Guo Yun: Plays Ye Shunguang, teammate Ye Shiyuan

Let's go back to a week before Ye Shunguang's accident.

The leaden-gray sky pressed down heavily on the Zero Hole, like a thick felt cloth soaked in mold and the stench of death, blocking out all the light.

Jack crouched behind the section of concrete slab, his back pressed tightly against the cold, rough cement wall, his knuckles repeatedly rubbing the worn-out, white edges of his tactical gloves.

His breathing was extremely light, the rise and fall of his chest barely perceptible. His deep brown eyes peered through the gaps in the ruins, staring intently at the dim passage ahead. He exuded a calm and collected aura, as if he had been through countless battles, and every nerve was taut like a bowstring ready to be released.

Clearly, he wouldn't be so nervous if the surrounding corpses hadn't dissipated yet. After all, he didn't want to use the bullets he bought with points to hit corpses that hadn't dissipated yet, and he was worried that those corpses might rise again at any moment.

A very faint static noise came through the earpiece, followed by Sofia Rodriguez's clear voice, as calm as a piece of refined iron tempered in icy water, without a trace of extra emotion: "No unusual activity at the three o'clock position on the left side of the ruins. The traces of the skeletons' activity stop ten meters away, and there are no signs of a cluster at the moment."

The woman leaned against a corner of the broken wall on the other side, her figure completely hidden. Her tight-fitting black combat uniform was stained grayish by the dust in the hole, and her trouser legs and cuffs were stained with a mixture of dark red blood and yellow sand, making her look extremely disheveled.

Even so, it couldn't conceal her unique sharpness and composure—her back was straight, her hands hung naturally at her sides, her fingers lightly gripping the pistol handle, and her eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, able to catch the slightest danger signal in an instant, even in dire straits.

Her breathing rhythm was in sync with Jack's; the two of them didn't need to speak, they could form the most tacit cooperation just by exchanging a few words through their earpieces.

A harsh, hoarse complaint suddenly erupted from the side, shattering the deathly silence of the area.

Brian Davis stood upright in the open space. His height of just over two meters made him look like a moving wall of steel. He had broad shoulders and a thick back, and his muscular arms were bulging with menacing veins. Even in his combat uniform, one could see the explosive power beneath him.

He stood there, completely exposed, shielding himself from most of the howling sandstorm. His thick fingers rubbed his left side, his brow furrowed, and his voice was filled with frustration and resentment: "Ugh... what were we even doing all this for? We risked everything to hand over all the intelligence we had, and in the end, we didn't get a single benefit. Instead, we became the most miserable and exhausted errand runners! Damn it, my old wound is starting to hurt again, it's excruciating!"

His voice was rough and loud, carrying far through the empty ruins.

"Shut up, Brian." Jack didn't turn around, his voice steady and powerful, carrying an unquestionable commanding aura that drowned out the howling sandstorm. "Maintain formation, don't expose yourselves. The skeletons in the cave are extremely sensitive to sound. Do you want to lure all the monsters within a hundred meters here?"

He paused, tapped the headset lightly with his fingertip, and said crisply, "Emily, lock on remotely, clear out the scattered remains ahead, prioritize eliminating fast-moving individuals."

"Received." A crisp female voice responded, clean and efficient, without any hesitation.

Emily Carter lay atop the highest, broken tower, its structure riddled with holes from the hollow power of the void, its walls covered in cracks, and loose stones falling with every gust of wind.

She was once a top sniper in Delta Force, having fought her way through countless battlefields in the Middle East. She and Jack fought side by side in several joint operations, and the two shared an unspoken understanding of life and death.

At this moment, she was pressed against the cold spire, her body forming a perfect concealment angle with the tower. Her slender fingers lightly rested on the trigger of the sniper rifle. Her left eye was half-closed, while her right eye was pressed against the scope. The crosshairs, like the gaze of death, steadily locked onto the dark figure that emerged from the cracks in the ruins.

