22: Watching from above the clouds

The moment he saw that island, a cold system prompt exploded in his mind.

“Warning: Being watched by an unknown Life form. SAN value continuously dropping. Current: 90%.”

The magnificent cloud sea above his head, like God had overturned His palette, instantly lost all its warmth.

The enormous sunset, seemingly within reach, also transformed into a cold, blood-red eye staring into the abyss.

An unspeakable chill, originating from the base of Lin Mo's spine, instantly shot up to his crown.

All the hairs on his body stood on end.

It wasn't fear, but a more primal shiver, a complete crushing of his Life at a fundamental level.

“Close your eyes! Don't look!”

Lin Mo's voice suddenly turned hoarse. He spun around abruptly, letting out a sharp cry at the two sisters who were still marveling at the beautiful scenery.

Gu Zhixia and Gu Nianqiu were startled by his sudden roar.

Although they didn't know what had happened, out of absolute trust in Lin Mo, both of them immediately shut their eyes tightly.

“Brother Mo, what's wrong?”

A hint of confusion and panic was in Nianqiu's voice.

Lin Mo didn't answer.

He had no time to answer.

His mental power instantly concentrated, forcefully suppressing the dizzying sensation that surged like a tide in his mind.

A thought exploded in his mind.

Descend!

Immediately!

“Buzz—”

The Natural Selection, suspended ten thousand meters in the sky, its massive hull violently shuddered, and like an out-of-control behemoth, it began to plummet rapidly!

A severe sense of weightlessness struck, and everything inside the cabin shook.

Lin Mo didn't hesitate for a moment. He darted behind the two sisters, and a second before they could cry out, he used his strong body to shield them tightly beneath him, wrapping his arms securely around the deck's railing.

His firm chest and powerful arms were like an unbreakable cage, and also like the safest harbor, isolating them from the violent turbulence and sense of weightlessness.

Gu Zhixia was completely bewildered. She could clearly feel the man's rapid heartbeat against her chest and the undeniable, protective strength emanating from him.

Gu Nianqiu instinctively gripped Lin Mo's clothes, burying her small face in his embrace, not daring to move.

“SAN value continuously dropping. Current: 75%.”

Lin Mo's temples throbbed.

A viscous, chilling malevolence seemed to pierce through the distance of space and time, through the Natural Selection's alloy armor, tightly enveloping him.

At the edge of his vision, distorted, writhing black shadows began to appear.

In his ears, countless voices seemed to be whispering, murmuring, and screaming madly.

Those voices were indistinct, yet they were like poisoned steel needles, constantly pricking the deepest parts of his brain.

For a moment, he seemed to see a pale, featureless human face pressed against the deck.

It lay there silently, as if peeking into everything inside the cabin.

Lin Mo blinked sharply.

The face vanished.

As if it had never appeared.

“SAN value continuously dropping. Current: 70%.”

It's happening again!

On the ground, countless pale arms seemed to stretch out, swaying silently like pendulums.

On the walls, countless resentful, blood-tear-streaming eyes appeared.

Illusions.

All illusions.

Lin Mo bit his tongue fiercely. The intense stinging brought a sliver of clarity back to his muddled consciousness.

Good thing, good thing he had drunk that bowl of soup Nianqiu made for dinner.

Those temporarily increased 5 points of mental power were now like a solid dam, barely resisting the terrifying erosion that could instantly drive an ordinary person mad.

But he knew this dam wouldn't hold for long.

“Whoosh—”

The Natural Selection's massive hull finally plunged into the thick clouds again.

The surroundings were instantly enveloped in dense white fog.

The malicious gaze from the highest point of the sky was blocked by the clouds.

The mad whispers and terrifying illusions in his mind receded like a tide.

“System Prompt: Has left the unknown Life form's gaze range. SAN value is slowly recovering...”

Lin Mo let out a long, turbid breath, completely drained.

He leaned against the cold wall, his forehead covered in fine cold sweat, his chest heaving violently.

Only then did he release the arms that had been wrapped around the two sisters.

The Natural Selection continued to descend.

Soon, they completely pierced through the clouds, returning to an altitude of about a thousand meters above the sea.

He lowered his head, looking at the deep blue sea below.

In his vision, where the illusions had not yet completely faded, he seemed to see countless colossal shadows lurking in the deep water below.

There was a giant monstrous fish, over a hundred meters long, covered in glowing, eerie fleshy tumors, slowly cruising through the sea.

Deeper in the ocean, a terrifying creature of inestimable size was entrenched. Its countless tentacles, thicker than mountains, were still clearly visible even in the deep sea, slowly swaying and stirring the undercurrents.

Lin Mo closed his eyes, shook his head vigorously, and when he opened them again, those terrifying illusions had completely vanished.

The sea was still that calm, deep sea.

“Brother Mo... can we open our eyes now?”

Gu Nianqiu kept her eyes tightly shut, her small hand clutching her sister's clothes, her voice tinged with a sob.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, composed himself, and tried to make his voice sound as calm as usual.

“You can.”

Only then did the two sisters cautiously open their eyes.

They saw that the Natural Selection had returned to low altitude, with the surging sea below them.

The cloud sea that had been like a fairyland was now high above their heads, becoming distant and unreachable.

“What... what exactly happened just now?”

Gu Zhixia adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses. Her face was also a little pale; clearly, the intense weightlessness she had just experienced left her with lingering fear.

Her sharp gaze fell on Lin Mo's pale face, and she immediately noticed something was wrong.

Lin Mo was silent for a moment, but ultimately decided to tell them everything he had seen, exactly as it happened.

He described the giant island suspended ten thousand meters in the sky, the malicious gaze from the sky, and the system's warning about the dropping SAN value, all in as calm a tone as possible.

As he spoke, the two sisters' faces grew increasingly grim.

“Waaah—”

Gu Nianqiu could no longer hold back, crying out in fright and burying her head in her sister's embrace, her slender shoulders trembling violently.

“An... an island in the sky... being watched... boo hoo hoo... so scary...”

She was no longer able to form complete sentences, only expressing her inner fear with broken words.

Gu Zhixia's body also stiffened. She held her trembling sister, all color drained from her face.

She looked at Lin Mo, her voice dry.

“Just hearing you describe it makes me feel cold all over, a chill down my spine.”

“That kind of thing... if I had really seen it, I would probably have gone mad on the spot, and would have nightmares for the rest of my Life.”

Deep lingering fear was also evident in her eyes.

Lin Mo reached out and gently patted Nianqiu's back, softly comforting her.

“It's okay now, we've come down.”

After speaking, he remotely operated the Natural Selection, bringing up its navigation log.

In the latest record of the log, a line of crimson data was startling.

“Encountered Special Zone: Skull Forbidden Zone (Floating Island)”

“Level: LV45”

“Danger Factor: Crimson (Existence of Extinction-level Threat)”

LV45.

Skull Forbidden Zone.

This name, and that crimson danger factor, were enough to explain everything.

The terrifying nature of that place was far beyond what they could touch now.

Even a distant glance was enough to invite catastrophe.

Lin Mo closed the navigation log, his vigilance raised to the highest level.

He no longer dared to entertain any thoughts of flying into the clouds.

He reset the course, firmly locking the flight altitude at one hundred meters above sea level.

This altitude could maximize their distance from the unknown terrors in the sky, and also allow them to accumulate as much mileage as possible before the battery ran out.

This was the safest and most efficient choice under the current circumstances.

The Natural Selection's massive hull silently glided over the sea under the deep night.

Steadily sailing towards the unknown distant horizon.