Chapter 511: Black Mountain Wind: An Abnormal Dream

Soon after.

The expedition team was mighty, numbering four thousand, and was stationed north of Black Mountain.

Although this expedition team organized by Radiant City could not possibly have a construction crew as heaven-defying as Umbrella's engineering team, many wealthy mercenaries still used mechanical exoskeletons and powered armor to help everyone set up a temporary camp.

However, compared to what the engineering department built, the camp was rather crude…

Of course, this seemed rather crude in the eyes of Leon, Lin Hong, and the other support troops, but for the expedition team, having a comfortable living environment in the uninhabited desert was already quite good.

The camp's defense and patrols were handled by gangsters from the Holatai Gang, or by hired mercenaries.

Meanwhile, several high-ranking members of the Holatai Gang, or whatever hall masters, along with a group of 'sponsor' and 'investor' adventurers, including Leon, were gathered on the second floor of the simple 'Command Center' at the camp's center.

No matter how you say it, Leon, who had obtained sufficient activity funds, also paid the 'admission ticket' with all-purpose gold and some banknotes, and thus smoothly became one of the leaders of this expedition.

In a meeting room on the second floor, there was also a corresponding holographic imaging device that displayed the nearby terrain map for everyone, and the gang leaders even marked various precautions on the holographic terrain map, looking quite formal.

However, to Leon sitting in the back row, all of this was truly 'child's play'.

At this moment, a woman with short gray hair not past her shoulders, wearing leather pants and a leather jacket, slender yet strong, came to the front of the meeting room, surveyed the assembled leaders, and introduced herself:

"I am the district chief of the Holatai Gang, Zhuo Ya. Our location is about 1,200 kilometers from Radiant City, and it is worth noting that…"

This woman named Zhuo Ya, a high-ranking gang member, said while calling up a new holographic terrain map and comparing it with the pre-generated one, then continued:

"Two Earth months ago, an expedition team once passed through here, but at that time the terrain was flat, and there was certainly no Black Mountain before our eyes."

"Oh~!" Upon hearing Zhuo Ya's words, a man in a suit who was also wearing sunglasses indoors, an arms dealer, immediately echoed: "Although this area has been explored before, this Black Mountain appeared out of nowhere; perhaps this is the source of the bloody red light!"

"Haha! Exactly, at last our luck has turned, letting us find something!"

"If it is ancient civilization technology, tsk tsk, then presenting it to the Empire might mean we no longer have to earn dirty money in this godforsaken place."

In an instant, everyone in the meeting room was excited.

After all, they had been tossing about for months, losing money and time and risking their lives; now that Zhuo Ya told them this Black Mountain seemed to be the source of the bloody light, they naturally vented their long-suppressed emotions.

Moreover, some people had come to a place like Sri Lanka because they had offended powers they thought they could not rise or advance within.

Now a research-worthy anomaly lay before them, and they would then have another chance to offer it to the Human Empire, to return to prosperity—this opportunity was surely exciting beyond endurance.

As for Leon, he also showed a look of joy, but deep inside he became increasingly calm, even solemn.

More than two hundred years have passed, and Leon had long discovered the uniqueness of his own physique.

Rather than saying he investigates anomalies, it is more like he reaches places where anomalies, creatures, or unknown extraterrestrials exist, after which those anomalies will 'come knocking,' and he cannot avoid them even if he wants to.

Otherwise, his superior would always like to send him to some place to investigate…

However, Leon had also grown accustomed to being used as a tool, knowing that his wife likewise noticed his special trait and sometimes even took advantage of it.

Thus, Leon told Lin Hong and the others on the surface that investigating anomalies requires patience and experience, as well as the sixth sense cultivated over time to make judgments; these words are correct and indeed match the insights summed up by a seasoned intelligence officer, but such a routine is hard to apply to him.

Therefore, when Zhuo Ya said that Black Mountain had an anomaly, Leon dared to be certain that the anomalous phenomenon erupting deep in the sand sea had once again 'come knocking.'

"Pap-pap~!"

At this moment, Zhuo Ya clapped her hands, signaling everyone to quiet down.

