I told you to plant peas, and you summon Mordekaiser?

"Break through the fog!"

The roar was like a sharp blade slicing through the darkness, tearing apart the oppressive atmosphere.

......

......

The zombie monk slowly opened his eyes, only to find that the surrounding scenery had completely changed.

No longer a desolate, foggy landscape, but a deep, surging tide that washed over his every sense.

His body was enveloped in the cold liquid.

The tide was deep and silent, and the dim light shone through the water, casting indistinct shadows on the floating objects.

He was stunned.

The floating objects gradually became clearer—a string of dimly lit golden prayer beads, a tattered robe, an arm, a head, and a corpse scattered around.

He stared at the corpse's head, its eyes half-open, their emptiness and confusion meeting his gaze.

That is himself.

The zombie monk realized that this was himself, and his fragmented remains were silently sinking slowly with the water.

There was no pain, no struggle, only a bottomless coldness that engulfed him.

"Is this...an illusion?"

He tried to think, tried to struggle, but found that even his thoughts were like floating on the tide, unable to gather.

The slow, rippling sound of water filled his ears, like a humming blend of countless whispers, indistinct and oppressive, seeping into every inch of his consciousness.

He saw the broken limbs being entangled in the seaweed and dragged toward the abyss, and his consciousness sank along with those remains.

The tide has no end; the current swallows his time and space, compressing his past and future into a silent void.

He heard the tide rushing into his eardrums, pouring into his consciousness, like striking the depths of his soul.

This is where?

There are no answers, only flowing water, and only deeper darkness.

"Sleep...sleep..." A cold, hoarse voice sang an inappropriate lullaby.

He closed his eyes, letting the current carry him down into the unknown depths.

......

......

Mordecais did not return for a long time.

The departing zombie monk has been motionless for almost half an hour.

Bloodharbor Ghost's cards disappeared without a trace, like a stone thrown into the sea.

Initially, the three were restless, feeling that danger lurked everywhere.

But as time passed, even the fog seemed to solidify. The three of them realized that their survival depended entirely on the zombies, so instead of living in fear, they might as well be more optimistic.

Chen Yang and Chi Zigao took the initiative and squatted on the ground to play cards.

"Have you noticed? The fog seems to be getting thicker..." Huangfu Qinghe frowned.

Chi Zigao raised his head, glanced at the thick fog, and calmly spoke:

"I say, this fog doesn't seem dangerous, right? Why don't we explore it now? Maybe we can find some treasure?"

Huangfu Qinghe sighed and rubbed his forehead. "The visibility in this fog is at most ten meters. You're practically blind in there. What do you plan to rely on to explore? Your nose?"

Chi Zigao shrugged, lowered his head again, and drew four cards: "Four Peashooters, to bomb you."

"Hellfire Chili." Chen Yang tossed a red plant card onto Chizi Gao's 'Pea Bomb'.

"Are you kidding me? How can one chili pepper be weighed down by four pea fritters?"

"Think about it, can't I burn all four of your Peashooters in one shot? Even if you have eight Peashooters, it won't make a difference."

Chizi Gao was startled, but felt that what Chen Yang said made some sense. He drew two cards from his hand: "Against Tall Nuts, Tall Nuts isn't afraid of you burning him, is he?"

“No…” Chen Yang shook his head again.

"Your Tier 3 High Nut is still no match for my Tier 5 Hellfire Chili."

"Damn, so your card is unsolvable?"

"That's right." Chen Yang smiled and stuffed the two high-value coins back into Chi Zigao's hand.

"If you can't afford it, you can continue paying..."

Seeing the two people squatting on the ground playing cards with plants, Huangfu Qinghe didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But he also understood that at this point, they had no choice but to wait for them, so there was no need to be too tense.

But now, the fog was unusually still, which made him uneasy.

"Mordekaiser is only at the sixth rank, can he win?"

Huangfu Qinghe asked, a hint of worry hidden in his voice.

"Don't worry. Someone of Mordekaiser's caliber is unlikely to do anything he's not confident about, especially since the opponent is a zombie and a plant. They might both be injured first, and Mordekaiser could reap the benefits."

Chen Yang offered a word of comfort, then turned back and took a picture of Youmi.

"No, how can you possibly beat my Three Peas and Two Torchwood with just one Yuumi?"

"Yuumi can fly, and your Peashooter can't hit anything in the air..."

Time passes little by little.

The fog visibly thickened, becoming so viscous it seemed to drip water.

With visibility dropping to less than five meters, they could no longer see the outside world at all.

After losing five games in a row, Chi Zigao's voice was tinged with frustration: "Damn it, what's with this fog? Why is it getting thicker and thicker? This place is really weird..."

However, his voice was interrupted by Huangfu Qinghe: "Quiet!"

Chizi Gao was taken aback, then shut his mouth.

Chen Yang's expression also turned serious. He keenly sensed that the surrounding fog was undergoing some kind of change.

The once calm mist, as if stirred by something, began to flow slowly in an irregular pattern.

"The fog is moving."

Huangfu Qinghe reminded him in a low voice, his tone filled with suppressed tension.

Chen Yang nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"What's going on?" Chi Zigao asked in a low voice, his tone finally showing a hint of wariness.

No one answered him.

All attention was focused on the slowly flowing thick fog.

The fog seemed to be gathering, gradually becoming viscous, as if something was about to be born from it.

A ticking sound.

It looked like water droplets falling.

Immediately, a rhythmic ticking sound rang out, like... some kind of footsteps.

A figure gradually took shape in the mist.

The figure was blurry and slender, yet it carried an undeniable sense of oppression as it slowly approached the three.

"Mordekaiser?" Huangfu Qinghe asked tentatively, his voice filled with obvious uncertainty.

Chen Yang shook his head, his gaze fixed on the figure, and said in a low voice, "No, Mordekaiser isn't that small."

The figure gradually became clearer, but Chen Yang's heart sank even further.

To the three's surprise, Rex lowered his head and licked his paws with his tongue, looking quite relaxed.

Chen Yang glanced at it, feeling puzzled.

Is there no danger? Or is Rek'Sai simply unable to perceive the changes in the fog?

His gaze returned to the figure in the mist, which became clearer and clearer, as if it would emerge from the mist at any moment and be fully revealed to them.