Chapter 286: Chapter 255: Missing

A group of wizards was gradually advancing within this inverted Cloud Sea World.

During this process, skirmishes occasionally occurred, intense yet brief.

The days passed uneventfully like this for more than ten days.

According to Levin Mills’ assessment, they should have already inspected half of the space within this distorted area.

Upon hearing this, the twelve recruited wizards, including Jeming, showed satisfied expressions.

Although the mission lasted longer than expected, everyone’s gains during this period were beyond imagination.

As Jack initially mentioned, the density of creatures inside this Space Distortion area was significantly higher than outside.

Moreover, they occasionally collected some unique, valuable resources.

Like the Magic Potion Raw Materials that permanently enhanced spatial perception, they had gathered a considerable amount a few days ago.

Of course, throughout this process, the scouting mosquito swarm’s attrition was not insignificant.

Although the corpulent wizard replenished new mosquitoes in time, the Psychic Shock from the death of the deeply Soul-Contracted modified beast was unavoidable.

Many recruited First Level Wizards had noticeably weakened, with pale complexions.

Jeming, however, was in fairly good shape.

After all, with the Qi Cultivation Technique that integrates essence, spirit, and qi, his Soul Strength and physical qualities far surpassed wizards of the same level, allowing for rapid recovery.

Coupled with the adaptation evolution from the Body Refining Technique, Jeming had even developed resistance to this degree of Psychic Shock over the past few days.

However, concerning certain anomalies discovered during this mission, he appropriately feigned weakness to avoid drawing too much attention.

That day, after completing the morning’s search, Jeming was about to pause to contact others and exchange intelligence.

These mosquitoes named “Luminous Insects” truly lived up to their specialized scouting role as Biochemical Modified Beasts.

Aside from scouting and searching, they could also facilitate real-time communication through psychic links between mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes themselves could even serve as communication lines, allowing even the farthest wizard to establish a contact communication network through the mosquito swarms of different individuals.

But as the contact began, Jeming noticed something amiss.

The numbers were off—someone was inexplicably missing from the contact network!

The sudden change made the hair on the neck of every wizard present stand up.

Although each wizard was spaced tens or even hundreds of kilometers apart, they could still “contact” other team members anytime through the mosquito swarm’s contact network.

Yet in such a setting, a wizard had vanished without a trace!

This was no different from walking with a group of people and one suddenly disappearing!

Through mutual contact and confirmation, it was quickly identified that the missing wizard was one of the recruited wizards.

What was even more chilling was that the area where they disappeared was not at the edge of the search line but more towards the center.

When asked, the wizards on either side of the missing wizard remarked that they hadn’t sensed any particularly unusual Energy fluctuations before or after the incident.

The wizards dared not take it lightly and immediately retreated at high speed back to the search position from a day ago.

Then, cautiously converged at the edge.

Jeming, being situated rather far away, arrived somewhat late.

Upon arriving, he saw a group of wizards anxiously surrounding the corpulent wizard.

The corpulent wizard’s expression was grave; his eyes were tightly shut, seemingly trying to communicate through the mosquito network.

After a while, until all the wizards had assembled, the corpulent wizard dejectedly opened his tiny eyes.

He glanced sidewise at Levin Mills, shook his head regretfully:

“Couldn’t make contact. Those ’Luminous Insects’ aren’t dead, but they can’t be contacted either…”

“Was it because of encountering a Space Distortion and getting teleported too far away?” Jack asked deeply.

“No, they’re still within communication range.” The corpulent wizard shook his head, his expression peculiar, his face full of perplexity, “It feels… like the insects ignored my communication.”

“What do you mean? Did they break away from control? Or did the communication get interrupted?” Levin Mills was stunned at these words.

“No, it’s literal. Although I could contact those ’Luminous Insects’, my communication messages were completely ignored, including the wizard ignoring my information as well…” The corpulent wizard emphasized again, his tone also filled with confusion.

The corpulent wizard’s words made everyone frown.

This bizarre situation was beyond everyone’s understanding.

Although it was unclear what had happened, issues arose that couldn’t be left unattended.

After some discussion, the group decided to go and investigate the specific situation.

After flying forward for several hours, Levin Mills suddenly raised a hand: “Stop.”

