That red-brown wooden door led to a spacious hall, which occupied the entire space.

The entire tower was unlayered. Standing at the entrance, Shang Jianyao could look directly up to the dome that soared into the sky.

Around the walls were large holes, inlaid with glass, forming rows of windows.

They stretched from the bottom up, all the way to near the dome, all currently reflecting flickering lights, sometimes bright, sometimes dim.

In the center of the hall, there was a huge mass of darkness. Deep within the darkness, countless lights glimmered, constantly alternating.

They shone through the darkness, illuminating the windows, turning into lights.

At this moment, the mass of darkness was like a heart, constantly expanding and contracting. Streams of faintly glowing air gushed out from within, either crashing into the walls, flying towards the dome, or striking the ground directly.

Each impact of these air currents stirred up violent tremors in the earth, bringing out a raging hurricane, as if it were the source of the turmoil.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao, Liu Chuan, Flora, and the others heard a low and ethereal voice:

"Go, go to that mass of darkness. As long as you destroy it, you can return to the graylands and gain freedom.

"Go, go to that mass of darkness. As long as you destroy it, you can return to the graylands and gain freedom..."

This voice repeated in the minds of Shang Jianyao and the others, rapidly strengthening their beliefs, allowing them to no longer hesitate. They passed through the entrance one after another, entered the hall, and walked towards the darkness.

Before their eyes, lights flickered, air currents darted, and the darkness expanded and contracted, giving a dreamlike sense of unreality.

One step, two steps, three steps. Suddenly, a stream of faintly glowing air that gushed out from the darkness crashed into the tower wall and didn't directly dissipate. Instead, it rebounded towards the "New World" expert carrying Flora on his back.

The two of them were caught off guard and unable to dodge. They could only hastily erect a wall of air with their "Interference Matter" ability.

The stream of faintly glowing air silently penetrated the wall of air, striking Flora and the "New World" expert carrying her.

Their bodies suddenly became ethereal, and their expressions instantly turned extremely fearful, almost contorted.

In the blink of an eye, the stream of air dissipated, and Flora and the "New World" expert carrying her turned into bubbles, shattering at a touch in the wind, leaving no trace.

The human consciousness of both was extinguished.

Liu Chuan, Barnard, and the others, seeing this scene, were all shaken to their core, and their expressions changed noticeably.

"No!" Shang Jianyao's right hand grabbed in the air twice.

He tried to rescue them, but it was too late.

Compared to the "New World" expert ignited by the shards of light, Flora, known for her kindness and friendliness and more familiar to everyone, had her consciousness collapse directly under the impact of the air current and dissipated on the spot, causing an even stronger shock to Barnard, Liu Chuan, and the others.

For a time, they all uncontrollably felt emotions of sorrow and fear.

The very strong and highly intelligent Flora actually died like this...

When they looked at that huge mass of darkness again, their gazes were all different, tinged with deep doubt:

Why are we approaching it?

Even if it really is the key to leaving, how are we supposed to destroy it when we don't know anything about it?

Will it bring us utter disaster?

Including Shang Jianyao, the remaining "New World" experts unconsciously slowed their pace, slower and slower.

...

The metal door opened before Jiang Baimian's eyes.

Ahead was a wooden wall painted white, separating the entrance area from the space behind.

In front of the wooden wall was a uniquely shaped counter like a spindle, which seemed to be prepared for a receptionist.

Jiang Baimian slowly walked over and looked at the surface of the counter.

There were no brochures, no business cards, empty to the point that even dust seemed to be absent.

No, not seemed to be, Jiang Baimian reached out and touched it, confirming that it was clean as if it had just been swept.

"Is it the dust removal effect brought about by the chaotic electromagnetic environment here, or is there a 'Heartless' person responsible for cleaning it every day?" Jiang Baimian muttered silently.

She no longer looked at the various instruments displayed on the military exoskeleton device's mask. Their needles were as chaotic as if Shang Jianyao had possessed them.

Going around the white wooden wall, the space behind opened up.

