The black seawater and sea fog stretched into elongated lines in Lin Xian's vision as he activated [Energy Leap] once more, bursting directly out of the train.

This time, his mental focus was at its peak, allowing him to precisely perceive himself instantly flying several kilometers toward his intended direction. Whoosh—in that instant, Lin Xian appeared high above a patch of ocean, enveloped by dense sea fog with zero visibility in any direction. It was almost pitch black, completely obscuring any sight of the Infinite.

The moment the leap concluded, Lin Xian felt the howling sea wind and damp sea fog rush toward him, engulfing him completely. Simultaneously, affected by gravity, he immediately began plummeting toward the sea surface. At that critical moment, his nano power armor instantly covered his entire body. Just one second before tumbling into the ocean, his full-body stabilization thrusters ignited, suspending him right above the water's surface.

At this point, Lin Xian produced the black gear from his Black Star Forge. His brow furrowed deeply as thoughts raced through his mind.

"If my judgment isn't mistaken, something that can cut off and shield dark energy, even covering concealed Forbidden Artifacts... this thing is practically a divine artifact.."

What had puzzled Lin Xian all along was actually a very small detail—the countdown had appeared first, while the black gear had been seized from Chen Yanxiu using Gravitational Lens after Lin Xian regained consciousness. So he had never considered that these two might be connected, much less that this object could have been intentionally left behind by Chen Yanxiu.

This created a massive misdirection for Lin Xian. While he believed he had obtained the black gear, he thought he still needed to study how to properly contain it. He never considered the possibility that the black gear had already been contained by him, and that this was Chen Yanxiu's deliberate doing.

If this were true, then everything made sense. Some property of the black gear affected his control over the Flickering Bullet and Southern Celestial Gate. The countdown appeared because of the black gear, and because of this, whenever he touched or accidentally activated something, the countdown suddenly accelerated—or his personal time flow sped up. Though it seemed unbelievable, after combining all clues and eliminating all impossible scenarios, this seemingly outrageous deduction was most likely correct.

Moreover, he had no other choices left now.

4, 3...

The countdown now showed only three seconds remaining. Watching the rapidly changing numbers in his vision, Lin Xian's heart sank.

"This countdown is created by the link between the black gear and me. The Sanctum faction wants to sever my control over Southern Celestial Gate, so I must either destroy it or break the containment!"

At this moment, Lin Xian had made up his mind. All thrusters behind him suddenly ignited with full power, breaking the sound barrier as he shot away at high speed!

3, 2, 1!

The three-second count arrived almost instantaneously. Lin Xian felt an incredibly sinister and violent energy rapidly converging toward him. His eyes flashed with urgency as he activated [Energy Leap] at the very last second, instantly blinking two kilometers through the sea fog. Then, using a drone to grab the black gear, he leaped again in the opposite direction. Within milliseconds, using that drone for remote targeting, Lin Xian pointed into the air, aiming directly at the black gear.

Gravitational Lens!

Hum!

Black sea fog enveloped the drone. Though two kilometers away and completely invisible to Lin Xian, a spatial distortion rippled through the air. Black ripples rapidly twisted into existence at the center of the drone suspended above the sea fog, instantly swallowing both the drone and the black gear, forming a distorted black bubble hanging in the air.

Simultaneously, the previously calm sea surface began churning with violent waves. A savage dark energy madly gathered around the gear's location. Lin Xian pointed into the distance, and in the next moment, he detected an abnormal vibration coming from the sea ahead.

Whoosh!

The power armor launched several flares that cut through the pitch-black sea night. Thick sea fog hung like a gray curtain over the ocean surface. Lin Xian focused his gaze and saw an absolutely smooth black wall tear through the fog barrier without warning, its edges devouring moisture and daylight, twisting into a sky-obscuring ring that instantly blotted out the heavens. It was actually a solid-like black Star Abyss releasing tidal forces!

Lin Xian's pupils contracted. Without any hesitation about energy consumption, he immediately performed another leap backward. At that moment, the sea surface ahead suddenly collapsed, forming a kilometer-wide vortex. Within the circular wall, pure darkness resembled solidified matter as waves were silently crushed into crystalline powder, swallowed completely before even falling.

High-frequency humming emanated from the black hole's depths, like a slumbering celestial beast yawning awake within its cranial cavity. When it expanded to cover half the sky, all floating wreckage and pale white tentacles emerging from the fog sea disappeared. In their place, countless abnormal entities burst forth from the black hole like exploding sacks of rice, pouring madly into the surrounding sea area.

Witnessing this scene, Lin Xian's expression changed dramatically. It looked like a small-scale Star Abyss had materialized, spewing forth countless dark creatures—accumulated for so long, now bursting forth with overwhelming force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The massive vortex and dark tides resonated violently, sending huge waves crashing in all directions. Countless abnormal entities vanished into the fog, sinking into the water with rapid splashing sounds.

"Captain Lin!"

Voices came through his headset as teammates arrived from the Infinite's direction. KIKI and others approached rapidly. At this moment, Lin Xian immediately turned and released dozens of signal flares, calling out to everyone.

"Be careful, everyone stay back!"

