A Restless Night of Tossing and Turning
In the "Roaring Furnace" tavern at the Windward Outpost, Fa and her companions ate and drank their fill before returning to their assigned rooms. Although Old Buck provided the best rooms in the outpost, the rough stone walls and metal bed frames, along with the faint howling of wind and sand outside the window, still couldn't make anyone feel at ease. The air in the room carried a faint scent of machine oil and charred coal, and the crackling flames in the furnace illuminated the weary yet sleepless faces of the group.
Fa, Arya, Kayla, Zhamisi, and Salsa (the mechanical cat) squeezed into a relatively intact room. The hard plank bed was covered with rough wool felt, and the air was filled with the outpost's characteristic smell of machine oil and stale sweat. Faint hammering sounds from the tavern repairs downstairs and Old Buck's suppressed curses added to the irritability.
Kayla sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, her bronze skin shimmering faintly under the dim oil lamp. She irritably scratched her hedgehog-like short hair, and the ice crystals and electric arcs on her thunder claws crackled uncontrollably: "Damn it, I just can't sleep tossing and turning! My mind is full of that silver-masked bastard and his four identical henchmen! And what Old Buck said... crushing heads..." Her eyes burned with fierce battle intent, mixed with a hint of suppressed anxiety, "I really want to charge into that ghostly forest right now, drag them out, and tear them apart!"
"Calm down, Kayla." Zhamisi leaned lazily against the window, her ink-green snake tail swaying slowly in the shadows, her venom fang curved blade spinning deftly at her fingertips, reflecting eerie light. "Tear them apart? You'd have to find them first. And didn't you hear Jack's description clearly? That forest itself is enough to tear them apart dozens of times." She glanced at Kayla, "Save your strength, don't let your claws fail to swing when the time comes."
"Hmph!" Kayla snorted discontentedly, but she restrained some of her overflowing energy, "I'm just pent up! This feeling of waiting for the enemy to step into a trap first is really frustrating!"
Arya sat beside Fa, gently holding her hand. Fa had her eyes closed, her brows slightly furrowed, and deep in her right eye, stars seemed to rotate uneasily. Arya could clearly feel the fluctuations in her soul—that was the fatigue from overusing her time abilities, and the heavy pressure of facing unknown strong enemies.
"Fa," her voice was soft, carrying the elves' unique soothing power, "Don't push yourself too hard. The 'Star Gaze' burdens you greatly. We are a whole, not just you fighting alone." The star resonance stone around her neck emitted a warm and gentle wave, like a trickling stream, trying to soothe the mental sting in Fa.
Fa slowly opened her eyes, the light in her star gaze somewhat dim. She held Arya's hand in return, feeling that warmth and determination. "I know, Arya. It's just... seven days. They're ahead by a full seven days, and with that kind of power..." She looked out the window, as if she could see through the walls to the surging ink-green clouds in the north, "The star fragments... must not fall into their hands. That dense forest... is the first battlefield."
Salsa's soul body detached from the mechanical cat shell, floating in mid-air. She emitted a faint sound: "Based on Jack's calculations... the survival probability of the Doomsday Rebirth organization is less than 1%, but the threats in the dense forest have not decreased, we still need to heighten our vigilance."
In the adjacent room, TISK was carefully wiping his beloved Lava Hammer with an oilcloth, the dragon scale runes on the hammerhead glowing faintly with his wiping, as if responding to the owner's mood. "Hey, Rex," the dwarf lowered his voice, speaking to the robot standing still like a statue in the corner, "You say, those 'stones and woods', can they really be powerful enough to crush those monsters from Doomsday Rebirth? Was Jack exaggerating too much?"
Rex's electronic eyes flickered with ghostly blue light, scanning the room's structure, emitting a steady mechanical tone: "Insufficient data, unable to accurately assess the combat power of the 'Stone-Wood Guardians'. Jack's description has subjective fear amplification components, credibility needs discounting. But combining Lirian's perceived 'Earth Heartbeat' level energy fluctuations with the biological strength displayed by the Doomsday Rebirth organization in the tavern, there is a high possibility of high-energy level conflicts. Inference: Probability of super-spec physical/energy entities in the dense forest core area elevated to 87.2%." He paused, "Additionally, TISK, your wiping motion efficiency is low, suggest using ultrasonic cleaning module."
