Chapter 226: Misfortune

The gate of Leviathan Airport slowly opened again, welcoming the returning expedition warriors.

The assault ship, bearing the scent of stardust and gunpowder, smoothly glided into its berth.

The hatch opened, and Li Qingxuan's group stepped out; though their faces showed fatigue, their eyes held a hint of resolve and solemnity after completing the mission.

Li Feifei, the Tongxu Clan Chief, and others who had been waiting here immediately came forward.

Seeing that everyone, though a bit disheveled, had suffered no casualties, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is the situation?" Li Feifei asked eagerly.

Li Qingxuan briefly reported on the operation of Broken Blade, focusing on the dire state of the logistics base, the Destroyer's ferocity, and the final success of destroying the reactor and energy conversion device.

"Well done!" the Tongxu Clan Chief slapped Li Qingxuan's shoulder hard, his face full of excitement, "Now those turtle grandsons have something to drink about!"

However, Li Qingxuan's face showed little joy; he said in a low voice, "Although the operation succeeded and delayed the Realm Breaker Legion's progress, we may have also stirred up a hornet's nest."

He informed everyone of the faint yet malicious will he sensed when destroying the Tumor Device, and the ancient mad whispers mixed within it.

"Not just the False Emperor's will?" Queen Aister's silver eyes flickered as she pondered, "Could it be… the beings imprisoned in Exile Land, whose aura has seeped through the cracks, and even… begun to affect the False Emperor's legion?"

This speculation sent a chill down everyone's spine.

If even the False Emperor's creations are beginning to be corroded by those ancient terrifying beings, then the situation in Exile Land has likely deteriorated to an unimaginable degree.

"We must speed up," Li Qingxuan said solemnly. "The Broken Blade operation merely bought us a little time. We need greater strength, and more importantly, we need to find a fundamental solution to the problem."

He looked at the Life Imprint crystal in his hand; after this real combat, his use of Life Energy had become more proficient, yet he also clearly realized that, with current strength, facing the terror that might leak from Exile Land is still a drop in the bucket.

At that moment, a special communicator on Li Feifei's wrist suddenly flashed urgent red light—this was the channel for highest-level contact with the Shadow Hall!

Li Qingxuan immediately connected; Mo Ying's voice, tinged with barely concealed fatigue and urgency, came through: "Lord Li Qingxuan… the situation has changed!"

"The Broken Blade operation, though successful, seems to have angered the False Emperor… or rather, stirred some entities deep within Exile Land…"

"Just after you withdrew, the attack intensity at Rift Seven node suddenly increased severalfold! The Realm Breaker Legion, like madmen, assaulted the seal without regard for cost! The Shadow Eye transmitted its final message, showing… they observed Ancient God Whisper condensing into tangible tendrils, now extending from the rift to aid the Realm Breaker Legion in destroying the seal!"

"Worse still… we have detected that Exile Land's coordinate information… is apparently spreading through some unknown means toward the wider universe… like… a beacon."

Mo Ying's voice carried a hint of despair: "We suspect the False Emperor's purpose may not merely be to release them to cleanse us… perhaps he intends to draw the entire universe's powerful into Exile Land, this great trap, to conduct… a final gu!"

Using Exile Land as bait to draw the universe's strong to come, then with the aid of those released ancient terrors and the Realm Breaker Legion, to net all potential threats!

If this is true, the False Emperor's madness and ambition have already surpassed everyone's imagination!

"We must stop the spread of the coordinates!" Li Qingxuan immediately realized the gravity of the problem.

Once the coordinates are fully public, countless forces unaware of the truth will flood that star sector, not only accelerating the seal's collapse but also becoming food for those monsters—or cannon fodder for the False Emperor!

"It's too late…" Mo Ying's voice bitter: "The spread has already begun, though slow, but cannot be reversed. What we can do now are only two things…"

"First, to intercept and warn as many forces as possible that have received the coordinates and intend to go, but this is nearly an impossible task…"

"Second, and most important… we must, before the seal completely collapses, find and shut down—or destroy—the beacon source! According to the final energy fluctuation analysis from the Shadow Eye, the beacon source is likely located inside Exile Land's seal, on some core node!"

Infiltrate Exile Land's interior, shut down the beacon?!

This mission is a thousand times harder than the Broken Blade operation!

There lies the monsters' den, the stronghold of the False Emperor's legion, a terrifying place even the Old Master could only choose to seal!

The communication ended, and the conference hall fell into deathly silence.

Everyone was left breathless by this sudden bad news and the nearly impossible task.

A sense of despair spread.

Li Qingxuan closed his eyes, and Mo Ying's words echoed in his mind, along with those ancient mad whispers, the Ice Soul's parting words before its dissipation, and the faces of those who trusted and followed him…

He slowly opened his eyes; his gaze was no longer heavy, but held a desperate resolve to break the cauldrons and sink the boats.

"We have no choice." His voice was calm, yet carried the force of a decisive verdict: "If this is the only path to survival, then… we will see it through!"

He looked at everyone, eyes blazing: "Begin preparations immediately! We need more detailed maps of Exile Land's interior, equipment to resist the mental contamination of Ancient God Whisper, methods to conceal our aura and breach the blockade… mobilize all resources, contact every possible force! This will be… our final expedition!"

The Guangtan Alliance, a faction struggling to survive on the strange planet, will have its fateful vessel forced to sail toward that ultimate dark land where even the gods tremble—Exile Land!

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