The Trembling World
chapter-426-30041322

TL: LifeisaJourney

The sudden appearance of the strange black fog surprised Liu Gan. He observed the changes in appearance as it roiled out there, as if it was concentrating on keeping something down. The black fog surrounded the entire park, but stopped short of entering the premises as if held back by a wall. Hand-like shapes were extending out from the black fog, looking as if something was trapped beneath the surface and trying to claw its way out. At other parts were the shapes of fantastic mouths that seemed to want to swallow everything whole.

“What is that?” asked the other players as they witnessed the phenomenon, shocked. They had witnessed countless mist-fog features before, but this was a first even for them.

Liu Gan tried to use the new earpiece to contact Yin He, but that proved to be unsuccessful, there was no reply. It was completely silent, no different then being broken.

The wall of malice started slowly closing in on Moonlight Gulf Theme Park. Liu Gan sensed the danger and ordered everyone to retreat within the park. While moving backward, they monitored the actions of the black fog. They couldn't figure out how the cloud could take shape, or what the fog was made out of.

Could it be that the entire world outside had been consumed by this wall of malice? That didn’t make sense! Along the way, they hadn’t seen any signs of the black fog! It wasn’t logical for it to suddenly appear in the short time that they were here.

The squad released sighs of relief. The wall of malice had stopped short of Moonlight Gulf’s front gate, and didn’t breach. It was stopped short of entering, but it continued to roil. If they move closer to it, they could hear sounds of beasts howling in pain.

“What is going on? When we entered, there was nothing of this sort!” The players started to panic.

Liu Gan didn’t say anything regarding the black fog. This was all too abnormal, even for him. Yin He and NaNa weren’t able to pass through the gate, but everyone else was present. Wasn’t this similar to the situation on the Serenity airship? When they were dragged into the dreamland?

Last time, Liu Gan was dragged into the dreamland through an ability of the Nightmare Jellyfish, but he was woken up by Yin He’s call. Eventually, he was able to come to his senses. This time it was completely different. Liu Gan clearly knew that he wasn’t in a dreamland. It was just that Yin He and NaNa were missing, while everyone else was accounted for.

Liu Gan had his suspicions that this time it wasn’t a hallucination or a dream. Instead, he felt that this theme park was the entrance to the Evil Dragon’s nest. It could also be a portal to a different dimension, since everyone living who entered was able to pass through.

At least this portal was able to only allow biological beings to pass through. Anything else wouldn’t be able to enter. That would explain why only he and the players were able to enter, while Yin He and NaNa were refused entry!

This portal’s exit point was separate from the entry. It was a one-way portal that started from the theme park’s grandiose gate, where they stepped into the dimensional space. It was impossible to leave this dimension through the same point they had entered. If there was an entry point, there must be an exit point. They must find this exit point, and fast.

When Zhan Nan Shan and Qiu Tao first came to the nest, they must have gone through the same entrance portal. If they had returned safely back to the village, then that confirmed the existence of an exit point. The question was, why did they return to the theme park? There must be a reason for them to return even after suffering severe casualties.

“Oh! My haversack is over there!” a player suddenly cried out as he ran toward the wall of malice right by the front gate. On the floor was a bag filled with food and water. That player reached out his hand to pick it up.

“Don’t pick it up!” Liu Gan shouted, but it was too late.

The player, turned around to look at Liu Gan, with his hand stretched out to get the bag. From the wall of malice, the shape of a beast formed, and took a bite out of the stretched-out arm.

That unfortunate player shrieked loudly and continued to cry out from the pain, pulling back his arm. Even though the beast looked like an illusion, the bite was real. The player’s open wound was definitely part of his flesh and skin. Certain places even had the bone revealed, a horrifying wound.

“The pain! The pain is killing me!” the player screamed as he rolled away from the black fog, still shocked by what had happened.

“Don’t go near that wall! Absolutely don’t touch it!” Liu Gan moved up to pull the wounded player away by his shirt as they retreated.

The sudden appearance of the black fog was already an ominous sign. Liu Gan’s sixth sense of danger was going off in his head. What is this substance? Why did it suddenly appear? What does this mean? Are we trapped? What do people on the outside see, like Yin He and NaNa, when they look in?

The possibility of the outside world being swallowed up by this black fog was low, but possible. Liu Gan personally felt that only the people within the theme park could see it.

As for the black fog, there were too many questions and not enough answers. For instance, when they had killed zombies, it would leak out those black orbs that would seep into the player’s body. The orbs were a form of experience that increased the player’s level. However, when the player died, their wristwatch would dissipate like fog into the air and return back to the environment. These black fogs held the key to unlocking the secrets of The Trembling World.

Liu Gan pulled the wounded player back to the two healers in the squad. The healers immediately started to get to work. The wounded player was level 8 already, so his Mist Armor was quite durable. The interesting surprise was that the wall of malice ignored his Mist Armor and inflicted damage directly to his body.

It was fortunate the wounded player had retracted his arm fast, so he didn’t suffer a fatal injury. The two healers weren’t able to completely heal his wound, but they were able to alleviate his pain.

“Will we be trapped here? What will happen to us? I want to head back to the village!” a few other players started to complain.

Following Liu Gan out on an expedition required courage. These players weren’t weak-willed, but something strange like this was beyond even the new norm for them.