It was a low-level E-rank or lower skeleton, its body twisted, its skin grayish-black, its limbs deformed and twisted, and thick saliva dripping from its mouth, wandering aimlessly through the ruins.

Emily's breathing slowed, her heartbeat perfectly synchronized with the force of the trigger, and her fingertip pressed down slightly.

"Whoosh—" A very light sound cut through the air. The sniper bullet accurately pierced the core of the skeleton, and black, viscous fluid sprayed out instantly. The skeleton didn't even utter a sound before falling straight to the ground, turning into a cloud of black mist and dissipating.

Almost simultaneously, a pale blue virtual screen flashed before Emily's eyes, and a line of clear text appeared:

[Defeat 1 E-rank skeleton, gain 300 points]

The score fluctuated briefly before steadily increasing, offering them only solace in this perilous void.

After all, it's long-range sniping. This stable, safe environment where you can continuously earn points is infinitely better than other players from other countries who are still struggling to survive in the wilderness and can't even solve their basic needs.

The four members of the Eagle Nation team steadily increased their score thanks to their excellent military skills and teamwork, which was one of the few sources of confidence they had.

Another small-scale clearing operation ended, and the ruins returned to deathly silence, with only the sound of wind and sand sweeping across the broken walls remaining.

Not long after, a series of light footsteps came from afar, and a woman in an investigator's uniform walked over, leading a round, chubby bastard.

The investigator looked up at the four men and said in a calm tone, "Come with me. This data collection is complete. Return to the outpost to rest."

Without saying much, the four silently followed the investigator, leaving the outer area of ​​Hollow Zero and returning to the border outpost.

Upon entering the outpost, the four men shed all their battle-hardened edge, transforming from decisive warriors into unpaid laborers at the bottom of the outpost.

After all, this was something they requested a long time ago in order to explore this world.

In exchange for the right to operate in the Void, or rather, to have a stable backer in this world, they voluntarily handed over all the intelligence they possessed, and even revealed that they came from another world.

So once they proved they had no ability to harm them, the outpost used them as free labor, making them do the hardest and most dangerous odd jobs—moving supplies, clearing rubble, and guarding the perimeter. All the dirty and tiring work fell to them.

Fortunately, the four of them possessed exceptional combat abilities. After a comprehensive assessment by the outpost's officials, and considering the bizarre mutations in the creatures of this world's hollow wilderness that ordinary security personnel were simply unable to handle, they were exceptionally allowed to carry their guns again and take charge of clearing out the outpost and updating data inside and outside the hollow.

For them, being able to pick up a gun again, instead of doing manual labor, is the best possible outcome.

But Brian harbored a simmering anger and a question that he couldn't understand.

He looked down and rubbed his lower back, where there was a faint pink scar, left from an injury he sustained on a G-rank monster.

Logically speaking, such a small wound should have healed completely long ago, leaving only faint marks on the skin surface. It should feel smooth and flat to the touch, without any discomfort, and even the pain should have disappeared.

Strangely, as soon as he stepped into the area of ​​Void Zero, the wound that had long since healed would start to ache faintly.

It wasn't a sharp, piercing pain, but a dull ache that sank deep into his bones, as if something was hidden deep within the wound, slowly awakening with the hollow breath, gnawing at his nerves little by little.

The pain wasn't intense, but it lingered, constantly bothering him and making him extremely irritable.

But for Brian, this pain was nothing.

He had been nearly killed before, and had survived countless trials and tribulations, so he could grit his teeth and bear this faint pain. He shook his head, dismissing the strange pain as the eerie energy within the void, and didn't take it to heart.

And so he endured it for about a week.

As the days slowly passed, time quietly arrived at the point after Ye Shunguang's accident but before the Dragon Kingdom team had begun their rescue operation.

As Ye Shunguang fell into crisis and the Dragon Kingdom team suffered losses, the Eagle Kingdom team's live stream saw an explosive surge in popularity. The barrage of comments scrolled wildly like a tidal wave, densely covering the entire screen, making it almost impossible to see the content.