From behind, streams of light approached one after another—all teammates wearing power armor. Even North Wind 09 and Laine had come to assist. When they saw the black hole sphere in the ocean resembling a Star Abyss devouring and releasing creatures, everyone showed shocked expressions.

"What is that??"

"Be careful, there are so many abnormal entities!"

Simultaneously, the previously calm sea surface began churning with violent waves. A savage dark energy madly gathered around the gear's location. Lin Xian pointed into the distance, and in the next moment, he detected an abnormal vibration coming from the sea ahead.

"Has the countdown ended?" KIKI asked urgently.

Lin Xian shook his head, watching the black 'Star Abyss' releasing ahead with a grave expression. "Not sure yet, but it appears that black gear Chen Yanxiu left behind is troublesome."

The power armor launched several flares that cut through the pitch-black sea night. Thick sea fog hung like a gray curtain over the ocean surface. Lin Xian focused his gaze and saw an absolutely smooth black wall tear through the fog barrier without warning, its edges devouring moisture and daylight, twisting into a sky-obscuring ring that instantly blotted out the heavens. It was actually a solid-like black Star Abyss releasing tidal forces!

"What a massive spectacle, like a Star Abyss tidal eruption!" Laine flew out from the crowd, immediately saying upon seeing the scene: "Prepare to engage!"

"Don't act rashly yet."

Chen Sixuan spoke now, her eyes glowing faintly as if she could see through the sea fog: "This tidal force is contracting. All those ejected abnormal entities have sunk into the sea. We haven't been marked yet. Better observe first."

High-frequency humming emanated from the black hole's depths, like a slumbering celestial beast yawning awake within its cranial cavity. When it expanded to cover half the sky, all floating wreckage and pale white tentacles emerging from the fog sea disappeared. In their place, countless abnormal entities burst forth from the black hole like exploding sacks of rice, pouring madly into the surrounding sea area.

Lin Xian glanced curiously at Chen Sixuan, then immediately turned back to look at the black Star Abyss. Sure enough, the black curtain standing in the sea fog was now retracting like a shrinking bubble. The fountain-like gush of abnormal entities was also diminishing rapidly. Soon, the commotion vanished into the sea fog, leaving only the thunderous sound of churning waves from the disintegrating vortex in the distance.

Witnessing this scene, Lin Xian's expression changed dramatically. It looked like a small-scale Star Abyss had materialized, spewing forth countless dark creatures—accumulated for so long, now bursting forth with overwhelming force.

Qian Dele crossed his arms, speaking seriously: "Came fast, left fast. What kind of special phenomenon is this?"

At this moment, Lin Xian looked at the thick sea fog and suddenly gave an order to Viola.

"Viola, deploy drones. Use Forbidden Artifact detectors to search for that black gear in the vortex area ahead."

[Viola understands.]

As soon as the words were spoken, thousands of drones lit up behind Lin Xian and the others, swarming forth like a sky full of bees toward the black fog zone ahead.

At that moment, a mysterious light flickered along the horizon. Bright rays began transforming the black fog into grayish sea fog. Simultaneously, everyone felt the air temperature rising.

Clearly, though visibility remained poor in the sea fog, everyone knew—dawn had arrived!

Seeing this, and with the countdown in his vision now completely gone, a huge weight lifted from Lin Xian's heart. Though he hadn't fully figured out the black gear's properties, Lin Xian had guessed correctly—his countdown was indeed connected to the black gear in some way. This thing was indeed a trap planted by Chen Yanxiu.

Since Dawn City, it had been a long time since Lin Xian appeared in Chu Yan's mental world as a consciousness form. When he saw Chu Yan fighting her way out of a human horror nest in an abandoned skyscraper, Lin Xian felt an inexplicable urge to hug this girl.

From behind, streams of light approached one after another—all teammates wearing power armor. Even North Wind 09 and Laine had come to assist. When they saw the black hole sphere in the ocean resembling a Star Abyss devouring and releasing creatures, everyone showed shocked expressions.

Following Chu Yan as she leaped between buildings, looking down at the ruined abandoned city below, Lin Xian spoke.

"What mission is this again?"

"Foundation." Chu Yan stopped at the edge of the high-rise, looking at Lin Xian as she retracted her silver blade: "Thanks to you, I've rejoined the task force."

Lin Xian frowned: "Shouldn't they be protecting you more tightly instead?"

Chu Yan shook her head: "Your Flickering Bullet, Grace, and our stellar research laboratory—all this intelligence is already known to the Sanctum faction. Hiding serves no purpose anymore."

She then looked at Lin Xian: "Chen Yanxiu, former head of special item research in the Angel Project. While studying SIID-06 silver pocket watch, he aged twenty years overnight but successfully contained that Forbidden Artifact. That watch has the ability to alter regional time flow. After experiencing the Forbidden Artifact's power, his personality drastically changed. He led a group away from the Federation and established the Sacred Revelation organization."

"That black gear you mentioned should be the later SIID-011 Dark Gear. Its properties are extremely unusual. We've never had concrete intelligence on it. The only thing we know is that this object allows Chen Yanxiu to recklessly enter the Star Abyss to search for Forbidden Artifacts, while also possessing some severe side effects."

