Ian focused his gaze and saw a woman with a graceful figure and breathtaking beauty stepping out from the rain. Despite her flowing, alluring eyes, a chilling aura of murder lingered around her.
The rain seemed to intentionally avoid her, not dampening a single corner of her clothes.
Ian's eyes lit up slightly as he thought to himself, *'Oh ho? This one isn't bad.'*
*'Her looks and figure are definitely up to standard.'*
*'She would make a perfect limited-edition figurine to display on my collection shelf.'*
The newcomer was none other than one of the three founders of the Old God Church—Qianmo.
She walked up to Ian and stopped, a playful smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Her voice was seductively sweet to the bone.
"Ian, the new recruit of Cangnan City, Dual God-Vassal, suspected to be in the River Realm."
"Our Old God Church has been keeping an eye on you for quite some time now."
Qianmo's soul-stealing peach-blossom eyes looked Ian up and down, as if trying to see right through him.
She covered her lips and giggled coquettishly. "However, it seems our Old God Church's intelligence is a bit outdated."
"Little brother, judging by the aura around you, I'm afraid you've long since broken through to the Sea Realm, haven't you?"
"What truly surprising potential."
"Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself."
Qianmo gave Ian a graceful, enchanting bow.
"Big sister is Qianmo, from the Old God Church."
"Little brother, are you interested in joining our Old God Church?"
"With your talent and potential, you will definitely receive resources and status beyond your wildest dreams here."
Her voice was brimming with temptation, every word seemingly laced with magic.
Suddenly, Qianmo's tone shifted. A trace of icy chill flashed in her eyes, and her voice carried endless killing intent.
"Of course, little brother, you should think carefully before you answer."
"If you refuse, things might get very ugly."
"After all, our Old God Church never easily lets go of anyone we set our sights on."
After listening to her carrot-and-stick speech, a smile appeared on Ian's face.
The smile was pure and harmless, yet it made Qianmo's heart inexplicably skip a beat, giving rise to an ominous premonition.
Ian chuckled and shook his head. "No, no, no, beautiful."
"Your information isn't just a little outdated."
"It's practically stuck in the last century."
The smile on Qianmo's face stiffened slightly.
She never expected that this "new recruit"—who, in her eyes, merely had decent talent—would react with such nonchalance when faced with the Old God Church's recruitment and naked threats.
She forcefully suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, assuming Ian was just feigning composure or trying to raise his own price.
However, a golden light suddenly began to emanate from Ian's body.
Meanwhile, inside the temporary command center, Commander-in-Chief Yuan Gang was pacing back and forth anxiously, waiting for reports from the various rescue teams.
The rain battered the tent, producing a muffled sound that added to the oppressive atmosphere.
Suddenly, the lights inside the command center began to flicker violently, dimming and brightening erratically.
On the communication equipment screens, the signal bars jumped frantically before completely going dark, leaving only the crackle of static.
Yuan Gang's heart sank as an ominous feeling welled up within him.
He looked up abruptly, only to find the surrounding scenery beginning to twist and distort.
The outline of the tent blurred, and his colleagues' faces rippled like reflections in water.
An indescribable wave of dizziness washed over him.
He was shocked to realize he had fallen into a dimly lit space where he could not discern any direction.
Eerie whispers permeated the surroundings, like countless vengeful spirits murmuring in his ears. Every syllable was filled with malice and madness.
"Hehehe..."
A cold, deranged voice echoed as if speaking directly into his mind.
The voice carried a sickeningly sticky quality.
"Welcome to the... Dreamscape, Commander-in-Chief Yuan Gang."
Yuan Gang forced himself to calm down and shouted sternly, "Who goes there?!"
"Stop playing tricks!"
"I am an envoy of the Old God Church."
The voice carried a trace of morbid smugness.
"This 'surprise' at Jinnan Mountain is exactly the gift we carefully prepared for the Great Xia Night Watchmen."
"Of course, our true targets are the God-Vassals among this batch of new recruits."
"Lin Qiye and... Ian."
Yuan Gang's pupils shrank abruptly.
The Old God Church! Their target was Lin Qiye! Wait, they were also targeting Ian? Oh, then it's fine.
Whisper's eerie laughter echoed through the dream space, growing increasingly piercing.
"Enjoy the taste of despair."
"Soon, you will completely lose contact... with your world."
Yuan Gang felt an invisible force binding his consciousness layer by layer, like shackles.
His vision began to blur, and his thoughts grew sluggish.
Finally, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.
Through this bizarre method, the Old God Church paralyzed the command center of the rescue operation.
Their goal was to create even greater chaos during the rescue efforts and forge the perfect conditions to capture Lin Qiye.
Amidst the torrential rain, Rescue Squad One, led by Lin Qiye, was trudging with great difficulty along the muddy mountain path.
The rain blurred their vision, and the dirt beneath their feet was unbearably slippery.
Baili Pangpang, Cao Yuan, and the others followed closely behind, struggling to move. Everyone wore a grave expression.
Only Lin Qiye remained unaffected by the mud. To speed up the rescue progress, he went on ahead.
Baili Pangpang and the rest could barely make out Lin Qiye's back. Along the way, traces of landslides could be seen everywhere.
The already narrow road had been washed away by the raging floodwaters, exposing jagged, terrifying gaps.
Every step forward was fraught with unknown dangers.
"Rumble—"
A loud crash echoed from the side.
A boulder the size of a millstone, swept up in a surging mudslide, hurtled toward the squad's position like a frenzied behemoth!
Its momentum felt as though it would crush everything in its path.
"Watch out!" Cao Yuan shouted a sharp warning.
Everyone's expressions changed drastically.
There was simply no time to dodge this sudden impact!
At this critical moment, Baili Pangpang let out a furious roar.
"Get behind me!"
He took a sudden step forward, and a heavy, earthy-yellow light erupted from his body.
An ancient tortoise shell shield appeared out of thin air, rapidly expanding in front of him.
"Forbidden Item: Thick Earth Tortoise Shell Shield!"
As the dazzling light flashed, a massive energy barrier formed instantly, resembling an indestructible fortress wall.
"Boom—!"
The massive boulder slammed viciously into the barrier, producing a deafening crash.
The barrier trembled violently, its light flickering erratically.
Baili Pangpang's face instantly flushed red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. He was clearly under immense pressure.
But he gritted his teeth and held on desperately.
A few seconds later, the impact's force was spent. The boulder and mudslide were forcefully stopped by the barrier, tumbling down into the valley beside them.
In this extremely harsh environment, the trailing squad could only take a brief rest before continuing their arduous trek toward the target area.
The special encrypted communicator on Instructor Hong's waist suddenly let out a faint beep.
His expression shifted, and he quickly answered it.
Amidst the intermittent static, he barely managed to make out a few keywords.
"Command center lost contact."
"Commander Yuan Gang... suspected to have met with an accident!"
Instructor Hong's face instantly turned ashen.
The command center lost contact? Something happened to Commander Yuan Gang?
How could that be possible!
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He knew that at this moment, the heavy burden of commanding this rescue team had fallen entirely on his and Lin Qiye's shoulders.
He glanced at Lin Qiye, who was about to disappear from sight. That young figure appeared exceptionally steady amidst the wind and rain.