"Hahahaha! We've been steadily accumulating points for a long time now. Without Ye Shunguang, those Dragon Kingdom people are just a bunch of scattered sand! We'll overtake them in points sooner or later. Our Great Eagle Empire is truly invincible!"

"Tch, stop dreaming. Our Dragon Kingdom is tens of thousands of points ahead of you. Even if you're improving fast now, I bet you can't catch up! If you actually do, you'll be amazing!"

"It's questionable whether your Ye Shunguang is even alive, unlike the four of us who are completely unharmed, without even a scratch! Without Ye Shunguang, your Dragon Kingdom is nothing!"

"The crow is actually a seven-colored divine bird: You're cursing our contestants? Then I'll curse your contestants too! I curse you to have some kind of accident soon, to crash directly into an S-rank corpse! To be killed by a great miracle and then reincarnated in another world!"

"Tch! Who would believe that? He's just being stubborn. Our team is top-notch, how could anything happen to us?"

"Hey, I actually believed him, because he's the kind of person who always jinxes everything he says, he's always right!"

"What the hell? Wait, you guys didn't cast some kind of witchcraft, did you?! Cancel it now! I won't laugh at you anymore, okay?"

"That person up there is definitely not from our Great Eagle Empire! Such a coward, he's a disgrace to us! I despise you!"

"666, what's with the infighting? That's hilarious! One second they were so arrogant, the next they're scared?"

The chat was buzzing with arguments, but the Eagle Nation team in the live stream ignored it and continued preparing for their next mission.

Soon, a new task was assigned for the day—to enter the depths of Void Zero, update the activity data of the skeletons in the area, and collect void energy samples.

The four set off again, with the investigator still holding Bomb's hand and following behind. This time, her task was to record the data throughout the process and update the empty new map.

The instrument is the equipment of the outpost, which can accurately detect the activity intensity of the skeletons inside the cavity. The screen is glowing with a pale green light, and the values ​​are fluctuating steadily. Everything is normal.

Upon entering the hollow area, Brian felt a familiar dull pain return from the wound in his waist and abdomen. He frowned, enduring the pain without uttering a sound.

Jack gave a hand signal, and the squad quickly spread out, forming a standard combat formation: Jack commanded from the center, Sophia provided flanking cover, Brian advanced from the front, and Emily provided aerial sniping. The four worked in perfect harmony, like a sophisticated war machine, and began clearing away the corpses along the way.

The first batch of skeletons consisted of scattered E-rank individuals, few in number, and slow-moving.

Emily's sniper rifle fired again, hitting its mark every time. Jack and Sophia worked together to clear out the remaining enemies, while Brian, with his powerful physique and the enhancement agents purchased with system points, crushed the charging Yi Hai with an axe.

The battle ended very quickly, an almost crushing victory, and the score steadily increased again, making the team's atmosphere much more relaxed.

Just then, the measuring instrument in the investigator's hand suddenly emitted a very soft "beep".

The sound was faint, masked by the wind, sand, and the lingering echoes of the battle, and almost no one noticed it.

The investigator glanced down at the instrument; the values ​​on the screen fluctuated slightly before stabilizing.

She frowned, thinking that electromagnetic interference from the cavity was affecting the equipment. She casually pressed the restart button, then wiped the sensor at the front of the instrument with the corner of her clothes, muttering to herself, "Strange, why is there fluctuation? It must be interference."

Without giving it much thought, she put the instrument back in her pocket and continued to follow the team.

The second wave of skeletons arrived in quick succession. This time, it was a small cluster of D-class skeletons, several times more numerous than before, and they moved much more nimbly.

The squad's fighting pace quickened slightly, Jack's commands became more decisive, Sophia's pistol fired precise shots, Brian wielded his tactical knife and charged forward, and Emily's sniper rifle was like a scythe reaping lives; with each shot, a skeleton fell to the ground.