"Side effects?"

"Details are unclear, but from your description, this should be it." Chu Yan analyzed: "He possesses the silver pocket watch. Even if the Dark Gear erupts, he can survive."

Lin Xian felt shaken upon hearing this: "No wonder..."

If he hadn't just upgraded Energy Leap and possessed a bug-like spatial cutting skill like Gravitational Lens, that instantly erupting Star Abyss tidal force could have directly swallowed him and everyone within a huge radius. Thinking about that fountain-like tide of abnormal entities made Lin Xian's scalp tingle.

"He deliberately left this thing with me, directly cutting off my control over the Flickering Bullet, and even blocking my connection with you. It seems..."

"There must be some dimensional connection." Chu Yan crossed her arms, speaking calmly: "This would explain releasing the Star Abyss and traveling through it."

"Good grief, he almost got me killed." Lin Xian's eyes flashed with severity. Just thinking about it made him break into cold sweat. This situation's danger level rivaled facing the Oceanic Titan. He had almost directly traveled to near orbit via the Flickering Bullet. If he had been carrying the Dark Gear then, wouldn't he have destroyed the Southern Celestial Gate along with it???

Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian with some confusion: "How did you manage to make such a judgment under these circumstances?"

Clearly, Chu Yan had some questions about Lin Xian's analysis.

"Ha..."

Lin Xian smiled bitterly: "What judgment? Just luck."

Lin Xian's correct judgment mainly relied on two factors: first, he was certain his countdown was related to the Dark Gear;

second, his Gravitational Lens could isolate this gear and complete containment.

Relying on these two points, he simply treated the black gear as a time bomb, using leaps to distance himself before finishing it off with Gravitational Lens—essentially relying on luck.

"I've recovered this thing. It might prove useful later."

Chu Yan said: "When using Forbidden Artifacts, be extremely careful. They are extensions of the dark civilization's power. However, both our North American Joint Front and the Phoenix Society's Night Stalkers organization are actually tracking this Forbidden Artifact."

"Because of the Star Abyss travel power?"

Chu Yan nodded: "Yes."

"Alright." Lin Xian exhaled deeply: "I need to return. The train is still floating in water, and I can't even locate my position clearly."

Chu Yan asked him: "What are your plans next? Both the Foundation and Sacred Revelation are targeting you. Sanctum has many fanatical ability users there. Encountering them won't be easy to handle."

Lin Xian waved his hand: "I plan to directly search for Noah, or change routes to quickly land in South America. Anyway, Professor Ye's plan has already succeeded. Now that we've confirmed the connection between the Sanctum faction and the dark civilization, and that Southern Celestial Gate's deterrence against darkness truly exists, why should I suffer investigating these mad organizations in the deep sea? Besides, there's still the Oceanic Titan in the ocean. Forget it... these professional tasks should be left to the Night Stalkers."

Chu Yan responded: "Your judgment is correct. Landing in South America, you should reunite with your army within a few weeks. Currently, the Infinite convoy and Silver Star are passing through Qionggu Strait. Dawn Center is accelerating."

"Accelerating?"

"The world is corrupting." Chu Yan pointed toward the distant city skyline. Lin Xian looked and immediately frowned—the supposedly clear sky now seemed covered with a layer of crimson glow.

"There are many changes. We'll communicate more later. For now, you need to escape danger first." Chu Yan said.

Lin Xian nodded, glanced at Chu Yan's figure, and his consciousness gradually faded.

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, the sea fog gradually dispersed under sunlight. On the calm Pacific surface floated a nuclear-powered submarine and a... train.

In dining car 6, everyone gathered—some sitting, some standing. On the table in the center of the sofa sat a seawater-soaked black gear, now emitting some distorted dark energy fluctuations, completely different from its state when Lin Xian had contained it earlier.

Luo Yang put down his observation scope, examining the black gear on the table, and couldn't help saying: "This thing can actually release a 'Star Abyss'? This Forbidden Artifact's properties are too sinister!!"

"Who would contain something like this? Wouldn't that be seeking death?" Shasha muttered.

"That Chen Yanxiu from Sacred Revelation kept it on his person all along, indicating this thing must have some positive value, we just don't know what it is yet." Ning Jing said now.

KIKI floated in mid-air, frowning as she examined it, speaking disdainfully: "Maybe its value is just for harming people. Those who don't know might think it's a treasure, but actually it's just a large-scale Bait Agent."

"Agree." Lü Chang also concurred.

"Being able to release a Star Abyss—this shouldn't be just a Bait Agent that simple." Monica now said meaningfully: "If we could control such a property, it would be quite an extreme measure."

"You're right."

At this moment, Lin Xian's voice came from the carriage corridor. He arrived at the dining table, created a lead box, and placed the black gear inside, saying: "Prepare to depart. Without any accidents, someone will come to collect this trophy."

Hearing this, Chen Sixuan immediately stood up: "Good. How do we proceed?"

Lin Xian scanned everyone's gazes, smiling slightly as he said:

"This time, we fly!"