A journey of Shadowverse and Honkai Impact 3rd

But intuitively, I felt that there was something here. The cold feeling seeped out from this invisible door, like a thin silk thread, wrapping around the human body, giving the body an unexpectedly harsh feeling.

"Well, was this what you expected, Jackal?"

Raven moved her limbs, but still couldn't expel the awkward feeling from her body. As far as her control over her body was concerned, she could say that there was nothing wrong with her body, but the awkward feeling was like a worm attached to her bones, which was difficult to drive away and really affected her normal actions.

“There’s something about this place.”

The mask worn by the Jackal scanned her own biological characteristics and she also came to the conclusion that there was actually nothing wrong with her body. After thinking for a while, she made her own judgment.

"It's either an undetectable force field or a psychological suggestion. You guys, try a low dose of stimulants."

The Jackal gave instructions to two soldiers in power armor, and after receiving their normal responses after the excitement, he nodded and looked at the leading Gray Snake without saying anything.

"In that case, everyone should prepare to use the potion. It's really hard to predict what will happen inside."

Soon after the words fell, this group of people who looked fully armed moved forward collectively. After crossing the short distance of five meters, all light was immediately cut off from them.

They felt like being swallowed and licked, as if they had been through the digestive system of some creature. Only after a faint, dim light returned to their eyes did they feel reassured.

The blue and black of the night dance and flow between the trees. There is no wind blowing, nor the chirping of insects and birds. This dark forest is dead silent, and a gray and dead feeling lingers from head to toe.

The AI-operated mecha responded with the same cold silence, but the people accompanying them found it difficult to accept such an atmosphere for a while. Their hearts gradually began to pound, pumping blood faster, and with the rising heat, they seemed to be telling themselves something.

——In this forest, there are monsters that can threaten their lives.

"They drew a bad lot."

If the real dream is compared to a chessboard, then Sera is the top chess player. In her eyes, every movement in the real dream is clearly visible.

The girl picked up the storybook that emerged from the void, and sat poetically in the magic hall, with an elusive smile on her delicate face.

"So, what will happen to them in the southern region of the mortal world? Will they encounter creeping shadowy creatures, or will they be like Xilin before, facing the cold moon's radiation directly without any protection?"

Sera couldn't help but be curious about what the World Serpent team would look like in the future. You know, even if they escaped from the weird scene, there would be an unusual BOSS waiting for them in the safe spot.

"Ochis, they are in position, you should get ready in a safe place."

"Xilin, don't cause any more trouble. Your safe spot is already in ruins. Don't interfere with Ochis's performance."

325. From the Devil

"Wow, this isn't the desert the intelligence said it was."

Standing firmly in the woods that looked very uneasy, the jackal directly expressed his thoughts before anyone else spoke.

Indeed, unlike what the intelligence said, this is not a desert with wind and sand all over the sky. There are only stretches of gloomy trees, standing lifelessly under the strange night sky of black and blue.

"But this place is as dangerous as the desert. Look at the detectors we have."

Raven responded to the Jackal directly. Just now, she quickly checked all the equipment on her body. As she expected, this forest that looked very gloomy had shown its strangeness since they entered.

The detector should have been able to display a three-dimensional terrain map within a hundred meters around it, but the detection waves it sent out now were like a drop in the ocean, and the signal was lost ten meters away.

The detection distance of only ten meters is too short for a warrior like Raven who is beyond ordinary people and a soldier wearing power armor. If they are attacked, they will probably be in great danger.

The Jackal carefully checked the detector in his hand and found that the three-dimensional map displayed on it was indeed far from the expected performance. He was startled and put away some of his pride.

"Catherine, take a look around and see what you can make out. And Gray Snake, use your brain. We're going to rely on your previous experience."

"..."

The gray snake remained silent, seemingly helpless at the jackal's unreasonable words, and had no choice but to accept them without complaint. In fact, it took the opportunity to disconnect from the gray snake network to convey to its creator the many insights it had gained in the World Snake and the Gray Snake Network.

"You'll get used to it. After all, you're not a Gray Snake who often interacts with jackals. That guy has always been difficult to get along with. If he didn't have some talent, he would have been beaten up by someone long ago."

Raven showed her kindness to the gray snake. In her opinion, the gray snake who had once helped her escape from this terrible place was the unquestionable expert in the team, not to mention that it also understood the language of the natives here.

"I understand, Miss Raven. This isn't a good place after all."

The scarlet electronic prosthetic eye flickered for a moment before Gray Snake replied to Raven. Then, the results of the investigation on the other side came out, giving everyone a special understanding of this forest.

"There are many tree species here. From what I just observed, there are banyan trees, camphor trees, etc. These are all large evergreen trees, generally found in tropical and subtropical regions. As for the climate, it should be relatively warm and humid here."

Catherine, a naturalist, said this, her hands stroking the texture of the trees beside her through protective gloves, and there was undoubtedly a gleam of wisdom in her intellectual eyes beneath her glasses.

“But that’s not the feeling we get here.”

