Return to Snow Mountain

"Alright, Old Jin, I'm leaving now."

As time went by, the aura around Nightless Sky Yong Lian grew weaker and weaker, like a Candle that had burned out at any moment.

The descent of the "God of Wisdom" continues, but now...

Even without Kim Solence's cover, probably no one would have been able to sense anything amiss.

Even if Nightless Sky Yong Lian walked down the street now, she probably wouldn't be recognized.

Therefore, Kim Solence is now gradually bringing his "Divine Descent" to an end.

He looked at Nightless Sky Yong Lian with some confusion.

"Where are you going now...? In your condition, any skilled mercenary from the Outer City could probably assassinate you."

Nightless Sky Yong Lian Love chuckled softly, "Heh heh... Old Jin, I'm about to die anyway, why would I be afraid of these things?"

Kim Solence shook his head. "Someone like you, if he were to die at the hands of some petty scoundrel... I would feel it would be a terrible injustice."

Even a lion, old and dying, should not perish at the hands of Wild Dog.

Nightless Sky Yong Lian pouted. "I can't really die in your office, can I? I'll have to find somewhere else."

Kim Solence whispered, "Where to?"

Nightless Sky Yong Lian somewhat surprised. "Why bother with so much... What, are you afraid I'll hang myself at the doorstep of the Solence Family?"

Kim Solence sighed, "No, I intend to see you off."

Nightless Sky Yong Lian raised her hand. "No need. You're genuinely worried about me dying at someone's hands..."

"Don't worry, I'm going home next."

Kim Solence said in a low voice, "What I'm worried about is that after you return to the Nightless Sky Family, your weakened state might cause those members of the Nightless Sky Family who have been suppressed by you for more than ten years and have become psychologically disturbed... to harbor resentment."

Yonglian laughed heartily at the Nightless Sky Yong Lian.

"Hoo hoo hoo... This is something you outsiders just don't understand!"

"Now, those old guys who survived in the Nightless Sky Family, even if I really die, they will all stay far away from my corpse—even if I am 100% dead, they wouldn't dare gamble on that 0% chance."

"Besides... don't let my current weakness fool you, I can still easily crush a few ungrateful Wild Dog."

As she spoke, Nightless Sky Yong Lian raised her hand and waved gently.

"Let's go, Old Jin!"

"Starting today, enjoy yourself... enjoy this city that never City That Never Sleeps without me."

As he spoke...

The dim, almost transparent symbols that had been floating around her quickly spread over her body, and then...

Nightless Sky Yong Lian disappeared from the office.

Kim Solence watched in shock as the entire process of Nightless Sky Yong Lian vanished—he wasn't shocked that Nightless Sky Yong Lian Compassion had disappeared into thin air, after all, as a fellow Chosen of God, Kim Solence knew that doing such a thing wasn't too difficult.

But what shocked him was...

I couldn't sense at all how Nightless Sky Yong Lian managed to do it.

Based on the residual energy fluctuations, Kim Solence could only roughly deduce that this was...

A technology that does not involve Alchemy or leveling energy, and is of the same origin as the "Gate of Boundary".

Has she... reached the point of beginning to understand the essence of the world?

Kim Solence murmured, suppressing all the regret and pity he had felt, as well as the camaraderie and sympathy that had developed over the years of fighting.

Now, the last move that Nightless Sky Yong Lian made reminded Kim Solence of himself. He was Board Members of the Universal Trade Association and the Family Head of the Solence Family.

At this moment, all that remained in his heart regarding the impending death of Nightless Sky Yong Lian was endless relief.

You could even say it was "fear afterward".

"Thankfully... she's going to die today."

Kim Solence slowly sat down in the chair, leaning on his cane, picked up his Coffee, and drank half of it in one gulp.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

"Call..."

The vast expanse of snow covered the undulating mountains. Ren Gu exhaled a puff of white breath, rubbed his hands together, and stumbled along in the Snowfield, his steps uneven.

As a native of Guangdong Province who has spent most of my life in South China, and even after joining the "Death game" and facing all sorts of extreme environments, Ren Gu still feels...

It turns out that I'm least suited to environments like extreme cold and Snowfield.

"Oh dear, my fingers are practically frozen off..."

Even though she was wrapped in several heavy coats brought from the Truth Company's base, her exposed cheeks and wrists were still stinging from the cold.

But...

Ren Gu, however, showed no sign of giving up.

Even though this area was no longer his responsibility or even marked as a "Xiao Nian," Ren Gu still decided to come and take a look.

