CHAPTER 431: CHAPTER 431: CONVERGENCE AND THE AWAKENED

Seeing the figure of the woman in a black dress on the mountain top, Yu Sheng and the others were all taken aback.

A person in a normal state! A "lucid one" clearly out of place in this chaotic and mad environment!

However, just as the woman on the mountain top seemed about to say something, a shadow suddenly appeared behind her—before anyone could react, the shadow had already pierced through her body. She only had time to turn her head in astonishment before her life was extinguished, and her body slumped to the side of the mountain.

"Oh... What the hell!" Erin exclaimed in shock upon seeing this scene, "This opening isn’t right!"

Yu Sheng immediately grabbed the fox fur next to him: "Let’s go check the situation!"

Hu Li began running towards the "mountain" formed by the accumulation of countless twisted buildings and rising city roads.

In the next second, the "mountain" seemed to come alive, with the buildings and road surface on its top starting to undulate and writhe like a turbulent dream, rapidly altering its structure. Hu Li tried to take off but found herself inexplicably entering a completely enclosed "garage" upon takeoff, with its surrounding walls collapsing and flowing like molten wax, and the road surface breaking into large holes. She hurriedly leaped over these holes, only to run into a corridor—the corridor stretched upward like a staircase but suddenly broke off at the end, a rusty staircase dangling at the opposite entrance, while the road under her feet trembled violently like loose bricks.

Hu Li let out a stunned cry and instinctively leaped forward, only to find her body lost its support, unable to jump up no matter how hard she tried, nor could she fly high. She narrowly leaped over a building lying flat on the ground and found herself back on the slope of the bizarre "mountain," with the road before her extending infinitely forward, and the sides filled with seemingly empty shells of buildings—inside the hollow doors and windows were haphazardly stacked stairs and corridors.

Yet as everything around rapidly plunged into such "dreamlike chaos," with all roads on the verge of collapse, a swift-spreading spider silk suddenly appeared amid the wind and rain.

"What the hell is this mess!"

Erin, frustrated by the chaotic dreamlike scenario around, raised her hand without hesitation and released her "threads." These dark and cold lines pierced the rain like living creatures, rapidly expanding in the area woven by misguided minds. As the spider silk spread, the turbulent "mountain" instantly came to a halt.

Yu Sheng’s heart stirred, and he instinctively looked back.

He saw that at that moment, the swaying human outlines at the foot of the mountain were reduced by more than half.

Hu Li seized the opportunity, dashed across the slope in an instant, and reached the mountain top.

Where Erin’s spider silk covered, this mountain that had just seemed insurmountable and continuously "growing" upward suddenly became a small hill. The gigantic Nine-tailed Silver Fox easily ran a few steps and jumped to its top, those twisted stacked buildings and long roads seemingly "skipped," turning into a shrinking background behind Hu Li.

Many strange, giant "columns" stood on the mountain top, forming a circle, with a vast open space shrouded in dimness in the center.

Yu Sheng didn’t immediately focus on the circled columns but instead searched for the fallen woman in the black dress.

He couldn’t find her.

The wind and rain swept over the mountain top, and where the woman had fallen, there remained only a piece of stone scrubbed clean.

Yu Sheng frowned, and right then, he suddenly heard a sharp sound approaching from afar.

He looked up quickly to see the woman who had died on the mountain top rushing at him, sword in hand, her expression icy cold, the sword edge shimmering with flowing brilliance, and the surrounding wind and rain seemed to avoid the edge of this sword, dispersing to the sides without needing an energy force to drive them away—

But in the next second, another ghostly figure dashed forward.

Luna, with dance-like elegance, gracefully moved through the rain, the Fingertip Blade instantly cleaving the black dress woman’s sword momentum, and then the sharp blade went straight for her throat, forcing the woman in the black dress to land on the ground and retreat several steps. Just as she was about to gather herself, she saw twelve Brass Knights charging out of the rain, disrespectfully rushing up and starting a beating...

The woman in the black dress retreated step by step, her expression slightly distracted, and at that moment, a shimmering sharp sword plunged through her chest from behind.

Even Luna and the Brass Knights were stunned by the sight.

The woman in the black dress twitched once, then fell limp, while another woman identical in appearance and attire stood behind her, slowly withdrawing the sword from her hand, expressionless, wiping it on her sleeve, softly muttering—

"The thirty-seventh..."

The Brass Knights’ figures dissipated in the wind and rain, while Luna immediately returned to Yu Sheng’s side, warily watching the woman standing not far away with a sword in hand.

