Chapter 416: Working Together Again

Now is indeed the best time to find the center of the Forbidden Zone.

However, the Formation Master’s layout has not been completed.

The Array Disk then spoke to the two again:

“Are you sure you want to go to the center of the Forbidden Zone now?”

The chubby guy and the old woman both wore serious and grave expressions.

Slightly different was that the old woman’s grave expression contained more hesitation overall.

While the chubby guy’s gravity appeared more resolute.

Finding the center of the Forbidden Zone isn’t necessarily a good thing just because you locate it.

No one knows if it truly leads to another world.

But what can be confirmed is—

It must be ten thousand times more dangerous than the ordinary Forbidden Zone areas!

If mortals truly have a chance to reach heaven…

Then the center of the Forbidden Zone might be the mortal’s “ladder to heaven,” the “dragon gate” for the carp leaping over it!

Perhaps, if you break through, there lies a vast and smooth road ahead.

But if you fail to break through…

The chubby guy collected his thoughts and said solemnly, “Let’s go take a look first. Whether we can find it so easily is still hard to say.”

Hearing this, the old woman pondered for a moment and quickly agreed:

“Then, let’s set the duration as the entire scope of the Abyssal Depths.”

“Before the Forbidden Zone spreads to cover the entire Abyss Restricted Zone, we’ll focus on finding the location of the Forbidden Zone center.”

“And if the Forbidden Zone completely spreads to cover the entire Abyss Restricted Zone, and we still haven’t found the so-called Forbidden Zone center…” ȒÃℕÔВƐ𝒮

“Then we’ll leave first, prioritizing stopping the Forbidden Zone’s spread and protecting the apartment.”

After she finished speaking, the chubby guy also nodded in agreement.

From within the Array Disk came another light laugh:

“Heh…”

“What you say makes sense too. The Forbidden Zone center probably isn’t that easy to find;
“

“But when it comes to stopping the Forbidden Zone’s spread, missing you two doesn’t matter much.”

“Surely I don’t need to tell you—you should be able to figure it out yourselves—”

“Something as serious as the Forbidden Zone spreading, the outside world couldn’t possibly not react.”

“So, during our agreed timeframe, perhaps others will break into the Forbidden Zone…”

“Or perhaps gathered strong players might stop the Forbidden Zone’s spread before it covers the entire Abyssal Depths…”

“Then for our temporary cooperation period, why not set dual conditions—”

“First, limited by the scope of the Abyssal Depths;
“

“Second, limited by the spread of the Abyss Restricted Zone.”

“If the Forbidden Zone scope exceeds the Abyssal Depths, or if the Forbidden Zone stops spreading prematurely, then cooperation terminates.”

Such cooperation terms were indeed more detailed.

The old woman, who originally feared the Forbidden Zone center more than she desired it, naturally agreed first: “Acceptable.”

But the chubby guy felt suspicious, his gaze fixed on the Array Disk.

He thought, since the Formation Master said this…

Then perhaps there really were extraordinary people outside who could stop the Forbidden Zone’s spread early?

Probably another unknown special permission identity?

Or perhaps…

The more the chubby guy thought, the graver his expression became.

But he didn’t say anything more, took a deep breath, and said to the Array Disk:

“Since no more words are needed, let’s take action.”

With these words, the three parties had completely reached agreement.

The Array Disk suspended before the two buzzed and vibrated again.

This time the vibration still had a noticeable stuttering feeling, the buzzing intermittent.

The chubby guy found it irritating and couldn’t help frowning: “Your Array Disk?”

Is it too damn troublesome?

He didn’t explicitly say the direct curse words.

But anyone hearing his voice could guess what he wanted to say.

The old woman remained silent.

The Formation Master’s sneering voice came unrestrained from the Array Disk:

“This can’t be blamed on my Array Disk.”

“I’ve long mentioned this problem—the blame can only be placed on the Defenders’ Alliance providing too few Reference Points, and of poor quality too!”

Yes…

The so-called Reference Points referred to those semi-mutated Defenders.

The old woman painted them a picture of incredible opportunities.

But actually, they weren’t even lab rats.

They were just Reference Points.

The reason was simple—

In this Forbidden Zone, everything was pure white, with nothing.

Whether living beings or items…

They would quickly be submerged in the pure whiteness.

But those semi-mutated Defenders could barely last longer.

And when scattered, their individual coordinates could barely serve as Reference Points for determining direction in this pure white world…

Of course, some Reference Points might encounter unpredictable situations in the Forbidden Zone due to different mutation conditions.

For example…

Those with higher mutation levels might also turn into monsters, like Xu Gou and Peng Gu over there.

However, reaching the level of Mist Monsters was still very difficult.