TISK choked for a moment, glaring at Rex irritably: "Screw your ultrasonic! I like tending to my old buddy with my own hands! This hammer has been with me for decades, dipped in lava, smashed ores, saved my life! This is called affection! What do you know about hammers!" He slapped the Lava Hammer hard, producing a dull thud.
Yuyuer sat on another bed, looking down at his hands belonging to a "mixed-blood lizardman youth." The skin was warm and moist, the knuckles distinct, completely without the cold scales and the binding of webbed membranes. He tried clenching his fist, feeling the pure muscle strength after the exoskeleton disappeared. "Uncle's 'Thousand-Faced Scale Shedding Technique'... truly magical." He muttered to himself, his tone carrying novelty and a hint of indescribable alienation, "Now... I look like an ordinary mixed-blood species on this continent? Those dark night elves... and the 'things' in the forest... can they see through it?" He subconsciously touched the heavy "gift" wrapped in oilcloth at his waist, Karim's instructions still ringing in his ears.
Rex's electronic eyes turned to Yuyuer: "Yuyuer, your physiological indicators show mild anxiety. Disguise form physiological data stable, no energy leakage. As long as mental control is stable, emotions not fluctuating violently, probability of being detected by conventional means is less than 5%. But the Ink-Dark Dense Forest has unknown perception methods, risk factor unknown. Suggestion: Maintain calm."
Yuyuer smiled bitterly: "Thanks for your 'comfort', Rex. I'll try... not to hold everyone back." He looked out the window, his expression complex. Leaving the familiar sea, on this land full of hostility, disguised as another form, the road ahead is a death forest ten times more dangerous... All this made him feel unprecedented pressure, and a deep longing for his hometown and mother.
Dawn's Assembly and a Relaxed Ending?
When the first pale ray of light struggled through the energy shield at the top of the outpost, illuminating the battered windows of the "Roaring Furnace," Fa and her companions got up early, packed their gear, and went downstairs to assemble. Everyone had faint shadows under their eyes, but their gazes were sharper and more determined than last night.
Jack, Lirian, and Gorg also appeared on time. Jack looked at the group's slightly weary but high-spirited faces, especially the suppressed flames in Kayla's eyes and Yuyuer's slightly tense expression. He grinned, revealing teeth slightly yellowed from tobacco, clapped his hands hard, trying to dispel the heavy atmosphere.
"Hey! Look at you rookies!" He deliberately said in a light teasing tone, his mechanical prosthetic eye scanning the group, "It's just a pitch-black forest, right? Look at you all acting like you're facing a great enemy! Relax a bit! With Lirian here, what are you afraid of?" He pointed to the forest elf with a cool temperament beside him.
Lirian nodded slightly, her emerald eyes like morning dew in the forest, clear and serene. The natural aura she exuded seemed out of place in this environment full of rust and machine oil, yet it brought a strange soothing power. "The path of nature is dangerous, but there are opportunities for life. Trust each other, follow my steps closely, abandon unnecessary fear and light." Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears, carrying a convincing calm.
Gorg simply silently checked his massive chainsaw battle axe, his ashen face showing no expression, but that mountain-like steadiness was a power in itself.
"Alright! Cheer up!" Jack waved his hand, "The remaining journey across the Rift Wind Plains is just a stroll for us! Those rift beasts aren't stupid; they know getting close to the edge of the Ink-Dark Dense Forest brings no good, they're afraid of being dragged in by the 'things' in the forest as snacks! Hurry up, aim to reach the forest edge by noon! Once inside, that's when it gets real!"
His words were like a shot of adrenaline. Although they knew the dense forest was extremely dangerous, at least this segment ahead allowed a brief respite. Everyone shouldered the heavy "Ink-Dark Pioneers" backpacks and checked their gear. Yuyuer felt the faint light halo disguise from the backpack, took a deep breath, and tried to make his "lizardman youth" posture appear more natural.
