The crowd slowly groped their way into the depths of the city's ruins in the darkness.

Judging by the topography and the distribution of the building debris, this has reached the area due north of the center. The two captains, Chen Lun and Hamilton, each gave orders to the members of the first and second groups of teams to scatter to find the information that remained of this ruin.

Ten minutes later.

"Captain Hamilton! We found half a stone stele! ”

A young male member of the second team came to the meeting point and said to the captain.

Under the faint light, Chen Lun and Hamilton glanced at each other, and then nodded tacitly.

"Where? Take us there. ”

Hamilton said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Captain, please follow me!"

The team led the way, with Chen Lun and Hamilton close behind.

After turning around in the dark, Chen Lun felt that his surroundings seemed to become more spacious, because he had not encountered the remains of the building after walking for a long time.

"It seems to be another square here."

Hamilton said softly.

"Well, it's very similar to the area when I fought just now, and this symmetrical planning and design reminds me of the human city-state in the Second Age."

Chen Lun thought of something and said slowly.

Hamilton and the rest of the team were a little surprised, they didn't expect Captain Jack to be so knowledgeable and even know such a long-hidden thing.

Chen Lun secretly sighed that this was just some information he dug up when he was brushing up side quests in his previous life.

Soon, the crowd came to the half-stone tablet in the mouth of Hamilton's subordinates.

This stele stands in the center of the square, the base is a trapezoidal cylindrical stone pier, polished very smooth, carrying a boxy stele, but due to age and some unknown factors, this stele is missing a large piece, only one-third of the base is connected.

"Leia, come and see, what's carved on this monument?"

Hamilton immediately summoned the female player from earlier.

The latter hurriedly stepped forward, illuminated by a point of light the size of a grain of rice, carefully studying the tadpole-shaped strange characters on it, and at the same time, she also stretched out her finger and gently stroked the indentation to confirm its original appearance.

“…… The Yanita royal family has finally succeeded in communicating with the stars, and the king and his descendants have gained the extraordinary power of races such as elves, giants, monsters, and dragons, and the kingdom is about to rise, and humanity will no longer be slaves and inferior races...... O great gods 'Lord of Destiny', 'World Tree', 'Star of Enlightenment', 'Dragon of Light' and 'King of Giants', please forgive us for our greed for believing in a new god from the starry sky, and it is the sun, moon and stars that shine to make humanity shine......"

Leia, a female team member, stumbled and barely translated the text, she raised her head and looked at the people around her, and said softly:

"That's probably what it is, some of the characters are too vague for me to recognize......"

"It's already okay, Leia, thank you for your hard work."

Hamilton nodded appreciatively at the other and whispered.

Leia smiled and retreated into the group.

At this time, Hamilton turned his head to look at Chen Lun again, and cast an inquiring gaze:

"What do you think? Jack? ”

"From the inscription on the monument, I can probably confirm the age of the ruins......"

Chen Lun groaned and spoke slowly.

"This should be the hundreds of years of transition between the second era 'fairy tale era' and the third age 'starry age'."

In the faint light, he noticed the slight doubt on everyone's faces, so he chuckled and explained:

"Actually, I don't know much, but according to legend, during the 'Fairy Tale Era', it was difficult for humans to survive on this continent, because there were no transcendent beings at that time, and all kinds of transcendent creatures were rampant, and even if humans established a kingdom and united, it was difficult for humans to resist frequent attacks...... The monument is supposed to be the time when the 'Starry Age' was just beginning, that is, the birth of the belief in the gods of the sun, the moon and the stars, who gave humanity extraordinary powers to survive in that extremely harsh environment. ”

Everyone frowned slightly and looked at each other.

"Did the beliefs of the Three Religions of the Sun, Moon and Star originate in the Third Age?"

Hamilton was thoughtful.

Chen Lun continued to speak at this time:

"But I didn't expect that the humans of the ancient era would have believed in the gods of fate, nature, and magic for an early age...... They are far older than we think. ”

"The 'Lord of Destiny', the 'World Tree' and the 'Star of Enlightenment' as recorded on the monument ......"

Hamilton muttered.

"What about the 'Dragon of Light' and the 'King of Giants'?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of these two gods."

Chen Lun shook his head.

