Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 290 - 209: To the Dead Star

Chapter 290: Chapter 209: To the Dead Star

When Duan Mingyuan and Earth Wolf Twelve’s vision cleared from the bright light, they found themselves no longer in the main bedroom of Laurel. Instead, they stood outside of a cave, greeted by the scent of fresh grass and earth, as if it had just rained; the ground still damp.

Inside the cave was a pile of extinguished campfire remains, suggesting that someone had lived there previously.

Outside the cave was a downhill path, which led straight to a dense forest. As far as the eye could see, it was covered by the Forest Sea.

Although the scene was different, Duan Mingyuan had seen this type of trick before.

The unknown energy filled the space between the Forest Sea, just as not long ago he was invited by the "consciousness" of Mechanical Star to participate in a survival game.

Compared to the space constructed by the "consciousness" of Mechanical Star, this place seemed much broader and more complete, appearing to be an entire planet.

This was Morgan VII’s trump card and the reason why the Shan Clan People firmly believed they were qualified to converse as equals with the Transcenders—an established "Cocoon," fully "Cocooned," a planet without any trace of humans. Perhaps this was also the sight witnessed by Ava Qiao and all the other assassins before becoming part of Morgan VII’s collection.

Their memories were stripped from their brains, forever remaining in this world overtaken by vegetation.

Duan Mingyuan quickly learned who had left behind the pile of campfire ashes.

Ava Qiao left many fragmented records inside the cave with his ever-present dagger, documenting the process of transformation in the legendary assassin’s state of mind.

Starting with optimism and disdain, convinced he could soon leave the Forest Sea, to the mad despair that followed. The final parts of the text seemed to be utter nonsense, just like when they encountered Al-Qiao in the "Collection Room," leaving only disjointed sentences.

Latterly, all the text communicated a single message.

——Do not enter that forest.

Looking at the timeline, Al-Qiao lasted a month and seven days in this space, the longest of all the assassins.

"Old Duan, something’s not right about this place."

Earth Wolf Twelve had finished reading the text on the cave walls in silence and lit himself a cigar.

The quiet was eerie, no enemy in sight, yet he was covered in goosebumps.

In fact, a modified human shouldn’t have common physiological reactions, but he felt this was the only way to describe what he was feeling at the moment.

He needed a cigar to calm his nerves.

The deadly silence brought back terrible memories for Earth Wolf Twelve, back when he was still working for Universe Company, leading his Rangers on missions to "Cocooned" planets time and again.

Most were rescues, with the occasional sweep or investigation mission.

If it was the latter, it meant that it was often going to be a tough journey. The longer they stayed on a "Cocooned" planet, the closer to death they came.

And this silent forest gave him the same feeling as those "Dead Stars."

"This place is similar to the ’Cocooned’ planets I’ve visited. You never know what kind of creatures you’ll encounter in such places."

Earth Wolf Twelve sat down next to the campfire. He extended his index finger, and a pale blue flame leapt to light the fire. Suddenly, he felt some understanding for Ava Qiao and those assassins—alone on a "Dead Star," unable to find any humans, with only endless monsters waiting for them in the forest.

Ava Qiao mentioned that the plants in the forest seemed to possess their own consciousness. After spending too much time alone in the forest, one could hear a low murmuring, sounding like human voices. But when he followed the voices, he found nothing but emptiness in the depths of the bushes.

In his last expedition, Ava Qiao was "tricked" by the trees.

He would usually leave marks on the tree trunks to remind himself of the way back. But when he went to check those marks, he discovered the locations had been replaced with a large circle, leading him back to the same place over and over again.

"The longer you stay in this forest, the more pronounced this feeling becomes."

Earth Wolf Twelve read the words on the walls of the cave. And indeed, since that exploration, Ava Qiao’s mental state had become extremely unstable. This galaxy assassin hadn’t encountered a single enemy, but fear had taken root in his heart.

And what was even more despairing was that Ava Qiao could never be certain that exiting the forest meant being saved.

It was more like a small goal he set for himself so that he could still harbor hope in his heart.

Unfortunately, Ava Qiao never achieved his small goal.

After falling into complete despair, his head was collected and placed in a container, forcing him to continue existing in the abyss of despair, never able to find peace.

"Let’s take turns keeping watch; that’s the benefit of being two."

Earth Wolf Twelve suggested.

The passage of time in this place seemed synchronized with Mechanical Star. They had Fold Jumped into Laurel at night, and it was also night when they arrived here. The starlight was exceptionally dim, with only the burning campfire in the cave providing a sense of security.

