Chapter 599 - 376: Subspace Abyss Prison

Chapter 599: Chapter 376: Subspace Abyss Prison

This bizarre situation was something he had never encountered—not since he’d broken through to become a Tier Five Beast Master, refined the first stage of his Spiritual Treasure Body, and attained a Profound Moon Level of Spiritual Quality.

With his life on the line, Han Ning didn’t dare be careless.

He first recalibrated the Star Map navigation, directing Fei Lin to return to their designated flight path.

Then his gaze fell back upon the giant catfish.

A faint, deep-blue light flickered in his eyes.

He activated the panel’s Authentication function.

[BEEP~]

[Location: Subspace region. Multiple spatial overlaps may occur. Energy consumption increased.]

[Authentication in progress...]

[Estimated time: 3 hours, 59 minutes...]

’Four hours.’

A chill ran through Han Ning.

This was the first time the panel had needed so much time since its many upgrades.

In the past, authenticating and analyzing a target took an hour at most. Usually, it was half an hour, a dozen minutes, or sometimes just a few.

This was a clear indicator of just how bizarre and dangerous the situation was!

Time ticked by, second by second.

Just as the panel’s timer hit 0.00 seconds,

A piercing alarm suddenly blared in Han Ning’s mind: [Warning! System analysis of the Subspace Abyss Prison has triggered the prison’s self-protection mechanism.]

[Current coordinates have been locked by the Abyssal Prison’s consciousness.]

[Spatial storm projected to arrive in 10 seconds. To ensure the host’s safety, the system will now enter self-preservation hibernation mode.]

[10...]

’What’s going on?!’

Han Ning stared at the glaring lines of text flashing across the panel.

He suddenly realized that the giant catfish, once distant, was now terrifyingly close.

[5...]

"Damn it! Fei Lin, full speed! Get us out of here!"

"YIYI!!"

Even his seemingly invincible system was malfunctioning. Han Ning forced himself to remain calm and ordered Fei Lin to escape this bizarre place immediately.

But... Fei Lin couldn’t fly nearly as fast as the catfish was approaching.

The shadow before them grew ever larger.

Until at last, a gaping, fang-filled maw that blotted out the sky snapped down toward Fei Lin and Han Ning, who was riding on top of her.

[0...]

BOOM!

His consciousness violently trembled.

Han Ning’s vision went black.

Before his consciousness faded completely, he faintly heard two weak words echoing in his mind: "Save me..."

...

"What is your relationship with Li Lu?"

"What?"

"I’m asking, what is your relationship with Li Lu?!"

In a brightly lit interrogation room, a middle-aged man in uniform stared intently at the young man before him.

"Huh? Oh!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the young man’s expression shifted rapidly from initial shock to calm composure.

The change was so abrupt, the man in the uniform almost felt like he was facing a completely different person.

"I was her colleague," Han Ning replied calmly, processing the strange memories that were suddenly flooding his mind.

"Be specific. What were you two doing sixteen hours ago?"

"Last night, our project team got together for a murder mystery game. About halfway through, she said she had a stomachache and was going to the restroom."

"We waited for over an hour, but she never came back. By then, the game was almost over, and we realized something wasn’t right. We quickly called her. The call connected, and she said something urgent had come up and told us to keep playing."

"After confirming she was all right, we didn’t worry too much and just went home afterward."

"And what was her state of mind last night?"

"She seemed perfectly normal. Joking and laughing. Nothing seemed unusual."

"What’s her personality like, usually? Any particular quirks?"

"She was pretty cheerful. She’s the product manager for our project team, and since the game we’re responsible for is an urban horror type, she was always collecting all sorts of strange scary stories."

"..."

A full two and a half hours later, Han Ning accepted the written statement the officer handed him. He scanned it carefully and nodded. "No problems. It’s exactly what I said."

"Good." The uniformed man pointed to the bottom of the page. "Please sign here and add your thumbprint, then you’re free to go."

Han Ning stood up, signed, left his print, and after receiving a nod of confirmation, he walked out of the office, down a long corridor, and out of the building.

It was the height of summer. Though it was nearly dusk, the scorching sunlight still beat down, casting a long shadow that stretched out from his feet.

This morning, "Han Ning" had been notified that at four o’clock, a homeless man had discovered an unidentified female corpse in a dumpster near Canghai Mansion.

The police had since confirmed that the deceased was his colleague, Li Lu.

’So this is the Abyssal Prison? It seems to be a completely real world. My Spiritual Power has been suppressed to its absolute limit; I can’t communicate with Yin Yi, Egg Pancake, or the others at all...’

Han Ning frowned, observing his surroundings as he sorted through the strange new memories in his mind.

’It seems I’ve transmigrated again. Or more accurately, into an Isotope of myself from an Alternate Plane?’

But unlike his previous experiences, his accumulated power from the Purple Crystal World hadn’t vanished. It was merely being suppressed by some peculiar force, and he had yet to find a way to release it.

’Yin Yi? Egg Pancake? Little Fatty Silkworm? Fei Lin? Huaimiao?’ he tried, attempting to contact the little guys with his weakened Spiritual Power.

His mental call was like a stone dropped into the ocean. There was no reply.

’Panel? Panel?’

No matter how many times he called out, the panel offered only a single response:

[BEEP~ System Energy depleted. Please replenish Energy to restart system.]

’Fine. For now, I’ll just have to take things one step at a time.’

Seeing that both his Soul Beasts and the panel were unresponsive, Han Ning let out a long sigh. The many ordeals he’d faced in the Purple Crystal World had at least given him nerves of steel.