Snow Mountain Loop

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..."

The dark cave became increasingly narrow as you went further in. Although there used to be a passageway here that the Truth Company had repaired, most of it had now collapsed.

This time, Ren Gu had to truly unleash his ability to "clear the way" in order to move further into the depths.

However... even after being cleared, the road is still not easy to walk on.

Large amounts of rocks and rubble buried the once smooth metal passage. Black liquid dripped continuously from the walls of the passage, and a lot of black paste had accumulated at the bottom.

Those Ren Gu have read the report can guess that this is probably the core of the entire "Fear Project," the "Entities fear" that gave birth to some kind of living monster.

However, Ren Gu did not feel that he was affected too much by these "Entities fears".

Although these substances do indeed contain some kind of energy, some kind of emotion that can evoke fear...

Ren Gu did not feel that these substances pointed to some kind of "Authority" or that they gave the feeling of being empowered by a higher power.

Even the energy of "fear" within it seemed somewhat depleted.

"That's strange... Could it be that after that 'monster' was destroyed by 'Sherlock' and 'The Director,' the entire 'Fear Energy' was severed from the 'Authority' itself?"

"Or perhaps... it's because I didn't go deep enough?"

Ren Gu pondered for a moment, then continued walking forward.

Because he was, after all, a "Tier 3" being, and the greatest danger here, the "monster Chate," had indeed long since "vanished"...

Therefore, even though the road was not easy to travel, the Ren Gu quickly descended to the core part that Lin Yu and Fu Luo had taken some effort to reach back then.

Deep within that mountain, the former secret research base of the "Fear Project" was once occupied by a monster formed from out-of-control fear, which was about to develop into Make It Real "life," and was now unrecognizable.

After Lin Yu set the Chate ablaze, the fear had been completely extinguished. Now, the base deep in the cave was almost completely destroyed, with only the rough framework and remains of some Incineration large Alchemical Equipment and broken industrial transport pipelines.

Most of the cave was empty, devoid of terrifying monsters, only filled with various piles of abandoned "garbage".

This is clearly different from what Ren Gu had imagined.

Because...

This is indeed quite different from Fu Luo's report.

"Not only was there no enormous monster, but we didn't even see any remains left behind by that 'monster'..."

Even though several months have passed since Fu Luo and Lin Yu arrived in the City That City That Never Sleeps, it shouldn't have changed so much.

After all, the cave was a relatively enclosed space, and although the monster was attacked with fire by the "Director," it shouldn't have been burned so completely.

There isn't even much residual energy fluctuation left now.

Rather than being a base forced to close due to an "out-of-control accident," the ruins inside this mountain now resemble a research base that has completed the entire "decommissioning process" and is being properly shut down.

"It's too clean, excessively clean."

Ren Gu muttered to himself, but he wasn't surprised.

After all, he also noticed something "unusual" about the cave—something that could explain why the cave's current state was so different from what Fu Luo had described in his report.

That is...

Much of the "wreckage and trash" here is piled up.

Although it wasn't obvious, Ren Gu could sense it...

This is definitely a sign of some kind of "artificial cleaning".

In other words...

After Lin Yu and Fu Luo ignited the terrifying monsters that infested this place and then withdrew...

It seems that someone came here after the monster burned down and did some cleanup work.

This is clearly an anomaly, something that deserves attention and analysis.

And that's exactly what Ren Gu did.

"So... could this be related to the 'Secretary' and that 'Authority Technology'?"

Ren Gu pondered this carefully.

"Based on the relationship between Huo Xing and 'Schreiber' in Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, and the way they've addressed each other several times, 'Schreiber's' identity in the Barren Realm should be 'Supervisor Arthur' of Truth Company... Recent news reports about this person in City That Never Sleeps suggest that he has long been eyeing 'Fear'. I recall... 'Supervisor Arthur restarts the Fear Project'."

"Could it be that Schreiber already knew this project was extraordinary and might point to Authority? Was he inspired by probing the Director's past... or was it just a coincidence?"

"Regardless, although Schreiber's decision to assist us this time was at the 'Director's' invitation, it still makes one prepared for him to have ulterior motives... Or perhaps that's why the 'Director' chose such a vague way of 'transmitting the message,' as if there were some hidden content?"

But Ren Gu quickly realized that he would never get anywhere by continuing to think like this.

