The dense gray fog, like a living creature, silently spread from the depths of the experimental area. As the fog passed by, the lights went out one by one, and a layer of frost emitting a chill condensed on the alloy walls. In the darkness, there was a burst of static interference. A five-member tactical team was moving slowly in a standard diamond formation down the corridor towards the laboratory. The specially made military boots on their feet stepped on the floor, making almost no sound. Only the dull and rhythmic breathing from beneath their masks was particularly clear in this deathly quiet environment. At the very front of the team, one member held a heavy riot shield in front of him. Another member followed closely behind, extending a tactical probe out from the side of the shield towards the door. The infrared thermal imaging mode of the lens clearly fed back the dark scene ahead to the display on his helmet visor. After confirming there was no ambush behind the door, he retracted the probe and made a safety gesture to the captain behind him. The captain nodded, and the team, like a well-coordinated Predator, filed in one after another. Inside the laboratory, it seemed as though a catastrophe had just occurred. Most of the instruments and equipment had been violently destroyed, the console was covered in claw marks and bullet holes, and sparks were still emitting from broken electrical wires. "Commander, this is Black Hawk-3." The captain lowered his voice and reported the situation to his higher-up through an earpiece: "Experimental Area One has been destroyed, with signs of intense battle. Upon investigation, the target...is not here. Repeat, the target is not here." "Zz...received...zzzz...continue to investigate..." The commander’s voice was distorted amidst the noisy static, sounding intermittent. Just then, a few points of eerie blue fluorescence flickered in the dark corner. The team members all turned their gun muzzles simultaneously. Several bright tactical flashlights and the scarlet dots from the gun sights locked precisely onto the source of the light. It was a cultivation chamber that had been forcibly broken open. Black Eagle Squad held guns at the ready and cautiously entered the cultivation chamber in combat formation. Several beams of flashlight quickly scanned over the room’s mess. The sight before them made even these battle-hardened soldiers’ hearts sink. Most of the thick glass cultivation tanks had shattered. Sticky blue cultivation fluid spilled all over the ground, reflecting a faint glow under the flashlights. The earlier blue fluorescence came from here. One member’s boot stepped into the sticky fluid, seemingly hitting something. Their gazes followed the beam towards a severed arm floating in the liquid, causing them to involuntarily gasp. Various unrecognizable mutilated limbs were mixed with shards of glass, emitting a pungent smell mixed with formaldehyde. "Crunch... crunch..." Suddenly, a grating chewing noise came from behind a row of fallen instrument cabinets not far away. The sound, mixed with the sharp crack of bones being crunched, was particularly creepy. The beams focused instantly. A bloated and deformed creature’s outline emerged. It was crouched on the ground, back facing the group. Beneath it was a Noah Guard, long since reduced to a bloody mess. The creature’s head was buried deep in the guard’s chest cavity, each time it raised its head, it would drag out a long string of bloody organs. Then it greedily swallowed, a contented gurgle sounding from its throat. Black Hawk Squad members’ eyes widened, mouths opened silently, a gagging noise stifled in their throats. The hands gripping assault rifles trembled uncontrollably. In the fog-filled corridor, Luo Lie stood tall. The static noise in his tactical helmet’s earpiece suddenly sharpened. A distorted cry of terror and the sudden burst of gunfire pierced through the noisy interference, stabbing into his eardrums. A few seconds later, everything quickly returned to dead silence. Communication was completely cut off. Luo Lie’s eyes flickered, his brow furrowed. The ones contacting him just now were the guard team stationed outside the laboratory. They followed orders to first investigate the laboratory’s situation, yet such strange sounds had been sent back. Clearly, that team was doomed. Perhaps, the culprit was the murderous demon "White Owl" who had infiltrated the building. The life or death of the team members was secondary; what concerned Luo Lie most was the "thing" hidden in the laboratory. Could this spreading gray fog be related to it? A ripple spread in his mind, like a stone thrown into water. "Jia Sangyi, what exactly is going on?" Luo Lie immediately asked aloud. Fresh chapters posted on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾※𝙣𝙚𝙩 "I’m using the spiritual network to trace the source of the anomaly." Jia Sangyi’s voice came through the spiritual link: "It seems now that the target intentionally sabotaged the cultivation chamber, releasing the out-of-control experimental body, attempting to create trouble for us, and using the chaos to escape." "Can you lock onto him?" Luo Lie immediately inquired. "His ability should be space jump, but it seems to have distance and cooldown limitations." Jia Sangyi paused, then replied: "Each use leaves a brief spiritual fluctuation behind at the spot, like a ripple created by a stone thrown into water, which is precisely our tracking beacon." Then he shifted his tone, continuing to explain: "However, these gray mists are very strange; they not only affect electronic communication signals but also distort spiritual power to some extent. Tracking the target in such an environment carries some risk."