Chapter 179: The City of Fog

Chapter 179: The City of Fog

The giant octopus has multiple hearts, infinite regeneration, and is extremely resilient.

However, Qin Mu, who had previously sunk into the abyss with the shadow cat, had unknowingly infiltrated and planted deadly seeds.

"Pop pop pop!"

The shadow seeds buried near the crystal core of the giant mutated octopus erupted, taking advantage of the moment when the octopus was severely wounded, rapidly seizing territory, and striking while it was weak to take its life!

The shadow cultivation technique was activated, and an endless black curtain descended, securely absorbing the pure dark energy that continuously flowed.

The mutated octopus's entire body abruptly lost its color, the ink-like dark brown fading away, transforming into translucent pale limbs. Its tentacles writhed in the pitch-black energy, gradually condensing into a large black crystal core, which was absorbed into the endless black hole in Qin Mu's hand.

Qin Mu flashed a satisfied smile.

The sea wind wailed mournfully as the massive naval fleet surrounded the uninhabited island hidden in the vast sea.

Assault boats streaked across the sea like arrows, heading towards the island. Numerous well-trained psychic operatives quickly landed on the island, capturing and destroying the mysterious land.

By dawn, the raid and capture operation concluded.

Guan Yuanfeng marched into the island's office building. Ren Yuefei, fresh from a subordinate's report, approached with a grave expression: "The situation isn't good. Initial investigations show a laboratory for researching and breeding shadow creatures was established here."

Qin Mu was very interested: "Shadow octopuses? I'm genuinely curious how they managed to grow such large ones and control them. They appear to lack psychics with shadow abilities. Ensure these laboratories and related experimental data are preserved. The city lord will definitely be pleased." His shadow duck, shadow silkworm, and shadow frog were dwarfed by this giant octopus. Compared to terrorists, his imagination fell short.

Ren Yuefei shook his head, his expression serious: "Besides shadow octopuses, they also tried to breed shadow snakes, shadow spiders, and shadow bats, all in bulk by transplanting shadow crystal cores and continuously breeding them."

Qin Mu mused, much like his seaside duck farm, these individuals established their experimental base on the ocean. Naturally, it was easier to obtain shadow-attribute sea creatures and crystal cores as feed. Moreover, taming large sea creatures on uninhabited islands and the open sea was clearly more convenient and discreet.

Ren Yuefei looked at Guan Yuanfeng: "We recently conducted a surprise interrogation of their lab leader and found out they recently moved out ten thousand shadow bats. They employ special frequency sound wave devices to control their flight and attacks. The horrifying aspect of these shadow bats is their carriage of the zombie plague virus, rapidly turning those they bite into zombies. What could they possibly be creating such purely destructive biological weapons for?"

It couldn't be to turn all of humanity into zombies, of course, it was for deterrence and threat. And what better occasion to intimidate the world and promote their agenda than the live-streamed Psychic Competition in Guixu City?

Ren Yuefei's gaze was severe: "This operation was already suspicious. When the Ye family was around, this so-called Dark Tide organization only developed followers in private. In these special post-apocalyptic times, people believe in all sorts of religions, and it's impossible to manage them all. But as soon as the Ye family fell and Ye Yuqing left, they suddenly began to harass bases extensively, forcing the alliance to respond, even though they knew we had crystal core cannons, and occupying bases couldn't be held for long. They hit and run, as if they were just trying to lure us out."

"After a quick search of their funding sources and a surprise audit, we indeed found investment cooperation with the Ye family's Abyssal Laboratory. The other party also admitted that Ye Shiqing had personally visited several times, providing a lot of technical guidance on beast taming and psychic beast cultivation, as well as substantial funding. However, the taming progress has been slow, with no major breakthroughs, and the costs were high. Plus, Ye Shiqing's arrogance led to some unpleasantness between the two sides, so they didn't continue deeper cooperation."

Qin Mu suddenly changed color: "The arena's shield is a shadow shield, and I just happened to be out. Not good! They're planning something at the arena!"

Guan Yuanfeng's face was as calm as water: "Immediately organize the auxiliary ship to prepare for departure. You stay here to wrap things up; I'll head back first."

Qin Mu said: "I'll go back with you!"

The warship sailed day and night, returning to the Lin Dong base. The moment his phone regained signal, Qin Mu quickly dialed Qin Sheng's number, but there was no connection. He then tried Zhu Zhuan and Shen Lan, but none of the calls went through.

Guan Yuanfeng put down his phone; he couldn't get through to Zhou Yun either, his expression grim.

The temporary base commander at Lin Dong base hurried over to report to Guan Yuanfeng: "There was indeed a terrorist attack yesterday. The arena's live stream was later interrupted, and we couldn't contact the warship. We've urgently reported to General Ye Yuqing, who instructed us to prepare helicopters. You are to take off immediately upon returning to the base. Additionally, we've been tasked with collecting all information from the internet for you to review on the plane."

