The blood soaked through his performance costume and trickled down through the holes in the ground.

In the cave, the grotesque monsters, dancing like fiends, charged forward in oblivious excitement. Most of the corrosive, sticky saliva sprayed from their mouths was neutralized by the temporal virtual flames. Yet, a lingering sense of discomfort crept over Yang Zicang and He Yishu.

“This smell and corrosive power… it’s not from the prototype’s ability, Buchen. “

said He Yishu, gripping a rusty iron bar, feeling his limbs grow weak from the pungent odor. If it were a prototype’s ability, it should have been completely negated by the temporal ability.

“Yeah, this isn’t from the prototype’s ability. “

{Are you two okay? Do you need me to invest resources in you? }

“Not for now! “

With a flash of movement, Yang Zicang caught a tentacle that whipped toward him with gale-force wind, grabbed and twisted it. Using its own momentum like a feather lifting a thousand pounds, he pivoted and hurled it into the flames roaring beyond the stone archway behind them.

“Aargh! ” The monster screeched, writhing as it adjusted its body burning and rolling in the fire.

“How could this be? ” He Yishu dodged a spray of acid from two monsters in the cave.

“Because this is the power of bloodline! “

Yang Zicang, protecting He Yishu, retracted his arm briefly to gather strength, then blinked to a spot a few paces away, delivering a punch with devastating force.

Squelch! A monster with a grotesque, humanoid upper body and an octopus-like lower body had one of its writhing tentacles burst apart by Yang Zicang’s punch.

“Aaaah! ” It, which had just been excited, screamed in agony.

Yang Zicang barked coldly, “Trying to trap and kill us? You alone aren’t capable. Surrender, and tell us what’s going on here. “

“You’re in denial, facing death head-on! Brothers! “

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Several more monsters burst out from the passage behind, their tentacles coiled around weapons!

Yang Zicang tossed aside the severed, squirming tentacle in his hand.

“Talk. Other than Ka Yunni, who is controlling this cave? Who is providing you with power? “

That was the main reason Yang Zicang had come.

If this place had truly lost its bloodline but was still teeming with danger, it couldn’t be simply explained away as some “residual demonic energy. “

That itself represented a strange and worthy mystery!

｛I feel as if I am giving birth to a brand-new, glorious light.｝

The six half-man, half-octopus monsters lashed out with their tentacles, but Yang Zicang easily evaded them, leaving them feeling incapable of even accurately controlling the tentacles they swung out.

After several attempts, the half-human, half-octopus monsters’ hearts chilled with dread; they now knew this Fogfolk before them was different from those who had entered the cave before.

“I—we can’t reach the outside… “

One of the monsters finished speaking, then quietly raised a tentacle, gesturing to its companions with a look.

“We don’t know anything about what’s going on here. All we know is… you have to die here—charge! “

The throats of the strange monsters bulged as revolting corrosive liquid was about to spew forth again. He Yishu saw a small black vortex appear behind the crowd.

“Heh, actually, you can reach them. ” Yang Zicang’s gaze turned cold.

“？“

The demons sensed a strange reddish-orange radiance behind them.

The moment they turned their heads, a streak of rushing light illuminated their final sight.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Crash!

He Yishu, who had retreated two steps, and the monster flung by Yang Zicang into the flames behind him, which had just scrambled out of the fire, watched in shock as blood and gore burst and scattered throughout the hollow, the ground strewn with minced flesh—except for a clean, droplet-shaped arc beneath Yang Zicang’s feet.

“Y-you… you… ” The sole surviving demon trembled in sheer terror.

“As long as you are completely annihilated, ” Yang Zicang tilted his head, “the master of this place will react. So we’ll make contact with them. “

……

Within the island amidst the night, tears fell silently under the moonlight and the shadow of the trees.

Ka Yunni, clad in a dark purple velvet robe, paced back and forth in the silent study.

Lange pushed open the door and walked in.

“Sir, as per your instructions, our people said they’ve already sealed those two inside. Loiss will handle the final cleanup. “

“Good, good, excellent. ” Ka Yunni’s troubled heart settled a great deal.

“But the Major General will definitely be suspicious, ” Lange said with some concern.

“Let him be suspicious. “

Ka Yunni let out a cold snort, the golden ring on his pointed ear swaying gently with the motion.

“If he doesn’t die, I’ll be in trouble. But if he dies, it won’t do me much good either. “

This sharp-nosed, long-eared old man, with streaks of grey in his hair, tightened his robe, openly dismissive of the Major General.

Having already decided to cut and run, he planned to abandon all interests here. No matter what he did, it couldn’t get much worse.