The team set off again, passing through the thick metal gates of the Windward Outpost. The howling wind and sand immediately hit their faces, but with yesterday's battle experience and the stabilizing force field of the "Rift Wind Walker" backpacks, the group could handle it with ease. As Jack said, the tail end of the Rift Wind Plains seemed unusually "calm." Massive wind-eroded mushroom rocks stood firm in the gale, casting twisted shadows. Occasionally, massive figures of rift beasts flashed over distant dunes, but they seemed completely uninterested in the team approaching the Ink-Dark Dense Forest, even deliberately avoiding them, as if that surging ink-green cloud was some untouchable forbidden zone.
Without the harassment of fierce beasts, the team's progress sped up considerably. Jack and Gorg led front and rear, Lirian in the middle, with Fa's team following closely. Kayla internalized her battle intent, the energy on her thunder claws flowing steadily; Zhamisi's snake tail swayed lightly, gliding over the sand, her venom fang curved blade sheathed, but her eyes sharply scanned the surroundings; TISK carried the Lava Hammer, his stout body steady as a rock in the wind and sand; Rex silently recorded environmental data; Arya stayed close to Fa, always monitoring her condition; Yuyuer struggled to adapt to walking without an exoskeleton, gripping the Dragon Bone Staff tightly; Salsa's mechanical cat quietly perched on Fa's shoulder, the three shadow hawks circling silently high above, vigilant for any anomalies.
The Descent into the Ink-Dark Forest
When the pale noon sunlight barely penetrated the thick wind and sand clouds, the team finally reached the end of the Rift Wind Plains.
Ahead, the scene changed abruptly.
It was as if there was an invisible boundary. On this side of the boundary was the vast, rugged, wind-dominated yellowish-brown wasteland. On the other side was a world completely sunk into thick ink-green, deathly silent.
Towering trees dominated here, but they were nothing like the vibrant green giants of Arya's homeland. The trees here were twisted and bizarre, their bark showing decayed deep brown or eerie purple-black, covered in massive tree tumors and dangling vine-like dried blood vessels. The canopies layered upon each other, blocking the sky, sealing off the heavens, allowing only extremely faint, barely illuminating miserable green light to filter through to the ground. The air was filled with a strong, nauseating mixed odor—rotting plants, damp soil, toxic miasma, and... a faint, sickly sweet corpse stench.
On the ground at the forest's edge, scattered were shocking things—skeletons.
A large number of skeletons from different races. Human skulls emptily gazed at the canopy-obscured sky; beastman thick arm bones half-buried in decayed leaves; dwarf sturdy craniums still embedded with broken arrows; even some massive wild beast skeletons, entwined with vines, like grotesque sculptures. These bones mostly showed eroded gray-white or eerie ink-green, some covered with slippery moss or fine, faintly phosphorescent fungi. They silently recounted the tragic ends of countless intruders, paving a path of decayed bones leading to death in this forest.
The lightness on Jack's face completely disappeared, replaced by unprecedented solemnity. He pulled down his anti-toxic mask (equipped in the backpack's side pocket), his voice sounding somewhat muffled through the mask: "We're here. Lirian, it's up to you."
Lirian closed her eyes, took a deep breath, even through the mask, her brows furrowed tightly. When she opened her eyes again, sharp light flickered deep in her emerald pupils. "The toxicity of the miasma... is stronger than perceived. The dark night elves' 'web'... covers every inch of shadow. The ancient 'heartbeat'... heavy and oppressive." She looked at the group, her voice carrying unquestionable authority: "Everyone, pull down your masks! Activate the backpack's faint light halo disguise! Check if insect-repellent powder is applied all over! Place the bioluminescent lamp spores in the most accessible position, but absolutely prohibit using any light source before I say it's okay! Including magical light! Miss Arya, please be sure to restrain your light element affinity! Here, light is a death warrant!"
The group followed her instructions. Yuyuer felt the slightly stuffy air under the mask, looking at the forest ahead like the entrance to hell, his heartbeat accelerating involuntarily. He gripped the staff tightly, his mental focus heightened, maintaining the disguise's stability.
