Chapter 99 - 94: Gray Fog Tide

Chapter 99: Chapter 94: Gray Fog Tide

Shi An stood on the silent, empty national highway. Ten steps away was a thick gray fog. It stretched across the landscape like a solid wall, or a towering, cresting wave.

Faintly, Shi An could see fleeting scenes flashing within the gray tide of fog, like a mirage. These were scenes of Nightmares—surreal, awe-inspiring, and terrifying. Gazing through the veil of the night, Shi An thought he even saw a terrifying giant shadow appear for a split second within the gray fog.

"Is that also a ghost?" he wondered. "The ghosts I have seen so far are only the most ordinary ones. Even the Black Crow ghost, the boss of a Core Level Nightmare, is at best an Elite among Tier One ghosts."

He was no longer afraid of this kind of Elite ghost. However, even a fleeting glance at the giant shadow in the fog earlier had made his heart skip a beat.

"But that giant shadow only looks close. In reality, it should still be very, very far from Baijiang City. It is deep within the Nightmare."

If that weren’t the case, Shi An wouldn’t have been able to remain so calm. Though the most fundamental reason for his calmness was that he was merely an Energy Incarnation right now. He didn’t even have a dime on him; if his incarnation was blown up, he would suffer no loss.

Shi An walked along this massive wall of gray fog. He climbed over hills and crossed rivers, leaping and darting under the moonlight. The trees, just a few steps away from the gray fog, were still lush and green. They showed no signs of being tainted by the Nightmare, appearing even more normal than the real-world areas that had been invaded by Nightmares.

The river beneath his feet continued to meander and flow, unsevered. Shi An couldn’t understand it. Both the upstream and downstream of the river vanished into the gray fog, yet the river itself remained unaffected. He could even spot fish swimming beneath the water’s surface.

"The underlying reason for this is a bit too profound for me," he mused. After all, he was just a novice Dream Descender who had only been exposed to Nightmares for two and a half weeks.

While walking along the wall of gray fog, Shi An also spotted elite black trench coats on patrol, moving in groups of two or three. It seemed the Countermeasures Bureau’s forces were scattered all over Baijiang City. No wonder they could only spare thirty to forty Elites when raiding the Ancient Village Nightmare.

But even with patrols stationed everywhere, the small number of patrolling Dream Descenders was far too sparse compared to Baijiang City’s vast, expansive Border Line. This was a job that even Ordinary Dream Descenders couldn’t handle.

"The Dream Descenders patrolling this Border Line all know the situation in Baijiang City. Every single one of them is an Elite."

Shi An found a section of the border far away from any patrol teams. This was a Deep Mountains area with treacherous terrain. The moonlight was blocked by dense branches and leaves, making the mountain so pitch-black he couldn’t see his own fingers.

Stepping on dead branches and fallen leaves, Shi An reached the edge of the Deep Mountains, standing before the gently rolling gray fog wall. He snapped his fingers softly.

The next moment, out of the surrounding darkness, three Shadow Soldiers emerged from the ground, standing ramrod straight behind Shi An. These three soldiers were also different from their original versions. They were still pitch-black all over and constructed from shadows, but one could faintly see that these soldiers wore black armor and wielded black prismatic shields along with sharp, pitch-black spears.

They had already gotten a major upgrade. If he practiced in the training room for another two or three hours, he would probably be able to comprehend the Curse Art for Summoning Shadow Soldiers.

"Go," he commanded, pointing forward.

The three soldiers strode forward, walking one after another into the gray tide of fog. They encountered no resistance, as if they were merely walking into a dense fog.

Shi An widened his eyes, staring intently at the gray fog nearby, not daring to miss a single detail.

Suddenly, one Shadow Soldier disappeared. Its blurry back vanished from Shi An’s line of sight, and simultaneously, the thread of Spiritual Power connecting his mind to the Shadow Soldier also disappeared.

Two seconds later, the second Shadow Soldier, which had walked a bit further, disappeared as well. Six seconds later, the third Shadow Soldier couldn’t hold on either, disappearing without warning and severing the connection.

He moved to a different location and tried again. Sure enough, the Shadow Soldiers abruptly disappeared within two to ten seconds after plunging into the gray fog. Even if they remained completely still after stepping into the Fog Area, they still vanished without a trace.

Touching his chin, Shi An muttered, "The Shadow Soldiers might not be dead. It’s more like they were teleported, transferred to somewhere far away. After all, these Shadow Soldiers were simply summoned by activating a Curse Object. I can’t control them if they get too far away from me. Now that the Shadow Soldiers have been transferred to an unknown location, it’s perfectly normal for the connection to be severed entirely.

"This situation feels a lot like... a Fallen Dream!"

The Shadow Soldiers had fallen into a certain Nightmare, triggering a Fallen Dream, so the connection with him naturally broke. And Baijiang City was already an isolated island in the Sea of Nightmares. Stepping out of Baijiang was equivalent to falling into a Nightmare, which was to be expected.

However, Nightmares were chaotic and disorderly. When they, Dream Descenders, experienced a normal Fallen Dream, they progressed from shallow to deep. But... Thinking of the terrifying giant shadow he had glimpsed in the fog tide earlier, Shi An thought, "A Fallen Dream triggered by stepping into the Fog Area might not start in the shallow layers."

***

The gray fog acted like a city wall. It seemed that as long as one didn’t step into it, there would be no risk of being dragged into a Nightmare. But as Shi An was walking... Suddenly—

SWISH—

Like the ebb and flow of the tide, the gray fog suddenly surged, flooding over tens of meters of Baijiang City’s territory. It took a long while for this tide of fog to slowly recede.

Even so, the trees remained evergreen, as if nothing had happened. But Shi An still noticed several cobblestone-sized gray bugs wriggling among the dead branches and fallen leaves. They were Graystone Bugs, a common monster in the Nightmare World.

