Infinite Nightmares

Zhang Wenda had no idea what these so-called "atmospheric creatures" were, but he could hear the tension and seriousness in the other’s voice.

Anything that could unnerve a Thought Wave Explorer from Bureau 507, someone who constantly faced life and death, was definitely not a good sign.

In a situation like this, it was better to wait and see than to run around blindly.

With that in mind, he quickly walked a few steps and leaped onto a nearby desert Floating Island. He dragged a yawning Song Jianguo down into a sand pile, covered her mouth, and they both went still.

As Zhang Wenda and Song Jianguo stopped moving, the mosaic effect finally kicked in. Their bodies gradually pixelated, beginning to merge with their surroundings.

Hiding in the sand, Zhang Wenda held his breath, vigilantly watching his surroundings. Nothing had happened yet, but he knew something was definitely wrong. He could see more and more pieces of the atmospheric creatures 2826 had mentioned floating in the rain.

Five excruciatingly long minutes passed. Just as Zhang Wenda was about to continue waiting, Song Jianguo’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. She jabbed him with her elbow, her trembling hand pointing to their left, toward the source of the falling rain.

His eyesight wasn’t as good as hers, so he had to stare for a good while before he finally noticed it: what looked like a Floating Island, slowly drifting toward them from the distance.

Zhang Wenda also noticed that, at some point, the horizontal rain had stopped.

’What is that? Is someone controlling it? A Floating Island-ship?’

As his thoughts ran wild, Zhang Wenda suddenly saw the Floating Island begin to tremble as if rocked by an earthquake.

"Don’t move. Whatever you do, don’t move. As long as we stay still, no matter what happens next, we’ll have the upper hand," Zhang Wenda whispered to Song Jianguo, his voice barely audible.

Not long after he spoke, he saw the oval-shaped Floating Island drawing nearer and nearer—so close he could even make out the gullies and strange, slender trees on its surface.

Just as the shaking on the Floating Island grew more violent, finally reaching a crescendo, the entire oval-shaped landmass—at least several hundred meters long—cracked open down the middle. It split in two instantly, and a massive, gleaming yellow eyeball appeared in its place before Zhang Wenda. That was no Floating Island! It was a goddamn giant eyeball!

The gullies Zhang Wenda had just seen on the island’s surface were the creases of an eyelid, and those strange black trees were nothing more than eyelashes!

At that moment, Zhang Wenda’s heart nearly stopped. Only one question echoed in his mind: ’If the eyeball alone is hundreds of meters long, then what kind of creature does it belong to, and just how big is it?’

Zhang Wenda stiffly shifted his gaze, trying to see what lay beyond the eyeball, but he saw nothing. His vision was filled with chaotic darkness, as if the darkness of the Dark Web itself had sprouted an eye.

Suddenly, the eyeball began to move. It floated upward, rising higher and higher. As it ascended, the rain that had vanished earlier returned, and the immense pressure weighing down on them completely disappeared.

"It’s gone! The thing is gone!" Song Jianguo cried out in delight, but Zhang Wenda’s face showed no trace of happiness. Instead, he was pale as a ghost.

’The eyeball moving away just means it’s not looking anymore! It doesn’t mean it’s left! It’s just moved whatever organ was beneath its eye into the eye’s previous position!’

’And if there’s an organ below the eye...’ When he saw a shadow begin to fall over the corner of the desert island they were on, Zhang Wenda shot out of the sand on pure instinct.

His roar echoed across the entire Floating Island. "Run! It eats Floating Islands!"

At that moment, no one could afford to hide any longer. They scrambled with all their might to get off the island as it was being devoured by darkness, fleeing along the web of interconnected cables.

The Red Core on Zhang Wenda’s arm glowed. He propelled himself forward, swinging between the network cables like Tarzan. If a Floating Island was close enough, he would leap directly to it. Behind him, Song Jianguo scrambled on all fours, fleeing alongside the Black Cats.

As they retreated, Zhang Wenda kept glancing over his shoulder. Each time he looked back, his heart sank further.

The darkness wasn’t just devouring a single island; it was consuming the entire region. It felt as if they were being chased by a boundless baleen whale as it filter-fed through the ocean, and they were nothing but plankton in its path.

Worse still, Zhang Wenda realized the horizontal rain was dripping from the creature’s mouth! It wasn’t rain at all—it was drool!

It wasn’t just Zhang Wenda’s group fleeing. Every living thing on the Floating Islands was now desperately trying to escape. The variety of strange creatures was too much to take in, and for a moment, the network cables connecting the islands became horribly congested.

"2826!" Zhang Wenda shouted at the top of his lungs as he fled. "Hurry and open one of those colored portals! Get us out of here!"

"Are you kidding me? There’s no time! I was halfway through drawing one when the surface I was on got eaten!"

2826, also shouting as he fled, yelled back. He was in a slightly better position than Song Jianguo and Zhang Wenda, since he could fly.

But that advantage was limited. His head was a drone, not a fighter jet, so he could only fly slowly. He wasn’t fast at all.

Zhang Wenda knew they couldn’t keep running like this. Once their stamina ran out, they would just be waiting to die. They had to escape the devouring darkness!

Quickly calculating the speed of the encroaching darkness versus their own, Zhang Wenda looked up at the height of the devouring maw and the intricate web of cables above his head.

’This is no good,’ he thought. ’At this speed, we’ll be eaten before we can climb out of its path!’

Suddenly, an idea struck Zhang Wenda. He immediately looked down into the seemingly bottomless abyss.

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately shouted, "Jump! Jump down! We’ll use the falling speed to get out of its range!"

"The deeper you go in the Dark Web, the more dangerous it gets!" 2826 quickly warned.

"Do you have a better idea?" Zhang Wenda shouted, pointing at the approaching darkness.

considered it for a moment, then his drone propellers stopped instantly, and he plummeted downward in a freefall. Zhang Wenda and Song Jianguo followed right after him.

Soon, their rapid descent took them out of the darkness’s devouring range, but stopping their fall was another matter. Fortunately, the Black Cats came to the rescue, transforming into a paraglider to catch the two of them in the darkness.

They regrouped in the gloom. It was so dark that the three of them could barely make out each other’s faces.

Compared to the levels above, it was quiet here—deathly quiet. There wasn’t a single sound.

was about to say something when Zhang Wenda pointed to his left. "Quick, look! An Oil Bab!"