The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

Just a few minutes into the drive, Lin Gang ran over to Gu Ran, his face grave, and said, "Brother Leng Ran, do you sense anything is wrong?"

"You felt it too?" Gu Ran asked, somewhat surprised.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xue Xiling asked somewhat groggily, "What's wrong? Isn't this the road we take to Canglong City? I still remember this direction."

When the team started moving earlier, Gu Ran disregarded Xue Xiling's reaction and forced his way into her car, so the two of them ended up together.

“It’s too quiet,” Gu Ran replied.

Xue Xiling asked in confusion, "It's too quiet? Maybe it's because a ferocious beast just gathered here, so all the other animals have fled."

"No, it's a deathly silence." Gu Ran shook his head.

"As expected of Brother Leng Ran, you saw right through me and described exactly the feeling I had, but couldn't quite put my finger on." Lin Gang gave Gu Ran a thumbs up.

"Deathly silence?" Xue Xiling was startled. "What's going to happen next? What should we do?"

Gu Ran blended into her surroundings and quietly felt the atmosphere.

He suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

Spatial abilities?

Could it be Leng Feng?

No, that's not right.

If it were Leng Feng, she wouldn't need to use such methods; killing or kidnapping them would be an easy thing to do.

Is it because it's inconvenient for you to come forward yourself?

Gu Ran couldn't make a judgment for a moment, so he continued to sense the abnormality in the surrounding environment.

Seeing Gu Ran's silence, Lin Gang assumed he was thinking about the matter and said, "If it's because of the ferocious beasts, although it will scare away other animals, there will still be some smaller animals making noise, such as various insects. These animals are not affected by the ferocious beast tide, but now, not to mention the sounds of various insects, even the sounds of nature are somewhat abnormal."

"Even natural sounds can be a little abnormal?" This touched on Xue Xiling's blind spot, and she looked at Lin Gang with puzzlement and curiosity.

Lin Gang: "That's right. Didn't you notice that the wind direction has changed at some point? At this time of year, the wind should be blowing from the southeast, but it's blowing from the northwest now. Although the wind is very light, it's extremely easy for martial artists to feel the difference."

"That's really true!" Xue Xiling carefully sensed the wind direction and widened her eyes.

“This power is indeed the power of space.” Gu Ran’s expression was somewhat solemn, but he was certain of one thing in his heart, “However, it is not her power, but rather the power of some kind of spatial object.”

"What is the relationship between Azure Dragon City and Vermilion Bird City?" Gu Ran suddenly asked Lin Gang.

"You suspect that it was Vermilion Bird City who did it, that they were lying in ambush on us?" Lin Gang frowned as he thought.

But then he shook his head: "Azure Dragon City and Vermilion Bird City share the same origin. Although they have different ideologies, they are not so different as to develop into direct confrontations and set up ambushes against each other. In times of crisis, the two cities often act as allies. So it is absolutely impossible that the higher-ups of Vermilion Bird City are targeting us, because we represent Lanxin University."

"Although our team is incredibly weak, as long as we represent Lanxin University and the official forces of Zhuque City, there is absolutely no way they would target us unless they want to start a war with Canglong City! For Zhuque City to want to start a war with Canglong City is even more unbelievable than the disbandment of the Human Alliance!"

Gu Ran nodded, agreeing with his statement.

Vermilion Bird City and Azure Dragon City have coexisted peacefully for over 1000 years. During these 1000 years, although there have been occasional frictions between Vermilion Bird City and Azure Dragon City, they have remained within the bounds of mutual tolerance and have mostly been allies.

Gu Ran asked that question because he suspected that Leng Feng had taken action against them. Leng Feng held a special position in Zhuque City, and Leng Feng's actions against the research team representing Lanxin University meant that the Zhuque City authorities had taken action against the research team.

However, whether from the perspective of interests or reason, it is impossible for Leng Feng to have made a move, and it is even less likely that it is Suzaku City that wants to deal with them.

"Whoever it is, I think they're all eager to make their move," Gu Ran said calmly. "If I remember correctly, the rescue team from Lanxin University should be arriving soon, right?"

"If the other side doesn't want to go to war with Lanxin University and instead wants to cover their tracks, then the best time to take action is before the rescue team arrives."

Lin Gang immediately began to observe his surroundings with heightened vigilance.

Unbeknownst to her, Xue Xiling tightly gripped the hem of Gu Ran's clothes.

In the vast wilderness, only the sound of the convoy's wheels and the relaxed conversations among the members of the research team could be heard.

"All personnel on alert!" Lin Gang suddenly picked up his communicator and shouted into the team's channel.

The others who heard the voice were puzzled and were about to look over at Lin Gang to ask him what was going on.

Suddenly, the once clear sky turned a dark, blood-red gray.

The once gentle breeze turned into a chilling, howling wind.

Gu Ran immediately knew who the enemy was.

"Abyss Demon!" Gu Ran exclaimed in surprise.

He suddenly remembered the demon he had encountered in the city of Saint-Yor; the unusual beast tide at that time was caused by that demon.

Now demonic aliens have appeared here again. What exactly do they want to do?

Does the Abyss really intend to invade the human world?

But if we really want to invade the human world, wouldn't it be easier to wait until the three realms merge? It would only take a few decades at most, which is a very short time for the long-lived demon race, wouldn't it?

