarkable.

Linsey nodded slightly to Oma, then looked at her other companions behind her:

"Gentlemen, grip your weapons tightly, and be ready for battle at any moment."

"I'm going to dig upwards!"