"What do we do now?"
"Wait for the operation head to wake up first."
Leader Irna made this decision after knowing the danger of this plane. To that, we all stayed inside the interstellar ship with almost Intermediate God Rank stealth capabilities and Intermediate God Rank speed.
The mission was supposed to be a stealth one that aimed to be accomplished in the fastest time, thus these modifications.
Soon, 3 days passed.
***
"Grand Desolate Grounds? We're actually here?"
Operation Head Vera muttered in shock. It seems like she already knew what kind of place this is.
"Nobody did something outside, right?"
"Yes. We all stayed after Lieutenant Kerr's reconnaissance."
"That's good."
She began explaining the specifics of this plane. We already knew some things thanks to my prior reconnaissance, but her explanation is more detailed.
At one time, the Heavenly Sovereign chanced upon this plane. Without knowing its strangeness, he ventured. It was thanks to his luck that he decided to only use his Spirit Vessel for reasons unknown. With that, he didn't activate the distorted state of some projections here.
When a fight broke out that forced him to use his other vessels, the distortion state appeared en masse. It was to the extent that he was left with no choice but to escape. Of course, the reason why he escaped is due to that Pseudo-Sage Realm combatant who went bonkers after transforming into the distorted state.
'Holy.. That pseudo-sage is a distorted monster? No wonder..'
"Our current mission is to get to one of the transit points that Commander Lucia had prepared. Once we get there, we can go back to the main dimension."
She showed a holographic map from her arms. It included one of the biggest planes, the Grand Desolate Grounds, together with some planes that are comparable to it. Our destination is a mortal world connected to it.
Besides that, there are other transit points available, but it's the one closest to us right now.
"To reach it, we need to go to an Ascension Point first."
Red dots appeared on the Grand Desolate Ground's map. It was all thanks to the Heavenly Sovereign's work that we have a detailed map. Though, its accuracy can be questioned as it was recorded more than 1,200 years ago.
"That's why everyone will separate into 3 teams. Investigate the active Ascension Points near us. It's best if we could confirm more than 10 active Ascension Points."
Then, operation head Vera started sorting us into 3 teams. Showing great insight, she made every single team as balanced as it can be.
"Seems like we'll be in the same team!"
"Yes. I'll be counting on you in case something happens."
"What do you mean? I should be the one asking you to take care of me, haha!"
Well, he makes sense. I've said this since I felt that he got something big on him.
"Take care, Senior."
"You too. I would love to fight you right now, but the situation doesn't allow us. I hope that we'll be able to do so later!"
"I understand."
Senior Light's team went out first.
"Take care, leader."
"Mhm. You too. Prioritize your safety over anything else."
"Got it."
Leader Irna went out next. As for Operation Head Vera, stealth guy, and Kaede, they stayed on the ship to guard for any unexpected occurrences. Soon, it was our turn to leave.
"Good luck!"
"Thanks."
Kaede said so without stammering. I feel warm after hearing each of my teammate's encouragement, even more so that I possess [A Reader's Perspective], helping me understand their kind intentions immediately.
Hm.. I now sound like a NewType, huh. This might also be the reason why my relationship with Aria progressed quickly. We both know what we want, so we didn't have to guess blindly what the other party wants.
"I will be your team captain for now. You can call me Jekil."
Along the way, our temporary team captain introduced himself. Jekil, a Major General. He belongs to the Purple Eye Race, a race with superb reconnaissance abilities. Their innate racial trait is comparable to my [Truth-Piercing Eyes].
As a Mid-Rank Deity, it serves right that he can see much farther than me.
"As the two of you know, this is the Distortion Plane. Be careful not to encounter any living beings here. The more they are, the greater the danger. Don't separate in this team, understand?"
""I understand!""
Maen and I shouted resolutely. I guess even he has these times where he needs to be more serious.
After flying for 10 minutes, we finally arrived at our first target. In this mountain, a flat platform is present. It is made up of sturdy white tiles that can withstand a Human Immortal's attacks. Other than this, there's nothing else. What's important to take note is that its distance to a large city is not that big.
There's also some teleportation arrays installed nearby.
"Mn. This one is working. Let's go to the other ascension points."
We went to the second, third, and fourth ascension points without any breaks. The second and the fourth ascension points are now unusable. while the third ascension point is also active, just like the previous one.
Before going to the fifth ascension point, Captain Jekil decided for the team to rest. We all placed a black miniature array disk with blue lines and sat on it, boosting our energy recovery by 1.4x. We only used up our Qi, so our recovery went fast.
"Incoming."
We all tensed up with that.
Roar-!
A female cultivator riding a purple lightning dragon approached us. She gave the same feeling as the Captain's, indicating that she might be at the True Immortal Realm (Mid-Rank Deity).
"Greetings."
"Mn. What do you plan by going back and forth to some ascension zones?"
She didn't beat around the bush and asked us directly. As for our expression, she didn't see that due to our Armor covering our faces. Of course, we all disguised it to look like an ordinary full-body armor.
"We are just searching for something. If you don't mind us, then we will continue on our way."
Captain Jekil indicated his intentions. Technically, he isn't lying. We're trying to find some active ascension points to go to the lower realms.
The female cultivator asked something before we could leave.
"If it's not too much, what are you trying to find?"
'Crap. Please talk well, Captain.'
"Oh. It's just a treasure that our ancestor brought when he first entered this Immortal Plane. He's too unfortunate to lose it here, so we thought that we can give it a check."
As expected of a Mid-Rank Deity. His ability to make such bullshit is truly top-notch!
"I see. I wish you good luck."
"Thank you."
We all left after that. Though, I could feel some danger coming from her. It should be because she didn't trust us that much, but she can't do anything? I hope that it's just like that. If it's some other possibility that I thought of...
No, please don't let it come true.