The team reunites

Yinsen's wild shooting drew most of the enemies toward him. His aim was downright atrocious.

But as the saying went, the reckless feared the ruthless, and the ruthless feared those who had nothing to lose. Somehow, he actually hit several enemies.

Bang, bang, bang...

Yinsen kept pulling the trigger, spraying bullets at the enemies like a raging storm. The rounds tore through their bodies, sending blood splattering.

"Aah..."

A scream rang out.

Seeing his enemies fall dead, Yinsen felt a rush of satisfaction.

He estimated how much time had passed.

"Maybe... maybe I really can..."

Gun in hand, he rounded the corner.

But no sooner had hope of survival risen than it was snuffed out.

The corner was packed with enemies, dozens of machine guns trained on him.

"Damn it."

Despair washed over Yinsen.

He knew there was no way he could escape.

Yinsen closed his eyes and waited for death.

"Fire!"

Rat-tat-tat... rat-tat-tat.

Rat-tat-tat... rat-tat-tat.

Gunfire roared without pause. Bullets struck the walls, blasting loose chunks of stone. Yinsen could almost see the bullets ripping through his body.

"What a sorry state... I guess this is the end."

He closed his eyes. In his daze, he saw his wife and child waving to him amid a soft glow.

Suddenly, a young voice rang out.

"Wind Blade!"

The next second, Yinsen felt a fierce gust sweep past his ear. Then someone yanked him from behind.

The pull was so strong that he landed hard on his backside.

Then he heard the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh, followed by the enemies' agonized cries.

But soon, even those cries abruptly fell silent.

Yinsen felt as though his tailbone had snapped. Agony shot through him, but rather than check his injuries, he looked up in astonishment.

Only then did he realize that a boy had appeared in front of him.

The boy had golden hair and golden eyes, and held a dull gray sword.

Though young, he radiated an imposing presence.

On the iron sword, which looked as though it had never even been sharpened, scattered blood slowly gathered into a crimson rivulet and dripped onto the gray-black ground.

"..."

Yinsen stared at the sword, unable to utter a word.

He had never imagined that such a sword, such a weapon, could exist in this world, much less possess such destructive power.

He could hardly believe his eyes. He even felt as though his brain were smoking.

Yinsen opened his mouth, his gaze sweeping over the bodies on the ground. Only then did he truly believe that this boy had just killed those enemies.

"Are... are you Aether?"

Yinsen struggled to speak. He remembered Paimon's description of the Traveler's appearance, which matched the boy perfectly.

The Traveler from another world had just saved him!

Yinsen could hardly contain himself. Joy flooded his entire body, and even the pain in his backside seemed to ease considerably.

That was close. My prerequisite quest almost failed.

Lin Ze had run until his lungs felt ready to burst, only to turn a corner and find Yinsen taking on a whole crowd alone.

The sight of him preparing to die a hero had nearly scared Lin Ze to death.

Now that Yinsen had survived, Lin Ze was overjoyed.

He helped the man up and replied with a cheerful smile:

"That's me. Let's hurry back and meet up with the others."

Supported by the boy, Yinsen limped back the way he had come.

He was puzzled. How had the boy escaped at this point? Tony should only just have finished uploading the program.

As though to confirm his thoughts, the lights in the passage suddenly flickered, accompanied by the crackle of electricity.

With a snap,

the entire space plunged into darkness.

"It's all right. This should be Tony's doing. Tony was imprisoned with me, and he's with Paimon. He's the one causing this."

Afraid the boy would not understand what had happened, Yinsen hurried to explain.

"I know."

"You know?"

Yinsen was startled.

Lin Ze nodded. He had already spotted the two of them through his elemental sight.

The moment the power program finished, Tony had broken out with Paimon. His heart grew heavier with every step.

Bodies lay scattered across the ground. He had no time to think. His cumbersome armor could not move quickly, but he was already going as fast as he could.

He was afraid-afraid he would find Yinsen's bloodied corpse on the ground.

"Yinsen!!"

Tony shouted his friend's name, desperate for even the faintest response.

"Yinsen!!!"

Paimon shouted at the top of her lungs too, her eyes wide in the darkness. Everywhere they passed, she flew over to inspect the people lying on the ground, terrified that she might see Yinsen's face.

"It's them!"

