56: Chapter 56 Entering the Mist Again

"That tentacle from last time really helped a lot. If its fluctuations hadn't disrupted the logic of those colossi, we might not have escaped unscathed."

"You mean... we should get another tentacle?"

Zhou An nodded, his eyes deep: "Medicine is for saving lives, but tentacles are for risking them. Why don't we try it while we're in the mist sea? See if we can cut another one off."

"No problem!" Luo Ning was also in full agreement.

...

Inside the command hall of the [Cloud Top Fortress].

Zhou An stood in front of the holographic star map, pointing at the rolling black sea of clouds below, and said gravely to Li Muzi and her husband Zhang Ming: "The upcoming adventure exploration will be far more dangerous than before. The black mist region below 10,000 meters contains severe rule suppression and mental corruption. At your current levels, forcing your way in will only lead to a breakdown."

Li Muzi pushed up her glasses and nodded with a solemn expression.

"So, the plan is this."

Zhou An looked at the three of them.

"I will lower the fortress to the critical altitude of 10,500 meters. Muzi, you take Zhang Ming and the others and transfer to your private aircraft. I've already upgraded that ship to LV4, so it has enough self-defense capabilities even at an altitude of 10,000 meters. You will hover in the safe zone and wait for orders, acting as our backup and signal relay station. As for Luo Ning and me, we will pilot the fortress straight into the depths."

"Boss, you must be careful."

Although Zhang Ming was worried, he also knew that with his current strength, following them would only hold them back.

"Don't worry, don't forget that your boss is now a Tier 4." Luo Ning stuffed suppressants into her tactical pocket while waving her hand dismissively. "I've brought plenty of goodies. If something really goes wrong and the boss transforms, I can just jab him back to his senses."

Once everything was arranged, the order was given.

"EVA, disengage high-altitude cruise, coordinate vertical descent. Start descending from 16,000 meters, target 10,500 meters!"

The massive [Cloud Top Fortress] emitted a low roar, and the flames from its engines carved long trails in the thin atmosphere. As the altitude dropped sharply, the color of the clouds outside the window shifted from pale white to leaden gray, and that familiar sense of oppression struck again.

"Reached target altitude, open the third-level hangar doors."

Li Muzi piloted the small spacecraft and slowly flew out of the fortress. After the hangar doors closed, only Zhou An and Luo Ning remained inside the fortress.

"Clearance complete. Luo Ning, sit tight."

Zhou An's eyes turned cold, and he yanked the control stick.

"Dive! Straight into the black mist!"

Breaking past that invisible boundary of 10,000 meters, the ink-thick black mist instantly swallowed all visibility, leaving only dead, pitch-black silence outside the panoramic portholes.

[System Prompt: You have entered the deep black mist region.]

[Current SAN value depletion rate: 6 points/hour.]

Zhou An glanced at his attribute panel with a calm expression. Now, he possessed the Prismatic-grade Hextech [Smallest Giant], which could automatically restore 5 SAN points every hour.

"It drops 6 points an hour, and I recover 5. That means as long as I don't encounter any of those 'nasty things,' I can stay in this restricted zone for a whole day and only lose 24 SAN points."

Zhou An leaned back in his chair, his long fingers tapping lightly on the desk. This depletion rate was much slower than he had imagined.

But the memory of his last adventure surfaced in his mind—when that unknown high-tier life form projected even a sliver of its aura, his SAN value plummeted instantly! That fear of staring directly into the abyss was incomparable to this kind of basic pollution.

"EVA, activate wide-area life radar," Zhou An commanded in a low voice.

"Filter out all moving low-tier red dots, only search for those large-scale coordinates."

"Radar scan initiated, power set to 120%... Penetrating the mist cover layer..."

Luo Ning sat in the co-pilot seat, the scanner in her hand flickering with light.

She was no longer acting playful, but staring intently at the energy ripples on the screen.

The [Cloud Top Fortress] traveled alone through the mist.

Outside the portholes, the depressing scene remained. The ink-thick black mist constantly battered the energy shield like a tide, and occasionally, a few strands of eerie dark purple lightning flashed deep within the mist, only to be swallowed by the dead silence again.

Zhou An frowned and opened the system interface. He had hoped to capture some useful coordinate information from the regional channel, but all that popped up was a screen of flickering static and chaotic red garbled code.

"The signal interference is getting worse and worse."

Zhou An tried to send his location to Muzi above the 10,000-meter mark, but the message box spun for a long time before finally popping up a gray "Send Failed" notification.

More than five hours had passed, and other than a few weak low-tier mutant creature dots occasionally flashing on the wide-area life radar screen, there was almost nothing to show for it.

"Tsk, what a pain." Zhou An rubbed his brow in irritation.

"In the past, at least there were quite a few floating islands here; although dangerous, there was at least a trail to follow. Now that the floating island event is over, this black domain below 10,000 meters is as empty as a giant graveyard."

"Boss, the radar is overheating. We need to go up and cool down."

Luo Ning's voice carried a hint of exhaustion; she had been staring at the monitoring screen for nearly six hours.

"Alright, EVA, vertical ascent, return to the 13,000-meter zone."

With the plasma engines roaring once again, the fortress broke through the barrier of black mist like a giant whale breaching the surface.

When sunlight shone back into the cockpit through the energy shield, that heavy sense of oppression instantly dissipated. Zhou An watched the SAN value on his panel, which had been slowly sliding down due to the dive, begin to recover rapidly, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Muzi, if you can hear me, please respond." The moment communication was restored, Zhou An contacted the private aircraft above.

"Boss! We finally made contact with you." Muzi's voice sounded steady, carrying a hint of relief.

"The signal was completely cut off just now, and I was worried that you had an accident down there. We are currently at 13,000 meters; the private aircraft's LV4 shield system is very stable, and our energy reserves are sufficient. Don't worry too much about us—you are the ones in real danger down there, so please be careful."

"Understood. We'll rest for a bit and then try again."

Hanging up the communication, the cockpit returned to silence.

Zhou An was resting with his eyes closed when he suddenly felt his left shoulder sink. Luo Ning had snuck up beside him at some point and, with extreme naturalness, rested her head on his shoulder, her small hand tugging at a corner of his clothes.

"How heartwarming," Luo Ning said, squinting her eyes, her voice lazy and tinged with teasing.

"Listen to Sister Muzi's concerned tone—gentle, mature, and considerate. Boss, tell me the truth, do you like Muzi's type? Do you think a little girl like me who only knows how to blow up labs all day is too noisy?"

Zhou An opened his eyes and looked down at the restless head on his shoulder. In this claustrophobic cockpit, the girl's antics actually diluted the gloom brought on by the dive.

He stood up and casually tapped Luo Ning on her smooth forehead, making a crisp sound.

"What are you thinking? Get up quickly and go check the radar's cooling components. While we're in this recovery state, we'll go back down in a bit and search a different sector."

Luo Ning covered her forehead and stuck out her tongue mischievously, muttering under her breath: "Fine, you unromantic, steel-straight-man boss."

Although she was complaining, she obediently jumped off the chair, patted her slightly wrinkled lab coat, turned, and walked toward the rear testing station, entering work mode once again.

Half an hour later, Zhou An gripped the control stick tightly.

"Let's go. We'll try a different direction this time. I don't believe there's absolutely nothing under this 10,000-meter airspace."