Chapter 92 - 89: The Manager’s Venerable Figure

Chapter 92: Chapter 89: The Manager’s Venerable Figure

Shi An had long suspected it. After conquering a Nightmare, the Dream Descenders would receive a reward, and his Safe Zone would obtain an even more valuable one.

Where did this reward come from?

It could only be stripped from the Nightmare itself, of course.

"When a Nightmare is conquered, it’s equivalent to it being dispersed. A dispersed Nightmare needs several hours to fully recover. This period is the Nightmare’s ’weakened state.’"

The Countermeasures Bureau wanted to use this window of opportunity to completely purify the Nightmare.

He guessed his Safe Zone also extracted the Nightmare’s origin source when it was dispersed, transforming it into tangible rewards.

"According to the Countermeasures Bureau’s intelligence, no Dream Descender falls into the Ancient Village Nightmare naturally. It can only be entered through the Black Street Nightmare."

"And now..."

Shi An had Lin Xiao, who had followed the main force into the Ancient Village Nightmare, try to activate his Member Card’s ability.

[A member is requesting access to the Safe Zone. Allow connection? (Default: Yes)]

But the message had barely appeared when another notification sounded.

[Notice: Connection to the current Nightmare is obstructed by a special force. More Anchor Points are required to strengthen the connection.]

The Member Card’s power wasn’t ineffective; it just needed more reinforcement.

Shi An had been about to send a notification to the members, but...

They were all seasoned members now. Most of the time, they knew how to use every advantage without needing to be told.

Profound Sword activated his Member Card.

Long Niu also activated his Member Card.

The familiar guiding line didn’t appear, but they received a cryptic message instead.

[Resonate with the power of more members to build a bridge to the Safe Zone and receive its protection.]

A look of delight appeared on Long Niu’s face.

"Quick! Quick! Activate our Member Cards and open a path to the Safe Zone!"

Within the Countermeasures Bureau, there were now three people who were members of the Safe Zone.

Himself, Long Niu; Song Jianshen; and Old Yao.

Long Niu also shouted a reminder to the other Safe Zone members.

The battle had already begun. Some members were already clashing with the anomalies and couldn’t spare a hand.

Other members had already used their one-time access to the Safe Zone for their current Dream Descender cycle and couldn’t activate it again.

But even so, there were still over a dozen Safe Zone members present. Furthermore, Long Niu and the others were new members who had never used this privilege before.

One, two, three—

One after another, the Member Cards began to grow warm. An invisible power resonated, and in a place unseen by the Dream Descenders, a bridge was built and a gateway opened.

And in Shi An’s eyes,

another patch of gray fog outside the Safe Zone was dispelled, revealing the scene of a cold, deathly still, dilapidated village.

The Safe Zone had silently embedded itself into the Ancient Village.

It was as if it had been there all along.

In the eyes of members like Long Niu and Profound Sword, a faint, dotted line appeared, extending toward a location in the distant village.

The Safe Zone was here. They had support from the rear. The battle was secured.

Of course, no one shouted this out loud. Everyone understood the principle of not jinxing things before or during a battle.

But the morale of the Elites soared. Even though they faced more than ten anomalies, they charged forward without fear.

"Slash—"

Behind Rakshasa Sword, a blurry yet terrifying figure materialized. Black threads connected to his body, becoming the source of his power.

His sword flashed, and the arm of a humanoid anomaly was severed on the spot.

Even among the many experts present, his combat power was solidly in the top three, second only to Captain Long Niu of the Second Refining Realm.

But he wasn’t fighting with everything he had. He kept some of his attention on his junior brother, Profound Sword, who wasn’t far away.

’In his view, his junior brother’s foundation was still too shallow, both in terms of Curse Art mastery and combat experience.’

’In a massive brawl of this level, my junior brother is in too much danger.’

Rakshasa Sword kept a constant watch, holding back a portion of his strength, ready to intervene decisively if his junior brother ran into trouble.

Then,

he saw it.

"Instantaneous Sword! Instantaneous Sword! Instantaneous Sword!"

The young Profound Sword held his blade in one hand, his figure flickering continuously across the battlefield.

Instantaneous Sword was a Curse Art that combined damage with a dash-like movement. Its burst of speed was as fast as a flash of light.

And Profound Sword could use Instantaneous Sword multiple times in a short period! He had even integrated it with his Lifebound Curse Art to drastically increase its damage and compensate for the technique’s shortcomings.

"That’s a Master Level Instantaneous Sword!!"

"Wait, even my Instantaneous Sword isn’t at the Master Level yet!"

Rakshasa Sword was so stunned he was nearly hit by a sneak attack from an anomaly.

But he still didn’t quite understand.

’I’m the senior brother!’

’I was clearly so much stronger than him before!’

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been the only one from his martial hall seconded to the Countermeasures Bureau this time.

Rakshasa Sword hadn’t trained much in the Safe Zone’s training rooms.

He knew they were somewhat miraculous, but their Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall was no slouch either. Later, because spots in the training rooms became tight, the ones the Countermeasures Bureau managed to rent were mostly given to the Elites stuck at the Peak of the Control Stage.

So Rakshasa Sword never used them.

Even though his junior brother had invited him over many times.

「Back then.」

Rakshasa Sword had said, "Junior Brother, you’ve only just entered the Refining Stage. You don’t understand the depth of our Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall. Our hall has its own very magical cultivation venues."

’My foolish senior brother,’ Profound Sword had thought, ’you’re the one who doesn’t understand. You have no idea of the true value of the Safe Zone.’