Death Notice

“If he doesn’t come in, he can’t be killed. We are trapped here!” Sas said with a grim expression.

“No, we are not trapped. Let’s go and check the Time-Space Node together,” Qin Lun said with a smile.

“What can we do even if we go? To pass through the Time-Space Node, we need…” Cora stopped halfway, lowering her head in frustration.

“Listen, we, as a couple, don’t want everyone to kill each other. Either we go outside together to kill that Guardian and see if we can break the magic of the Time-Space Node, or we think of another way. What do you think?” Sas looked at everyone warily, his eyes filled with strong caution.

“Don’t be nervous, Sas!” Qin Lun smiled and waved his hand. “Hill was the first to find the Time-Space Node, but we still didn’t attack you two earlier, did we? Trust me, let’s all go to the Time-Space Node first!”

“Then… alright!” Sas and Cora exchanged a glance, feeling secretly relieved. In the Nals World, killing a team member would deduct 100 Soul Lifespan points. Since Qin Lun and the others hadn’t used the Guardian to harm them earlier, they probably wouldn’t do so now.

The underwater passage wasn’t very long, and they soon arrived in front of the Time-Space Node. This Time-Space Node looked like a huge underwater whirlpool, with water slowly turning like a millstone, but its surface was covered with a layer of colorful, mysterious light, like a silk veil.

When they entered within three meters of the Time-Space Node, a soft female voice suddenly echoed in their minds.

“The Crystal Lake teleportation point has detected visitors from the Outer World. Sapient Races identity confirmed. All six members meet the teleportation criteria. The sealing Magical Array will automatically close. Please proceed through the teleportation point quickly. In five minutes, the sealing Magical Array will activate again, and entry into the Inner World will no longer be possible!”

“What is going on?” Sas stood frozen in place, stunned, and exchanged a bewildered look with Cora. “The completion rate of the Guidance Mission has reached 50%, and… the sacrifice requirement has been met!” Hill scanned his Apostle Soul Mark and took a deep look at Qin Lun. “An unexpected change… you were right!”

“It was just a lucky guess…” Qin Lun gave a faint smile and waved to everyone. “You go in first. I’ll follow shortly.”

After saying this, Qin Lun clumsily swam back toward the exit of the underwater passage.

“Murgh…” Seeing Qin Lun’s action, Michelle widened her eyes in surprise. She wasn’t an Apostle and couldn’t speak in the Team Channel. As soon as she opened her mouth, a stream of bubbles came out. The Centaur girl was about to turn and chase after him but was pulled back by Hansen beside her, who shook his head gently.

“Let me go first!” Freed from the worry of mutual killing, Sas felt invigorated and immediately displayed the attitude expected of an MT, swimming first toward the water vortex of the teleportation point.

The whirlpool-like teleportation point quickly swept him away without a trace. However, just over ten seconds later, Sas reappeared from the vortex, his upper body emerging, and waved to the others, indicating that there was no danger on the other side of the teleportation point.

One by one, they swam through the water vortex of the teleportation point. Only the Centaur girl and Hansen remained, waiting for Qin Lun’s return.

…

“Splash!” A few minutes later, the heads of Qin Lun and the other two emerged from the water.

“Cough! Cough!” Michelle’s face was pale as she breathed heavily. Fortunately, a Centaur’s lung capacity was much greater than that of an ordinary human; otherwise, it would have been difficult for her to stay underwater for so long. She didn’t have a Law Body.

“Mr. Qin Lun, over here, over here!” Cora waved vigorously at the three from the lakeshore. In her extreme excitement, she even forgot Qin Lun’s Plot Identity and called out his real name directly.

Qin Lun shook his head helplessly and turned to observe the surroundings. This side of the teleportation point was also a lake, but its area was much smaller than the bay at the Crystal Lake Campground.

The small lake was surrounded by a circle of grassland. To the south was a small grove that could be seen through at a glance, and to the east was a small hillside. Lush green grass was everywhere, dotted with brightly colored wild flowers.

Hansen took the lead swimming toward the lake shore, while Qin Lun and Michelle followed slowly behind. Qin Lun was not a skilled swimmer, and the Centaur girl was slowed down because she was carrying another large “person” on her horse back.

“You brought the Guardian over here? What if it wakes up… Ouch!” Sas widened his bull-like eyes in surprise upon seeing what was on Michelle’s back. Before he could finish, Cora kicked him, and he awkwardly stepped aside, not daring to voice any more opinions.

“Qin Lun, how did you know that once the seal was broken, the Guardian would lose its power? And that sacrifice requirement…” Cora glared at her husband and asked cheerfully in the Team Channel.