The Jackal said, and asked the autonomous mecha to project the environmental parameters it monitored. According to the bright numbers, the humidity here can indeed be called humid, but the temperature is the opposite of warm, and there is no connection at all.

The temperature was in the single digits, consistent with the primeval forest outside the ruins.

"It's probably because it's night time."

Just as Raven finished his addition, a dense stream of sounds began to emanate from everyone's detectors. According to the settings of the detectors, this was a phenomenon that would only occur when a large number of unknown biological reactions were detected.

Extending outwards from the team's center, a unique three-dimensional topographic map showed densely packed red dots approaching from the surface. To put it bluntly, they were like prey sensed by a spider web. Their short stay just now had already attracted the hunter at the other end of the web.

"Prepare to fire."

As soon as this brief sentence was spoken, in an environment where Honkai energy was suppressed, rifles using electromagnetic technology and launch pods equipped with conventional tactical missiles were all ready, and they were ready to pre-aim in all directions.

A tense atmosphere spread among people's hearts, coating every breath with a layer of tight warm white. When a sudden darkness that was completely different from their cognition emerged from behind the trees, the blazing flames burst into a destructive sound.

The firepower units in the team did not hesitate to pour out their ammunition. In an instant, the ominous-looking forest was burning with flames and boiling with thick black smoke.

The explosion was deafening, and the extremely strong force raged wherever the sound waves passed, like a red-hot hammer, ready to smash all the darkness into pieces.

After ten minutes of continuous firing, the red dots displayed on the detector disappeared, revealing the devastated landscape. In the gloomy air mixed with black smoke, everyone saw the strange crawling posture of the remaining limbs under the illumination of the flames.

It was not the incoming darkness, but the trees shattered by the explosion. Their life-like limbs crawled strangely along the ground, like numerous tiny insects, slowly moving upwards along the still standing tree stumps, filling the original gaps and restoring the trees to their original state.

Only the originally gloomy leaves were completely burned, revealing more and higher layers of leaves, so densely packed that it was impossible to see what the sky above looked like.

"No enemy bodies were found."

Raven said briefly that after witnessing the sight of the tree stumps crawling back, she had become extremely wary of this place, suspecting that these trees would soon bare their sharp fangs to them and reveal their bloodthirsty nature.

"Well, it's not a Honkai beast, but it should be a collection of energy."

Although she did not obtain an exact corpse as research material, Jackal still gave her calm judgment.

"Can we tell what impact they will have on us?" Raven asked.

"Not yet. After all, without any captured samples, there's no way of knowing what the results will be."

Even with the mask on, the Jackal looked around without revealing any indifference. For her, it was very simple to find out the result. She just had to push forward and push one person to be captured by the unknown darkness.

"So, Gray Snake, where should we go next?"

The gray snake holding an umbrella thought for a moment and then gave his suggestion, which the others also thought made sense.

"Send someone upwards to see if they can determine where we are. We can then head in the direction that will get us out of these woods as quickly as possible."

"Let me do it. If it's just climbing a tree, it should be no problem."

Old Ford, who was wearing power armor, said this, and then he began to climb the tree. However, as he said, facing such strange trees, it was still unknown whether he could climb up and see the scenery obscured by the treetops.

The nimble figure quickly climbed up and soon disappeared into the treetops. After more than ten minutes of silence, the sound of others falling to the ground and hitting the branches broke the silence.

Old Ford fell from above, losing consciousness.

326. Convulsion

His sudden fall came without any warning, like a thunderclap in the plain, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

And just like that, all of a sudden, a clear and distinct moonlight dripped into the woods from the hole created by Old Ford's fall, like a sticky fluid that stopped others from approaching as soon as it appeared.

The atmosphere began to become so heavy that it could not be any heavier. After seeing the shapeless group of wriggling black insects disguised as trees, the World Serpent's exploration team once again witnessed a strange phenomenon.

The moonlight was exceptionally pale, and together with the fallen soldiers, it revealed the unusual nature of the shining moon itself. Afterwards, the moonlight suddenly disappeared into the woods, returning the forest to its gloomy atmosphere of black and blue.

Someone looked upwards tentatively and discovered the reason why the moonlight disappeared.

——Just now, new leaves grew out of the leaf layer that was penetrated by the fall, or in other words, other leaves moved into the hollow space and filled the leaf layer again.

Gray Snake, being a bionic man, showed no expression on his face. He only used his electronic prosthetic eyes to constantly observe the people around him, and silently seemed to have become part of the pressure in the air.

Because the Jackal was wearing a mask, she couldn't see the corresponding expression. Only through the analytical vision provided by the mask did she confirm the cause of Old Ford's coma by herself.

It was a convulsion. An unknown thing, most likely the light just now, caused the dangerous situation of someone having a convulsion during the climb.

But what kind of light can penetrate the heavily protected power armor and directly cause physiological convulsions?

The Jackal fell into deep thought. Only now did she realize that this new thing might not be worth mentioning to the World Serpent itself, but to their tiny team, it was an extremely terrible disaster.