Gu Ran was somewhat puzzled.

There are already signs that the three realms of Heaven, Abyss, and Humanity will merge, and the merger will be completed in a few decades at most.

That will be the real moment of war.

"Could it be preparation for the war that is very likely to occur when the three realms merge in a few decades?" Gu Ran thought to himself. "That possibility cannot be ruled out. If it really is preparation for the moment when the three realms merge, then it means that the demon generals of the abyss are very ambitious."

Humans know very little about the Abyss, only that the Demon Realm is ruled by 12 generals and that there are all kinds of demons in the Abyss.

Then we know even less about the celestial realm, which is a more mysterious world to humankind.

"Brother Leng Ran, what's going on?" Lin Gang was somewhat panicked in the face of this situation. He had never imagined that his enemy would be an abyss demon.

He had only heard of this creature in various legends before.

"The other side must have used some kind of spatial artifact to pull us into another space. That's why the movements of the various insects and the wind direction are different from the original world." Gu Ran's expression was also somewhat solemn. The Abyss Demon seemed to have quite a few spatial artifacts. Last time, the demon almost escaped directly using a teleportation portal.

"A spatial treasure? Isn't this something only Vermilion Bird City possesses? Could it be that Vermilion Bird City has really made a move against us and intends to start a war with Azure Dragon City?" Lin Gang's expression changed.

Compared to the life or death of their squad, the symbolic significance of Suzaku City's intervention against them is the earth-shattering change that will unleash a storm.

"Don't worry, it's not Vermilion Bird City. Although I don't know how the Abyss Demons obtained it, they do possess spatial treasures, and spatial treasures are not unique to Vermilion Bird City," Gu Ran patted Lin Gang on the shoulder to comfort him.

Lin Gang breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the complete annihilation of their squad, he was more afraid of a falling out between Vermilion Bird City and Azure Dragon City.

At that time, it will be a truly earth-shattering event, with countless deaths and injuries, and the entire landscape of the Human Alliance may be altered as a result.

"Don't relax too soon. Compared to Vermilion Bird City, the demon race is also very dangerous for us. Oh no, it's also very dangerous for you. After all, we only have an employer-employee relationship. It's not worth risking your life for them," Gu Ran said with a slight smile, trying to comfort him.

Lin Gang was somewhat amused and exasperated. Your tone of comfort was worse than no comfort at all. At least before, he still had a sliver of hope that Gu Ran, the strongest member of the team, could unleash his power and rescue the squad.

"what!"

Suddenly a scream came from ahead.

It turned out that various skeletons suddenly emerged from the ground around the team, some even with half a skin still attached, and you could see their internal organs still beating inside, with blood flowing and dripping like it was free.

These skeletons wore different incomplete clothes and varied in size, seemingly representing all age groups. What they had in common was that red flames flickered in their eyes.

Manipulating the dead is a unique ability of abyssal demons.

The skeleton army slowly surrounded the research team. Although slow, their ferocious appearance in this environment was enough to terrify an ordinary person.

Click click click.

The bones of this skeleton army were grinding together, making a creepy sound.

"Everyone on alert! Form a circle! Use ranged weapons to eliminate those skeletons as much as possible!" Lin Gang shouted immediately.

He glanced at Gu Ran and, seeing that Gu Ran remained unmoved, gritted his teeth and returned to the middle of the group, where he began to command the troops.

"Can...can you help us?" Xue Xiling asked timidly from the side.

Gu Ran looked at her: "No, you're wrong. We are us, and they are them. Even if you don't say anything, I will definitely help us. After all, if you don't help yourself, isn't that like committing suicide?"

“No, I mean help them, help the research team,” Xue Xiling quickly said.

"Oh, so you mean you're not part of the expedition team, but on my side?" Gu Ran raised an eyebrow and said.

Xue Xiling opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer.

"Alright, alright, I was just joking. It's obvious they don't intend to let us all go, otherwise they'd expose who they are. They're deliberately trying to eliminate the research team before the rescue team arrives, isn't that just to cover their own identities?"

"Since the other party wants to conceal their identity and prevent Lanxin University from discovering them, they will definitely try to wipe us out. It's difficult for me to stay out of the world. I've been implicated by you. I should have known better than to earn this troublesome fee."

Gu Ran sighed dramatically.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Xue Xiling lowered her head, somewhat at a loss.

Gu Ran had actually been observing Xue Xiling all along. The triangular crystal cone kept reminding him of Xue Xiling's abnormality, but from Gu Ran's perspective, Xue Xiling was just an ordinary girl in every way.

If we want to investigate Xue Xiling more deeply, then we must further improve our relationship with her.

Although Gu Ran is ruthless when facing enemies, he doesn't want to hurt an innocent person—a girl who is full of hope for the future and strives to live a good life.

Although the skeleton army was numerous and powerful, it was extremely weak. Even if the research team fired pistols at them, they could easily break through their skeletal bodies.

Gu Ran observed.

Some skeletons also attacked him, but they couldn't get close to him at all, as if they were crushed by some kind of heavy pressure.

"We're running out of bullets!"

Suddenly someone shouted.

"There are just too many of them. Even if we run out of bullets, we still won't be able to kill them all!"

More and more members of the scientific expedition teams encountered this situation, shouting in panic and fear.