Approaching the shores—
"Halt."
Having the yacht halt through voice command, Long Hua and Tian Cheng leap off from the stem prior to storing the vehicle away.
Since the temperatures had returned to normal, the two had gotten rid of their winter coats.
"Uh…?"
"That guy… Isn't he the one who rushed at the monster?"
"He lived?"
Being stared at by those camping near the shores, Long Hua spreads his divine senses outwards to look for anyone that he might recognize nearby.
Having taken his time getting over to the island, he feels more than refreshed enough to deal with another battle if needed.
(None of the damage to the terrain is recent. …Well, there are a few, but nothing quite like the older damages in scale.)
Seeing the number of craters and black marks that are scattered throughout the island via his divine senses, Long Hua can get a basic image of what had happened in the distant past.
And being able to see the mountain peaks from a bird's eye view, he can say for certain that their forms are a result of a practitioner's hand.
"Oh?"
Seeing Yu Ji headed towards him, Long Hua begins to close the distance himself.
In less than five minutes, they see each other, and stop with two arms' length of distance between them.
"Long-laoban, you really didn't die."
Shrugging his shoulders, Long Hua replies—
"Of course. So? What exactly happened while I was away?"
"Hmm, where to begin?"
Shortly after arriving on this island, the group was split up into one of two categories.
The first being volunteers, who wanted to explore the environment—in which, this category is further split into one of three groups.
As for the second category, they were charged with securing a campsite by clearing away the fully Apotheosized weapon spirits nearby.
Going further into detail regarding the first category—each team in it was meant to look around the areas near one of the three mountains; and as the mountains were arranged in a linear fashion, they were labeled from one through three—from left to right.
On the right side of the first mountain, the group discovered a cave; and within this cave, a similar chamber to the one that was on the previous island was found. Unlike the chamber of the previous island, there were four murals in this one.
Upon touching one of the murals within that chamber, a group managed to make a round trip between this island and the previous island.
Hearing this, Long Hua remarks—
"So, that's basically the teleportation magic array of this ruin then?"
"Seems like it. Still, for it to only come alive after reaching here is a bit…"
"Ai, I've seen worse."
Comparing these ruins to the highly advanced secret realms that can be found throughout the real world, Long Hua considers the former to be a colossal theme park experience—for the dangers contained in those secret realms, they were much worse than anything he's seen in the former thus far.
"Hm?"
Ignoring the quizzical look on Yu Ji's face, Long Hua asks—
"So, what about the other two mountains?"
"The second mountain possesses a chamber filled with treasures. The entrance into that chamber, however… It's being closely guarded by a group from each faction."
"To monitor one another?"
"Pretty much. Ah, many of us have already left through the teleportation magic array that is present on the fourth mural. Some to call in backup, or to just simply get away from this place entirely."
Hearing the word "backup" causes Long Hua to constrict his eyes, as he asks—
"Backup? For what exactly?"
"It's related to the third mountain. Inside the third mountain, they found a fully Apotheosized Sinner."
Blinking his eyes, Long Hua continues to ask—
"Something special about it?"
"More than ten people have already died to it. They say, it's a stage four. But the size of it—it's estimated to be two and a half meters, if it can stand up on both feet."
"That's rather small compared to that croc…"
"What happened to that croc anyways?"
Towards Yu Ji's question, Long Hua smiles faintly, causing the former to say—
"Never mind… Pretend I didn't ask."
"So, why the need to get rid of this Sinner?"
"Spirit Extracts."
"The thing knock-off Immortal mentioned?"
Replying with a nod, Yu Ji goes on to say—
"There're over 20 bottles of that stuff. Apparently, this is a rare sight even in the inner domain—according to the hall."
Hearing this, Long Hua's smile turns into one of amusement, as he says—
"Lead the way, I want to see the situation for myself."
...…
Sitting within the confines of a tent—outside of the ruins, Duanmu Chen holds his personal phone to his ear, while waiting for the call to connect to the CEO of Dainsfield.
[Hello.]
The name of the man on the other side is Jìng Yuǎndōng, to which, Duanmu Chen asks—
"Jing-laoban, how's progress on that satellite weapon of yours?"
Sitting within his office, which is on the 50th floor of Dainsfield's main building, Jing Yuandong raises an eye.
Decorating the ceiling of Jing Yuandong's office are four chandeliers.
At this time, he is seated in front of a black wooden desk, and to his left is a refrigerator with a large wine shelf beside it. A few meters away—in front of the fridge, is an island countertop.
The center of the office is occupied by light-colored sofas and armchairs—surrounding a table.
[Did you run into some trouble?]
Towards Jing Yuandong's question, Duanmu Chen explains—
"I've lost a good number of men during this excavation—five of which were quite recent. Inside that ruin, we found a stage four Apotheosized Sinner, and it slaughtered 13 or 15 individuals so far. However, total casualties thus far aside, that Sinner guards something called a Spirit Extract. There are 22 bottles of that stuff, as for what it does—according to the hall, it can cause a Sinner's Relic to undergo a transformation, resulting in greater strength. I believe sending in more backup, along with this weapon of yours can greatly aid us in acquiring this resource."
[…]
Silence comes from the other side as Jing Yuandong contemplates the matter. Eventually, he asks—
[Is that surnamed Yu still alive?]
"Yes."
Hearing this answer, a sigh comes from Jing Yuandong, as he continues to say—
[…Buy me some time. I need to have the cryostasis unit…- It needs to be wrapped up a bit—seeing as how a certain someone is also in that ruin.]
"How long?"
[At least a day.]
"I expect to be compensated well later."
[Naturally. Ah, you wanted your son and daughter to be exempted from the need to serve as Sinners, correct?]
"Indeed."
[I've got good news for you on that front. The paper works, and the people related to the matter, they've all been dealt with and contacted. All your children need to do now is graduate. Early congratulations on that.]
"My thanks."
A smile appears on Duanmu Chen's face. He has known Jing Yuandong for many years as a result of working at Dainsfield, and relationship wise, they can be considered decent friends.
His two children—a son and a daughter are both seven years of age at this time.
As for his wife, the person had left him right after finding out that he was a Sinner—a matter that Duanmu Chen had kept hidden during their relationship.
Although his wife had left him, Duanmu Chen didn't mind it.
Compared to finding a Sinner wife—only to lose her on the battlefield, having a non-Sinner wife, who is still alive, but divorced was far better.
Relationship wise, Duanmu Chen still talks to the woman occasionally due to their children.