They still held the upper hand in the battle, and the four of them moved with fluid grace. Thanks to the surge in points they had accumulated over the past few days, they had upgraded their entire set of combat equipment and no longer needed to use the old American equipment that was prone to malfunctions and had a high failure rate.

The new firearms were smooth to handle, had less recoil, and were more accurate. The armor's defensive capabilities were also greatly improved, instantly elevating their combat effectiveness to a new level. After clearing out this wave of corpses, the group wasn't even out of breath, and relaxed smiles adorned their faces.

But the investigator's expression slowly began to change.

She took out the measuring instrument again, and the values ​​on the screen were no longer stable, but fluctuated up and down continuously.

The investigator's heart sank. She adjusted the instrument again and repeatedly calibrated the parameters, but the values ​​continued to fluctuate wildly. That soft sound was like an alarm bell, striking her heart.

"What's wrong?" Jack noticed the investigator's unusual behavior and stopped to ask.

"No...it's nothing, there's a small problem with the equipment, maybe the interference hasn't gone away yet." The investigator tried to remain calm, but her fingers holding the equipment were trembling slightly. She didn't dare to voice her concerns for fear of causing panic among the team, so she could only grit her teeth and continue forward.

The team continued deeper, and after clearing out the third wave of skeletons, they finally arrived at the core area of ​​this mission. The ruins here were even more dilapidated, and the air was filled with a strong stench of decay and a strange sweet fragrance. The ground was covered with sticky traces left by the skeletons, which felt sticky and made one's scalp tingle when stepped on.

Just as everyone was preparing to collect data, the instrument in the investigator's hand suddenly emitted several urgent beeps.

The investigator's face turned deathly pale instantly, her palms were instantly soaked with cold sweat, the instrument's screen began to flash red, and the readings directly exceeded the normal range. She frantically tried to turn off the instrument, but no matter how she pressed the buttons, there was no response.

"What the hell... what is that?" Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly, and the unease in her heart surged wildly like a tidal wave.

Jack sensed something was wrong. He raised his hand to signal the team to stop, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily: "Everyone on alert, something's not right."

Sophia tensed instantly, pointing her pistol forward; Brian's relaxed expression vanished; Emily hurriedly climbed off the broken bridge, but the empty square was deserted.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

Urgent and sharp, like the countdown to death.

The investigator's heart pounded in her chest. Finally, unable to contain her fear, she cried out, "Something's wrong! There's a very strong reactive substance here. We have to get out of here immediately!"

Before he could finish speaking, the instrument went completely out of control.

A sharp, piercing explosion erupted from the instruments, its shrill sound shattering the empty silence and echoing repeatedly in the desolate ruins, like an apocalyptic alarm.

Sparks flew from the instrument's screen, red light flashed wildly, and the readings went way off the charts, exceeding the instrument's detection limit. This was far beyond the investigator's comprehension—in all her years of experience, she had never seen such a terrifying bioactivity!

Everyone instantly understood the subtext, and their relaxed expressions vanished without a trace, replaced by deep panic and unease. They all looked up in unison, following the investigator's terrified gaze to the sky above.

The sharp, countdown-like sound of the measuring instruments seemed particularly eerie and terrifying in the deathly, oppressive atmosphere.

The investigator, his face ashen, disregarded all rules and grabbed Jack, pulling him with all his might towards the nearby stairwell, his voice trembling with tears: "Run! Run! It's too late!"

Jack was held tightly by her. As a highly disciplined veteran, he didn't roughly pull away. Instead, he lowered his voice as much as possible, his tone full of doubt and wariness: "What happened? What is it?"

The investigator didn't have time to answer; he just kept running forward, his eyes filled with despair.

Seeing this, the others reacted instantly and hurriedly ran to the stairwell, hiding in the narrow stairwell, barely daring to breathe.

Just then, Brian, who was at the back, peeked out, then suddenly ducked down and let out a bloodcurdling scream, his voice filled with extreme terror, as if he had seen the most terrifying thing in the world: "WTF?! What is that?!"