But if they truly could become monsters, it would at least count as an opportunity.

The chubby guy could roughly deduce this, but couldn’t help frowning as he looked at the old woman beside him.

The old woman knew what puzzled him and said calmly:

“These are just the first batch of Reference Points.”

“Don’t forget, Lin Ling hasn’t arrived yet.”

The chubby guy understood, but still couldn’t help frowning:

“Her chess game… will it be in time?”

The old woman didn’t answer this time.

Her gaze now looked in the direction of the shadow phantom.

Of course, she didn’t know this was the direction the shadow phantom had fled.

It was just that this direction was opposite to the pushing force generated by the Forbidden Zone’s spread.

It was also the direction they needed to go to try to find the Forbidden Zone center.

The Array Disk’s buzzing sound was less stuttering now.

The two seniors could vaguely perceive changes in space.

Logically, in a blank environment lacking Reference Points, it was actually difficult to perceive spatial changes.

But during their displacement, they occasionally bumped into “Reference Points.”

Through this, they could know about the spatial changes.

After several such displacements and changes…

The snowy white environment around the two changed again.

This time the visible “Reference Points” were no longer semi-mutated Defenders…

But had become—

The shadow phantom carrying Mist Monsters!

The shadow phantom had clearly run away before them, but now encountered the Array Disk again!

He instinctively thought the Array Disk had come to chase him!

But the Mist Monsters inside him showed no panic at all, stating directly:

“Since you can’t outrun the Forbidden Zone’s spreading speed, why not cooperate with them.”

?

What? Cooperate again??

Didn’t you damn tell me to run? Now you want me to cooperate? Do I have no face to save??

But the shadow phantom could also figure that Heavenly Net probably didn’t anticipate he couldn’t outrun the Forbidden Zone’s spreading speed…

If he could outrun it, naturally he wouldn’t need to cooperate with others.

But since he couldn’t…

He was in a passive position—would they even cooperate with him?

But the shadow phantom quickly realized—

Not cooperate with him.

But cooperate with the Mist Monsters inside him, with Heavenly Net!

Only then did the shadow phantom belatedly realize…

Regardless of whether the Mist Monsters nurtured in his body would absorb his body as nourishment like Jiang Ye did.

This Heavenly Net was definitely not peaceful.

Superficially, he had merged with him.

But actually, this guy seemed to dominate him!

The shadow phantom always felt like he was being used.

He’d also had the thought of simply quitting and not doing this.

But there was no choice—he was indeed curious about the Forbidden Zone center.

Moreover, he still wanted to retrieve his little shadow phantom…

Thus, the shadow phantom stopped running and, as Heavenly Net said, actively sought reconciliation.

Considering the Formation Master might not see him, he spoke directly to the Array Disk:

“Are you also planning to use the Forbidden Zone’s spread to find the Forbidden Zone center?”

As this voice emerged, the Array Disk’s buzzing stuttered again…

However, the voice coming from the Array Disk was a cold snort.

That voice wasn’t directed at the shadow phantom, but straight at Heavenly Net:

“Do you really think that with your abilities, you can make the Forbidden Zone spread to the point of destroying the apartment?”

Speaking thus, without waiting for Heavenly Net’s reply, the Array Disk buzzed again.

The shadow phantom didn’t understand Array Disks, but he vaguely saw—

This Formation Master seemed unwilling to play with him anymore!

It appeared he was preparing to directly abandon him and refuse cooperation!

The shadow phantom wanted to swallow his pride and say something more.

But from his belly came a ventriloquism-like voice, with a cold snort similar to the Formation Master’s earlier one, similar tone, similar phrasing:

“Do you really think that with your abilities, you can use the Forbidden Zone’s spread to find the Forbidden Zone center?”

This confrontational statement directly challenged the Formation Master!

The Array Disk’s buzzing sound became disordered for a moment.

The Formation Master had high self-esteem—how could he tolerate others showing him such disrespect!

Such provocative remarks would only push him further away!

But this time, the chubby guy anticipated this in advance.

His slightly plump round face again showed a honest and simple temperament, adopting a peacemaker stance:

“Everyone calm down, calm down…”

“As the saying goes, those who travel alone go fast, those who travel together go far!”

“Since we all want to find the Forbidden Zone center, why not travel together?”

Speaking thus, he gestured for the old woman to calm the Formation Master while staring at the shadow phantom’s belly.

Hesitating a moment, he asked the shadow phantom:

“That provocative voice just now didn’t sound like you, nor like Jiang Ye…”

“Speaking of which, where did the Jiang Ye that the Guiwen Master and I entrusted to you go?”

“…” The shadow phantom had almost forgotten this matter.

