Chapter 223: with translation of chapter title

Lu Mu also put away his playful expression, looking at the surrounding faces with a hint of disgust.

"This place always feels a bit 'deliberate', like a showroom arranged specifically for people to look at."

That feeling is as if a trap were being set for someone, but before the trap was ready, someone rushed in early.

Ying Duo had by now finished setting up the fourth blast point; hearing the words, he looked up at the hovering Source Crystal, then glanced down at his feet.

In his view, the ground's seemingly decorative patterns were being highlighted by the system.

【Hidden Rune Array: Suppression Type (inactive)】.

"There's something underfoot," Ying Duo said as he crouched, looking as if a piece of the floor was about to lift and be taken away.

"A suppression‑type Rune array, but not activated."

Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu immediately lowered their heads upon hearing it, and looked closely.

Bathed in the Source Crystal's gentle glow, the silver patterns on the ground—originally thought to be decorative—indeed revealed some regular structural pattern.

"Suppression Rune array..." Bai Mu Yun's complexion changed, "What about the coverage area?"

"The whole room," Ying Duo replied, "The energy source is that Source Crystal in the middle."

At this point, what else could they not understand? From start to finish, this thing was a trap set for them!

And they even thought they'd gotten a step ahead; perhaps later various "accidents" would return the draft to them, and then the facilities here would truly be "complete".

Buzz—!!!

Without giving them time to retreat, a low hum suddenly roared, the silver patterns on the ground instantly burst into dazzling white light, and the Runes covering the entire room lit up simultaneously!

A powerful binding field, like an invisible shackle, instantly wrapped around the three of them.

"Uh!"

Lu Mu let out a muffled hum; the shadow energy surrounding him dimmed like a flame doused with water in the blink of an eye.

He tried to struggle, but his movements became sluggish and heavy.

Bai Mu Yun reacted a bit faster; the moment the array lit up, the illusion energy on his body automatically burst into a dark golden barrier, countering the Rune array's suppression field.

But to the naked eye, that dark golden barrier was being rapidly eroded by the white light.

What alarmed Bai Mu Yun even more was that the illusion preserving his facial appearance became unstable under the intense energy interference, with even the edges showing signs of distortion.

That was a sign that the illusion was about to collapse.

"The plan's been leaked!" Bai Mu Yun's mind raced, his cold gaze instantly snapping toward Ying Duo.

Lu Mu and the Supervision Bureau's Liang Zi had even tied with him earlier, and the only one who could have meddled inside here is Ying Duo!

Bai Mu Yun's suspicion was reasonable.

Even the coordinates of the trap itself were "written down" by Ying Duo.

If this is a trap, Ying Duo's suspicion is undoubtedly the greatest.

In the next instant, Bai Mu Yun forcibly suppressed that thought.

But that was also wrong.

If Ying Duo really betrayed them, he wouldn't need to stage this at all.

Ying Duo knew Bai Mu Yun's cover identity in Tianmian City, and also knew the Dome's base location in Tianmian City.

Unless... the Supervision Bureau wants more than just capturing the two Co-Absorption "cultists".

They have another agenda?

What is it? To use them to uncover more Dome forces lurking in Tianmian City? Or to force out other information about the Co-Absorption plan?

Those thoughts flashed through Bai Mu Yun's mind like lightning, while only a second or two passed in reality.

The light of the suppression array grew brighter, and the binding force grew stronger.

Lu Mu was already half‑kneeling on the ground, veins bulging on his forehead, and could only barely resist the field.

Bai Mu Yun's golden barrier was stripped down to a thin layer clinging to his body, the illusion on his face fluctuated more violently, and one could faintly see the pale outline of his true face hidden beneath the illusion.

And Ying Duo...

Ying Duo simply lay flat on the ground.

This suppression array was clearly designed for Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu; dealing with these two, who are over forty levels, was no problem at all, let alone his own twenty‑one‑level rookie status.

That twenty‑one level was just earned by snatching a head‑count from Lu Mu.

By the way, can the skill still be used?

Yang Yixie noticed the console beside them, unsure whether it was merely a prop, but it seemed not; the Church had put a lot of care into crafting this trap.

Ying Duo's body suddenly began to "dissolve" from its physical form.

It wasn't an illusion; it was a literal physical "dissolution".

His body outline grew fuzzy; skin, clothing, hair... everything instantly turned into countless neon‑green data bits, which then "seeped" directly into the console's screen.

Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu watched in stunned silence as Ying Duo "vanished" into the console, before they could even react with shock or confusion.

Boom! Boom boom boom—!!!!

Deafening explosions roared from the passage they entered, from the ceiling above, from within the surrounding walls... from all directions, almost simultaneously.

Those were all the Explosives Ying Duo had previously set.

Ying Duo's logic was simple:

Since this is a trap and his two teammates were temporarily disabled, the Church might send people over at any moment.

Ying Duo had no plans for a one‑day prison tour; rather than being captured together with his two teammates, he might as well try to blow up this suppression Rune array.

Anyway, there were enough Explosives, and they used his energy as the conduit, making them friendly fire that wouldn't hurt the two.

Huh? You mean the damage from a collapse?

Bro, listen to what you're saying!

Last time the Black Stone Mountain Range collapsed like that, the two just came back a bit disheveled; this time he only blew up a tiny section of the base—could it really kill them?

The two, whose energy was still being suppressed by the Rune, said: "........"

This kid really has rebelled, huh!

"That kid...!" Lu Mu, after the explosion sounded, felt the suppressive force on his body suddenly loosen; the Engraving Rune on the ground, under the violent shaking and impact, developed multiple fractures and chaotic energy.

Lu Mu's shadow energy, which had been constantly suppressed, instantly found a breach for eruption; dense darkness burst outward from him, turning into countless sharp shadow blades that frantically sliced the Engraving Rune on the ground.

Bai Mu Yun reacted equally swiftly; he stopped laboriously maintaining the already precarious illusion barrier and instead concentrated all his power to strike several critical energy nodes of the ground formation.

Those Runes, already weakened by the explosion, vanished one after another under the two's targeted assaults.

But the crisis brought by Ying Duo had not ended.

The destruction caused by the explosion spread: the ceiling cracked, walls collapsed, and thick smoke and dust quickly filled the entire room.