We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 371 [Underground Research Institute] [The Thread of Fate]

"Cough cough..."

Seeing An Bing's gaze, Xia En coughed twice and explained.

"It's just a small experiment."

The experiment just now confirmed for Xia En—

Without a doubt, these [West Wind Frost Wolves] do indeed have the blood of ancient dragons flowing through their veins.

That's why he fled in panic because of the ancient dragon aura he released.

but.

Before the ancient dragons disappeared from the Seven Seas world, they were the rulers of this world, with their footprints all over the world.

It's not too surprising to encounter traces left by an ancient dragon in this remote and sparsely populated far north.

Neither Xia En nor the other took it too seriously, treating it merely as an unexpected little incident.

Their more important goal now is to find the research institute hidden underground.

After walking for a while.

The ice field before us remained desolate and monotonous.

There were no living people to be seen, nor any sign of life.

The biting wind seemed to never stop.

The surrounding scenery remained unchanged.

As for finding the location of the research institute, that seems like an eternity away.

Even the usually composed Xia En couldn't help but feel a bit impatient in this situation.

"This can't go on like this."

"When it really comes down to a last resort, that's the only method we can use."

The final method Xia En came up with was simple and brutal: to create a huge commotion directly above this ice field.

This will attract the attention of the Blackflame Walkers stationed on the ice plains.

Since they couldn't find the underground research institute, they decided to let the people inside the institute come looking for them.

Of course, the drawbacks of this approach are also obvious.

That means Xia En and his group can no longer sneak into the research institute; they can only negotiate with them directly.

What will happen at that time is unpredictable.

especially……

The research institute also houses the "Ice People" who are imprisoned.

The attitude of the Black Flame Walker towards Dark Ice is also unknown.

After thinking for a moment, Xia En told An Bing about his plan and said...

"If this is really the only way, then I will communicate with the [Black Flame Walker]."

"Miss Dark Ice, stay hidden in the shadows and follow us to the underground research institute to carry out our mission in secret."

After listening, Anbing did not refuse and nodded solemnly.

"I understand."

However, just as Xia En was preparing to put his plan into action...

He suddenly sensed a connection from the unseen world.

Deep in his mind, it was as if a voice was calling to him.

"Captain Shane... Captain Shane, can you hear me?"

Xia En was somewhat surprised.

"This sound is..."

He was familiar with the voice.

Because this is precisely Jane's voice!
However, this direct connection from the depths of their hearts greatly surprised Xia En.

"Jane, is that you?"

"Great, Captain Shane, we've finally made contact with you."

Jane's voice continued to echo in Xia En's heart.

Aside from a slight distortion, the overall call quality was very high, even clearer than the communicator Moritz had given them.

Jane continued.

"There seems to be a strong source of signal interference in this area, making normal communication devices unusable."

"This is the only way I can contact you."

Xia En picked up the communicator and took a look.

As Jane had said, it was discovered that current communicators could not connect to any frequency bands at all.

What intrigued Xia En even more was how Jane conveyed her true feelings.

Jane had anticipated that Shane would be surprised, and quickly explained...

"This is a unique technique I developed myself, called [Mind Echo]."

"It allows me to communicate across distances with my goals that are closely connected to my 'Fate Line'."

"I originally thought that Captain Shane and I's [Thread of Fate] weren't strong enough to unleash this secret technique."

[Echoes of the Soul]?
The Thread of Fate?
Hearing these unfamiliar terms, Xia En's expression was somewhat strange.

have to say.

Of all his crew members, Jane's abilities were the most unfathomable to him, and she always brought him some new surprises.

To this day, Shane still doesn't know how many more hidden tricks Jane has up her sleeve.

But considering my age...

It seems only natural that they possess so many strange and unusual abilities.

Soon, Shane noticed the "Thread of Fate" that Jane had mentioned.

As Jane mentioned before, Shane's fate is intertwined with that of many others.

And now, Jane has become one of these people.

Think about it carefully.

