70: Chapter 70 Price Increase Midway

The soul ferry boat sped through the gray mist toward "Silent Ridge" at a speed that defied common sense. Lin Chen stood at the bow, expressionless and with cold eyes. Su Qingyu stood beside him, holding a short sword with a solemn expression. Bai Qi's phantom stood aside like the most loyal guard, his blood-colored eyes seemingly piercing through the spatial barrier to see that ominous land.

"Silent Ridge" truly lived up to its name.

Before even truly arriving, a heart-palpitating sense of deathly stillness rushed toward them. It wasn't an absence of sound, but a bizarre quietude as if even sound were being swallowed and distorted. Looking out, there was a twisted mountain forest shrouded in eternal gray haze; the trees appeared a sickly purple-black, their branches like struggling ghost claws, and the air was filled with a faint, sickly sweet scent like decaying corpses.

More unsettling was that some powerful mental interference seemed to exist here, causing even the soul fires in the eyes of the underworld soldiers to flicker unsteadily. Su Qingyu felt waves of inexplicable irritability and whispers echoing at the edge of her mind; she had to concentrate and circulate the Basic Meditation Method taught by Lin Chen to resist.

The soul ferry boat stopped at the edge of Silent Ridge, unable to go deeper, as if the rules of this area rejected such a vehicle from the Netherworld.

"The tracking signal last disappeared in a valley three kilometers ahead." Su Qingyu pointed at a positioning compass in her hand that was constantly flashing red.

Lin Chen nodded and was the first to step onto this deathly silent land. Beneath his feet was soft black soil that seemed soaked in pus and blood, making an uncomfortable squishing sound when stepped on.

He didn't do any probing and went straight into action.

"System, scan this area, look for energy residues of Zhang Hao and the underworld soldier squad, and analyze the source of the abnormal force field."

[Instruction received. Initiating wide-area deep scan, consuming 50,000 nether talismans.]

Fifty thousand nether talismans evaporated instantly, and an invisible scanning wave spread out from Lin Chen as the center, like mercury spilling over the ground.

A few seconds later, the results were fed back.

[Scan complete. Target energy residues found, concentrated in the valley ahead. High-intensity mental pollution force field detected, source is the leaking power of the "Ancient Nightmare (Slumbering)" deep in the valley. This field can distort perception, create illusions, and trigger inner fear.]

[Traces of human interference detected, suspected use of special items to guide and amplify the leaking power of the "Ancient Nightmare" to form a trap.]

[Zhang Hao and his squad are currently trapped in a deep collective illusion, their vital signs continuing to weaken.]

Human interference! A trap!

A cold light flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. As expected, it wasn't an accident!

"Can this mental pollution force field be forcibly broken?"

[You can attempt to use the remote power of the "soul suppressing pagoda" for a purification strike, requiring 200,000 nether talismans with a 70% success rate. Or use higher purity nether talisman energy for an overwriting flush for better results, requiring 1,000,000 nether talismans with a 99% success rate.]

"Overwriting flush." Lin Chen chose the most expensive and reliable option without hesitation. He didn't lack nether talismans right now; what he lacked was time.

Another million nether talismans were thrown in!

A thick, dark-golden pillar of light, condensed almost to the point of being physical, seemed to cross space and descend thunderously from an unknown place, pouring directly onto the gray haze shrouding the valley!

"Sizzle—!"

Like a red-hot iron searing into snow, the dense mental pollution force field emitted a piercing sound, like the shrieks of countless vengeful souls under the flush of pure, high-concentration nether talisman energy, quickly melting and dissipating!

The scene inside the valley became clear.

Zhang Hao and the squad of underworld soldiers were spinning in place like headless flies; some were attacking the air frantically, some were kneeling and weeping bitterly, and others were self-mutilating with hideous expressions... They had clearly fallen into the illusions of their own deepest fears, their soul fires and life force depleting rapidly.

On the ground, a hidden guiding rune made of some kind of black blood was drawn; it was this rune that guided and amplified the leaking power of the "Ancient Nightmare" deep in the valley, forming this trap.

Lin Chen raised his hand and burned the rune to ashes with a burst of nether fire, then walked up to Zhang Hao, looked at his face distorted by fear, and slapped him directly!

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of the slap echoed in the valley, containing a trace of Lin Chen's mental power.

Zhang Hao jolted, his vacant eyes suddenly focusing. Seeing Lin Chen before him, he was first dazed, then filled with endless lingering fear and wild joy: "Mas... Master! You're here! I... I just saw so many... many terrifying things!"

"Useless." Lin Chen coldly spat out two words, "You can't even withstand this bit of mental interference."

Zhang Hao lowered his head in shame, not daring to talk back.

The other underworld soldiers also gradually woke up under the aftershocks of the nether talisman energy and re-formed their ranks, but their soul fires were clearly much dimmer.

"Who did this?" Lin Chen asked.

Zhang Hao quickly replied: "I don't know! We were flying along the scheduled route when suddenly my head felt dizzy, then we veered off course and were led here... By the way! The cargo! The batch of energy cores is gone!"

Lin Chen's gaze swept around; sure enough, the batch of valuable energy cores had vanished without a trace.

A cargo heist? Or a conspiracy targeting Lin Chen?

Just then, Lin Chen's nether talisman communicator suddenly rang; it was an unknown encrypted channel.

He coldly picked up.

From the other end of the communicator came a processed, raspy, and strange voice:

"Lin Chen... the boss of 'Netherworld Express'? Hehe, your goods and your dog almost stayed here forever."

Lin Chen's eyes were ice-cold: "Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter." The raspy voice carried a teasing tone, "What matters is, do you want to get this batch of goods back? And... do you want to know who wants to mess with you?"

"Your conditions." Lin Chen was brief.

"Simple." The other party seemed to have prepared long ago, "Five million nether talismans as ransom. Transfer it to this account, and I'll tell you where the goods are, as well as the name of the mastermind."

Extortion again!

Zhang Hao gnashed his teeth in anger on the side.

Lin Chen suddenly laughed, and the laughter transmitted through the communicator, making the other party feel an inexplicable chill.

"Five million? Fine."

The other party seemed to freeze for a moment, not expecting Lin Chen to agree so readily.

But Lin Chen's next words made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar:

"However, this five million isn't a ransom."

"It's money to buy your graves."

"Tell me your location, or the name of the mastermind. Otherwise, I will find you, pull out your soul, and use it to light a sky lantern."

Lin Chen's tone was calm, yet it contained a deeper killing intent than Silent Ridge.

"Remember, no one can default on my delivery fee."

"My debts must be paid in blood."