We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 396 [Heading Towards the Sea of ​​Fire]

"rustle……"

Perhaps due to the unstable state inside [Da Yan], noticeable static was transmitted through the communicator.

"This is Pastor Latty Wen of the Hui Church..."

"Other members of the infiltration team, please respond!"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Xia En's spirits lifted.

"Latwen, this is Shane. How's the situation on your end?"

"Captain Shane?"

Latty's tone immediately became tinged with surprise.

But he also knew that it wasn't time to relax yet, so he quickly said something.

"I am currently with Major Benny and Reverend William."

"We were exploring a memory scene, but suddenly we were transported to another unfamiliar space."

“There are burning buildings all around, and many civilians are fleeing, as if they are in the midst of a fire.”

"However, it is precisely because of the teleportation to this space."

"Our communicator has finally regained signal, which is why we were able to contact you."

"Fire..."

Upon hearing this, Xia En immediately looked at the memory scene that was covered by fire not far away.

Obvious.

At this moment, Latiwen and the others are trapped in this memory scene.

"Oh, right."

Latiwen continued.

"There's one more thing: we sensed the existence of nodes within this memory scene."

"We are now heading in the direction of the node."

Xia En's heart skipped a beat.

One of the last two nodes is located right in this city engulfed in flames?

This is undoubtedly good news.

At least it pointed them in the right direction for their next move.

You don't have to search through various memory scenes like a headless fly.

So, Shane said.

"We will now enter the memory scene you are in. It would be best if we could keep communication open so that we can meet up later."

Latiwen quickly replied, "Yes, Captain Shane."

But suddenly.

boom!
A loud roar came through the communicator, like the sound of some massive building collapsing.

Followed by.

It was a terrifying roar.

The sound of whistling wind followed.

Even through the communicator, Xia En could almost feel the surging air currents.

It was as if a monster had suddenly charged towards the owner of the communicator.

"Latwen, watch out!"

This is the voice of William, a pastor of the Deep Sect.

But then.

Click!Click!
Suddenly, a crashing and shattering sound came from the other end of the communicator.

Xia En's heart sank, and he quickly asked.

"Latwen, Latwen, are you alright?"

“Rustle…rustle…”

At this moment, the static in the communicator became increasingly loud.

A moment later, the faint sound of Latty's panicked voice could be heard.

"Captain Shane, we... Shasha... have been attacked by unidentified creatures in this sea of ​​fire."

"...Shh...No, they are monsters that blaspheme life, they are ghosts that should have died long ago!"

"Please be very careful after you encounter them..."

The communication ended abruptly there.

All that remained was a disturbing static.

Xia En's mood immediately turned serious.

obviously.

Besides the raging fire, there are other unpredictable dangers within the inferno.

And at this time.

It was impossible for Shane to get to Latiwen and the others immediately; he could only pray that they could get through this crisis safely.

Then, Shane looked at his companion and said directly.

"let's go."

"The answers we seek may lie within this sea of ​​fire."

Whether it's to reunite with their companions, to eliminate the obstacles of the "Great Flame," or to uncover the truth of the matter.

They all needed to personally enter the city engulfed in flames.

Of course, Xia En was also aware of the dangers posed by this sea of ​​fire.

And to this.

Dark Ice, Carles, and Jane were all aware of this long ago.

Without the slightest hesitation, they followed behind Xia En and stepped into the city, which was dyed crimson by flames.

As Shane crossed a certain invisible boundary.

A wave of scorching heat rushed towards us.

A pungent, burnt smell filled the air.

Every breath felt like inhaling a sharp needle, pricking my nasal cavity and throat painfully.

not far away.

Flames soared into the sky, like a raging beast from hell, baring its fangs and claws with unbridled ferocity.

The flames licked everything around them frantically, their crimson light illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime.

Thick smoke twisted and swirled in the flames, like ghosts dancing to accompany this disaster.