Having narrowly escaped death, Yinsen was thrilled to hear their calls. Lin Ze helped him pick up the pace as they headed toward the others.

But Lin Ze had overlooked one thing: the Traveler's Anemo made his hand glow pale blue, which stood out clearly in the darkness.

So when Tony spotted a light in the distance drawing closer, he assumed it was an enemy weapon and immediately raised his right hand, aiming ahead.

"Paimon! Tony! We're here!"

Yinsen spoke just in time, preventing a disastrous misunderstanding.

As they drew closer, Lin Ze called out to his little guide as well:

"Paimon, I came to find you!"

"!!!"

"Traveler!!!"

Even before Lin Ze spoke, Paimon had sensed that familiar Anemo power. She cried out excitedly and rushed toward him.

After an entire night spent worrying about the Traveler, all her fear and anxiety came pouring out the moment she saw Lin Ze.

"Waaah... Traveler... where did you go...?"

"Sob... Paimon thought... thought she'd never see you again..."

The little girl sobbed, her eyes misting over as she wrapped her arms around Lin Ze's neck. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Paimon had always stayed by Aether's side. She was mentally quite young and easily frightened whenever danger arose.

This time, Paimon had been separated from the Traveler longer than she had been in Sumeru. Such an ordeal was an agonizing trial for her.

"Traveler, you... you lied... sob... you promised me before that you'd never leave me behind again."

The little girl sobbed out her accusations, overwhelmed with emotion, wiping her tears and snot on Lin Ze's clothes.

Tony hated to interrupt such a heartwarming scene, but this really was not the time to express their feelings.

He studied the boy named Aether. Seeing no weapons on him, he wondered how the boy had escaped, but said nothing and simply urged everyone to leave before the enemies arrived.

It was the right decision, because a jumble of footsteps sounded in the distance just then.

"Stay behind me. We'll push our way out."

There were plenty of enemies coming this time. Yinsen could barely move, Paimon was a little child, and Aether was still underage. Tony felt the situation was dire.

"I can help!"

Lin Ze spoke up.

Tony glanced at the sword in the boy's hand, reluctant to hurt his confidence.

Using a blade to take on firearms was hardly wise.

Still, the boy must have some ability to have made it so far alone, so Tony did not try to stop him.

"Stay safe."

"Okay."

They felt their way forward. Fortunately, the faint Anemo glow and the pearly white light from the reactor in Tony's chest kept them from being completely blind.

Sure enough, they had only taken a few steps before they came under attack.

There were many enemies this time, and their firepower was fierce. A relentless barrage of bullets hammered Tony, who walked at the front.

But the bullets could not penetrate the armor. They ricocheted off its shell and struck the surrounding stone walls.

As the strange, hulking figure approached, even the men who had been shouting and charging forward began to shrink back.

Fear of the unknown made their legs tremble, and their gun-wielding hands shook uncontrollably.

"Don't panic! Get the people behind him!"

Seemingly spotting Tony's weakness, several men kept attacking the mechanical armor while the others seized openings to aim their guns behind him.

Tony maneuvered the armor, knocking an approaching enemy unconscious with one raised hand, then kicking away a lackey who refused to let go of his arm.

Even so, two slipped through the gaps before Tony could react.

"Wind Blade!"

Blue-green motes gathered into a razor-sharp gust. With the boy's movement, it howled toward the two men. As the deadly Wind Blade struck, their terrified bodies suddenly went rigid, and their guns fell to the ground.

Before they even understood what had happened, they were dead beneath Lin Ze's Wind Blade.

What on earth was that?

Seeing the two men's gruesome fate, the others grew even more frightened. Without a moment's hesitation, they turned and ran.

After witnessing the boy's extraordinary ability, Tony felt the pressure ease considerably and could not resist cheering him on. If it had not been so inconvenient, he would have applauded the Traveler:

"Good job!"

Lin Ze looked up and smiled.

"You're welcome."

The rest of the way was clear. They reached the cave entrance, just one step away from freedom.

But one obstacle still barred their path to freedom, and they had to deal with it.

Omar stood at the entrance with the light behind him, the launcher in his hands aimed straight into the dark cave.

As the mechanical footsteps drew closer, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

I won't hold back this time. No matter how valuable Stark is, he's going to die!

Just as Tony and the others caught sight of the sunlight outside, an explosive round came flying toward their heads.

"Watch out!!!"