The follow-up units of the Earth Defence Force also joined the mission to search for the source of darkness during this period.
These reinforcements were carefully selected by General An Cheng, who was personally appointed by the King himself. After undergoing accelerated training, they were dispatched to participate in the mission to locate the origin of the dark energy.
After taking attendance of each member, Yuzare divided the Defence Force into several squads and teams, preparing for the next phase of the plan — to split up and search for the source of darkness.
Sending everyone together to one place would only waste manpower and time.
The Earth's oceans were vast — searching for the source of darkness in such a way could take forever. Splitting up was undoubtedly the most efficient method.
Yu Zhou pondered for a moment after hearing Yuzare's decision.
It made sense. Following the Defence Force around restricted his movements.
If he could search independently, it would be much more convenient.
He asked Yuzare for a device capable of detecting dark energy nearby, bid farewell to the others, and prepared to act on his own.
It wasn't that Yu Zhou couldn't sense dark energy himself — but having such a device made the job easier.
He could even hang it up while he slept, letting his ship drift freely across the sea. Once the device detected any traces of darkness, the ship's AI would immediately wake him.
For someone like Yu Zhou, who loved convenience, this was absolutely necessary.
Across the endless ocean, dozens of ships began to scatter in all directions, moving away from the centre of the sea.
Yuzare looked up at one particularly distinct ship and gazed at it for a long time.
"He's gone," she murmured softly.
From the mist, Cain leapt onto the ship's deck extension and came to stand beside her.
"Master, he just left like that," Cain sighed. He had only recently taken Yu Zhou as his teacher, and now he was gone again. "Will he ever come back?"
"He will," Yuzare said with certainty. "One day, we'll meet that dark 'light' again."
"Elder sister, I think calling him a light of 'darkness' sounds more fitting."
"Shut up."
"…Alright."
With a wave of his sleeve, he left without taking a single cloud with him.
Yu Zhou left straightforwardly — peacefully.
Lying comfortably on his bed, he let out a long sigh.
Finally, no one would come and disturb his sleep in the middle of the night anymore.
Being woken up repeatedly at night… wasn't a pleasant experience.
He set the ship to free-drift mode and closed his eyes, ready to sleep soundly.
The dark energy detection device was placed in the main hall of the ship. Once it emitted a signal, the ship's AI would immediately alert him.
However, after drifting on the sea from morning until night, Yu Zhou slept for an entire day — and the device remained silent.
"It didn't go off while I was asleep, did it?"
He asked aloud, though there was no one around. The ship's AI, however, understood he was speaking to it.
"It absolutely did not," the AI replied flatly.
"Are you sure?"
With a doubtful tone, Yu Zhou walked into the ship's main hall.
"Master, mutual trust is important between people. When you doubt me like this, it hurts my circuits. I'm crying."
"You're crying? You're an AI! What do you mean crying?" Yu Zhou rolled his eyes, speechless. "Unbelievable… now even my ship has a sense of humour."
He checked the device's records using the method Yuzare had shown him — completely blank.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's just leave it to fate."
He waved his hand dismissively and opened the ship's door.
The sun was sinking slowly over the sea, and Yu Zhou wasn't even sure where he had drifted to.
But since the Earth was round and the sun was still in front of him, he figured he couldn't have gone too far.
Suddenly, a ball of dark energy exploded in the water before the ship. Several large fish floated to the surface. Yu Zhou waited for the waves to push them close and grabbed them with one hand.
"Haven't eaten all day. Time to cook something."
When drifting on the sea, the most important thing was to stay in a good mood.
And for Yu Zhou, happiness meant lying in a warm bed and sleeping until he naturally woke up.
He didn't know how long it had been when the device in the hall finally started to beep.
"Master, that stupid machine is making noise," the ship's AI called out from his room.
"Huh? It went off?"
Yu Zhou jumped out of bed, fully alert, and rushed into the main hall.
On the screen of the detector, a red dot flashed — marking a location near the ship.
That location was radiating dark energy.
"Wait a second… why are we not at sea anymore?"
Yu Zhou suddenly noticed that outside the window was not the endless blue ocean — but a golden beach.
"We've been carried by the waves to a small island," the AI explained.
"Oh, that's fine then. As long as we've found something."
Yu Zhou stretched his limbs, opened the ship's door, and leapt outside.
After storing the ship inside his spatial ring, he surveyed his surroundings.
The island was barren — no trees, no vegetation. Only a golden beach at the edges, while the interior was covered in towering black rock formations.
It wasn't very large either — nowhere near the size of post-era R'lyeh Island.
But according to the detector, the dark energy source was close — somewhere on this island.
Yu Zhou's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the strange black stones.
"They look suspicious. Better investigate."
With that thought, he began walking toward the island's interior.
Soon, he left the beach behind and stepped onto the black rocky ground.
From his space bracelet, he took out a hammer and tapped lightly on the surface. Then, applying more force, he struck again — only to find the stone was incredibly hard.
Not only did it fail to crack, but the hammer in his hand showed a faint fracture.
"This hammer's done for? What a shame."
Yu Zhou sighed, stroking the cracked surface of the tool.
He had even used this hammer against Masaki once — it brought back memories.
"But this confirms it — there's definitely something unusual about this rock."
Touching the dark stone beneath his feet, Yu Zhou stood up and continued deeper into the island.
The black rock formations were arranged irregularly — yet somehow felt as if they followed a hidden pattern, rising like a forest of stone pillars that reached toward the sky.
Yu Zhou weaved his way through the stone forest, keeping his senses sharp and eyes vigilant.
In a place as eerie as this, you never knew when something unexpected might happen.