Dispersing the mist of chaos, Yu Zhou continued flying forward, exploring the endless abyss.
His speed wasn't fast. With visibility shrouded in haze, he kept his movements cautious.
He didn't know how long he had been flying when a faint light appeared ahead. Instantly, he accelerated toward it.
"It's… a cave?"
As he drew closer, he found that the light came from the mouth of a cave — just large enough for an ordinary person to enter.
The strange part was that the cave floated in midair. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a chunk of rock with an opening, but inside, it seemed to lead into a proper tunnel.
Yu Zhou had no idea how such a cave could connect to a real passage, but with the abyss behind him and no other path in sight, he didn't have much of a choice.
Shrinking to human size and cancelling his transformation, he stepped inside.
The inner walls were made of the same smooth, dark stone as the previous passage he'd walked through — though the jagged cave mouth outside still looked rough and natural.
He moved carefully, wary of triggering traps.
A faint glow illuminated the interior, though he couldn't tell where the light came from. He ignored it and continued deeper.
Then—
Rumble… rumble…
The ground began to shake, and the sound of rolling stone filled the tunnel.
Yu Zhou's ears twitched. Closing his eyes briefly, he focused on the direction of the sound.
When he turned around, his expression darkened.
A massive black boulder was hurtling straight toward him from the passage behind.
"What trap did I trigger this time?"
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what he had stepped on to set it off.
But that didn't matter right now — what mattered was getting out of its way.
"Just a rolling rock? You dare to come at me?"
Several black energy orbs emerged from his chest, floating around him.
With a wave of his hand—
BOOM!
The orbs shot forward, striking the incoming boulder. The massive sphere shattered instantly into a cloud of dust and fragments that scattered across the ground.
Before he could relax, a weak voice echoed faintly through the passage ahead:
"Run! Hurry!"
Yu Zhou froze, his senses sharpening.
There was someone here!
Without hesitation, he rushed in the direction of the voice.
The sound was faint — if not for his sharp hearing, he might not have noticed it at all. It was probably coming from quite a distance away.
He sprinted forward through the twisting tunnel until, at last, it opened up.
He emerged into what looked like a vast wasteland — yet it wasn't desolate. In fact, it was… noisy.
The noise came from the countless monsters roaming the land.
The earth-shattering Golza, the sky-splitting Melba, flocks of dark Zoigers soaring overhead…
And even monsters he had never seen before — the silver dragon Silvergon, the golden dragon Goldras.
Unlike their usual forms, these monsters were marked with black patterns across their bodies, and their eyes burned with crimson light — signs of corruption by dark energy.
And there — among the chaos — was the source of the voice.
Three figures were running desperately across the wasteland, pursued by a pack of Zoigers flying low behind them.
One of them was a black-haired girl, flanked by two black-haired boys.
"Hey! Over here! There's a cave!"
Yu Zhou shouted to them after a quick thought — it wouldn't hurt to save them and ask what was going on.
The girl heard him first. After saying something to her companions, she pointed in Yu Zhou's direction, and the three changed course, sprinting toward him.
The Zoigers didn't let up their pursuit. Fireballs streaked through the air toward the trio.
Yu Zhou watched closely, ready to intervene at any moment.
But the three weren't defenceless — one of the boys, taller and sturdier, raised a laser shield that blocked several fireballs in rapid succession.
Though the impact forced him back a few steps, he was unharmed. The shield dimmed slightly, but didn't break.
"Not bad at all," Yu Zhou murmured, impressed. "That tech's actually pretty good."
If he knew where to buy something like that, he'd definitely stock up.
The other boy drew a laser crossbow, firing a glowing bolt at one of the Zoigers.
BANG!
The bolt struck its wing, erupting in sparks. The creature screeched and crashed to the ground.
"Strong weapon," Yu Zhou nodded approvingly.
Soon, the three reached him. But the commotion had drawn more monsters in their direction.
Yu Zhou motioned for them to enter the tunnel quickly, then followed them inside.
The larger monsters were too big to squeeze through the cave entrance, and so they were left growling outside, unable to pursue.
"You guys—"
Yu Zhou started to speak, but stopped dead when he got a clear look at the girl's face.
That face.
That gentle, radiant face he had dreamed of night after night — the one that haunted his memories, the one that had once filled his world with warmth.
She was standing right in front of him.
"Are you… okay?"
The girl had been about to thank him, but seeing this man silently staring at her, she blushed slightly, confused and embarrassed.
"Hey! The young lady's talking to you!"
The sturdier boy frowned, clearly annoyed. "You saved us, sure — but staring like that? That's rude!"
"Yeah," the other boy added coldly. "It's impolite to just stare at someone like that."
"I— I'm sorry!" Yu Zhou quickly came back to his senses, bowing apologetically. "You just reminded me of… someone I used to know. A dear friend. I lost myself for a moment."
"It's fine," the girl said kindly, her smile softening the tension. "Don't mind what they said."
"Tell me," she added curiously, tilting her head a little, "does this person… really look that much like me?"
Yu Zhou nodded slowly, his voice trembling as a glimmer of moisture welled in his eyes.
"…Yes. Very much so."
"She looks… exactly like you."