Hamilton discussed with the team members for a moment before he raised his head and said to Chen Lun:

"Unfortunately, while this information is valuable, it is not very helpful for our investigative mission...... So far, no clues have been found about the source of the pollution. ”

"Keep digging in, you'll find out."

Chen Lun comforted.

Unexpectedly, Hamilton sighed and shook his head slightly.

"I'm going to return with the team first and report the situation to the presiding judge...... The Dark World was far more dangerous than expected, and not only did the second group lose two of their members, but the rest of them were also quite tired......"

He raised his head and patted Chen Lun's shoulder, a rare smile appeared on his cold face:

"Thank you again, Jack, and I'm sure you can go further than us, and even the other investigative teams, to find the source and truth of the contamination...... The mission of the empire will be entrusted to you first. ”

Chen Lun was slightly stunned at first, and then nodded.

Hamilton didn't stay long, he greeted the team members, and chose to return to the third level of the spirit world, and then follow the same path back to the present world.

The Dark World cannot be directly connected to the present world, which is one of the reasons why it is listed as a forbidden place in the Mysterious Realm. Because once you encounter an irresistible danger, there is no way back.

After Hamilton and the others left, Chen Lun also led the team to continue on the road.

The darkness is boundless, and everyone seems to be one with the environment, silently moving forward.

*

*

*

Time turned, and three days passed.

Over the course of three days, the seven members of the investigation team followed the footsteps of Captain Jack through the dark world, encountering more than a dozen attacks by the Deedak Bugmen, the most dangerous of which was that everyone was almost in danger of being wiped out.

At that time, he was intercepted by forty or fifty insect men in a small pit, and if it weren't for Captain Jack standing up and turning into a knight wearing pale armor, blasting all the insect people in front of him and leading everyone to escape, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At this moment.

The crowd had reached the top of a steep hill that resembled a mountain.

Under the faint light, a huge square bronze door stands here, with a height of about 30 meters, and the volume of the front is equivalent to a high-rise building.

It has only a door frame, which is carved with various strange patterns of flora and fauna, as well as some unrecognizable characters. In the middle is a dark darkness that twists like a whirlpool, and black mist constantly drifts out of it, and even the light does not shine.

"What a breathtaking spectacle...... Who would have built this? ”

Rahn looked up at the bronze door in front of him and exclaimed.

"Maybe it's not man-made."

Wells said in a deep voice.

When the others heard this, their hearts suddenly sank.

Is it another race civilization from the Antiquity? Still is...... What did the gods do?

I don't know......

The truth of all this is unknown, and it has long been hidden by the long river of time.

Chen Lun stood quietly aside, looking at the bronze door standing straight, and secretly sighed. Following the guidance of divination, and referring to the contents of Mr. Biles's Codex, he finally came to this door.

Once you step inside, you'll be able to access the deeper dimensions of the dark world.

However, he was not prepared to do so at the moment.

Because the team members are already physically and mentally exhausted after three days of exploration, and the deep space behind the door will only be more dangerous, they need to rest now, not rush in.

And there is another reason.

'Mr. Biles said in the Codex that near the first gate there was a special area from which to return directly to the present world...... However, it will enter the underground of the Sun Continent. ’

Chen Lun thought to himself.

He planned to go on his own and find out, maybe find something.

"Captain?"

Rahn whispered cautiously.

Chen Lun came back to his senses and nodded at him.

Just now, the team members were asking him about his next actions, and Chen Lun heard it through [One Heart and Two Purposes].

"I'm going to go into it for the time being, and all the members of the investigation team will return to the present world to rest for two days."

He said slowly.

"Captain......

Rahn and the others were surprised.

They were tired and understood the captain's intentions, but now to go back would mean that all the hard work of these days would be wasted...... The next time I return to the spirit world, I have to start all over again.

"We're holding on, Captain, let's move on."

Wells also spoke up.

Everyone was unwilling to give up and persuaded the captain one after another.

Chen Lun looked at the nervous expressions of the team members, and couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

"Don't worry, when you're done, I'll take you back to this door in a short time......"

As he spoke, he took out the second Spirit Ship Anchor and dropped it on the ground.

Boom!

A palm-sized metal anchor smashed into the gravel ground, revealing only a shank.