But according to Jiang Baimian's visual estimate, this light-colored hall only occupied one-tenth, possibly less, of the bottom floor space of the vortex-shaped building.

After all, this building only had a few floors, mainly developing horizontally.

Looking at the seven or eight sets of sofas placed randomly, Jiang Baimian judged that this should be a waiting area or a rest area.

At this time, a corpse in a black uniform was sitting on a sofa, already turned into bones.

Besides it, there were nearly ten skeletons here, all wearing the same black uniform, with submachine guns and other weapons dropped beside them.

Most of them were at the end of the "waiting area," where the silver-gray metal door was opened halfway in a sliding manner.

The remaining skeletons were concentrated at the entrance to the "waiting area," next to the white wooden wall, in front of Jiang Baimian.

Relying on her rich Old World knowledge, Jiang Baimian frowned slightly and muttered to herself in her heart:

"Security personnel?"

Those corpses in black uniforms really looked like a team of security personnel, responsible for the entrance area of this special building during their lives.

A term then flashed through Jiang Baimian's mind:

"Second Research Zone."

In the dean's office of the Eighth Research Institute, the acting dean Du Heng had once signed a document for the transformation of the Second Research Zone.

Is this where the staircase leading to the "Divine Forbidden Zone" is being built? Jiang Baimian didn't rush forward. She crouched down and examined the three skeletons in front of her that were suspected of being research area security personnel.

As her gaze swept around, she found a bag of items on the round coffee table next to the sofa.

The packaging bag of the item was made of stiff, brownish-yellow kraft paper, with cute little bears printed on it.

Jiang Baimian's heart stirred. Maintaining a one-knee-on-the-ground posture, she reached out and took the bag of items.

The packaging bag had long been opened, and inside were pieces of tempting biscuits, with no signs of dampness or mold.

Jiang Baimian scrutinized the bag of biscuits and whispered with a frown:

"Little Bear Biscuits?"

Speaking of Little Bear Biscuits, her most recent and profound impression came from Ke Ningmis.

At the residence of Ke Ningmis's Year-Elder son, Brooklyn. Garland, a bag of Little Bear Biscuits produced in the New Calendar year 37 was placed next to the ink bottle on the desk.

At that time, Jiang Baimian, upon hearing Shang Jianyao's report, was quite puzzled, because Ke Ningmis's situation was not luxurious enough to specifically maintain a Little Bear Biscuit production line.

And Shang Jianyao believed that this might be the Year-Elder son's childhood memories. As a savior, he had the privilege to be a little bit willful.

Therefore, after discovering such a bag of Little Bear Biscuits deep within this reality "New World," inside the vortex-shaped building with the most chaotic electromagnetic environment, Jiang Baimian was a bit surprised and uncertain.

She temporarily put down the bag of Little Bear Biscuits and examined the three white human skeletons in front of her.

On the right chest position of their black uniforms, there was a metal-based black nameplate, on which the identity and name of the deceased were written in golden grayland script:

"Security Personnel: Gilbert. Simmons"

"Security Personnel: Fei Yingwu"

"Security Personnel: Winster. Garland"

Winster. Garland... Jiang Baimian's eyebrows twitched, and her gaze instantly froze.

...

"New World," inside the tower, Shang Jianyao and the others stopped.

That low and ethereal voice sounded in their ears again:

"Now is the most vulnerable time for that mass of darkness. It's about to collapse on its own.

"You just need to go over, combine your strength, and give it a fatal blow, and the problem will be solved.

"Don't worry, I will help you."

This voice constantly echoed in the minds of Liu Chuan, Barnard, and the others, causing the hesitation in their hearts to dissipate for the most part.

"Yeah, the state of that mass of darkness does seem to be a bit off."

"The turmoil started because of it, and it will end because of it..."

"It's like a sandcastle on the beach now. It will collapse with just a push from us."

"..."

With similar thoughts rising and falling, Barnard and the others took another step forward.

"Wait!"

Shang Jianyao, who was walking the fastest, suddenly shouted.