Because...

There was a vague feeling in the Ren Gu.

This is most likely the place where the "Director" and "Schreiber" went.

It's also the place the "Director" wanted his group to discover and come to.

He walked slowly and steadily to a steep, smooth rock face, gently raised his palm, and reached out towards the rock.

When the palm of the Ren Gu touched the rock wall...

The entire rock wall began to shake violently.

Then...

The steep rock face was unusually covered in large patches of melting, which turned into some kind of black, viscous paste and flowed down, revealing deep passages.

Although the Ren Gu has a very convenient ability to clear paths, it did not activate its Ren Gu this time.

After all, if it really is his ability...

The entire rock face will "disappear" instead of "melting."

Looking at the dark cave entrance, Ren Gu let out a breath.

"As expected... we've come to the right place."

Ren Gu took out his tablet and compared it with some of the information on it.

And the information he had...

It was an internal document from "Order" submitted by "Sherlock"!

Shortly after "The Director" first joined "The Order," when his codename was still "May May," the higher-ups of "The Order" had already noticed his special status.

Because Captain "Gao Shan" and "Sherlock" had multiple contacts with Lin Yu, and based on "Gao Shan" and Lin Yu's own performance at the time, "Order" was very clear that "Sherlock" and "May May" had already interacted in a certain [Instance].

So...

The higher-ups of "Order," namely the "Secretary," later issued instructions and dispatched Captain "Gao Shan" to invite "Sherlock" to provide a report on his first meeting with Lin Yu Instance.

Although the report ultimately proved to be of little reference value, as "Sherlock" rambled on and on, spending most of the report praising Lin Yu's abilities and even describing the delicious food he cooked in the cabin, it was clear that he wanted to present a perfect image of "Order" to benefit his friend's promotion.

But...

Some of the scattered information, however, can still make those who have read this report realize...

The [Instance] that Lin Yu and Fu Luo spent together was not simple in itself.

It clearly points to a crucial, clandestine project undertaken by the Truth Company in the Barren Realm many years ago—the "Fear Project," which is highly likely related to "Authority."

Ren Gu read the report once, even though he was Inspector South China at the time and the report on the Central China Region was not relevant to him. However, Ren Gu always habitually paid attention to all sorts of things happening within the organization.

After the events in Shenzhen concluded, and before this journey to the Barren Realm...

Ren Gu himself read the report several times and downloaded it, installing it on his [Item] tablet and bringing it in.

After all...

Looking at this report now, it seems to have even more "elements".

First, the report itself was ordered by the "Secretary" to be interviewed by "Gao Shan," and the content itself was related to "Authority."

Their primary objective for this trip was to investigate the techniques by which the "Secretary" had acquired Authority in the Barren Realm.

This naturally Ren Gu take the report more seriously.

Secondly, there is another point in this report that also Ren Gu.

That is...

Fu Luo mentioned somewhat vaguely in his report that he and Lin Yu encountered a researcher from the Truth Company who had died but retained his consciousness through some mechanism in the [Instance].

And that researcher...

This also became the key for Fu Luo to pass information to Lin Yu and expose the "Secretary's" undercover identity.

"Vill Valetti."

So...

This time, when Lin Yu left behind some vague and ambiguous information...

Ren Gu once again thought of the report by Fu Luo, and the name "Vill Valetti".

Especially when Lin Yu himself, for some reason, emphasized Fu Luo's existence again— Ren Gu still remembered what Lin Yu's original words were.

"... Having inherited what Comrade 'Sherlock' left me here, I have a relatively good understanding of the Barren Realm."

This is a somewhat redundant statement. Given his limited time, this sentence could have been omitted entirely, or it could have been simply emphasized that "I also have some knowledge of the Barren Realm."

So...

The Ren Gu couldn't help but form a judgment.

That is...

Perhaps, this is the message Lin Yu left behind, the part he truly wanted to convey.

So after the investigation began, he immediately used the information in those reports and the Map Xiao Nian provided to Xingyi calculations.

Final...

Ren Gu found the location of the Snow Mountain where Lin Yu and Fu Luo's first [Instance] was located, which was also the site of the remnants of the "Fear Project" from back then.

Looking at the dark, deep cave that exuded an ominous aura, Ren Gu took a deep breath.

"Phew... It's okay if I guessed wrong, anyway... let's go in and take a look."

"Even if I'm just looking at the 'monster' mentioned in the report, or even if I've misunderstood or overthought the Director's hints, I might still gain some insights related to 'Authority'."