Chapter 133: Abyss of Mist

Qin Ming's excited emotions were like a ball of fire burning within his chest.

He had originally still been worried.

The Radiant Alliance place was hidden so deeply; for the Lord to find him, he would probably have to expend quite a bit of effort.

He hadn't expected.

The Lord would come so quickly.

As expected of Lord Master, possessing boundless Divine Abilities.

Under the cover of wiping away sweat with his sleeve, his lips moved slightly.

"Lord, why are you…"

In the shadows, Moria's low and hoarse voice rang out once more, interrupting his words.

"Have you investigated clearly these past few days?"

"What on earth is this place?"

Qin Ming immediately reined in his focus, lowered his voice, and reported at the fastest speed.

"Lord, inside here, a Secret Realm exists."

As soon as these words were spoken, even Zhou Huai, who was hiding in the shadows, skipped a beat in his heartbeat.

As expected.

Just as he had thought.

The Zhou Family actually secretly controlled a completely new Secret Realm!

Qin Ming's voice continued to come over, carrying a trace of resentment.

"The Radiant Alliance's external recruitment right now is all just a front."

"Their purpose is simply to trick those oblivious Professionals in, making them tools for exploring the Secret Realm."

"According to my observation, the people captured here by them number at least three thousand."

Three thousand!

Hearing this number, Zhou Huai's pupils abruptly constricted.

What a grand gesture.

The Zhou Family is truly unhinged!

A question immediately popped up in his heart.

"So many people have gone missing, could there really be not even a hint of wind outside?"

"Their family members didn't go find trouble with the Radiant Alliance?"

Qin Ming lowered his voice, his tone revealing a trace of desolation.

"Lord, you do not know."

"We Professionals who linger in guilds inherently live lives of licking blood off the blade's edge."

"Death and disappearance are everyday occurrences."

"Even if family members went to make a fuss at the Radiant Alliance, they only need to casually pull out tens of thousands of Daxia Coins to easily dismiss them."

"Furthermore…"

Qin Ming paused, his voice dropping even lower.

"Most of the people here are not from our Donghai City."

"They were recruited from several neighboring cities under the banner of high salaries and high benefits."

"Even if those people's families wanted to make a fuss, they wouldn't find the entryway."

After listening, Zhou Huai only had one thought in his heart.

Good fellow.

Isn't this properly another world's Northern Myanmar?

Right at this moment, a cold voice came from not far away.

"Hey, you there!"

A man wearing a black uniform walked over, looking down at Qin Ming from on high.

His gaze was disdainful, like looking at an ant that could be crushed to death at will.

"I see you've already rested long enough."

"Why aren't you rolling away to work?"

Qin Ming immediately put on a flattering yet fearful expression, pointing to the wound on his chest.

That wound was deep enough to see the bone, and it was still oozing blood outward.

"Sir, I… I'm injured a bit."

"Do you think you could give me a bottle of healing potion?"

"Or… or finding a Healer adult to treat me would also work."

Hearing this, the uniformed man sneered as if he had heard a cosmic joke.

"What do you think this place is?"

"A resort?"

He kicked a stone beside Qin Ming, sending shattered rocks flying.

"If you're injured, endure it hard for Laozi!"

"If you can't endure it, go die!"

"You still want a healing potion? Do you deserve it?"

He pointed his finger toward the depths of the mine tunnel, shouting sternly.

"Now, immediately, roll to work!"

"Yes, yes…"

Qin Ming feigned a frightened-out-of-his-wits appearance, scrambling to stand up and swaying as he walked toward the depths of the cave.

Once that uniformed man walked far away, in the shadows, Zhou Huai's voice rang out once more, carrying a trace of concern.

"How are the injuries on your body?"

Walking as he went, Qin Ming responded with a voice only he could hear, his face lacking even a shred of fear, instead carrying a trace of smugness.

"Rest assured, Lord, they're all superficial injuries, it doesn't matter."

"I got injured on purpose."

He lowered his voice, quickly explaining.