"Don't forget, I'm a Destiny Faction Transcendent, and according to the coordinates of the anchor, I can directly cast the sequence ability to teleport the team here."

Chen Lun said.

When everyone heard this, they immediately showed happy expressions.

Before, because of the captain's terrifying strength, they subconsciously ignored the faction they belonged to, and now they want to ...... Captain Jack is not only strong, but also quite suitable to lead the team to participate in such an exploration operation.

The ability to teleport over long distances is perfect in an environment like the Dark World!

"Larne, when we get back, record the progress and situation of our team, and then summarize and present it to Chief McCollin."

Chen Lun commanded.

"No problem, Captain!"

Rahn nodded in agreement.

"Hmm."

Chen Lun said with a smile.

"Let's go back."

"Yes, Captain!"

This time, instead of resisting, the crowd gladly agreed.

*

*

*

The entire investigation team returned to the present world along the same path.

However, after explaining some things to the team members, Chen Lun quietly avoided everyone's sight, returned to the dark world alone, and used the cloud leap back to the bronze gate.

'I think it's nearby, let's look around.' ’

He tentatively explored around the bronze gate.

It took more than an hour for Chen Lun to finally find something unusual more than a thousand meters northwest of the Bronze Gate. It was a slightly recessed circular stone platform, surrounded by two circles of countless tiny pebbles.

Chen Lun tried to step on the platform, and suddenly he had a feeling.

It's a connection to the world!

In any area of the dark world before, the breath of the present world could not be felt...... From the third level of the spirit world, the outline of the present world completely disappears into the horizon, which means that the two worlds are far apart, and it is logically impossible to directly connect the present world from the dark world.

But what exactly is this platform? Is it a ritual formation? I can go back to this world directly......

Chen Lun took a deep breath.

He felt that there were too many secrets in the dark world, but the truth was hard to find.

The next second.

Chen Lun disappeared from the platform.

Airplanes!

A strong pulling force hit Chen Lun's body, and in just a few seconds, he felt some tearing pain in his body. This made Chen Lun somewhat surprised, after all, his physical fitness had already exceeded the limit of the ordinary sequence five.

Open your eyes again.

Chen Lun found himself in a huge cave, with a cave entrance not far away, and dim sunlight radiated outside.

'Is this the underworld in the Codex?' Why is there a sunshine ......? ’

He was puzzled.

Chen Lun walked out of the cave slowly, and after seeing the scene outside, his face couldn't help but change slightly, and his pupils shrank.

Because he saw that above the heavenly dome, there was a round of dark red stars, like a setting sun, and like the sun entering the stage of dying and aging, emitting a faint blood-colored light when it was dying.

The cave is so large that if it weren't for the rock walls and domes, Chen Lun might have mistaken it for a rocky plain.

On the ground grow mushrooms of different sizes, umbrellas, balls, lace and irregular, small as fingers, large but larger than the scale of ordinary buildings.

Under the dim light, this "mushroom forest" sways without wind.

The scene in front of him was both spectacular and had a strange beauty, and Chen Lun was quite shocked.

How did this come about...... And that huge dark red ball of light, what is it? ’

Chen Lun wanted to fly up to check it out in the sky, but as soon as this idea was born, his spiritual intuition frantically warned him. He had to dispel this thought, and the vigilance in his heart was even greater.

After standing in place and observing for more than ten minutes, he finally took a step and walked into the mushroom forest. But before he could get any further, he suddenly stopped.

'Huh? Someone ......'

Chen Lun frowned slightly, standing in place and staring ahead.

In a few moments, a petite figure hunched over sneaked into his sight. It was a young woman with burgundy hair tied into a ponytail and a plain cotton and linen coat, looking warily from side to side, and carrying a large, shriveled bag on her back, not knowing what she wanted.

When she saw Chen Lun, the woman was startled at first, and then turned into joy, and couldn't help blurting out:

"Male...... Man?! How can there be a man here! ”

Her bright eyes burst with extreme longing and excitement.

But the next second, she turned and ran.

Chen Lun quietly watched the other party's actions, but he still stood in place, unmoved.

Because in his perception, the young woman did not "escape", but hid behind the giant mushrooms around him, and looked at him secretly.

That kind of look......

Like a hunter on a hunt!

(End of chapter)