"We've also urgently contacted Beiming City, the closest to Guixu. They confirmed that Guixu City is unreachable. The Beiming City lord's entire family, along with senior officials and most psychics, are all in Guixu City. But Guixu City is completely shrouded in fog; outsiders can't even reach the city walls. We've sent earth divers, who reportedly entered the cactus wall maze on the outskirts but couldn't escape. They dared not attack and could only shout that they were from Beiming City, wanting to contact the city lord with no hostile intentions, and were then thrown out of the city by the cacti."

The responsible major general looked uneasy: "Given the East Lord's performance online that day and the current situation with the cactus wall maze, we speculate that Guixu City is still under the East Lord's control. General Ye has asked us to convey to you that after the terrorist leader was killed in front of everyone, the remaining members of the organization are bound to make a desperate counterattack. Guixu City originally had a large influx of people coming to watch the competition, a mixed bag that's very unfavorable. Now that Guixu City is sealed off, with communications shut down and interfered with, it's likely to close the door and beat the dog, isolating communications and focusing on cleaning out spies and trash. Please don't worry too much; the East Lord is surely safe."

He carefully handed over the laptop that his aide had brought, presenting it to Guan Yuanfeng with both hands: "This contains all the videos of the arena and the terrorist attack that day, downloaded from the internet, along with all online comments, analyses, etc. There's also an intelligence analysis document for your reference on the plane."

Guan Yuanfeng took the laptop and said: "Prepare to board the plane; we're leaving immediately."

===

The plane soon took off, heading south.

In the silent cabin, Guan Yuanfeng repeatedly played the video of the arena match. He stared at Zhou Yun's flushed face, his cold lashes, watching him mercilessly manipulate thorny vines to kill the invaders, watching him summon a thick fog, as if he were there himself, fully feeling Zhou Yun's rage.

Qin Mu also got another laptop, scrolling through the comments section, reading out some interesting discussions with great interest: "Dongjun's signature linen silk shirt, now available in bulk."

"An Analysis of Dongjun's Mastery of Four Elemental Psychic Powers," a technical expert analyzed, they actually recruited four fourth-tier practitioners of light, water, wood, and lightning psychics to replicate the skills, but none could achieve Dongjun's level.

"No light abilities can restore the minds of those who have become zombies, no water abilities can create such a large-scale fog enveloping the entire city for over twenty-four hours, no wood abilities can simultaneously command the Skyward Tree, flower vines, and the cactus wall maze. Similarly, no lightning psychic can imbue flower vines with electricity; combining wood abilities with lightning would inevitably cause them to burn."

"There has been much debate over the possibility of lightning-infused flower vines existing in nature."

"Many are worried about their families, saying they can't contact those who went to Guixu for tourism, competition, or work. Some in Zhongzhou have already protested outside the Union military headquarters, demanding they send people to Guixu for contact and rescue."

"There are also conspiracy theories claiming we orchestrated it ourselves, since everyone knows Qin Mu is the only one with shadow abilities—hardly someone who would foolishly broadcast their misdeeds to the world."

"Others, more level-headed, argue that this is typical terrorist behavior, designed to intimidate."

Qin Mu closed the chaotic comments section: "Once Guixu reopens, the truth will come to light."

He glanced at Guan Yuanfeng, who was still silently watching the video repeatedly: "Announcing the wedding will be a joyous occasion that lifts everyone's spirits." Weddings are always happy.

===

Guixu City.

The giant columnar cactus, renowned as the largest on the planet even before the apocalypse, now nourished by unprecedented wood element energy, has grown to an incredible height.

The maze formed by the cactus walls stretches endlessly, standing in the milky white fog, shadowy and omnipresent, bristling with sharp cactus spines and the elusive thorny vines that move like spirit snakes, and the tender petals of the cactus flowers blooming softly like white moonlight in the mist, endlessly weaving illusions for those seeking to flee the city or enter with sinister intentions.

The entire city is engulfed in milky white fog, resembling a rolling sea, and at the center of this fog, the Skyward Tree stands tall, spreading its dense green branches, as if guarding the throne at the center of the sea of clouds and mist.

The Skyward Tree's branches and leaves are wrapped layer by layer, no one can see the soft glowing center of the huge canopy, where Zhou Yun sits cross-legged with his eyes closed.

He is akin to the Skyward Tree—boundless and naturally grown.

Roots continuously extend downward, touching the underground river's hidden streams, feeling the dark burn of the earth's fire. Green branches and leaves touch the clouds, flowers bloom in full splendor, born to die.

Cold currents, strong winds, heavy rain, scorching sun, and snow have never broken him, in the endless wilderness of time, he originally followed the mirror-like water flow, following his heart.

Yet he returned against the current, just to find that person.