Chapter 114: The Descent of the Moonlight Physique! A Dialogue with the Moonlight Civilization!

"Did he just charge straight into the black fog?"

Outside, the group led by Lao Wu was still in a state of bewilderment. The Black Mage’s arrival had been far too abrupt, and the way he had casually dispatched the mirror images hunting them—creatures they considered themselves lucky to survive against—was unnerving. As top-tier explorers, they had always prided themselves on their strength, yet the raw output of this man who had seemingly appeared out of thin air was staggering.

"Should we go take a look?"

A massive hole had been torn through the black fog, and the edges of the breach were still continuously dissolving and expanding. While the group could feel the intensity of the battle raging within, they remained stunned that the Black Mage had dared to charge into the enemy lines all by himself.

"I’ll send a message to the boss. You guys head over and see," said Lao San, the leader, with a nod. "This guy’s strength feels off the charts. He might have acquired some kind of relic power or something. It’s just absurd."

"Agreed," the woman in the leather jacket added, a rare moment of concurrence with Lao San.

For some reason, she felt that the frequency of dark horses appearing in recent years had increased significantly. A while ago, some genius youth had emerged in the north, and now, a Black Mage had appeared in the central region. She had previously dismissed the rumors about the Black Mage as exaggerated hearsay, but witnessing him in person, he clearly transcended all conventional standards.

When Yi Shen launched his assault on the black fog, the command center received the news immediately. It wasn't just the command center detecting the surge of energy; various guilds that had recently established themselves in the Jingmen Safe Zone were also observing the battlefield.

"Someone is attacking the black fog."

"Someone is provoking those monsters again? Wasn't the plan to hold off for a while?"

Over the past few days, several guilds had attempted to strike the black fog, hoping to kill monsters for rare materials. However, the creatures were incredibly powerful; only a few guilds had managed to gain any advantage, and some had even required emergency support from others.

"It looks like the Black Mage. It's that same fire gate again."

"Oh, then it's fine."

Upon hearing the name "Black Mage," the tension in the command center dissipated significantly. Given his previous interventions, and reports from above identifying him as part of the Special Operations Task Force, he was considered one of their own.

Even Yu Tian, the head of the command center, merely glanced at the intelligence report and issued a routine update to the various fronts before returning to his duties. Qi Lei had already informed him that the Black Mage would primarily be under the purview of Zhan Yu, and that they should simply wait for further instructions regarding his operations.

However, the major guilds that were less familiar with the Black Mage were stunned. According to the reports, in less than twenty minutes, he had managed to force his way deep into the black fog barrier—a feat no other guild had come close to achieving.

While they knew he was from the Jingmen Safe Zone and had some insight into these monsters, this level of progress was simply too ridiculous.

With reports stating that this civilization was a Level 2 civilization that might possess even more powerful adversaries, and the Black Mage simultaneously crushing them, they found it difficult to tell if the enemy was truly strong or if they were actually that weak.

***

Jingmen Safe Zone. General Office.

This was technically Qi Lei's office, but it currently served as the hub for several key departments. Zhan Yu was standing in for Qi Lei, showing a woman wearing a hat around the facility.

Suddenly, Zhan Yu received a notification on his communicator, and his expression shifted to one of slight surprise. He had expected Yi Shen to keep a low profile after visiting Qi Lei earlier, perhaps even finding time to meet with Xiao Ge. He hadn't expected Yi Shen to charge back into the combat zone.

The person sent by the Bureau of Investigation, known as Xiao Ge, was an old acquaintance of Zhan Yu. Since Zhan Yu was the sole contact for Yi Shen, Qi Lei had assigned him to coordinate between the two parties.

Xiao Ge was two years younger than Zhan Yu, though in reality, she was well into her fifties. Yet, she looked barely thirty; in her baseball cap, she looked more like Zhan Yu's daughter.

An explorer's attributes significantly enhanced cellular vitality, and with the added maintenance routines used by many female explorers, she showed almost no signs of aging.

"The Black Mage has woken up," Zhan Yu said, pausing mid-stride.

Although Xiao Ge had wanted to tour the various departments of the Jingmen Command Office, Zhan Yu had little interest in that. It would be better to take her to meet Yi Shen as soon as possible.

On the battlefield, Yi Shen had no concern for what others thought. In his "Divine Descent" state, surrounded by such an abundance of dark light, he felt like a god.

He waded through the monsters, heading toward the core of the black fog. Had it been any other time, he would never have dared to be so reckless for fear of being surrounded. But in this state, Yi Shen felt there was nothing in the mid-layer that could threaten him.

Only in the core region, near the three massive beasts, did he occasionally encounter powers he could not fully decipher. Yet, even those forces did not seem overtly hostile; the civilization belonging to the Moonlight Realm seemed to harbor a deep, innate dread of Yi Shen's Moonlight Body.

Soon, Yi Shen approached the core of the black fog and once again caught sight of the Moonlight Realm's planar gate.

The gate hadn't changed much—it was still composed of that massive, bizarre purple membrane and black stone pillars. However, there were now strange structures connected to the area around the gate, and occasionally, creatures were being transmitted through the gate, as if it were an auxiliary factory.

Within this processing center, Yi Shen sensed countless lives being nurtured and awakened. He realized they were likely using some special method to "compress" themselves before arriving on Earth to restore their form, which explained how they had expanded their ranks so rapidly in such a short time.

As he reached the core, Yi Shen noticed something strange.

The surrounding monsters had almost entirely ceased their attacks, instead emitting waves of confused information.

They seemed unable to comprehend why Yi Shen was attacking them.

Some of the high-level Moonlight mirror images even watched him from a distance, hesitating to approach, as if attempting to communicate.

Before Yi Shen stood a massive crystalline structure.

It wasn't particularly tall, but it covered a vast area, occupying a dozen or so acres of land near the gate.

Yi Shen felt as though something inside this building was calling out to him.

At the same time, this was the only place within the entire black fog region that contained something capable of posing a threat to him. Although Yi Shen possessed terrifying attributes in his Divine Descent state, this sense of danger came from the depths of his soul, forcing him to be cautious.

"Are you trying to communicate with me?"

Yi Shen hovered in the air above the building and spoke.

Even though these were his enemies, his father was still missing. If he could establish contact, there might be a chance to ask about his father, especially regarding the state of his father's mirror image.

Currently, he held the absolute advantage, having breached the core of the black fog, so he wasn't worried about the enemy playing tricks.

The black fog had been noisy, filled with discordant sounds.

But after Yi Shen spoke, the area fell into a peculiar state of silence.

"Why do you carry the aura of the Lord?"

After a pause of about ten seconds, a strange voice echoed in Yi Shen's mind.

Special dark light elements flickered in the surrounding air. The voice was not in Chinese, yet Yi Shen understood their meaning perfectly.