Shi An’s gaze sharpened. "So that’s how it is. Is this the fundamental reason why the Countermeasures Bureau patrols the Baijiang border? The ghosts that slip into the city might not all come from Nightmares invading reality. They could also have barged in from the Fog Area at the border! Following along with the gray fog tides.

"However, the Countermeasures Bureau attacking the Nightmare Core, aside from delaying the Nightmare’s invasion into reality, must also help mitigate the Spreading of the tides outside the city."

If it didn’t, the Countermeasures Bureau wouldn’t waste so much effort fighting them.

With these thoughts in mind, Shi An melted into the shadows. He rapidly traversed the rugged Deep Mountains and returned to the main road in just a moment.

So fast. There was a thrilling sensation, like becoming Superman. He didn’t yet possess the raw strength to soar across rooftops, but relying on his control over shadows, his movement and leaping were even faster.

"This is the power of an Excellence Level Curse Object."

As Shi An rode a shadow skateboard on his way back, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and whipped his head to the west. The night was gloomy over there. There were no lights in the fields, and the country paths were incredibly dim. He couldn’t see anything or hear any anomalies.

But through the perception of his shadow tentacles, Shi An picked up wisps of a sinister chill. A familiar, sinister chill—one radiating from a ghost!

"This is... not bad." A smile tugged at the corner of Shi An’s mouth. He suddenly understood why, a few days ago, many members of his own guild had shouted, "I want to test the strength of the ghosts!" and charged right in. Holding such power made it hard to contain oneself. "I’ll let the ghosts test my blade."

***

Baijiang City, Shangxi County, Xikou Village.

This was a village relatively close to the Border Line. As early as a year ago, the Countermeasures Bureau had used their methods to evacuate all the village’s residents, relocating them to the county’s urban area. The entirety of Xikou Village was now a deserted village. Only when patrol squad members passed by occasionally would they take a short rest here.

The reason for relocating the entire village was naturally because it was too close to the Fog Area. The Countermeasures Bureau feared that ordinary people might accidentally come into contact with the Fog Area and the Nightmares. Sometimes, when the gray fog tide erupted and monsters or ghosts invaded Baijiang, these villages closest to the Border Line were highly susceptible to the fallout.

Just like today.

Half an hour ago, a Level C gray fog tide disaster had broken out, and multiple ghosts had invaded Baijiang City’s territory. Originally, the outskirts of Baijiang City had already been locked down. Given a certain amount of strategic depth, even if there were multiple ghosts, the Countermeasures Bureau would be able to track them, stall them, and then exterminate them.

"But can someone tell me why there are still people in this rundown place? And it’s a bunch of brats courting death by coming here to explore and livestream! What the hell are the patrol teams and control units doing? Are they all just paid to do nothing?!"

A bald, burly man in a black combat suit cursed loudly. He looked ferocious, with several shocking scars marking his face, the top of his head, and his collarbones. Emitting an overwhelming aura of murderous intent, he stood there like a ferocious tiger.

The bald, burly man glanced at the boys and girls who had long since collapsed in sheer terror from the ghosts. With a cold snort, he still stepped in front to shield them. "Old Liu, Wu," he grunted, "take these idiots away. Lock them up for a week or two once you get back! As for here, I’ll hold the line."

The two team members were just about to hoist the teenagers onto their shoulders and carry them off, but a moment later, Old Liu gave a bitter smile. "Boss, it seems we’re a bit too late."

The bald, burly man—a Deputy Captain Level powerhouse codenamed Black Tiger—looked around. On the rooftops of several residential houses, strange silhouettes were already lurking, having appeared unnoticed.

They were monsters with green-gray skin resembling withered wood. Their green eyes emitted a faint, eerie glow under the veil of the night. They were incredibly fast and possessed strong concealment abilities. Even someone as strong as Black Tiger hadn’t noticed these strange silhouettes flanking them from behind at first.

"Tier One ghost, Withered Wood Ghost! If you get injured by this type of ghost, the wounded area will slowly turn into withered wood! This is troublesome."

The thorniest part was that these were all Ghost Level combatants! One-on-one, Black Tiger was confident he could utterly obliterate a ghost within ten minutes. One-against-many, like the current situation, wouldn’t be impossible for him to handle if he were completely alone. The problem was, there was far too much deadweight present.

After a dozen breaths, Black Tiger, the Deputy Captain of the Eighth Detachment, had his combat suit torn to shreds. He took a deep breath. A bizarre phantom of a tiger’s head manifested behind him, and a terrifying roar exploded into the air. Nearby, the movements of two Withered Wood Ghosts immediately stagnated.

Black Tiger was just about to rip out a ghost’s heart with a claw strike when he caught sight of a green-gray figure lunging toward the teenagers. Cursing inwardly, he stomped hard on the ground, twisted his waist, and launched himself like a cannonball, knocking the Withered Wood Demon back.

However, two fists were no match for multiple ghosts, and Black Tiger was eventually slashed by a Withered Wood Ghost’s claws. The injured part of his body gradually grew stiff.

"When will reinforcements arrive?" Black Tiger asked.

"Boss, it definitely won’t be that fast. We have to hold out for at least a few minutes. If it really comes down to it, you should retreat first, Boss!" Wu had also been injured, his complexion gradually turning a sickly green-gray.

The bald, burly man cursed furiously. He glared ruthlessly at the teenagers who had come out to court death.

Suddenly, his gaze narrowed.

Under the moonlight, a slender figure was slowly walking down the country road. The howling wind of the countryside and the eerie roars of the ghosts seemed to be completely suppressed. Only the moonlight spilled down, stretching the approaching figure’s shadow infinitely long.