Once the meeting room was free of noisy discussion, Zhuo Ya continued: "Given that our equipment on hand cannot scan or analyze the mountain's internal structure, nor can we confirm whether this is the source of the bloody red light, and moreover the time is not early…"

Therefore I propose that everyone first rest well for a night, then tomorrow morning we will go deeper into the mountain to try to find whether there are entrances like caves or caverns—what do you think?

"No problem."

"Me too."

Zhuo Ya's proposal immediately gained everyone's approval.

"Very well, then we will gather promptly at eight tomorrow morning."

After Zhuo Ya finished speaking, she was the first to walk out of the meeting room; the rest of the people also rose and left, while Leon was at the rear of the crowd.

Arriving outside the central building.

Leon saw that the sky had already darkened; the star of this star system had set in the western horizon, its afterglow shining on the desert ground and providing heat.

At the same time, Leon also sensed the temperature gradually dropping, then turned his gaze toward a barren, desolate, and bald Black Mountain, falling into contemplation.

"Roar…!"

Suddenly!

Leon seemed to hear a low growl coming from behind him, from some unknown thing.

?!

Hearing this commotion, the combat instinct honed over many years made Leon draw his 'plasma' pistol from under his arm without hesitation, pointing it backward, and he also turned around accordingly.

But after he completed a series of tactical moves and turned fully around, he saw nobody or anything at all; it was still the makeshift camp.

The only difference was that the originally noisy, crowded camp had, in a short moment, become utterly empty, as if the whole camp now consisted only of Leon himself.

?

Realizing this, Leon instead lost his nervousness, then reholstered his 'plasma' pistol under his arm, calmly turned again, and faced the Black Mountain now completely plunged into darkness and impossible to discern.

Because Leon, having seen too many anomalies, knew his brain was being interfered with by some unknown technology, signal, or magnetic field.

Therefore, everything before him was an illusion, and he himself remained motionless in place, theoretically posing no threat; moreover, he could not randomly raise his gun and fire, lest he accidentally harm passersby trying to help, or Lin Hong and others rushing over.

Unless the anomaly could rewrite reality in the blink of an eye, pulling him from the physical universe into some dimension; if that were truly the case, then Leon would resign himself to fate.

He waited a moment.

"Young… person… I will… grant… supreme… power… as long as…"

A strange, yet enticing utterance, like someone speaking with water in their mouth, echoed in Leon's ears.

But this legendary intelligence officer, who had specialized in hunting down interdimensional demons even before vaccines were perfected, how could he possibly be tempted by such a 'boring' lure into degeneration?

"Mr. Kennedy!"

Immediately afterward, Leon was about to shout a curse in response to the other's whisper, when he heard Lin Hong's yell, like it was dispelling all darkness, pulling him out of the 'endless abyss.'

He came to his senses.

Leon discovered that, as he had expected, he was standing dazedly to the side of the "Command Center".

And seeing that their commander had not returned for a long time, Lin Hong and the others left their simple lodgings to search nearby, where they saw their commander standing dazedly in place.

Thus Lin Hong and the others gathered around Leon, keeping watch around while quietly asking, "Sir, what situation have you encountered?"

"All right." Leon, having regained control of his body, lightly shook his head, walked toward their simple lodgings, and said, "Follow me; we'll discuss this in detail later."

"Yes."

Lin Hong and the others strictly obeyed the order.

"By the way, where is that retired major general?" Leon, noticing that Lu Mu was absent, glanced around.

"He said he wanted to take a walk nearby, and while at it, talk with people from other teams, even muttering to himself things like 'This mountain shouldn't be here…!'" Lin Hong replied.

"Understood, let's leave him be for now."

"Yes."

Next.

After returning to the simple lodgings and confirming that the conversation's secrecy was not compromised, Leon directly took out his dedicated phone and, with stealth mode activated, contacted the Griffin, which was continuously drifting in low orbit over Sri Lanka.

"Commander, what are your orders?" On the holographic communications screen appeared the communications officer seated at the bridge's right-side position.

Seeing this, Leon did not waste words and directly issued the order: "All personnel prepare for battle; if any abnormality appears here, immediately have the accompanying Astate and auxiliary forces execute an airborne drop; also, input 'Human Empire000333' on your console."

"Yes, Commander."

Although the communications officer did not know why Leon was so on high alert, he immediately carried out the order, and after entering the number Leon dictated, he discovered that the workstation had opened a quantum-encrypted special channel.