It's possible that this is because just recently, Shane used the panel to bind Jane as a formal crew member on the Black Swan.

From that moment on, their fates became inextricably linked.

Only then can we communicate through [Heart Echo].

After calming his mind, Xia En asked.

"Ms. Jane, where are you now?"

Do you have any other companions with you?

Jane replied, "I met up with Carles not long ago."

"We seem to be in an underground building right now."

“Inside the building, there are people who appear to be Blackflame Walkers patrolling around.”

"However, they seem to be very wary of outsiders."

"To avoid being exposed, we did not negotiate with them, but instead hid temporarily in the ventilation ducts."

Xia En asked in surprise, "You're already inside the underground research institute?"

Clearly, when people enter this memory scene, their location is actually random.

Jane and Carles were teleported directly into the underground research facility.

I don't know whether to call it good luck or bad luck.

"And one more thing……"

Jane hesitated for a moment, then continued.

“I saw a very clear Truth Society style in this underground research institute.”

"Both the architectural form and the internal structure seem to have been designed and manufactured by the members of the Truth Society."

“I even suspect that… some kind of special live experiment is being conducted inside the research institute.”

Upon hearing this, Xia En's expression immediately turned serious.

As the former eighth in the Truth Order, Lady Tranquility naturally had a deep understanding of the Truth Society.

Since she said this research institute has the style of the "Truth Society," then it's basically true.

As for the live experimentation, Shane wasn't overly surprised, after learning that the Dark Ice clan had been captured and taken to an underground research facility.

He already had a similar suspicion.

Jane was unaware that Shane had already learned the basic information about the underground research institute from Dark Ice, as well as that the Lord of Cinder had once been in contact with the Omniscient Sage.

Jane's tone was hesitant because she was concerned about the relationship between Shane and the Lord of Cinder.

After learning about the style of the underground research institute, the "Truth Society".

A clearer guess emerged in Xia En's mind—

During the time of the first great flood, Lord Cinder collaborated extensively with the Omniscient Sage of the Truth Society.

The purpose, of course, is to prevent the catastrophe from coming.

This underground research institute, and even the experiments on the "Ice People," are all part of this plan.

This is further combined with the strong interest that Lord Cinder showed in "Fleeting Time".

It's not hard to guess.

What he probably wants to obtain is the "Ice and Snow Law," which allows the "Ice and Snow People" to freeze even space and time!
The moment I figured this out.

Xia En's Eyes of Secrets immediately responded.

[The mystery of the Great Yan Kingdom's demise has been solved with an increased density of 8%!]

[Overall Qualifications: 32 → 34!]

A familiar and warm, mysterious power of gift descended upon Xia En from the darkness.

An indescribable sense of comfort and ease.

The minor injuries sustained in the previous battle against Hanno were thus healed.

The increase in solution density indirectly proves that Shane's conjecture is correct.

He has already touched a corner of the truth!
Xia En did not hide this information from An Bing, Jian, and the others.

He simply explained to Jane their experience in the first memory scene, and also shared his speculations about the research institute.

After listening.

Jane was shocked: "What? Captain Shane, you've already eliminated a node?"

"Such high efficiency..."

While they were still struggling to explore the research institute, Xia En had already eliminated a key node and even defeated a legendary undead.

Even Jane, who already knew Xia En well, couldn't help but find it a bit outrageous.

However, precisely because of this, Jane has gained more confidence in completely destroying the Great Yan.

'With Captain Shane here, perhaps we really can do it and return to the real world safely.'

Shane's speculation about the Lord of Cinder's collaboration with the Truth Society caused Jane to fall into deep thought.

"If the Lord of Cinder really did meet the Omniscient Sage in the past..."

"Then everything here makes sense."

“In that era, the Truth Society might not have been called the Truth Society, and it might not have gone to such an extreme in its pursuit of truth as it does now.”

"In Cinder King's view, the other party is just a special kind of researcher, and it is understandable to cooperate with them."

"I just don't know... what exactly is the purpose of the [Omniscient Sage] doing this?"