"Here, people who aren't injured all have to rush to the very front to fight the exotic beasts in the Secret Realm."

"The mortality rate is extremely high."

"Being injured, on the contrary, will get one assigned to do some coolie work of transporting Materials, which is much safer."

Hearing this, Zhou Huai's evaluation of Qin Ming in his heart rose by a few more notches.

This kid is a talent.

Brave and resourceful, with a steady Heart-Nature.

If he died here, it would truly be too much of a pity.

Thoughts spinning rapidly in his mind, another question popped up.

"You said there are at least over three thousand Professionals here."

"Did they not think about resisting? Or running away?"

A bitter smile appeared on Qin Ming's face.

He unassumingly rolled up his sleeve, revealing the circle of intricate and eerie black runes on his arm.

"Lord, look at this."

"On the first day we were brought in, the Formation Masters in the Radiant Alliance would carve this kind of Formation pattern on everyone's body."

"This Formation pattern echoes mutually with the grand Formation of the entire cave."

"Once we make any actions of resistance or escape, those Formation crystals at the top of the cave will carry out precise strikes against us."

In his voice, a trace of lingering fear was carried along.

"Yesterday, I personally saw a buddy trying to escape; before his words even came out, he was shot into charcoal by a beam of red light."

"Not even ashes were left."

Zhou Huai's gaze became solemn.

This method is truly ruthless.

Qin Ming's voice continued to come over, growing increasingly heavy.

"It's not just the Formation."

"Among the managers here, there are at least two Professionals above Level 50."

"I heard people say that one of them is even an S-Rank Expert."

"As for Professionals above Level 40, those I've seen with my own eyes number no less than fifteen."

"Therefore, running away is simply impossible."

"Let alone resisting."

After listening, Zhou Huai fell completely silent.

Over these past few years, the Zhou Family on the surface kept a low profile and endured in Donghai City.

Behind the scenes, following the Liu Family, they had actually quietly developed to such a stage.

Gathering so many experts.

This, I'm afraid, is a bit tricky to handle.

Wanting to rescue Qin Ming from here is definitely not a simple matter.

While speaking, Qin Ming had already walked to the deepest part of the cave.

The scene before his eyes once again made Zhou Huai feel shocked.

Ahead was an even larger annular platform.

In the center of the platform, a giant vortex exceeding twenty meters in diameter was slowly rotating.

The vortex presented an eerie grayish-white color, inside which countless stars seemed to be born and perish, emitting heart-palpitating spatial fluctuations.

This was the entrance to the Secret Realm.

Surrounding the entrance stood dozens of black-clad guards with formidable auras.

They were like sculptures, their gazes sharply scanning every approaching person.

Teams constantly walked out from the passages around the platform, entering the Secret Realm.

And people covered in blood, missing arms and broken legs, were constantly carried out from the Secret Realm and thrown to the side to fend for themselves.

Controlling Moria, Zhou Huai quietly lurked under Qin Ming's feet.

Mingling within a team responsible for transporting supplies, he approached that giant vortex without any hindrance.

Along with the moment of stepping into the vortex.

Zhou Huai only felt his vision blur as a strong sense of spatial pulling came over.

The next second.

The scene suddenly changed.

It was no longer that stuffy, oppressive underground cave.

Instead, it was an incomparably vast and desolate heaven and earth.

The sky was hazy gray, with no sun and no clouds.

All around was shrouded by a layer of white mist so thick it couldn't be melted away, with extremely low visibility, making people completely unable to see the surrounding environment clearly.

There was only a pathway artificially cleared and paved with gravel, winding from beneath his feet toward the depths of the mist, not knowing where it led.

On the small path, quite a few Professionals were traversing through.

Some carrying Ore on their backs, others dragging the corpses of exotic beasts, they walked forward silently.

Qin Ming lowered his voice, ringing out within Zhou Huai's consciousness.

"Lord, this is the new Secret Realm discovered by the Zhou Family."

"They call it…"

"Abyss of Mist."