"Let me do it."

Jackal said simply, and for the first time ever she started to think about their team. She first used the mask to connect to the power armor, and based on her own medical knowledge, she injected old Ford with some of the drugs carried by the power armor in different dosages and batches.

"I've done what I can do now. Whether he can wake up or not depends on his own willpower."

"Well, it seems that there is something troublesome above the entire forest. All we can do now is move forward. As for the specific direction, without any reference, we can only take one step at a time."

Seeing that the Jackal's medical treatment was complete, Gray Snake determined their next course of action with just one sentence.

"As long as I can find some traces of the indigenous people, I can communicate and negotiate with them. I believe that as long as I pay a small price, I can find a relatively safe place as a temporary base."

"That's it. After all, we have no other choice here."

Raven supported Gray Snake, saying that as a man of action and force, it might be safer to stay where she was, but this was not in line with her principles.

With hearts heavier than ever, the team brought along the unconscious old Ford. Escorted by the emotionless mecha, their muffled footsteps gradually drifted further and further into the gloomy forest...

And somewhere in this forest, in a deep area where a kind of radiant pale yellow flowers grow, a secluded temple stands silently, isolating itself from the gloomy atmosphere of the surroundings with its solemn atmosphere.

The temple is not big, and it is not a fortress-like structure built in a dangerous area. It only has one main hall and three side rooms, enshrining three human-shaped statues woven from vines, tree bark, and roots, and decorated with yellow flowers. It looks like it was taken from a gloomy forest, but it has a peaceful atmosphere that escapes the gloomy forest.

If the gray snake was here, he would "translate" to the team according to the language of the indigenous people he recorded: This is a temple dedicated to the spirits of ancestors and the spirits of the sacred tree. Because of their protection, evil spirits and strange creatures will not approach here.

"Ha, I'm so exhausted, this place is outrageous!"

Having suffered attacks from various strange creatures in the forest and personal mental torture, Shakespeare and Schrödinger, as explorers entering the real dream for the first time, experienced a lot of hardships before they found this safe spot hidden at the junction of the southern region under the guidance of novices.

"If I had known I would encounter these things, I shouldn't have agreed to your nonsense, Captain..."

His fair face was stained with a hint of gray, and his mottled clothes looked as if he had rolled in the mud. In this state, Schrödinger silently revealed his inner thoughts, which made Roland Inka deeply touched.

This team from the delegation consists of only three people. The leader is Shakespeare, who claims to have extremely high luck. The think tank who provides ideas is Schrödinger, who has good insight. The force is the paladin Roland.

In terms of configuration, they were compact and powerful, but even so, they still suffered in the gloomy forest and experienced the tragic treatment of being eroded by shadows, hunted by evil spirits, and bewitched by the moonlight.

If it weren't for the novice protection mechanism specially set up by Sera, and the fact that the route they chose was not difficult, they would have probably failed and left early, and booked their own beds in the sanatorium.

"I didn't expect that besides Schrödinger, you could also bring in Roland. Shakespeare, your leadership skills are beyond my expectations."

A blue figure walked out of the main hall of the temple, and a familiar voice was filled with teasing. The three embarrassed people looked closely and saw Shigure Qiluo's giggling expression, which seemed to be the ease of a strong man.

"Miss Qiluo, did you come here on your own? You're worthy of being a senior who came to the homeland long ago. There's not even a stain on your clothes."

Roland was generous with her praise. As a warrior like Shigure Kirara, she could feel that Shigure Kirara had a more fierce warrior temperament than her own.

However, someone immediately exposed the truth of the incident that "Shigure Kirara reached the temple intact with her own strength."

"That's not the case. Shigure Kirara came here with me."

The tone was as cold as a machine, but it had a unique charm that belonged to a young girl. When the girl in the black dress set foot on the land outside the temple, everyone was surprised by her and the silver knight standing behind her.

Except for Shigure Kirara who is clinging to others.

"Ms. Ochis? Are you the administrator of this safe place?"

In fact, she could also be called the hostess of this temple, but this description was a bit weird, so Shakespeare called her Ochis like this, with a bright look on his face as if he had earned something.

"You're right."

The cold doll girl nodded.

"Here, you can complete some of the maintenance node tasks I've issued to obtain certain rewards. You can also hand in materials obtained outside the safe point in exchange for some real-world items."

"It just so happens that I have a series of things to entrust to you right now. Are you interested?"

The beautiful red eyes had an inorganic color, but they looked particularly beautiful because of the pure heart. When faced with such a look, Shakespeare hurriedly made a promise and agreed on behalf of the two team members.

"With great pleasure, ma'am. From now on, your command will be our lifelong pursuit~"

Schrödinger and Roland expressed their agreement in silence.

327. Dust

Without mentioning what kind of mission Ochis prepared for the well-equipped trio, if we shift our focus to the World Serpent's exploration team, we will find that after advancing for several hours, they have encountered new enemies.

"..."