Darkness, addiction.
Shen Heng opened his eyes without realizing it.
After glancing at the empty, enormous corridor, he paused briefly before raising his hand to his forehead.
"You're out? And the damage you suffered in Black Stone Valley turned into mental damage? Or was it because you stayed inside for too long?" Shen Heng frowned, feeling the continuous stinging pain coming from his mind.
The next moment, a questioning voice with certainty rang out from the side.
"Team leader?"
Shen Heng looked over.
In their field of vision, there was a figure with a longbow and a ponytail, and another figure much larger... Stone-Armored Beast.
Qin Yu, and Stone.
"Um."
Shen Heng responded, and before he could say anything more, he saw Stone hopping and skipping quickly towards him.
Then, her head pressed against his body, arching forward.
Qin Yu also breathed a sigh of relief and came over, but her gaze paused slightly when she saw the captain's face before continuing forward.
"That's wonderful, Lord Shen Heng! I almost thought you weren't going to make it out!!!" Stone excitedly nuzzled Lord Shen Heng, his voice even trembling with a hint of tears towards the end.
"Alright, alright," Shen Heng said, gently stroking the Stone's head as he controlled his still somewhat unaccustomed body.
If the memory hadn't been lost, it wouldn't have been so dangerous; the chances of getting out would have been quite high. Unfortunately...
Lost in thought, Shen Heng looked at the Stone still desperately pushing against his chest and asked,
How long have you been out?
Upon hearing this, the previously excited Shi Tou Stone, his head resting on Shen Heng's chest. "Uh..."
Was something wrong?... Shen Heng glanced at the Stone, but didn't ask any further questions. He then looked up at Qin Yu.
Qin Yu paused, then lowered her eyes, "... Seven days."
"Seven days? Didn't you do as I said?" Shen Heng gave a wry smile.
"Uh, Lord Shen Heng, please don't blame Lord Qin Yu. It was because I kept saying 'wait a little longer, wait a little longer' that Lord Qin Yu waited two more days!" Stone raised his head and said anxiously.
"Alright, I didn't mean to blame you. Seven days it is. It's good that we're all together; it'll make things easier for our later actions." Shen Heng breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, his gaze wandered slightly again.
Is the flow of time consistent, or nearly consistent, over seven days?
Seeing that Lord Shen Heng didn't seem to mind blaming them, Stone breathed a sigh of relief and a smile returned to his face.
Qin Yu wasn't surprised at all. She looked at the captain, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment.
"Team leader."
A whispered voice sounded, and Shen Heng raised his eyes. "What?"
"That thing on your face..." Qin Yu raised her hand and lightly touched her forehead, indicating that there was something there.
Shen Heng paused, then raised his hand and ran it across his forehead.
A faint burning sensation traveled along my fingertips.
He paused, glanced to the side, and stared wide-eyed at his own Stone as if he had also seen something.
Raise your hand.
"Eh? Eh! Lord Shen Heng, what are you doing?" Stone asked in alarm, his head still following the direction of Lord Shen Heng's hand.
"Don't move!"
Shen Heng said, then adjusted the Stone's eyes to be closer to his face and stopped.
His face appeared before him, accompanied by the light emanating from the Stone's pupils.
Overall, there was no difference from before, except that there was a slowly flowing, molten gold-like hook mark on the left temple.
Stone understood Lord Shen Heng's purpose, remained still, and then asked with wide eyes, "Uh, Lord Shen Heng, what's that on your face?!"
Qin Yu, standing to the side, looked at the captain with the same puzzled expression.
Shen Heng did not respond; he remained focused on the hook mark.
The last words he uttered before his consciousness faded into darkness surfaced in his mind.
Distortion, Authority...
He paused, released the Stone, and then said,
"This seems to be an opportunity to use the Authority of Distortion!"
"Huh? What's that?" Stone asked, tilting his head in confusion to ease the discomfort from being grabbed by Lord Shen Heng.
At the same time, another sound also rang out.
"Huh? Huh?! Huh?!! No, this..."
The sound was blaring wildly in my ears.
Shen Heng glanced at Qin Yu, who stood to the side with a calm expression, then turned his gaze to Stone and said, "It will be useful later!"
"Oh! Oh!" Stone nodded in sudden realization.
Shen Heng then looked at Qin Yu again, "Have you explored the surrounding area during these past few days?"
"Yes, there are." Qin Yu nodded.
"What's the surrounding area like?" Shen Heng asked.
"The whole thing is one building, with separate rooms connected by a long corridor like this. And along the way, you can occasionally see some..." Qin Yu paused, then said, "... some... all sorts of chaotic Calamity Beast."
"A bunch of chaotic, Calamity Beast?" Shen Heng asked, frowning.
"Yes, there are many unseen Calamity Beast, and some that seem to be a combination of different Calamity Beast to form a new Calamity Beast," Qin Yu said thoughtfully.
A mixture of things... Shen Heng pondered, raising his gaze to the long corridor before him.
The sound waves could propagate outwards normally, but they were severely suppressed, not reaching the Black Stone Valley to a distance of less than one kilometer, but only roughly ten kilometers.
Then, within this nearly ten-kilometer radius, no trace of the Calamity Beast was detected.
Seemingly due to activating his mental probing, the stinging pain in his mind intensified again. Shen Heng frowned and took a step forward.
"Team leader!"
"Hey, Lord Shen Heng!"
"It's alright. Is there anywhere nearby where we can rest?" Shen Heng raised his hand to his forehead, his fingertips gently rubbing his temples.
"There's one room, but it's a bit far," Qin Yu said.
"Come here," Shen Heng said.
"Lord Shen Heng, Lord Qin Yu, sit on my lap! I'll run over!" Stone said, slightly lowering his body.
Shen Heng glanced at it, did not refuse, and gently flew up.
Qin Yu followed suit, then said to Stone, " Stone, let's go to the second room we explored earlier!"
"Hmm." Stone responded, stood up, and started running quickly.
It didn't fly.
The Origin Prohibition still exists, and it's even more severe inside this palace.
In this situation, running is more energy-efficient than flying.
Shen Heng sat on the back of the Stone, his gaze shifting to Qin Yu.
"The room you were talking about?"
"That's what we found on our first day out. We only explored three rooms; there should have been more, but we were worried that you, Captain, would come out early, so we didn't dare continue," Qin Yu explained.
Shen Heng slowly nodded and asked,
Is there anything special about it?