Lirian walked to the front of the team, and as the group's figures stepped into the forest boundary in an instant, the air of the Ink-Dark Dense Forest was like solidified ink, so thick it was almost suffocating. The branches of towering ancient trees intertwined overhead, weaving a massive net that blocked the sky, with only a few strands of dismal faint light struggling through the leaf gaps, casting swaying, ominous light spots on the ground's decayed leaf layer. "Follow me closely, step in my footprints, not a single step wrong." Her voice was low, she took the lead, stepping onto that path paved by countless withered bones, leading into the depths of the forest's dim trail.
Fa took a deep breath, the foul miasma coming through the mask's filter, suffocating. Her right eye's star gaze faintly lit up, vigilantly scanning the impenetrable darkness ahead. Arya gripped the Storm Bow tightly, forcibly suppressing the active light elements in her body. Kayla's whole body muscles tensed, the ice-thunder power on her thunder claws poised to strike. Zhamisi's snake pupils contracted into thin lines, sensing changes in the humid poison in the air. TISK gripped the Lava Hammer tightly, the runes on the hammerhead faintly heating up. Rex's electronic eyes switched to high-sensitivity thermal and energy detection modes, scanning the surrounding environment. Yuyuer, in his lizardman disguise, felt a chill from the depths of his bloodline.
Salsa's mechanical cat electronic eyes locked onto the forest depths, the shared high-altitude view completely failing at this moment, the shadow hawks could only patrol the periphery. She emitted an encrypted signal only Fa could clearly understand: "Meow... high-energy decay reaction... 300 meters ahead... large number of moving life forms... similar to dark night elf patrol teams."
At this moment, Lirian, the experienced forest captain, suddenly stopped, her arm lifting swiftly like a venomous snake, five fingers clenched into a fist—an absolute silent warning gesture. The team instantly froze, as if petrified by magic. The well-trained Fa and others needed no words, tacitly scattering quickly, silently melting into the dense tree bushes and huge fern plants' shadows, bodies pressed against wet cold tree trunks or lying on thick moss. Breathing suppressed to the extreme, only the heavy drumming of hearts in chests remained, and the subtle, continuous buzzing of insects in the forest.
Time passed slowly in the tense silence. Then, they came.
A team of dark night elves emerged like shadows spawned from the forest itself, without warning from the thin mist in the woods. Their movements were extremely fluid, each step precisely landing on gaps with the least fallen leaves, their boots on soft moss making almost no sound. They wore tight-fitting black leather armor, smeared with complex camouflage patterns in deep green and dark brown mineral pigments, perfectly blending into the surroundings. Their faces were similarly smeared with eerie oil paints, masking facial contours, leaving only pairs of eyes flickering with beast-like cold and sharp chill in the dim woods, vigilantly scanning every inch of suspicious shadow. They carried longbows on their backs, the bow arms made of dark hardwood twisted with unknown metal wires, emitting a cold aura; the daggers at their waists were like venomous snake fangs, the sharp edges drawing heart-pounding silver lines in the occasional filtering faint light. They were like a group of silent hunters, patrolling noiselessly, their gazes like substantial blades scraping over the areas where the group hid. The air was filled with a mix of damp soil, decayed leaves, and some indescribable, cold grassy scent—that was the dark night elves' unique, hostile smell.
This suffocating patrol lasted what felt like a century. The dark night elves exchanged a few short, guttural syllables in low voices, sounds as light as wind through leaves. After confirming no intruders were found, their figures abruptly melted into deeper forest shadows as they had come, as if they had never appeared.
Until that cold oppressive feeling completely faded, the group dared to slowly exhale the stale air held in their chests, their tense nerves relaxing slightly. Kayla rubbed her finger joints whitened from gripping her weapon for so long; Gorg muttered a curse in orcish, expressing disgust for this insidious stealth; TISK vigilantly sniffed the air, confirming if the danger had truly gone.
However, the solemnity on Lirian's face didn't lessen at all. She emerged quietly from her hiding spot, her gaze still locked tightly on the direction the dark night elves disappeared, lowering her voice, that voice carrying an unquestionable warning: "Their perception is like night owls, sharp beyond imagination. The earlier concealment was just luck. Every step from now on, we must be quieter, more formless than ghosts. Any slip could bring total disaster." Her words were like cold rain, extinguishing the sliver of luck that had just risen in the group.