After losing his sanity, Al-Qiao always believed something would enter the cave while he slept. He vaguely saw a blurry silhouette several times.

The silhouette had a humanoid outline but was covered in vegetation.

The figure didn’t attack him, just watched from a distance, disappearing when Ava Qiao came to his senses.

Earth Wolf Twelve guessed that the final straw for Ava Qiao might have something to do with the silhouette he mentioned. In his last recorded entry, he mentioned seeking out the true nature of the silhouette, but after that, there was no further information.

"Let’s head down the mountain."

Duan Mingyuan picked up a torch and handed it to Earth Wolf Twelve.

"Go down the mountain, are you sure?"

Earth Wolf Twelve gazed into the forest wrapped in twilight, feeling an innate resistance, and suggested almost without thinking, "It would be safer to explore during the day, the visibility is much better as well."

Not only Ava Qiao, but all the assassins who came here had reached a consensus on the issue of "not venturing deep into the jungle at night."

"All the strange incidents happen after nightfall."

Mingyuan said, "The exchanged markers, the bizarre murmurs, and the shadows in the half-sleep state."

He guessed that the reason Ava Qiao and the other assassins had not made progress was probably because they always returned to the cave before nightfall—no matter how far they had traveled during the day, or how many markers they had made, they had to return here before nightfall. It seemed that only the campfire inside the cave could give them a sense of security.

As for the few times they stayed out overnight, those experiences left them with extremely fearful memories.

He looked at Earth Wolf Twelve, "What, scared?"

"I’m an Interstellar Cowboy, how could I possibly be afraid—"

Earth Wolf Twelve’s reply stopped abruptly, and the words "afraid of the dark" that reached his lips were swallowed down.

After Mingyuan put it this way, he suddenly realized that he probably was indeed afraid of the dark, and the thought of venturing into the forest at night stirred a strong aversion in his heart.

The aversion stemmed from fear, even though he didn’t know exactly what he was afraid of.

It was more like a kind of trait branded within human instincts, the fear of darkness and the unknown, that made even Interstellar Cowboys like him unconsciously make a conservative decision.

"It’s the emotion."

A while later, Earth Wolf Twelve suddenly spoke up.

Just like those affected in the Gear Hotel, their subsequent actions were not related to their identities or upbringing but became the closest to instinctive behaviors.

When encountering someone they despised, they would beat or even kill them.

In primitive societies, this was how humans resolved problems.

Unwittingly, he too seemed to have returned to such a primitive society, just like Ava Qiao and all the other assassins, trapped in the cave by darkness and the unknown, with only the light here giving them comfort.

But Ava Qiao never realized her own abnormalities, and Earth Wolf Twelve thought that if it weren’t for Mingyuan suddenly asking him this question, he probably wouldn’t have been aware of these things either.

Morgan VII’s butler called this abnormal state the "Power of Domination."

Earth Wolf Twelve forcibly suppressed his strong inner resistance and took the torch Mingyuan handed over, realizing his own abnormality did not make it any easier.

His brows furrowed tight; his enemy on this "Dead Star" turned out to be himself, the shackles hidden within his instincts.

But then he noticed something unusual.

"You...are not afraid?"

Although the question seemed silly, it made Earth Wolf Twelve faintly sense the difference between Mingyuan and himself, or in other words, "humans."

This wasn’t about bravery, but rather Mingyuan had from the start skipped the struggle against instincts.

He seemed to lack certain emotions; the fear of darkness and the unknown never seemed to affect him from the beginning, and furthermore, Earth Wolf Twelve saw a hint of excitement in Mingyuan’s eyes.

Yes, excitement.

It seemed that for Mingyuan, this was more like an interesting expedition.

"Not afraid."

Mingyuan picked up another torch; just now, he had upgraded these torches a bit, bestowing them with the property of eternal burning, saving them the trouble of searching for other light sources along the way.

In some exploration-type games, Mingyuan always liked to carry lighting tools with high durability.

"Old Duan, you..."

Earth Wolf Twelve looked at Mingyuan taking the lead out of the cave, stopping short of speaking.

He really wanted to ask a question now, but the question seemed somewhat impolite.

Old Duan, are you human?

Of course, this was not a personal attack, but rather a sincere question about Mingyuan’s "race."

The Power of Domination could manipulate human instincts, rendering them incapable of controlling their thoughts, reduced to animals dominated by instincts.

But Mingyuan naturally restrained this power.

Because this creature...of unknown race, seemed from the start to lack the concept of "instinct."