The disappearance of the team of six was highly irregular. All exploration units maintained contact with the base, but suddenly, the connection was severed. There had been no prior warning or distress signal. It was as if they had vanished from existence in an instant.

The whole affair reeked of strangeness. One hundred mechs—even if they had encountered danger, it was impossible for them to be unable to send a distress call to the base.

The unknown was the most terrifying thing. Gu Yi decided to dispatch the two top experts precisely because he wanted to ascertain the truth. The location was only six thousand kilometers from the base; failing to investigate would leave everyone deeply unsettled.

Zhong Yun and the others arrived at the last known coordinates of the missing team: a deep gorge flanked by mountains covered in unusually dense foliage. These trees stood easily over ten meters tall, obscuring the view of whatever lay beneath.

Qin Lianbai and Lan Yuling were already in consultation, though they had not included Zhong Yun. Zhong Yun paid it no mind; ever since the mission began, Qin Lianbai hadn't spoken a single word to him, nor issued a single order, acting as if Zhong Yun simply didn't exist.

It was clear the two had already broken ties completely, and Zhong Yun was not about to be troubled by such posturing.

Zhong Yun observed the gorge below. It was shaped like an inverted 'V'—narrow at the entrance and widening significantly further inside. He extended his divine sense downward, probing into the depths.

"Hmm?" Zhong Yun let out a soft sound, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Did you find something?" Lan Yuling and Qin Lianbai had finished their discussion. Qin Lianbai was assigning tasks to the three hundred mech pilots under him. Lan Yuling approached Zhong Yun just in time to catch his surprised exclamation.

"In that gorge, I cannot detect a single living creature," Zhong Yun stated, his voice heavy with concern.

"Are you certain?" Lan Yuling was startled in turn, reflexively questioning him. She immediately noticed the edge of doubt in her tone, softening her voice quickly. "How can that be?"

"Perhaps it is related to the disappearance of the previous team," Zhong Yun replied, not taking offense. When his interests weren't directly threatened, he maintained a considerable degree of tolerance toward women.

The matter was grave, and Lan Yuling immediately used her spiritual sense to scan downward as well.

Zhong Yun instantly perceived a powerful mental wave. This was the first time someone of comparable strength had released their spiritual sense in his presence, sparking his curiosity. However, spiritual sense is immaterial and invisible to the naked eye.

After a while, the mental fluctuation vanished. Lan Yuling hurried back to find Qin Lianbai.

Zhong Yun ignored them and amplified his own spiritual sense once more, exploring deeper into the canyon.

Suddenly, as if a drop of water had struck a lake, a visible ripple spread across space. Zhong Yun was the first to detect the anomaly, and letting out a sharp gasp, his mech shot outward without hesitation.

Just then, the ripples at the center of the spatial disturbance grew larger, instantly coalescing into a vortex. At the heart of the vortex was a black speck the size of a soybean.

"Retreat!" Qin Lianbai and Lan Yuling had also noticed the vortex, shouting in alarm as two mechs—one white, one red—shot away. In the span of half a second, they accelerated to their absolute limits.

The remaining three hundred mechs reacted slightly slower. By the time they initiated movement, the black dot at the center of the vortex had expanded to the size of a basketball court. It was as if an invisible behemoth had suddenly opened its massive maw.

An irresistible suction force erupted. The three hundred mechs, having barely flown ten meters, were violently yanked into the black hole.

Even the white and red mechs, already a thousand meters out, could not escape the pull. Without any chance to resist, they were dragged back into the abyss.

Zhong Yun pushed his speed to the absolute maximum. He had recognized what the spatial ripple meant the moment it appeared, and he flew outward desperately, trying to gain as much distance as possible.

Even after Qin Lianbai and Lan Yuling were sucked in, 'Linglong' had already cleared five kilometers. He had traveled five kilometers from a standstill in under two seconds. On a planet with significant atmospheric resistance, such speed was monstrous.

Yet, Zhong Yun still could not escape the gravity of the pull. He felt his body tighten, the air in his chest squeezed out by inertial force, and his bones felt on the verge of shattering.

"Damn it—"

That was all the time he had left before his vision plunged into absolute darkness.

Above the gorge, the massive vortex vanished as quickly as it had formed, as if it had never been there. Strangely, the surrounding trees, rocks, and soil showed not even the slightest disturbance.

The instant Zhong Yun was pulled into the black hole, the icy detachment on Xiao Ling's face, usually immutable, cracked. His expression changed drastically in the main control room of the Mercury, the First Base of the Galactic Empire, and his dark eyes began to flicker rapidly.

At the exact moment everyone was swallowed by the vortex, the contact lights representing that group in the base simultaneously winked out. The liaison officer’s face went ashen, and he immediately notified his superiors.

