Chapter 276: Is There a Possibility...

If Jiang Lan were forced to stop her operations, then Na Heye could directly monopolize the entire market.

Or perhaps, before the Fool had even found Jiang Lan, that bastard might have already made a fortune selling the ingredients she had provided.

"Since Justice and the Wheel of Fortune are currently busy, why don't we go have some fun? We didn't quite get to fully enjoy ourselves earlier anyway."

Ruan Qingyi suggested.

Her proposal immediately won everyone's unanimous approval.

They had rushed over in such a hurry, yet the only ones who actually saw any action were Lan Qingyou, Ingrid, and Orff, who dropped out the moment he engaged.

"You three are absolutely forbidden from making a move."

Consequently, the three of them received a stern warning from the rest of the group, who were practically bored to tears.

However...

Lan Qingyou looked at the people warning her with a perfectly innocent expression.

"Uh... fine, you can make a move, but the Chariot and the Sun absolutely cannot."

Warned once more, the two could only shrug helplessly. They had practically obtained what they came for anyway; the rest depended entirely on the Chariot and Esmeralda.

Therefore, the two of them simply opted out of tagging along.

Instead, they stayed behind to stand guard over Esmeralda as she performed her Divination, ensuring she would not be interrupted.

"This zone of yours feels incredibly unique. Is there some specific reason for it?"

Lan Qingyou asked, looking down at her surroundings from high above as they made their way down the path of vengeance.

Originally, Lan Qingyou had assumed that this Cursed Corridor would be a chaotic, distorted realm overrun by all sorts of monsters and a completely mangled timeline.

Yet, when she laid eyes on the rows of meticulously planned Shelters before her, a deeply peculiar sensation washed over her.

These Shelters—whether they were wooden cabins like Jiang Lan's, stone houses, treehouses, crypts, or full-blown fortresses—were all aligned in a slight curve. Separated by gaps of exactly twenty meters, they were neatly arranged into an absolutely massive circle.

The Shelters formed the outermost perimeter. Stepping outside a Shelter meant exiting the Cursed Corridor entirely, while the inner area contained their personal vegetable gardens, wheat fields, and rice paddies.

The sight was quite refreshing and idyllic, but it inevitably sparked a wave of curiosity in Lan Qingyou's mind.

She could not help but wonder why this region was structured in such a bizarre manner.

Obviously, she was one hundred percent certain that this was not some miraculous work of nature.

"I knew you were going to ask that."

Seeing Lan Qingyou's questioning gaze, Jiang Lan offered a gentle smile.

After all, considering everyone else was walking on the ground, Lan Qingyou, who was hovering in the air, could naturally spot the pattern much faster.

"Actually, in the very beginning, everyone was scattered all over the zone. It was no different from any other region."

"It was only later that someone found traveling too inconvenient—they could not even drop by to visit their neighbors—so they utilized their innate talent to rearrange all the Shelters into this precise layout."

Jiang Lan explained.

"Wait! Empress, are you saying this perfectly neat arrangement is entirely the result of someone's talent?"

Ruan Qingyi stared at Jiang Lan in sheer astonishment, her mouth hanging slightly open.

"Correct. You all know how a washing machine works, right? The centrifugal force from the spinning throws all the contents toward the outer edges. That is exactly what happened here."

Naturally, everyone was familiar with a washing machine.

And the moment words like 'spinning' and 'centrifugal force' were mentioned, their minds unconsciously conjured the image of a massive aquatic whirlpool.

To the group, rather than the Shelters simply being randomly tossed outward to form this immaculate layout, it was more likely that a preexisting barrier had stopped them. They had been flung outward until they hit that invisible wall, halting their momentum entirely.

That precise limitation was what ultimately gave birth to this perfect ring shape.

If the original boundary had been square instead of round, Lan Qingyou probably would not be admiring such a smooth, sweeping curve from the sky right now.

"Heh, whoever pulled that off must be incredibly powerful. I'm actually itching to meet them,"

Li Huai remarked. Hearing that someone possessed the strength to churn an entire region left him practically vibrating with anticipation, eager to exchange a few blows and test their mettle.

"This is the place."

After walking for just over three minutes, both Jiang Lan and Frena rolled to a halt.

'That is absurdly close!'

Lan Qingyou complained inwardly, glancing from the target Shelter to Jiang Lan's connected wooden cabins just down the row.

"Alright, all of you step back. Watch the master at work,"

Since they had arrived at their destination, the first one up was naturally Lan Qingyou, who was acting as their designated 'battering ram.'

However, before Lan Qingyou even had the chance to gain any altitude, a man's arrogant voice echoed from inside the Shelter.

"Jiang Lan! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Start the assault,"

Even though the man was shouting at her through the window, Jiang Lan completely ignored him. Instead, she turned her head, offering Lan Qingyou a gentle, closed-eye smile.

"Ah, right!"

A shiver ran down Lan Qingyou's spine under that terrifyingly sweet gaze, and she immediately shot up into the sky.

Because this mission required a precision strike, Lan Qingyou did not ascend to an altitude of over two hundred meters like she had previously. Instead, she hovered at a moderate height, locked onto her target, and directly hurled down a massive boulder about three feet across.

Again, to ensure a flawless precision strike without damaging the adjacent Shelters just twenty meters away, she had deliberately opted for 'small-caliber' ammunition.

Boom!

Although the stone was relatively small, the kinetic force was more than enough to completely smash through the wooden roof of the target Shelter.

Because a Magic Circuit relied on continuous flow, shattering even a single node triggered a massive chain reaction, instantly causing the entire protective barrier to collapse.

The moment the massive boulder tore through both the shield and the Shelter, the rest of the group swarmed inside like a dark tide.

The ensuing battle was obscenely brief and smooth.

By the time Lan Qingyou drifted back down to the ground, the one-sided slaughter had already concluded.

Because the conflict had taken place entirely inside the ruined Shelter, Lan Qingyou had not even managed to catch a glimpse of the action.

In short, by the time she descended to about three feet above the ground, the assault squad was already strolling back out.

They were chatting and laughing amongst themselves, their faces practically glowing with warm, enthusiastic smiles.

Even though the skirmish had not even counted as a proper warm-up for them, they still radiated a cheerful, open-minded vibe of 'well, since we made the trip, at least it wasn't entirely a waste of time.'

"Empress, you might want to take a look at this,"

Shang Chuan called out as the group emerged, tossing an object over to Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan easily caught the projectile and examined it. It was a heavy iron tag engraved with the insignia of the 505 Formation.

And etched distinctly into the back of the metal plate were three words: 'Na Heye.'

"This..."

Jiang Lan frowned slightly.

"Well, I'll be damned. So Na Heye is actually a core member of the 505 Formation? Otherwise, how on earth would he possess something that even Sailan Siqing didn't have?"

Lan Qingyou, who had missed out on the fighting entirely, leaned over her shoulder to inspect the tag.

"Do you guys think there is a possibility..."

Just as Lan Qingyou fully registered the significance of the item in Jiang Lan's hand, Chu Yuan, who was standing beside them, furrowed his brow and finally spoke.