“As long as we let those two Fogfolk die there, it will not only eliminate future troubles but also earn us some respect from that esteemed gentleman in the Empire. Once we retreat to the mainland, he might… grant our family some extra consideration. “

When mention of family was made, the seemingly cold-blooded Lord Ka Yunni showed a hint of regret on his face.

Lange, however, could not share in this sentiment of the clan head.

He could only think that while Mr. Yunni had plotted well, he still felt that tonight’s defeat had come far too… swiftly.

It appeared that the two had only done something trivial to sabotage the long-planned assassination, but Lange, who had taken down many foes, knew that disposing of trouble with such effortless finesse was not something two ordinary people could execute with such swift precision.

Hence, these two Fogfolk were clearly experienced individuals who should not have been so easily deceived.

Lange, who had been harboring some unease, hesitated and said to Ka. Yunni:

“Sir, if they manage to escape by accident, shouldn’t we prepare some cleanup in advance? “

The island lord waved his hand confidently.

“No need to worry. They cannot walk out of there alive. Even stronger Fogfolk, when facing so many mutants stained with demonic blood, would be reduced to corpses corroded by toxic acid, let alone two newcomers fresh out of the Mist Sea. They… “

With a bang, the door was hastily pushed open.

A man whose boots were caked with mud rushed in, cutting off the island lord before he could finish: “Trouble, master. All the ‘mutants’ in the cave are dead. “

“What did you say? “

……

Somewhere else, the person monitoring the radio had just sighed softly.

Those two gentlemen who had saved the Major General that afternoon had ultimately yielded to temptation and gone to the demonically polluted land, only to get trapped. He himself had no power to save them and could only mourn. But at that moment, his ears suddenly perked up.

— “Bzzzt… What did you say… Bzzzt… Say that again, you imbecile! “

“What exactly happened…say it clearly…“

“…Haven’t seen them come out in ages…so I went in…Zzz…Lester died in the passageway…crsssh…shhhh…“

This hand adjusted the knob, and the noisy background hum dropped much lower. The man, pressing one hand against his earphone, listened intently:

“Through a few peepholes I saw, the entire path was filled with the body fragments of Mutants…it’s too horrible, boss…we’ve stirred up a huge mess…crsssh…“

This person suddenly stood up in disbelief.

“They’re all dead?!“

His heart pounded violently.

Those “Aberrants” penned up inside were the very foundation that allowed the Ka Yunni family to dominate Cheqing Island for so long!

If someone really took them all out…

“Is this for real? Or did they find out I’m eavesdropping and just putting on a show? No…A shrewd person who, even after being warned, dares to break into the magic den at night,” he muttered to himself, “that means they don’t see themselves as prey, but as the hunters, right.“

From the earphone came a burst of hysterical roars.

The man, dressed in a thin waiter’s undershirt, sat back down, pinching his pen between his fingers and laying it on the paper. Everything about tonight had to be recorded.

But…he hesitated in thought, would those two really walk out of there?

After all, those Magma-tainted ones he had killed were merely monsters created by some other…thing.

“Should I tell those two fellows about the intel on that thing, which cost my colleagues such a dear price to obtain?“

This man’s brows furrowed tightly. Although these two had taken out the bizarre group that had overwhelmed the soldiers inside, they were still unqualified to touch upon these secrets. After all, they were outsiders—and worse, two Fogfolk who might dig to the bottom of things.

Would allowing them to learn this secret be a good choice…

……

｛I have slain six natives. The Fog Citizen ID has submitted detailed records to the Holy Ring Council.｝

In the passage, Yang Zicang perceived the stream of information suddenly pouring into his mental model.

｛The Council has approved the review of the records.｝

｛The Council holds evidence regarding this incident:｝

｛1. The natives initiated the attack, prompted by my prior actions. Hence, the case is classified as “Review Level. “｝

｛2. Five of the natives had already been altered by the Ring of Bloodline, making them subject to “Ordinary Level ” standards.｝

｛3. I used temporal attacks against a native not contaminated by the Bloodline and killed him/her. Thus, the case is deemed “Warning Level. ” However, this native was the actual instigator and leader of the contaminated natives, having posed a threat to me. Therefore, it is subject to “Ordinary Level ” evaluation criteria.｝

｛In summary, the Holy Ring Council has rated this incident as “Ordinary Level. “｝

｛All warnings are hereby revoked. The temporary timeline cap on the 248.3N’s current original land has been lifted.｝

In less than a few seconds, the stream of information slid through his mind and vanished without a trace, yet the markings of its passage etched themselves deeply into the youth’s consciousness.

This semi-human octopus with ugly slug-like skin was actually counted as a human of this world by the Parliament?

“Buchen, we take the left fork up ahead, right? “

“Yeah. ” Yang Zicang turned his head to look at the strange octopus-man cowering behind. This thing could even speak the language of the “Mistbang. ” “What are you? Born this way? “