This scene is like something out of purgatory.

The temperature I felt on the deck of the King was nothing compared to the heatwave in front of me.

Even with Xia En's physical condition, walking in such a fire caused his skin to scorch painfully.

The sweat evaporated as soon as it seeped out, leaving only a layer of sticky salt stains.

It felt as if even their hair was about to be set on fire by the heat.

Fortunately, it happened quickly.

Anbing, who was standing to the side, reached out her slender hand.

A chilling coldness enveloped them.

It was as if a protective film of icy, mysterious power had been formed, protecting them from the damage of the high temperature.

But at the same time.

An Bing said with a solemn expression.

"The flames here are quite unusual."

"Even I cannot completely shield myself from the temperature of this flame."

"Staying in this fire area for too long may cause irreversible damage to your health."

"Is there still a time limit...?"

Xia En nodded.

"I understand. We'll try to finish this as quickly as possible."

Then, Shane turned to look at Jane.

"Ms. Jane, can you pinpoint the location of Ratty and the others?"

Jane replied, "I'll give it a try."

"However, the flames around here seem to be able to burn not only physical matter, but also mystical power and perception."

Upon hearing this, Xia En raised an eyebrow.

Is it a flame that can be ignited by anything?

He was actually quite familiar with this characteristic.

Because he had personally witnessed this characteristic in Yan Yan.

Then.

The identity of the person who started this fire seems to be quite clear now.

However, Xia En looked around.

Looking at the buildings teetering on the brink of collapse in the flames, at the charred city and the charred corpses in the ruins, and at the surviving citizens of the Great Yan Kingdom.

He felt only an indescribable absurdity.

If this is indeed the case, then the fate of the entire Great Yan Kingdom is far too tragic.

Xia En thought.

There must be some hidden story behind this that he is unaware of for the time being.

It is too early to draw conclusions now.

With this in mind, Xia En and the others moved forward while observing the surrounding scenery.

It didn't take long.

They found an ordinary person with whom they could barely communicate.

This was a young man who was not very old. His clothes were burned to shreds in the fire, with several charred holes.

His face was covered in black dust, making him look extremely disheveled.

only.

Unlike the other survivors who fled in panic and looked desperate.

The man was sitting dazedly on a street corner, his emotional state relatively stable, and he seemed capable of being communicated with.

So, Xia En stepped forward and asked directly.

What happened in this city?

"What caused this fire?"

The man raised his head and stared blankly at Xia En.

His eyes had lost their sparkle, leaving only a chilling emptiness and despair.

"It failed, it failed, it failed, it failed..."

"We're finished... The Great Yan Kingdom is finished too..."

Xia En frowned.

What failed?

Did the King of Cinder's plan fail?
But if they couldn't prevent the great flood from coming, shouldn't the entire city have been submerged?

How did it escalate into a fire that burned down the entire city?

And this time.

Xia En noticed that there was a black robe lying under the man.

That was the Black Flame Robe of the Black Flame Walker.

In other words.

Is this man actually a member of the Black Flame Walkers?
Perhaps he will know some more information.

Thinking of this, Xia En took out the [Fire Seed] and said.

"We are the Lord of Cinder's men."

"Please cooperate and tell us what happened before this?"

Upon seeing the [Spark] emanating the aura of the Lord of Cinder, the Blackflame Walker's eyes lit up slightly, but the light quickly dimmed.

He spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Ice...ice that freezes everything."

"The rituals... are a trap..."

"The curse...the monster...only fire can dispel it..."

Hearing these words, Xia En could tell that the man's mental state was clearly not normal.

The words that came out of his mouth were intermittent and incoherent.

It seems to make no sense at all.

Think about it carefully.

The reason this man stood there blankly was not because he was calm enough.

But because...

He's gone mad from the immense psychological shock!

The words he spoke sounded more like the ramblings of a madman!

But even so.

Shane also gleaned some important information from these fragmented words.

