Chapter 1956

"Is this the second mission point?"

Stopping in front of a commercial office building, Qing Kai gazed thoughtfully at the pitch-black building.

Under the dim sky, the entire building looked like burnt charcoal, stretching toward the sky.

"That's right; if nothing unexpected happens, it should be on the sixth or seventh floor. This building caught fire before, so we should go up via the fire escape on the right-side small door."

Squinting slightly, Hai Yao uncomfortably tightened the scales on his body; as a marine creature, even after reaching the Fifth Stage, he still loathed blackness deep down.

Not only are burnt things black, but the rift in the seabed, Shen Yuan, is also black.

"Lord Qing Kai, this office building is huge; we'll probably be searching for a while!"

"How about this: I'll take Jin Niu in through the rear entrance, and we'll search from front and back; our speed should increase a lot!"

Standing behind Qing Kai, Shen She gave a fawning smile and pointed at the hollow building. Just a rough glance shows each floor is no less than a thousand square meters; factoring in the partitioned structures, even if they split up to search, the two floors would still take considerable time.

As time passed, everyone felt danger closing in.

Hearing Shen She actually want to pull him along, Jin Niu frowned. Frankly, he'd rather act with Hai Yao; besides Hai Yao having the weakest backing, making him easy to manipulate, Shen She, as Qing Kai's lackey, couldn't be trusted at critical moments.

After merely noticing Qing Kai's slight nod, Jin Niu couldn't say anything, so he could only Curse Quietly.

He knew this was Shen She gauging Qing Kai's intent, deliberately trying to drive a wedge between him and Hai Yao.

"Do you see it? 77..."

"These guys, even in this kind of mission they're still scheming and fighting. Just you wait—once we gather more clues, these old foxes will fight even more!"

Sitting on the cart, the Giant chuckled coldly.

Clearly they were on the same team, but at this moment he and Lin An were being excluded like outsiders.

With some effort he rose from the cart, doing his best to follow behind Lin An.

Qing Kai didn't wait for them at all. Frankly, although this time he had to cooperate with Lin An due to the special mission, normally he didn't like teaming up with peers of equal strength.

"77, how should we search? Should we just skip them and go straight to the seventh floor? If we split up to search, maybe we'll get lucky and find the clues first."

"As long as we don't touch the information, searching should be Safety. Otherwise we would have been attacked already along the way."

Gu Si Man limped along; although it would be better for Lin An to carry him, he still had some pride and didn't want to be truly crippled.

"No, I think I know where the information point is."

"We just need to go up."

Lin An spoke calmly; before Gu Si Man could even react, Qing Kai and the others, who were just about to split up and go upstairs, turned toward him in surprise.

At this distance they could already hear Lin An's voice, especially since Lin An had no intention of hiding anything.

"You know where!? The system didn't mark the coordinates..."

"Kid, where did you...!?"

Without waiting for Shen She's instinctive distrustful question, Lin An couldn't be bothered with nonsense and simply pointed to the sixth floor.

"If nothing unexpected, the fourth room from the left on the sixth floor—namely the room whose lower half of the window is broken—is the information point."

Directly beneath that room on the second floor, a sign had been knocked askew. This indicates someone jumped down and landed right on it. But there was no broken glass or corpses on the first floor.

Shocked by the simplicity, Lin An finished speaking and gestured for everyone to look at the ground directly below 604. Upon close inspection, they indeed discovered a small blank patch on the floor there.

As a Star-Destroying Level, his reaction was naturally not slow.

Qing Kai blinked slightly, narrowed his eyes, and quickly realized Lin An was correct.

Even Shen She, who had always objected to Lin An, wasn't stupid enough to raise a counter-question.

It's a simple logic: an abnormality means a problem; spotting an abnormality means it's an issue; there are no coincidences in Special Events.

"Your observation skills are not bad, and your eyesight isn't either."

Chuckling lightly, Qing Kai seemed to praise Lin An with a sentence, then didn't think much of it. This detail was indeed overlooked by them, but it's only natural that this kid, moving slowly and constantly observing from afar, would notice such a small detail.

"Well then, there's no need to split up. Isn't there also a sign up there?"

"Gaze... photography?"

Everyone looked up, instinctively at 604; on the blackened building facade, a half of a studio sign could faintly be seen. Utterly ruined, the whole piece had been burned and deformed, making the 'eye' character on it look somewhat like the 'corpse' character.

"Thump-thump—thump-thump"

Chaotic footsteps echoed in the dark stairwell; Shen She walked in front with a grim expression, gripping a pointed steel rod tightly.

The light‑tight fire escape resembled a tomb passage; deprived of the Awakened Ones' powerful vision, they could only judge the floor number by counting the steps beneath their feet.

Cursing Quietly, he stared at the pitch‑black expanse ahead, dreading that some monster might lunge at his face.

"Just two more floors, don't panic."

"Before touching the information, it should be fine; after finding the clues, discussion is not allowed without my order."

Walking behind Shen She, Qing Kai seemingly comforted him by patting his shoulder, then issued the order in a low voice.

His judgment was about the same as the Giant Gu Si Man's, except he added a 'theory'. Noticing how Shen She flinched at even a light pat, Qing Kai couldn't help but flash a hint of contempt in his eyes.

He roughly understood the civilization Shen She belonged to—a waste‑civilization that was absorbed by another alliance as soon as the Apocalypse broke out. Having scarcely experienced real terror, as a Star‑Destroyer Shen She basically relied on decent talent, grinding his way up to the Fifth Stage by 'killing monsters and leveling up'.

Seeing how poor Shen She's mind was, Qing Kai even doubted the guy had ever experienced any of the three major events.

(Another burden, no wonder he acted like a lackey as soon as he joined. Looks like I'll have to watch out for this piece of trash causing trouble...)

The thought flashed and vanished; after quickening his pace, Qing Kai heard the Giant's labored breathing behind him and couldn't help but frown.

In such an environment, the Giant's panting sounded like a death rattle, making listeners irritable and restless.

Soon, as light gradually appeared ahead, everyone exhaled in relief, feeling how beautiful the brightness was.

Shen She in the lead even snatched up his spear and quickened his pace, gazing toward the 604 they were seeking.

In just a minute or two, they already felt stifled and uncomfortable.

After a quick glance around, Jin Niu's face grew solemn, confirming Lin An's guess was correct.

"It should be at that front‑right corner; everywhere else was burned out, only that spot's outer wall remained white!"