Shane asked, "Ms. Jane, what else do you know about the [Omniscient Sage]?"

Jane's words carried a hint of helplessness.

"To be honest, I know very little about it."

"I should have said that the Omniscient Sage is the most mysterious being in the Truth Society."

"Not to mention me, even the two scholars who are ranked among the top three in the [Truth Sequence] of this era have never met him."

"The founding of the Truth Society seems to be just a trivial matter for the Omniscient Sage."

"In the many years that followed, he never interfered with the development of the [Truth Society], nor did he use his power as president to do anything."

"Because he had not shown up for so long, a truth scholar who was ranked second once tried to replace him with the truth number."

"As a result, the very next day after the scholar announced this, he died mysteriously in his room."

Jane's voice carried a hint of lingering fear as she recounted this incident.

"Including all the documents, materials, notes, and research results he left behind... they all turned into gibberish that outsiders could not observe."

"It's equivalent to erasing it from both an academic and physiological perspective."

"Such punishment is dozens of times more terrifying to the average scholar than death alone."

"After two or three more similar incidents, no more scholars of truth dared to seek the number one ranking."

"This proves that although the Omniscient Sage is extremely mysterious and rarely appears in public, he is definitely still alive."

"And it has a certain degree of control over the [Truth Society]."

"Has he survived from the time of the Great Flood to the present day...?"

Xia En muttered to himself.

Such a long lifespan can only be achieved by long-lived beings, or by beings like the Lord of Cinder whose true form is not human.

Thousands of years ago, this "Omniscient Sage" already possessed extraordinary strength, earning the recognition of the Lord of Cinder.

After such a long period of accumulation, what level will he reach?

Xia En felt an inexplicable heavy pressure, so much so that the slight pride he had felt after defeating Hanno vanished in an instant.

However, compared to that mysterious and unpredictable "Omniscient Sage".

The more important task now is to find that underground research institute and destroy the [Great Flame] node within it.

So, Shane asked.

"Is there any way we can pinpoint your location?"

Jane replied, "Perhaps it's possible by using the connection of the 'Threads of Fate'."

"Captain Shane, relax, I'll show you what to do."

As he spoke, an invisible power surged from within Xia En, causing subtle changes in the world he saw.

Many strange, seemingly nonexistent threads appeared in his field of vision.

This is somewhat similar to the points and lines seen by the [Peeping Eye], but also somewhat different.

One of the thicker threads was now connected to Xia En, leading to a direction not far away.

Xia En was intrigued: "This is the [Thread of Fate]?"

Jane's voice came through intermittently.

"The loss of secret power during long-distance transmission is too great, and I cannot always keep this vision open for you."

Xia En thought for a moment and then said.

“Ms. Jane, you can withdraw your secret power now. I can see the trajectory of the [Thread of Fate] myself.”

"what?"

Jane was slightly taken aback, but she did not doubt it. She simply withdrew the projected secret power silently.

immediately.

As Xia En activated his [Peeping Eyes], strands of [Fate Lines] naturally appeared in his field of vision.

In fact, Shane could see these [Threads of Fate] beforehand.

At the time, however, he did not know the meaning of these threads.

They are mixed in with the other lines and are difficult to distinguish.

But with Jane's help, Shane pinpointed the "layer" where the "Thread of Fate" was located.

Distinguish them from the other lines and dots of light.

As Jane said, several exceptionally thick "lines of fate" were wrapped around Shane's body.

Clearly, those were his crew members.

Some of the colors even had a faint pink hue, which seemed to be related to marriage.

The most conspicuous path led to a more distant place, which inexplicably reminded Xia En of Joey's figure.

Besides these, there seem to be other characters like Sha Jingjing, Leila, and Carlles...

Xia En's lips twitched slightly.

Jane's assessment at the time was certainly not without reason.

Shaking his head to banish those strange thoughts from his mind, Shane walked toward the end of the [Thread of Fate] that belonged to Karlless and Jane.

(End of this chapter)