And...

There is a very real problem that is...

Although the ruins here are strange in many ways, however...

The "Director" and "Schreiber" don't seem to be here.

In other words...

Regardless of whether the Director's hints were meant to bring us here, at least his and Schreiber's destination... doesn't seem to be here.

"If that's really the case, does that mean the 'Director's' purpose is to drag 'Schreiber' to a fake place and then have us find the real Authority Technology here?"

Ren Gu scratched his head.

But since we're already here...

"Anyway, there's no rush to leave. Let's investigate this place first."

Ren Gu muttered to himself and began to look at the piles of wreckage, each about four or five meters high.

This place was once the most advanced and cutting-edge "integrated research and production base" of the Truth Company, and the alchemical facilities used were all ultra-large-scale equipment with no regard for cost—and it was precisely because of this that these facilities were able to create such a massive Entities of terror, forming such a huge monster as "Chate".

Especially after this place was burned down once, the remaining parts are the main framework of the largest alchemical facilities, so each one naturally looks like a small building.

They said they were going to investigate...

But this is probably indeed a physically demanding job.

"Should we create a Rule that will facilitate the subsequent investigation and save us some time and effort?"

Ren Gu pondered, then muttered to himself.

"When!"

Behind the Ren Gu, the metallic staircase began to echo with a creaking sound—the sound of footsteps echoing through the cave.

Ren Gu tensed up instantly!

"Who?!"

Before Ren Gu could turn around and see who it was...

The sound coming from behind Ren Gu breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's me."

A familiar and gentle voice rang out.

They are members of "Order".

And it was his most familiar and long-time partner.

Ren Gu turned around and looked at "Loquat Candy," who was holding onto the railing and looking down at him from the top of the steps.

"I said, what are you doing here?"

Loquat Candy tapped her fingers on the railing, producing a crisp, metallic clang.

"That's what I was going to ask you, Comrade Ren Gu... what are you doing here?"

"This shouldn't be your jurisdiction, nor the location you're responsible for investigating, right?"

Hearing what Loquat Candy said, Ren Gu laughed.

"Yes... this isn't my territory, but stop bluffing, because this isn't yours either."

"Furthermore, this outpost isn't even on the Map... This isn't something anyone should be responsible for investigating."

"You snuck in here too, Comrade Loquat Candy."

Loquat Candy didn't deny it, and shrugged.

"That's right, it seems we're thinking the same thing."

Ren Gu nodded. "Yes, that's right. Although the 'Director's' words sounded a bit vague and convoluted... if you consider recent events, and given that he mentioned 'Sherlock,' it's easy to think of the [Instance] he first encountered with 'Sherlock.'"

"Furthermore, 'fear' is very likely associated with 'Authority'... so I think the 'abandoned place' he mentioned is very likely referring to this place."

"Although I don't know how the 'Creator' managed to get the research results into the top-tier research facility of 'Truth Company,' I think it wouldn't hurt to come and take a look."

At this point, Ren Gu paused for a moment.

"However, I didn't expect you to think of this place, or even be the second to arrive."

"I thought that even if others could guess this, the most likely person besides me to come here would be during the 'Xiao Nian's Day'."

Loquat Candy laughed.

"It seems you don't really trust my old partner's brain."

Ren Gu shook his head. "It's not a matter of distrust; after all... it's not easy to come up with that."

"Moreover, this requires a certain understanding of the hidden past of the Barren Realm... Among our group, 'Xiao Nian' is definitely the most suitable."

Loquat Candy shook her head. "Then you underestimate me. I'm not completely ignorant about the past of the Barren Realm, Comrade Ren Gu."

"Also... actually I arrived a little earlier than you—you're the second person to get here."

Ren Gu was taken aback. "What? I'm the second one after you?"

"But... how did you come in the way I came from? And when I came in, I didn't see any signs that the entrance had been opened?"

Ren Gu spoke, Loquat Candy sighed.

"That's the problem, Comrade Ren Gu..."

"Now there's bad news."

"The two of us are trapped here."

"I arrived about an hour earlier than you. After a brief investigation, I was about to leave and called you all to come and investigate this place together..."

"But... unfortunately, whether I go back the way I came or try to find another way out, it's like I'm trapped in a cycle, unable to leave this place!"