Chapter 103: Vanished Without a Trace
Lordi Payne's pulse thundered as he peered through the Blood Puppet Sedan's lattice.
Garrick Blackthorn strode at the forefront, Ruru Rosa, Carl Murphy, and others trailing, their forms etched in moonlight. Yet Cade Barret and Janiyah Sullivan were nowhere among them.
"Hmm?! Junior Brother Payne, cultivating still? You've been cultivating all this time?!" The returning team, robes flecked with blood stain but whole, bore faces carved with unease. They halted, startled to find Lordi Payne, their eyes widening in fleeting shock.
Garrick Blackthorn's stare glinted with something unreadable. "Really, you heard nothing just now, Junior Brother Payne?"
Under their piercing stares, Lordi maintained a stoic expression, his body steady in the rhythm of cultivation. The group's faces darkened, their eyes exchanging silent, knowing glances. Then, without warning, Garrick's hand flicked—a spell surged forth, its invasive energy coiling toward Lordi like a venomous serpent.
A cold, alien force slithered into Lordi Payne's meridians—an intrusion both subtle and strange. Yet before he could react, the System's cheerful chime cut through his focus.
~ Ding! System Notification Chime ~
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> External attack detected.
> Cultivation session status: TERMINATED
> Host control: RESTORED