The lake bottom was pitch black, yet utterly devoid of life, clearly because anything daring to approach had been devoured indiscriminately by the Kytimnga guarding the eggs. Although Fang Senyan and Reef had absolutely no experience swimming underwater, the Mist-Singer girl could directly switch into her plant-detection 3D mode. Under her guidance, they navigated through the labyrinthine underground waterways and eventually swam back into the lake the Orcs called: "Khazad-dûm."

At this point, Fang Senyan and Reef noticed a distinct drop in the lake water's temperature. Evidently, the Balrog's injury had triggered a chain reaction; it was frantically drawing on geothermal energy to heal its wounds, naturally causing the lakebed temperature to plummet rapidly. Those bizarre, monstrous fish began to cautiously yet greedily swim closer, and some starved specimens even started attacking Fang Senyan. However, thanks to the Mist-Singer girl, the most threatening Great Tentacled Worms merely swam around curiously nearby, saving Fang Senyan and the others considerable trouble.

It was clear that the octopus monster, the Kytimnga, had battled the Balrog more than once before. Therefore, a small portion of its previous eggs must have been washed into this lake by the flood. As they rotted, they contaminated the lake's organisms, causing them to mutate into their current forms. Since the interiors of these mutated creatures were "polluted" with Kytimnga genes, the great octopus considered them "one of its own" and would not hunt them, which explained their high resilience attributes. Fortunately, although Fang Senyan and Reef's strength had decreased, they now had the Dawn Elf escorting them. The Mist-Singer girl did not harm them; with every gesture she made, vast quantities of green algae flowed around her like long hair. Whenever a monster fish approached, she would detach a clump of green algae to stuff into its mouth, forcing the creature to flee in terror.

After the three came ashore, they were naturally stunned by the plague-ridden land that had been scorched into a barren white expanse before them. Even Fang Senyan hadn't expected Saruman to resort to such a vicious, scorched-earth tactic to safely traverse this desolate place.

According to Fang Senyan's speculation, the underground water veins beneath the Plague Lands likely connected to one of the Kytimnga's long-term lairs. The bodily fluids secreted by this giant octopus also possessed potent hallucinogenic properties. Mixed into the water, these fluids were continuously siphoned up by the roots of the pine trees growing there, infiltrating the soil. Consequently, whenever the sun shone, anyone entering the area would suffer fatal hallucinations.

The group continued forward, sighing with a sense of unreality upon seeing the site of the earlier collapsed avalanche. That snow valley had been trampled by the entire Orc tribe pouring out, carving a smooth, wide path; thus, the three faced no danger of leaving behind tracks that could be discovered. After advancing another ten kilometers or so, the Orc encampment, resembling a colossal white beehive, appeared before them.

At this juncture, the trio had two options: turn left to return to the Orc camp, or turn right to leave this damned, forsaken place. Fang Senyan pondered for a moment, then asked seriously, "Mist-Singer, do you truly have the ability to save your life if things become critical?"

The Mist-Singer nodded earnestly.

Fang Senyan handed the deerskin satchel carried on his shoulder—containing the plundered Kytimnga eggs—to Reef, then looked at him and said, "It seems it's time for us to part ways here. This is a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This Orc camp is unprecedentedly empty; I estimate most of its inhabitants were taken by Saruman's clone. Because Saruman's clone is aiming for something huge this time, he is bound to use every last ounce of strength he has..." "...even the old, weak, and crippled as cannon fodder. I believe there's a high probability of reaping immense benefits." Reef nodded, "Understood. I'm the remaining insurance policy, then?"

"Precisely. You bear the Dawn Elf's blessing, allowing you to merge with nature, significantly reducing the chance of danger when you are in heavily vegetated areas. And there is still plenty of time before the Dawn Elf's blessing fades," Fang Senyan stated calmly. "Your existence is the safety net that allows me to venture forth boldly." Reef smiled as well; he was usually a very serious person, but the smile on his face carried a distinct air of steady confidence and cheerfulness. "Take care, Sailor. But I still have a small concern."