Just as everyone was about to follow his gaze upwards, the investigator and Brian, who had realized what was happening, grabbed their heads and pressed them into a corner of the stairwell.

"Don't look up! Whatever you do, don't look!" Brian's voice trembled uncontrollably. The usually fierce and powerful man was now like a terrified lamb, his body shaking uncontrollably. "Shut up... whatever you do, don't say a word!"

Seeing his utterly terrified appearance, everyone's fear reached its peak. They all instinctively shut their mouths, held their breath, and dared not even brace their heartbeats. The only sounds in the stairwell were the frantic buzzing of the equipment and the suppressed gasps of the crowd.

The next second, the world changed color.

The already dimly lit place was instantly swallowed up by complete darkness.

It wasn't sandstorms or fog, but true, complete darkness, as if an invisible hand had forcibly pulled away all the light in the world, leaving you unable to see your own hand in front of your face, and unable to even make out the outlines of the people around you.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable roar came crashing down from the sky.

Looking up, a gigantic, flower-like, terrifying pink creature passed by.

But the sound was like the cacophony of millions of insects flapping their wings at the same time, mixed with the whooshing sound of a giant creature moving through the air. The volume was no less than ten transport planes flying straight past your ear, making your eardrums ache, your head buzz, and your internal organs tremble violently.

An extreme, icy, and destructive pressure, like Mount Tai crashing down, crashed down from the sky!

The air instantly froze, becoming as heavy as steel, making it hard for everyone to breathe. Their limbs stiffened, and they couldn't even move their fingers. Cold sweat instantly soaked through their combat uniforms, streaming down their foreheads and dripping onto the ground, yet they couldn't even make a sound.

Jack's eyes widened, his pupils contracted sharply, and even with his head being pressed down, he could feel the earth-shattering pressure. Only one thought remained in his mind:

What the hell is this thing?!

Brian was so frightened that he trembled all over, his teeth chattered, and he didn't even dare to breathe. The wound on his waist and abdomen was now throbbing with excruciating pain, as if echoing the terrifying presence in the sky.

Just then, a cold, mechanical, and emotionless system notification sounded loudly in the minds of every member of the Eagle Nation team, as well as in the Eagle Nation live stream:

[National Fortune System Notification: The Eagle Nation team has encountered an S-class symbiotic skeleton swarm! Codename: Niniwei!]

[Due to a system update, this report will only be broadcast live within this country, and will be silently updated to the monster knowledge base of the national fortune system at the same time.]

As soon as this news came out, the comments section went wild, scrolling through the screen like crazy.

"An S-rank corpse?! Nineveh?! What is that?!"

"My God!! That oppressive aura... I can't breathe even through the screen!"

"Holy crap, what is that?! It's so big?!"

"Are you kidding me? My God! Is this something a human can actually fight?"

"Damn it, I told you the Dragon Kingdom used witchcraft but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened! We're doomed! (Little Equestria is about to collect 80,000 pills.jpg)"

"The crow is actually a mythical bird with seven colors: Congratulations, you've won the grand prize!"

"You're the one who won the lottery! Your whole family won the lottery! You witch doctor from the Dragon Kingdom! Nobody will like you! Your mother is ashamed of you!"

"The crow is actually a seven-colored divine bird: I originally thought that as a netizen from the Eagle Nation, coming to the front lines to face my blatant attack, you would surely have some profound insights. I never expected you to utter such feeble words! Shameless old thief, don't you know that everyone in the world finds your words laughable? How dare you ramble on here! Since you are a sycophant, you can only cower and cower, barely surviving. How dare you presume to speak of destiny before me! White-haired scoundrel, gray-bearded old thief? You are about to die. You have lived a wasted life, achieving nothing but empty words! Aiding me in my own evil deeds! A spineless dog, yet you dare to bark wildly before me. I have never seen such a shameless person!"

"……unbelievable!"

"A decisive blow, unstoppable!"