102: Chapter 102 Shen Ye...you've finally arrived!

Screams and wails echoed through the skies.

Although those students were Professionals, they had long lived in greenhouses under the protection of rules.

Facing such wild, ferocious, and bloodthirsty beasts that didn't play by the rules, their defensive line was instantly crushed.

Li Murou watched the apocalyptic scene in the distance, her entire body trembling and her small face pale white:

"Cap... Captain Chen, so many monsters... so much blood... what should we do now..."

Fear was an instinct, and the urge to flee was also an instinct.

But as Chen Xi looked at that sea of fire, the shock in his eyes quickly receded.

He remembered the Li Zhenhai's words and the promise he had just made.

The strong are not those without fear, but those who overcome it.

A flash of light appeared in Chen Xi's hand as several cards were already held between his fingertips. His voice was calm and resolute:

"Let's go! Over there to help!"

...

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away from Jiang City.

Southern Outside the Border, 10 kilometers beyond the human safe zone boundary.

The sky was perpetually shrouded in a layer of gray haze, and the air was thick with the mixed scent of rotting vegetation and blood.

Two figures were rapidly weaving through this peril-filled dense forest.

"Brother Ye, slow down..."

Xia Qing panted heavily, warily scanning the shadows around them:

"We've already been out of the safe zone for a full 10 kilometers... If we go any further, with our current state, we might not be able to handle it!"

Shen Ye turned his head, his eyes bloodshot, but his obsession burned like a flame:

"Grit your teeth and persevere for a bit longer."

"I can feel it... that sense of summoning is getting stronger and stronger."

Shen Ye clutched his chest, where an invisible heart seemed to be thumping violently:

"The source of the spacetime turbulence that caused our entire team's heavy injuries back then... and that voice in my head, they should be just ahead!"

Xia Qing bit his lip and nodded:

"Alright, if we really can't win, we'll run."

The two set off once again.

After traveling roughly another kilometer and pushing through a dense thicket of thorns, the view before them suddenly opened up.

"This... this is?" Xia Qing's eyes widened in surprise.

Deep within this dangerous primeval forest, a clearing had abruptly appeared.

In the center of the clearing stood an ancient altar.

The altar was piled from unknown black rocks, with the passage of time leaving mottled marks upon it; it had clearly existed for an extremely long time.

And in the very center of the altar stood a lifelike statue.

It was a woman with a graceful figure. She had wavy curly hair, and though her face was somewhat blurred by the erosion of time, one could still feel an indescribable sense of mystery and gentleness.

Her hand hung slightly down, gently stroking an animal crouching at her feet.

The animal looked like a dog yet also like a wolf, quietly prostrating itself at the woman's feet.

What Shen Ye and Xia Qing found most eerie was—

This was clearly deep Outside the Border where dangers lurked and ferocious beasts ran rampant.

Yet within a hundred-meter radius of this altar, it was terrifyingly clean!

Not only was there no sign of a single beast, but even the fallen leaves on the ground had been swept away by some force.

The bloodthirsty roars from the surrounding jungle seemed to be cut off upon reaching this place, leaving a deathly silence.

"This is... the place I was looking for."

Shen Ye walked toward the altar step by step, the throbbing from the depths of his soul making it almost impossible to breathe. His heartbeat echoed in his ears like thunder.

"Brother Ye, be careful, something is very wrong here."

Xia Qing held his magic staff, standing back-to-back with Shen Ye, cold sweat sliding down his cheeks.

It was too quiet.

Quiet like the calm before a storm.

"I feel... the person looking for me is right here!"

Shen Ye muttered to himself.

The moment the words left his mouth.

Tap, tap, tap.

A faint sound of footsteps abruptly came from behind the statue.

Xia Qing spun around sharply, holding his magic staff across his chest:

"Who is it!?"

From the shadows of that statue, a figure clad in a black robe and wearing a large hood slowly stepped out.

The person was entirely enveloped in darkness, their face unreadable.

The Black-Robed Man stopped at the edge of the altar and looked up slightly:

"Shen Ye... you've finally come."

"I have been waiting for you for a long time."

In front of the eerily clean altar.

The deathly silence was shattered by a hysterical roar.

"It's you!!"

Shen Ye stared fixedly at the Black-Robed Man who had stepped out of the shadows, his chest heaving violently.

His remaining right eye was bloodshot, burning with a flame of mingled anger and confusion.

He took a sudden step forward, a spatial ripple forming in his hand, his voice trembling slightly from extreme agitation:

"The voice talking in my head, it was you!?"

"The culprit who haunted me like a ghost in the dungeon, who incited me to use that damned Forbidden Curse, who caused me to lose an eye and led to the collapse of the entire Night Curtain... was also you!?"

Shen Ye's voice was hoarse and shrill, like an accusation of blood and tears squeezed from the depths of his throat:

"Who exactly are you! What do you want by luring me here! Why did you harm me! Speak!!"

With Shen Ye's roar, the nightmare from a month ago that had changed his fate surged back into his mind like a tide, pulling him back to that moment of despair.

...

One month ago, Level 25 Nightmare Dungeon, Beast Ruins.

"Everyone watch your positioning, Li Shan take the front, A Dong, Xiao Xiao, get ready to clear the field!"

Shen Ye stood in the center of the team, commanding the battle with high spirits.

At that time, both his eyes were intact and his gaze was sharp; he was the absolute core of the entire team.

However, just as he was about to give the order for the final assault.

Buzz—!

A sharp ringing in his ears pierced his brain without warning, as if a red-hot steel needle was stirring through his brain matter.

The world instantly became silent; the shouts of his teammates and the roars of the monsters all vanished, leaving only an old, hoarse, yet strangely familiar voice echoing faintly in the depths of his soul:

"Your appearance... truly makes me nostalgic."

Shen Ye's expression changed drastically as he asked in terror within his consciousness:

"Who? Who's speaking!?"

The voice did not answer his question but continued with a high-and-mighty pity:

"Too weak... the current you is simply too weak."

"Shen Ye, your upper limit is far beyond this. There is a power sleeping within you, a power sufficient to tear through rules."

"Follow my guidance... the shackles in your heart, that long-closed Genetic Lock... unlock it!"

"Genetic Lock... unlock..."

These few words seemed to carry some irresistible magic, like a command engraved deep within his genes.

Shen Ye clearly wanted to resist, but his body was not under his control at all.

An indescribable, terrifying power erupted from his heart, instantly rushing into his brain through his blood vessels.