Fang Senyan said seriously, "Speak your mind." Reef considered for a moment, "This Saruman is only a clone, so we can imagine the Mage Tower's collection will be sparse. Furthermore, he is going to fight a fierce battle against a major enemy, so he must have taken every recovery item, combat tool, and piece of equipment he could carry. This inevitably lowers the chance of finding anything valuable."

"Finally, because of those damned rules, the items we can take out are restricted. After these three successive weakenings, the benefits we can gain will be meager. Therefore, your main objective in risking this adventure must shift to completing your Tier Six ability."

Fang Senyan nodded, "Yes, that's what I'm thinking too. But I still feel this risk is worth taking."

Reef thought for a moment, "Alright, then. Stay safe."

Fang Senyan had to hurry, as he didn't know when Saruman's clone might return. He had already turned and strode toward the Orc encampment, a dangling leather pouch swinging at his waist, raising his hand to wave goodbye to Reef as he went.

But just as the two separated, a ruthless voice echoed again in the Nightmare Imprint: "Scanning: Execution Team Number 1018, Mission: Survival has once again reached the time-related critical threshold!"

"Congratulations: Number 1018, your execution of the Team Mission: Survival has reached the final stage's time-related critical threshold!"

"Warning: The difficulty of your stay in this world will increase again. Effective immediately, all attribute bonuses you gain in the Nightmare Space will disappear. Your physical constitution will revert to the normal human baseline data from when you first entered the space!!"

"Hint: You have reached the final stage of the Team Mission: Survival. You can remain in this space for a maximum of 8 more hours, at which point you will reach the highest standard for Mission Evaluation LV MAX and be forcibly teleported back to the Nightmare Space. If you achieve this goal, you will receive the relevant milestone and the highest reward for this mission!"

Although Fang Senyan had been mentally prepared, an outburst of ecstatic joy still welled up. Additionally, there was one matter he had presumed but still felt compelled to ask cautiously: "If I choose to return to the space now, and my companions who entered this world with me stay until the end, how will the mission rewards be calculated?"

"Querying answer... Backing up... Responding..."

"You all chose to enter this world together and simultaneously began establishing Team Mission: Survival. Therefore, as long as any one person survives until the end, the mission is complete. The evaluation will only calculate the single best achievement among all participating members."

Receiving this reply, Fang Senyan finally relaxed and boldly charged back toward the Orc city. However, his sudden return to an ordinary human physique was quite disorienting. Fang Senyan couldn't help but sigh inwardly—under these conditions, the time spent just traveling would cost him at least five extra minutes!

And at this critical juncture when he needed to infiltrate Saruman's Mage Tower to stir up trouble, five minutes could easily mean the difference between success and failure, between life and death!!

During this time, Fang Senyan took the opportunity to check his attributes and indeed found that everything had reverted to his personal data from the first time he entered the space. All abilities, both active and passive, were marked with the words "Sealed," but the sole exception was his innate talent, "Tenacity"!

Although Tenacity was also not active, the text displayed for it read "Unawakened!" This display method was identical to checking his talent in the real world!

Although the half-orc city appeared utterly dead, everything still looked remarkably orderly. Clearly, Saruman's clone had made preparations for this expedition for a considerable time.

Walking through this foul-smelling, filthy, yet unusually sturdy town, contrasting it with the chaotic noise recorded in his memory, Fang Senyan felt a faint sense of dread, as if wandering through a ghost city.

The Mage Tower was just ahead.

Since this Mage Tower was, strictly speaking, a hastily constructed imitation—only the top level was built using precious materials like Mithril and Orichalcum according to the standard Mage Tower blueprint—there was no need to worry about magical mechanisms for the first four floors.

And given the simple, muscle-brained intelligence of the Orcs and Uruks, it would be impossible for them to recognize crude but powerful conventional traps. Moreover, when transporting materials, Fang Senyan had familiarized himself with the interior environment to the extent that he knew at least seven or eight tenths of it, if not intimately.

"Go this way." After entering the Mage Tower, Fang Senyan, despite being an ordinary person, still moved with agile grace, leading the way. "Be careful of this section of the stairs—see it? Yes, right there, that black wooden plank in the middle. Step on it, and a giant boulder will roll down."

The Mist-Singer followed silently behind Fang Senyan, her clear, flawless eyes suddenly looking at him with sorrow. "I can feel it, you are growing weaker."