Chapter 166 The Dense Fog Area

Chapter 166: The Dense Fog Zone

Has the sky fallen?

To Miss Lan Yin, a native of Fog City, the incredibly spectacular scene before her looked as if the sky had truly collapsed.

But for Su Bai and the other players, the sight was more akin to the thick fog that once shrouded Fog City, obscuring the red moon and the nightmare world's perpetual night, now cascading downwards, ultimately engulfing a vast distant area in its dense embrace.

"Has a lamp already been lit?"

The players in the shop exchanged glances. Although some were brave, none yet knew what would happen once the Eternal Lamp was illuminated.

If the distant anomaly was indeed caused by a "brave one" lighting the Eternal Lamp, then the dense fog at this moment might already cover a tenth of Fog City!

"I thought the fog dispersing meant that after the lamp was lit, the dense fog in the nearby area would vanish," said Yang Yu and Qiu Lei, the youngest players present. They had been speaking in hushed tones in the shop, but the distant phenomenon left them utterly shocked.

"Indeed," another player frowned. "I had imagined that even if someone recklessly lit a lamp without ensuring all ten were lit simultaneously, at least part of the fog would disperse. We might have found a breakthrough to escape Fog City. But now... that fog-shrouded area doesn't look like it offers any way out at all."

Su Bai, hidden at the back in his wheelchair, gazed at the pouring fog in the distance, just like the other players.

While piecing together the mysteries of Fog City, Su Bai had entertained similar speculations, thinking that if lighting the lamp could disperse the fog and create even a tiny gap, they might find a way to leave Fog City early. After all, when the fog had not yet dissipated, no matter how many times the frantic players reported in the news rushed into it, they would always inexplicably find themselves back in Fog City.

So, until this moment, even Su Bai believed that the fog would partially dissipate immediately after an Eternal Lamp was lit.

But now, it seemed that even if someone had bravely lit an Eternal Lamp, the dense fog above that area had not vanished. Instead, it cascaded down like a waterfall, seemingly enveloping all the buildings and streets in that area.

Moreover...

Although Su Bai and the others couldn't see the sky above the foggy area, the once calm and peaceful daytime sky of Fog City had noticeably darkened, as if the red moon and eternal night of the nightmare world had already silently descended upon Fog City through a "gap" before the players could find their own way out.

"The sky has darkened too," Feng Zhe also noticed something amiss, his expression turning grave. "The good news is that Fog City now feels less inhabitable, so perhaps no one will deliberately avoid lighting the lamp to stay here. The bad news is that no one knows what will happen next."

"Right now, I feel like storming Fog City’s TV station, then using a loudspeaker to gather all the players in the central square for a meeting," said a player beside Feng Zhe, staring in dumbfounded amazement at the strange spectacle in the distance.

"That's not entirely out of the question," Feng Zhe, who had subtly become the group's leader, began to seriously consider the idea. "Regardless, we need to go over there and check it out. For some reason, I have a very bad feeling about this."

As he spoke, Feng Zhe turned to look at Su Bai behind him.

"Owner Bai, we're truly imposing on you this time," Feng Zhe said, his tone more urgent and less elegant than usual, likely due to the worrying scene. "I haven't yet thanked you for the painting you made for me and Lan Yin. She truly loved the depiction of herself—half-skeleton, entwined with green branches and flowers, standing amidst ruins. If there's a chance, we'd love to invite you to our wedding banquet."

With that, Feng Zhe, along with the players gathered in the shop and his constant companion, left the Mist Shop and headed toward the area where the phenomenon was occurring.

Su Bai did not follow immediately. Only after Feng Zhe and the others had left, and the players around the shop who possessed the power of the red moon had gradually dispersed, with everyone’s attention drawn to the strange sight, did Su Bai slowly rise from his wheelchair. Faint crimson patterns already coiled around his legs.

Although using Qing Lan’s power to walk would consume slightly more energy than sitting in the wheelchair, and though Su Bai could choose to temporarily stop using Qing Lan’s power, years of walking under the red moon had sharpened his instincts, urging him not to let his guard down. To avoid being noticed by acquaintances as the eccentric painter who typically used a wheelchair suddenly walking briskly through the streets, Su Bai deliberately avoided the growing crowds and took side streets, following the energy signatures of the players toward the anomaly.

Not only players but almost all Fog City residents who saw the spectacle stopped in astonishment. Exclamations, doubts, and even arguments filled the air. The entire city came to a standstill because of the waterfall-like pouring fog, and many were eager to find out what was happening there.

However, compared to the earlier calm, the streets were now filled with even more patrollers. These patrollers seemed like puppets with combat abilities far surpassing ordinary players, impassively blocking anyone trying to approach the foggy area. Even some players were stopped along the way.

Su Bai, also heading toward the foggy area, was not hindered by the patrollers. After all, Qing Lan’s power not only enabled his legs to move but also granted him a strange speed, like a mist-dispersing breeze. Though his steps seemed leisurely, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

This was why Su Bai chose to continue borrowing Qing Lan’s power.

Along the way, Su Bai searched for traces of other players. Before today, since only players in Fog City possessed the power of the red moon, Su Bai’s extended meditation and mastery over the red moon’s power allowed him to easily sense the presence of nearby players.

But after bypassing the patrollers and approaching the foggy area, the closer Su Bai got, the more complex the red moon’s power became.

The buildings and even plants near the foggy area began to be tainted by the red moon’s power. The sky darkened further than on Fifth Street, and the temperature dropped. In short, the closer to the foggy area, the more it resembled the nightmare world familiar to Su Bai!

If even the vicinity of the foggy area had become like this, what about within the fog ahead...?

Su Bai stood hidden at a corner of a building very close to the foggy area, observing the nearly tangible fog.

Although the fog enveloped the entire area, Su Bai could still see shadowy figures moving within, seemingly lost and searching for a way out.

The fog did not seem intent on trapping these figures. Soon, one of them near the edge of the fog emerged into Su Bai’s view—an ordinary office worker in a suit, carrying a backpack, appearing completely normal.

Besides Su Bai, others who had bypassed the patrollers’ blockade also noticed the office worker emerging from the fog. But just as they were about to approach and ask questions, they watched in horror as the seemingly normal office worker suddenly collapsed to the ground.

In full view of everyone, the office worker’s body melted like clay, and a grotesque, crimson, ghost-like creature with no facial features and an elongated torso clawed its way out of the dissolving shell, standing tall and scanning its surroundings.

A Fog City resident’s body... actually contained a crimson, ghost-like creature that broke free?