Jeming and the other wizards immediately halted, turning their heads with inquisitive looks.

Levin Mills carefully sensed in the direction of the aerial plane ahead.

After a considerable time, he suddenly raised his head and said, “About five standard hours ago, a wizard proficient in ’Energy Shaping’ fought here.”

“Five standard hours?”

Wizards divide a day into ten standard hours, so five standard hours would be exactly half a day ago, meaning it happened yesterday.

“Considering the timing…” A recruited wizard spoke, capturing the attention of everyone present.

“I know quite well; he should have encountered a group of creatures from the Aerial Plane and collected quite a few of them… He even boasted to me about it afterward…”

“Oh? And then?” Levin Mills pursued.

The wizard thought for a moment, then shook his head: “After that, there was no further contact.”

“Which means, at least until then, that guy was fine.” Jeming’s expression was solemn.

The other wizards also turned solemn; they began to understand the significance.

This implies that this should be the location of his last battle yesterday.

And after that, he encountered unknown circumstances and then disappeared.

Everyone immediately became alert and proceeded cautiously.

All scouting methods, including Luminous Insects, were generously deployed.

Being constantly vigilant, they flew for a long time without encountering any enemies or strange auras.

Just as Jeming was puzzled, he suddenly felt his “Profound Gang Red Dust Barrier” being triggered!

“Enemy attack! Be alert!” Jeming immediately shouted!

However, the reaction of the surrounding wizards sent chills down his spine!

Even though Jeming shouted loudly, they seemed to have not heard him at all, continuing to fly forward obliviously, as if sleepwalking.

A cold glint flashed in Jeming’s eyes, and he acted without hesitation.

He controlled his strength, delivering a pure Energy Bullet to each of them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Energy Bullets were easily intercepted by the self-defensive Shields on their bodies, but the sudden attack awakened the ones who seemed unconscious.

Yet, they seemed unaware that they had been affected, and after regaining consciousness, the first thing they did was look at Jeming with caution.

However, Jeming’s attack wasn’t powerful, so they didn’t overreact.

Levin Mills was just about to ask why Jeming did that when suddenly, his expression changed!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

A series of “whoosh” sounds arose, and in the shocked eyes of Jeming and the other wizards, a swarm of ghost-like, white mist creatures crawled up from the thick clouds below like a tide!

The surfaces of these creatures were covered with dense fur, looking from afar like thick clouds.

Instinctively, Jeming scanned with the Eye of Scouting but found nothing, as if it was merely a moving cloud surface before him.

His eyes widened immediately, the All-Purpose Eye activated, concentrating on the nearest unknown creature.

A vast stream of information flooded into his mind, prompting Jeming to swiftly deactivate the All-Purpose Eye, stepping back with a frown.

Only then did he understand why the various scouting methods failed to detect them.

Because these creatures not only looked like cloud surfaces, but their material composition was nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding cloud surfaces.

Thus, they managed to perfectly evade the wizards’ detection.

“No, something’s wrong!” Jeming quickly noticed something strange.

He could clearly feel his “Profound Gang Red Dust Barrier” continuously fluctuating!

This indicated they were under constant attack!

And moreover…

He looked around, noticing the surrounding wizards’ reactions were abnormal!

They awoke from vigilance and saw the enemy.

But their reactions were noticeably slow, even their gazes appeared dull.

Clearly seeing the enemy, yet making no significant response, almost as if having no intention to counter.

“Be careful, these creatures are adept in ’Soul Curse Illusion Technique’!” Levin Mills’ voice resonated with a soul-stirring power, reaching everyone’s ears.

Jeming immediately understood the bizarre tactics of these enemies!

“Soul Curse Illusion Technique” is a highly peculiar category.

In essence, it’s a curse, but its effects resemble illusions.

It can cause the cursed soul to become muddled, almost incapable of thought!

The camouflage techniques of these creatures dictated that their individual strength wasn’t too high, so a single curse they cast wasn’t very impactful.

Even an Apprentice Level wizard could resist it effortlessly.

But there were simply too many of these creatures before them!

Tens of thousands?

Hundreds of thousands?

Or perhaps even a million!

Such a massive swarm casting curses together had a terrifying effect!

Even Levin Mills, a Third Level Wizard, was affected unexpectedly!

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