He witnessed the meeting between Lord Cinder and Lyra through the Eternal Coffin.

Therefore, it is known that the Lord of Cinder intends to use the rituals mentioned by the Omniscient Sage to prevent the Great Flood.

at the moment.

This Blackflame Walker, however, referred to that ritual as a "trap."

This indicates that—

The failure of the King of Cinder plan is very likely related to this ritual and the "Omniscient Sage".

In fact

Xia En was not surprised by this.

After all, from the very beginning, the behavior of this "omniscient sage" was extremely suspicious.

Later, the "Truth Society" attacked the underground research institute.

It's only natural that he would tamper with this ritual.

But, the same thing applies.

Faced with the impending great flood, the Lord of Cinder had little choice.

One approach is a pessimistic one: do nothing and wait to die.

Another option is to try a path with a certain success rate.

If it were Xia En, he would definitely choose the latter as well.

Regardless of the final outcome, he will never sit idly by and wait for his doom.

And in fact...

The Lord of Cinder's efforts were not a complete failure; at least he sealed off half of the Great Flood.

This prevented the world from being completely submerged.

if not.

There would have been no Seven Seas Federation, and Shaen would never have appeared.

However, looking at it now...

The price of Cinder King's success seems extremely cruel.

Another sentence uttered by this [Black Flame Walker] also caught Xia En's attention.

ice?
Where does the ice come from?
Especially now, with fire raging on all sides.

This seemingly mad man mentioned the existence of ice.

This is undoubtedly extremely unusual.

Could it be a hallucination caused by this Black Flame Walker's mental breakdown?

Before Xia En could figure out the reason behind this...

The Black Flame Walker in front of them suddenly underwent a strange change.

The man let out a beast-like roar.

Subsequently.

A black flame suddenly ignited on his body.

It spread from the chest to the arms, limbs, head... and even to every corner of the body.

His skin, flesh, and bones turned charred black at a visible speed.

His body hunched over, and his clothes were burned to ashes in an instant.

His eyeballs also disappeared.

All that remained were two black flames burning within their dark eye sockets, staring intently at Xia En before them.

At this moment, the man no longer possessed a human form; he was clearly like a charred corpse that had emerged from purgatory!

All of this happened in a mere second.

Xia En didn't seem like someone who had been burned by flames.

But...

That's just how he always was!

It was just that it had temporarily appeared as a normal person under the disguise of some kind of power.

This black flame merely restored him to his original form.

And this time.

Xia En inexplicably thought of the curse that the man had mentioned.

"Could this be... a curse placed upon them?"

But this charred undead clearly wouldn't give Shane much time to think.

After letting out a low growl, it pounced on him.

A foul-smelling wind, carrying intense heat, howled in.

Faced with such an attack, Shane covered his fist with the [Great Dark Heaven] and threw a punch without hesitation.

A muffled "boom" was heard!
The charred corpse instantly disintegrated into pieces, turning into a pile of remains.

It has a hidden profession called "Guardian of Secrets".

As Shane comes into contact with more and more secrets, the solution density continues to increase.

His overall qualities and strength have improved significantly once again, so he can naturally do this with sheer brute force.

Just quickly.

Xia En then noticed that the charred corpses scattered all over the ground had not completely found peace, and stopped his actions.

Instead, they slowly come together and gradually piece themselves back into their original form.

Upon seeing this, Xia En's pupils contracted.

He had seen this immortality in the ice crystal monsters of the Far North!

Xia En suddenly realized.

Perhaps I misunderstood the meaning behind the man's words.

The real curse is probably not this charred corpse state, but rather...

The far north is teeming with all sorts of filthy creatures!
They were corrupted by unclean and mysterious forces, their souls imprisoned in their polluted and mutated bodies, never to be freed.

One can only let the soul go mad over a long period of time.

This is the truly terrifying curse.

So, what was the purpose of this fire...?

(End of this chapter)