He Chose to Move Forward (23)

The moment the song began, Ian sensed the world around him begin to churn violently.

A wave from the Void Realm, blazing like fierce fire, scorched the surrounding space-time and instantly swallowed him and a vast stretch of forest around him.

And a force brimming with abnormality and distortion seemed to descend here from the farthest reaches of space-time, eroding and permeating the real world.

What lies before me is the starting point of the Void Realm's collapse.

Ian understood this immediately.

The central laboratory building before him—this sprawling experimental center with its extensive underground sections—was where the "Silent Abyss," that fragment of the Void Realm, had fallen.

And in a sense, the voice he had heard just now could be considered the voice of "every soul within this Void Realm."

Ian raised his head.

The once fairly clear laboratory building had now been blanketed and utterly shrouded by the white Madness Mist.

If he continued forward, Ian would enter the "gap" between the Void Realm and reality—an "subspace" like the Land of Exile in the northwest of Frontier Reach.

He chose to move forward.

Halfway down the path leading to the laboratory entrance, an auntie appeared.

"Child, don't go any farther."

There was a grotesque wound on the auntie's head, and deep claw marks gouged into her body.

She was already dead, yet her voice still carried an unmistakable kindness, warmth, and deep concern. "Ahead lies the land of the dead... You are still alive, so leave as soon as you can. You still have family and friends... Don't make them sad."

Ian nodded slightly, then shook his head. The youth walked past her, drawing a sigh from the old woman.

He chose to move forward.

"You want to court death that badly? Young man, you have no idea