When Gu Yi received the news, he froze completely, speechless for a long time.

Subsequently, the coordinates within a three-thousand-kilometer radius where the two missing teams had vanished were immediately designated as a restricted zone.

The moment Zhong Yun was dragged into the black hole, the suction ceased. He instantly stabilized his mech. Flipping his hands, a plasma rifle appeared in his left, and a pistol in his right. He stilled all movement, cautiously—

Confirming there was no immediate danger, he scanned the environmental data. Nothing seemed significantly different. He then began observing his surroundings.

This was a space devoid of light. He dared not activate his internal lamps; in this unknown place, unknown dangers surely lurked, not to mention the hostile presence of Qin Lianbai watching him. Lighting up would be the equivalent of raising a target.

The sensors remained unresponsive. He released his spiritual sense again, which passed unimpeded through the surrounding space. A wave of relief washed over him; at least he wouldn't be truly blind.

Next, he attempted to contact Xiao Ling, but the message lingered unanswered for a long time, causing his heart to sink. He could maintain contact with Xiao Ling even after entering the "Golden Ruins," but this place, whatever it was, blocked all communication.

Taking a deep breath, Zhong Yun steadied his nerves. At times like these, composure was paramount. The immediate task was to map out the environment and find a way out.

He spread his spiritual sense outward. His perception extended tens of kilometers without brushing against anything.

"Commander Qin? Commander Lan?" Zhong Yun called out.

No reply. They had only entered half a step before him, but now they were gone. He feared the suction force had flung them to vastly different locations.

Staying put was not an option. Zhong Yun decided to venture out. He opened the hatch and launched a light-flare—one he had fabricated when first arriving on the continent because the natural light was too dim. He never imagined it would prove useful here.

The flare exploded ten kilometers away, igniting a brilliant flash of fire that shone like a tiny sun in the darkness.

Through 'Linglong's' optical sensors, Zhong Yun detected a metallic reflection several hundred kilometers away in one direction. Elated, he locked onto that direction and flew towards it.

The flare had a duration of half an hour, and in absolute darkness, its emission was considerable, visible even hundreds of kilometers away as a faint glimmer.

As he drew closer, Zhong Yun realized it was a colossal metal wall, stretching beyond the horizon. Instead of dismay, he felt joy; seeing a manufactured wall meant this place was artificial. Where there were constructions, there was hope of finding someone.

He chose a random direction along the wall and began to fly slowly forward. Using his initial stopping point as the origin, he constructed a three-dimensional coordinate system, allowing him to calculate his trajectory and avoid getting lost.

After a dozen attempts, he finally discerned the correct orientation. This appeared to be a massive, circular tunnel, a conclusion reached after flying a full circuit around the cross-section of the metal wall.

Adjusting his course, he flew forward, adhering closely to the metal surface. Indeed, his flight path was perfectly straight, and he was continuously moving farther from the origin point.

He flew for nearly a hundred hours, and still, there was no end. Zhong Yun did not grow impatient. With the Mech Key, he carried ample energy blocks, backed by ten thousand Primal Stones—enough fuel to fly for ten or eight years without depletion.

Food was also not an immediate concern. Since reaching Level Five, he had discovered he could absorb energy directly from the energy blocks. However, the sensation made him deeply uncomfortable, as if he were turning into a machine. Thus, he usually sustained himself by eating.

But when cornered, he had no choice. Robot or not, survival was paramount.

Unconsciously, Zhong Yun increased his speed. Since the detectors were useless, he kept his spiritual sense deployed constantly to avoid colliding with anything, which would be an infuriating end.

Divine sense was merely a form of mental power. Running out of mental power was intensely painful, akin to waking up from a violent hangover—a splitting headache coupled with nauseating, dry heaves.

He endured the pain, stopping to rest and recover his mental strength using Galan's cultivation methods whenever his reserves ran dry.

In this manner, nearly a thousand hours passed, and finally, he reached the end of the tunnel. When his projected divine sense 'bumped' against a wall, Zhong Yun felt an overwhelming surge of excitement.

Such monotonous, seemingly endless flight was a severe test of one's nerves; an ordinary person would likely have descended into madness long ago.

Arriving before this barrier, Zhong Yun calmed his racing heart and began searching for an exit.

Just then, a booming voice resonated, "Trial Space activated. Challengers, please enter."

Zhong Yun started, uncertain where the voice originated. Stranger still, though he did not recognize the language, he understood every word.

As he stood in stunned silence, his surroundings lit up, and an open doorway materialized before him.

Recalling the voice he had just heard, Zhong Yun felt a profound internal struggle.

First publication