Leon, without waiting for the communications officer to ask, continued issuing the command: "Using my authorization, request support from the nearest Grey Knight squad, understood?"

"Yes, Commander, please rest assured." The communications officer promptly replied, not daring to delay, and immediately executed the order again.

Grey Knights.

This special forces unit exists in society as a generally confidential entity; the public knows little about it, but unlike Ghost agents who leave no trace, at least many military forums online contain blurry videos and images showing some Grey Knights' unique appearance.

After all, extradimensional space is no longer a taboo for human society; thus, the Grey Knights specialized in handling extradimensional matters, under Sui Bian's direction, have allowed the public to become aware of them, albeit half-concealed, like a lady holding a lute half-covered.

Precisely for this reason, the communications officer, who knows the Grey Knights better than the public, therefore heightened his vigilance, dared not be lax, and surmised that the situation in Sri Lanka might be extremely complex.

As for Leon, after issuing the orders, he ended his communication with the Griffin.

"Commander..." Lin Hong, having witnessed everything, could not help but look puzzled and said, "Could it be that you have made some new discovery?"

His words fell.

All the auxiliary forces inside the house turned their gazes to Leon, who was seated by the window.

As the highest-ranking personnel on site and in the surrounding star field, Leon remained silent for a few seconds, then told those present: "At this point we can basically be certain that the black peak we are in and the anomalous phenomenon are somehow related, possibly even connected to demonic entities."

However, I still cannot determine what form this anomalous phenomenon will take, nor at what time point it will erupt.

But remember, this anomalous phenomenon can affect the thoughts of nearby living beings, such as us; therefore, when you notice sudden changes around you, or find yourself falling into some kind of abyss, do not panic, steady your mind, for what you see and hear may merely be illusions caused by the anomalous interference.

"Understood." Lin Hong and the others nodded, committing it to memory, and their expressions and demeanor grew stern.

After finishing his admonition, Leon summarized his recent experience into a report, uploaded it via his dedicated phone to alert everyone aboard the Griffin, and also submitted a support request for the Grey Knight squad that was rushing to assist.

Not long afterward.

Lin Hong assigned three comrades to go to the Wart Hog for guard duty, so that if any sudden change or abnormality occurred, they could immediately activate the Wart Hog to respond.

As for Lin Hong and the remaining four comrades, they stayed near their simple lodgings to ensure Leon's safety, while the aviation formation far away in Radiant City also rushed to assist based on the coordinates they provided.

Finally, there was that retired elite major general.

When Lu Mu returned to the simple lodgings, the sky had already grown completely dark, with no lingering light left to shine.

Moreover, Lu Mu's expression was equally grim, his eyes revealing a hint of apprehension; he sat directly opposite Leon and spoke in a low voice:

"Buddy, I just asked some old friends and younger brothers, and now I can confirm that this mountain peak is definitely haunted; the reason we fled in panic earlier was precisely because each of us had dreamed similar dreams, and those dreams included this mountain peak."

"But this time, that mountain peak actually appeared before our eyes, which is truly uncanny."

Upon hearing this.

Leon did not rush to reply; instead, he slightly turned his body, looked toward the window where the mountain peak outside was already beginning to emit a bloody red light, and calmly said, "I know."

"Since you know, then buddy, as my employer and I as your guide, I advise you and your bodyguards to withdraw quickly, not to worry about this expedition team; we can withdraw alone from the Sand Sea, and I am confident I can bring us safely back to Radiant City; otherwise we might die without even knowing how." Lu Mu's tone was somewhat urgent.

"One should not abandon a task halfway; moreover, we have already come infinitely close to the truth." Leon continued to say calmly.

"But..."

However, before Leon could finish hearing Lu Mu's rebuttal, he found his vision go black and fell into a conscious coma.

Immediately afterward…

"Vroom..." the sound of a car engine.

"Pat-pat..." the sound of raindrops falling on the car roof and windows.

"Sizzle-sizzle..." and the busy signal coming from an old-fashioned radio.

When Leon opened his eyes and gradually adapted to the environment, he discovered to his astonishment that he was driving a "vintage-grade" Jeep-brand off-road vehicle?!

(End of chapter)