“The mission objective from Shattered Starry Sky actually had fake conditions!” Hill shook his head with a bitter smile. “Qin Lun, aren’t you going to explain to us?”

“I’d like to know too!” Hansen wiped the water off his face and added calmly.

“If you examine this Guardian, you might find out!” Qin Lun smiled and pointed at the “corpse” at his feet.

“He… is an Apostle!” Sas crouched down and was stunned as soon as he touched the Guardian’s body. The result of the examination shocked him even more than the earlier mysterious fulfillment of the mission’s sacrifice requirement.

“An Apostle?” Hill raised his eyebrows, immediately bent down to examine it, and then fell into thought, stroking his chin. Unlike Sas, this old fox vaguely sensed the true answer to the Mystery of Crystal Lake.

“Correct, the Guardian is an Apostle, or rather, a former Apostle who lost his Soul.” Qin Lun explained slowly in the Team Channel. “Don’t you think it’s strange? When the Guardian fought us, it appeared as a physical entity. But when it used the mist to repair its body, it displayed supernatural laws, just like a…”

“Law Body!” Hansen’s eyes flashed as he continued.

“Mm.” Qin Lun nodded. “Ever since Hill found the Time-Space Node and learned about the sacrifice requirement in the mission objective, I’ve been wondering why Shattered Starry Sky would give us such a highly specific mutual kill requirement in our very first Guidance Mission after forming the team…”

“It was testing us!” Cora sighed and continued softly, “Or rather, testing whether we could cooperate sincerely like a real team!”

Hearing Cora’s words, Hill’s expression turned unpleasant. This was like a heavy slap in the face for him. It had nothing to do with intelligence; the mission given by Shattered Starry Sky was a test for ordinary teams, but for Serial Killers, it was more like a Nightmare.

If not for Qin Lun being a special kind of Serial Killer, just him and Hansen alone would probably have found it difficult to overcome this psychological barrier.

“The sacrifice requirement in the Guidance Mission wasn’t actually a fake condition, but a smokescreen. This sacrifice requirement didn’t come from Shattered Starry Sky but from the sealing Magical Array of the teleportation point.” Qin Lun said with a smile. “It required us to sacrifice 40% of our companions, seemingly necessitating mutual killing, but in reality, this sacrifice requirement had already been met earlier.”

“Could it be this Guardian…” Hansen crossed his arms thoughtfully.

“This Guardian was probably an Apostle who entered Crystal Lake before, and his companions are likely all dead. Although we belong to different teams, the sealing Magical Array of the teleportation point considers all Apostles as the same kind, so their deaths had already met the sacrifice condition for us.”

Qin Lun said with emotion, “The magical power in the Nals World is very strong. This Apostle’s Soul had long vanished, but his Law Body was captured by a Magician or automatically by the seal on the teleportation Magical Array, turning him into the Guardian of the teleportation point!”

” No wonder I felt such rich Magic Element here!” Cora closed her eyes, spread her hands, and carefully sensed it. “This Inner World of Nals should be the true Mid-Magic World, right!”

“If that’s the case, Michelle was able to pass through the teleportation point, probably because of her father…” Sas frowned and looked at the Centaur girl beside him.

“Mm, it’s possible that the series of tragedies at Crystal Lake were caused by this Guardian’s Apostle team hunting something, perhaps the Magician guarding the Crystal Lake teleportation point.” Qin Lun stroked his chin and nodded.

” In the end, they were all killed, and the Magician might have been severely injured as well. So, out of necessity, before leaving, he transformed this Apostle into a Guardian to take his place guarding the Teleportation Array. The Centaur police officers who died in subsequent investigations were probably all the Guardian’s doing!” Qin Lun spread his hands and shrugged. “This would explain why Michelle could also enter this teleportation point.”

“You all… why are you looking at me?” Michelle, unable to hear the conversation in the Team Channel, looked at everyone uneasily and asked softly, “Chief Castro, you aren’t really detectives from Massay State, are you?”

“Michelle, don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you!” Cora took Michelle’s arm and comforted her gently. “You can think of us as a group of Superpowered Beings, and this place… is the gathering place for Superpowered Beings from all over the world. We came to the Crystal Lake Campground precisely to pass through that Teleportation Array.”

“Can I still go back?” Michelle asked with a tearful face. “If my mother finds out something happened to me, she would worry herself to death!”

“Probably… you can!” Cora said uncertainly. “Judging from the Federation government’s ban and Sheriff Marov’s reaction, they probably have connections with the Inner World. At the very least, they can convey the message that you are safe and sound to your mother!”

“Oh!” Michelle breathed a sigh of relief and gradually calmed down.

As everyone gradually pieced together the whole story of the event, a prompt from Shattered Starry Sky appropriately sounded in their Apostle Soul Marks…