The woman in the black dress who had just been "killed" gradually turned into a writhing shadow in the rain, then melted away, washed clean by the rainwater.

Yu Sheng seemed to have thought of something. He gestured for Luna to step back while his gaze fell on the sword-wielding woman, tentatively asking, "...Are you the ’City Lord Mo Ran’ that Xuan Che mentioned?"

Mo Ran raised her head, squinting in the rain to carefully scrutinize this group of... strangely dressed individuals.

The Nine-tailed Silver Fox (as large as two cars), a "nun" dressed like a Star Maiden, a male human who looked like an ordinary person but whose details were impossible to discern, and a small but very cocky puppet.

Distinctive features.

"I am," she nodded, then pointed towards the direction of the massive pillars, "There’s another person over there, probably your friend."

Yu Sheng was taken aback for a moment. Turning his head, he saw a familiar figure peeking out from behind a pillar, nervously greeting him, "Brother Yu! Oh, finally, you guys showed up..."

"My nephew!" Erin exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"

"Ah, well..." Zheng Zhi’s mouth twitched, "It’s a long story..."

As they spoke, Mo Ran walked over. Her gaze swept between Yu Sheng and Zheng Zhi, nodding slightly, "It seems he is indeed your friend—he described your appearance quite accurately to me."

Yu Sheng blinked, pointing at Zheng Zhi, "What about him..."

"He was wandering in the city, provoked a group of wandering ’shadows,’ and ran here in panic," Mo Ran’s voice carried a hint of subtlety, seemingly mixed with three parts sentimentality, seven parts confusion, and ninety percent of "when will this matter end" exhaustion, "Don’t ask about the details. I was trapped on this ’hill,’ unable to help, and I have no idea how he managed to run all the way here without any fighting capabilities... I only saw him somehow dash up from the foot of the hill, avoiding the ’Heart Demons’ near the top, after which I had the chance to keep him safe within the formation."

Listening to Mo Ran’s account, the gaze of Yu Sheng and the others inadvertently fell on Zheng Zhi—who just scratched his head awkwardly, looking innocent at Yu Sheng, "I don’t know either—I was in the hotel room not long ago. Then, I glanced out the window and saw a Refining Tower on the edge of the city suddenly grow full of crystals. Before I knew what was going on, I was trapped in the city..."

Before his words were finished, Yu Sheng’s eyes widened, "Wait a minute! You said you saw a Refining Tower on the city edge suddenly grow full of crystals?!"

Zheng Zhi: "Yeah, greyish-white ones, like branches, and it seems to be everywhere in the city—but I didn’t have time to see clearly. The surrounding environment became chaotic, and even Master Yuan Hao disappeared."

Yu Sheng and Erin exchanged looks, both seeing in each other’s eyes a minimum of two hundred words worth of amazement.

"So you really are the ’puncture point’!" Yu Sheng looked at Zheng Zhi, finding the situation absurd but somehow reasonable, then couldn’t help but sigh, "You... have incredible luck."

"I think this is beyond good luck... It must have something to do with Spiritual Energy," Erin said, eyes widening as she examined her nephew not far away, clicking her tongue in wonder, "You pierced through the Cognitive Barrier made by the ’Inference Star Body.’ Even though it was just for a moment—you certainly made a hole through the barrier and landed in this ’Nightmare Border,’ surviving until now..."

She paused, her small face wrinkling, "Not to mention those wandering ’shadows,’ we didn’t provoke those things either, so I don’t know why they’re chasing you—how did you avoid those ’Heart Demons’ Mo Ran mentioned? Even the C-type buckle is a match for them..."

Zheng Zhi shrugged, "I don’t know, I just dodged when they chased me, and they stopped chasing—I mean, you know my combat abilities, I haven’t even been fully promoted..."

Yu Sheng listened in stunned silence, and could only marvel internally—just a few days of internship for him seemed to be a lifetime of experience for many legendary investigators. It was unimaginable what the scenario would be like once he was fully promoted...

Meanwhile, Mo Ran merely listened silently to the exchange between Yu Sheng and the others, their talk of "puncture point," "Inference Star Body," "Cognitive Barrier," and similar matters, when suddenly she furrowed her brow and broke the silence, "So you do know something... Can you tell me what is happening in Mo City? Why did a moment’s distraction leave the city in this state?"

Yu Sheng stared at Mo Ran for a few seconds, then after some deliberation, slowly spoke, "It’s not just Mo City—it’s the entire Shuji. Your planet has been controlled by a so-called ’Inference Star Body’ of Dark Angel."