Or more accurately, he subconsciously assumed that this chubby guy, who clearly didn’t seem normal, should be like ordinary players and the Formation Master, possibly unable to see surrounding things.

He didn’t expect the other could see, and noticed Jiang Ye’s disappearance immediately…

Of course he couldn’t directly say that Jiang Ye had been pulled out by him, taking part of his body along.

So, after slightly beautifying himself, he said:

“I segmented out a part of my body, and that part is more than sufficient to protect the mutated Jiang Ye.”

The chubby guy could also see that the shadow phantom’s body was missing a part.

Whether the shadow phantom actively segmented that part, or had part torn away when he abandoned Jiang Ye…

Actually didn’t matter.

What mattered was—

“Then what about the part carrying Jiang Ye?”

The shadow phantom glanced at the Array Disk before saying meaningfully:

“According to my speculation, that little shadow phantom part reached the other side of the Forbidden Zone center before the Forbidden Zone spread.”

“That is to say, between me and the little shadow phantom right now lies the Forbidden Zone center!”

The shadow phantom said this deliberately to increase his bargaining chips.

Just from the Reference Point perspective, the little shadow phantom as a Reference Point was highly significant!

However, what he didn’t expect was…

Hearing this, the chubby guy’s eyes suddenly showed surprise.

After a moment of silence, he restrained his emotions and speculated:

“Perhaps the mutated Jiang Ye is currently at the location of the Forbidden Zone center!”

The shadow phantom initially wanted to say, how could it be such a coincidence?

But soon, using his brain a little, he felt what the chubby guy said…

Might actually be true!

Just as he wanted to say more, his belly produced ventriloquism again, a meaningful voice:

“Great minds think alike.”

So Heavenly Net also believed the mutated Jiang Ye’s location was the Forbidden Zone center!

But this guy hadn’t said this earlier!

The shadow phantom secretly held a grudge, but grew increasingly excited.

After all, the little shadow phantom was his son!

If the Forbidden Zone center truly had some opportunity, perhaps his son could obtain it early?

Thinking this, his tone became excited:

“Then it’s very simple now—we just need to find my little shadow phantom, and we’ve found the Forbidden Zone center?!”

However, as these words emerged, a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

From his belly came Heavenly Net’s exasperated voice:

“Are you really brainless? Or didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“…”

The shadow phantom damn well wanted to curse!

No! He wanted to directly throw out this abomination from his belly!

But considering that throwing this thing out might result in immediate teleportation by the Array Disk, and the Forbidden Zone’s spread would stop…

He ultimately restrained himself, suppressing his emotions to speak calmly:

“You mean…”

“Even if I, even if the Array Disk, can sense where my little shadow phantom is…”

“We still won’t find it easy to reach there?”

Heavenly Net didn’t answer.

But the chubby guy looked at him strangely, thinking: Your little shadow phantom?

How can you have such nerve? That’s damn Jiang Ye!

Forget it, let this fool live in his dream…

He also felt that even knowing Jiang Ye’s location, they probably wouldn’t reach it easily.

But he still said to the Array Disk:

“Let’s try first. Even if we truly can’t find it, we should know how exactly we can’t find it.”

The Formation Master’s anger had subsided by now.

He also knew Heavenly Net’s capabilities might truly help in finding the Forbidden Zone center.

So he didn’t say more, snorted coldly, and the Array Disk operated again.

The surrounding environment changed once more.

But now, Reference Points were becoming fewer, and their spatial teleportation in this direction-losing environment grew increasingly difficult.

They made several errors along the way.

But relying on the shadow phantom’s sensing of the mutated Blood Realm Worm, and Heavenly Net’s judgment for unknown reasons.

They could quickly return to the right track.

And…

Actually not much time had passed before their coordinates completely approached Jiang Ye’s location!

But at this moment, the problem of not finding Jiang Ye became apparent—

The first to notice was naturally the shadow phantom, who could directly sense Jiang Ye through the mutated Blood Realm Worm.

The shadow phantom’s vision in the Forbidden Zone was also intact.

After the formation teleported again, his eyes scanned around and he exclaimed in surprise:

“How strange! It’s true… can’t find him!”

“I clearly sense my little shadow phantom is right here!”

“But why is there no sign of him?”

“Is vision being deceived? Or…”

Speaking, the shadow phantom realized himself.

If they truly reached the Forbidden Zone center, it should differ from other Forbidden Zone areas.

But the current environment remained pure white, showing no differences.

So it was truly as Heavenly Net said—

The Forbidden Zone center wasn’t easy to find!

Thinking of Heavenly Net’s confident tone, he directly asked: “What next? You should know how to find it, right?”

Heavenly Net’s tone indeed remained confident: “Next, make the Forbidden Zone stop spreading, and that will be sufficient.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep