The Strange Call

Monsters had suddenly appeared, causing heavy casualties in just two days.

The internet was now flooded with videos and posts discussing them. Provincial and municipal leaders everywhere took the matter seriously, while the central government continuously issued orders demanding prompt reports from every region.

The monsters in other areas had already been dealt with. Only the black fog inside the mall remained, with monsters continually emerging from it. Black fog had also appeared in cities across every province.

The leaders of every province had headaches. How could they possibly find an answer in only two days?

The senior provincial officials knew of the Investigation Bureau and knew that its people had come to Anyang City. After hastily handling several important matters, they came directly to find them.

"Captain Zhou, how is the investigation going?"

The moment the leaders arrived, they asked whether there had been any new discoveries.

"The black fog is inside Great Sand Mall, and the monsters come out of it. We'll need to send people inside if we want to find any clues."

Zhou Yaning could only shake her head. They had spent the entire day killing monsters and had no time to investigate, nor did they have any leads to pursue.

Their only clue was the black fog in the mall. The monsters emerged from it, so they could not avoid the black fog if they wanted to continue investigating.

However, equipment malfunctioned as soon as it approached the black fog. All kinds of unmanned machines were unusable, and whether the black fog was harmful to humans remained unknown. They needed to find a few Dare-to-Die Squad members to go in.

"The director suggested that we find people to go in and investigate. There's no need to go deep inside. We only need to obtain a little information."

Zhou Yaning had just asked the director, and she was now relaying the director's suggestion.

Although the Investigation Bureau handled many matters and involved all kinds of agencies, this was their first encounter with monsters. Their previous experience was completely useless, and they could only start over from scratch.

"When will you investigate the black fog? How many people do you need?"

"Tomorrow. We don't need too many people, just some who aren't afraid of dying. They'll go in with us..."

Zhou Yaning planned to enter the black fog tomorrow to investigate. No matter what, this matter had to yield an answer.

"Fine. We'll enter the black fog tomorrow. I'll arrange the Dare-to-Die Squad."

With the plan settled, Lu Chengchuan understood that he would be going in as well. That one million was not so easy to earn.

After that, they rested there for the night.

Lu Chengchuan casually found a place to sit in meditation. After mastering the Everspring Skill, warmth surged through his body every time he regulated his breathing, far more pronounced than the warmth he had felt during previous cultivation.

The five Investigation Bureau members watched him meditate and breathe, all deeply curious.

In everyone's eyes, his strength was simply incomprehensible. The Investigation Bureau had quite a few gifted individuals, including many martial artists, yet none of them were as freakish as Lu Chengchuan.

Could he have some special cultivation method? Like the immortals described in ancient books, perhaps he could gain extraordinary power simply through breathing exercises.

The five watched him for more than an hour. Only after Lu Chengchuan opened his eyes did they look away.

"We don't know what we'll encounter tomorrow. Get some proper rest." Zhou Yaning stepped out and broke the silence.

Everyone found places to sleep. Lu Chengchuan's energy far surpassed that of ordinary people, and he would not feel tired even if he stayed awake all night. But considering that they would enter the black fog tomorrow, he lay down to rest anyway.

Early the next morning, everyone woke up and returned to the outside of Great Sand Mall.

Soldiers surrounded the mall on all sides, forming an impenetrable cordon. Many monster corpses and fragments lay before the barricades, all of them having emerged from the mall. The monsters had initially appeared very frequently, but their emergence rate began to decrease in the latter half of the night. Now, eleven batches of monsters emerged every hour.

"With an hour between waves, we won't go deep this time. We'll come out half an hour after entering."

A Dare-to-Die Squad gathered before them. Zhou Yaning checked the time. This was their first time entering the black fog. If they did not die immediately after going in, they would come out on the dot after half an hour.

The Dare-to-Die Squad picked up their equipment, while the Investigation Bureau members were fully armed. Even Lu Chengchuan was fully equipped.

He carried a rifle and a pistol, with several hundred rounds of ammunition. At his request, the military had also found him a finely crafted longsword.

After synchronizing their timepieces and waiting for the newly emerged monsters to be killed, everyone immediately set off.

There were eighteen people in total. They entered the mall and, once inside, saw corpses scattered everywhere, along with several monsters wandering about.

After taking care of the remaining monsters, they headed straight for the black fog.

"Remember! Half an hour. Don't waste time!" At the edge of the black fog, Zhou Yaning solemnly reminded everyone.

After saying that, she was the first to enter the black fog. Lu Chengchuan and the rest followed, and the Dare-to-Die Squad quickly vanished into the fog.

Lu Chengchuan's vision went dark. When his sight returned, he found himself standing in a field of darkness. Everything around him was pitch-black, and even beneath his feet was nothing but darkness. Zhou Yaning stood nearby, and everyone had safely entered the black fog.

"So this is... the inside of the black fog." Zhou Yaning turned in a circle and murmured softly.

An endless expanse of darkness stretched before them. Only behind them was there a ring of light, and they could not see what lay ahead. But they knew that they were now in another space, one that did not exist in any corner of Terra.

"Synchronize your time. Retreat in half an hour."

After entering the black fog, there was no network signal or anything else. They did not know whether their electronic watches had been affected, so they all took out mechanical watches to check the time.

Everyone silently counted in their hearts. After determining an approximate time, they put their watches away.

Once they confirmed that the watches had not been affected, Zhou Yaning led the group forward, slowly advancing through this mysterious space.

Ever since entering, Lu Chengchuan had kept looking in a certain direction. Something in that direction was calling to him. He glanced at the others, but they did not seem to feel the same thing.

He desperately wanted to go over and see what was happening, but his purpose would be too obvious and might easily arouse suspicion.

Suppressing the longing in his heart, Lu Chengchuan continued forward with them.

After the group had walked for more than ten minutes, a horde of monsters suddenly appeared around them without any warning. Countless monsters surrounded them completely.

"What's going on?! Open fire!"

The monsters lunged at them, and the Dare-to-Die Squad immediately opened fire, killing the charging monsters.

It was Lu Chengchuan's first time using a firearm, and he was not very familiar with it. But in this situation, he did not need to be proficient with guns. Monsters were everywhere, so there was no need to aim. He only had to hold down the trigger.

Lu Chengchuan's advantage was his tremendous strength. The rifle's recoil seemed to vanish in his hands. The rifle continuously fired bullets, yet his hand remained as steady as if he were grasping empty air.

Bullets sprayed out. He quickly emptied a magazine, and seven or eight monsters died beneath his gun.

The system's voice rang out in his mind. Killing monsters with a gun could also earn him lifespan.

"Retreat! Retreat out of the black fog!"

As he changed magazines, Zhou Yaning's voice rang out. She shouted loudly, ordering the team to retreat at once.

The eighteen people covered one another and continuously fired in every direction, suppressing the charging monsters. But there were too many monsters. During the retreat, several soldiers were seized by them.