When someone is watching you, you can perceive it.

It’s less about sight and more like an invisible clash of auras that signifies a subconscious warning.

People with high perception tend to be more sensitive to such signals.

The team members behind them exchanged glances. None of them felt like they were being watched.

Ruan Xing turned his head slightly and glanced at Qiao Zhi, a bit surprised by his keen perception.

The latter simply smiled at him—a harmless, easygoing grin.

Pei Ye and Chen Yihang exchanged a look.

"Pick up the pace."

They had only advanced about 50 meters when the pollution level suddenly spiked at an alarming rate.

A rustling sound arose from the dense green grass they had just passed. A glossy head peeked out from within, with massive pincers embedded in its skull.

Its brown exoskeleton gleamed with an icy luster, and the antennae on its head trembled as it sent out signals.

The pollutant, half as tall as a person, was the same kind of ant Ruan Xing had encountered when he first arrived in this world. It was also identical to the statue outside.

Fu Gui shrieked: [Why do these things keep haunting us!]

The team reacted quickly. The sound of chambers being loaded rang out in quick succession, followed by a burst of fire, causing the ants in front to collapse in a row.

But more and more massive heads emerged before them.

Their deep brown and inky green bodies blended together, making them hard to spot under the dim sky.

If they had walked directly through the grass earlier, they would have been ambushed and completely caught off guard.

Ruan Xing didn’t fire. Instead, he concealed himself within the group, quietly observing the members of the Second Squad fighting at the front lines.

Pei Ye saw his action but said nothing. Instead, he stepped forward. "I'll handle this. No need to waste time."

The man with a small ponytail bypassed the crowd.

With a single motion, he traced a line through the air with his index finger, and the wind suddenly surged around them.

The powerful gusts rapidly intensified and lifted his hair.

The wind howled, intensifying like a rising tide, sending the grass rippling in waves and filling the air with a sharp, rustling sound.

In an instant, the ants' severed heads dropped cleanly to the ground.

The dense green grass was split apart in perfectly straight lines, revealing the brown figures shifting in the underbrush.

The razor-sharp wind blades cut through life—cold and ruthless.

[Wind Tamer] (馭風者 Yù Fēng Zhě)

Wherever the wind exists, it is your domain.

Pei Ye's gaze was sharp, completely different from his usual carefree demeanor.

Wave after wave of ants rushed forward, only to be swiftly beheaded.

One significantly larger creature tried to sneak around the front line, creeping through the underbrush toward the team. It had nearly reached the group, and its pincers were about to snap down on an isolated team member.

Pei Ye didn’t even turn his head. The moment the creature took a step, its sharp segmented legs were sliced off, and severed limbs flew into the air.

The polluted creature collapsed. Its remaining half-leg twitched violently while its mouthparts expanded in a soundless scream.

Soon, its severed head tumbled to the ground, rolling to a stop at Ruan Xing’s feet. A thick, transparent liquid oozed from its severed neck.

Ruan Xing instinctively took a step back as his face scrunched in disgust.

A few minutes later, Pei Ye finally lowered his hand. He lightly drew a circle with his index finger, mirroring his opening gesture.

All around them, ant carcasses littered the ground, their limbs severed at odd angles. The once-towering two-meter grass was now a broken mess.

The culprit let out a whistle. "Done."

He made it seem effortless—a stark contrast to those two mercenaries who had struggled just to kidnap Ruan Xing.

Qiao Zhi's eyes widened. "That was so cool."

Even though their team had other Awakened members, someone like Pei Ye, who could casually wipe out an entire swarm of polluted creatures, was rare in any squad.

Pei Ye just waved dismissively and turned his back to them with a carefree stride. "Let's go."

Chen Yihang's lips twitched. "Still as dramatic as ever, Senior."

Pei Ye raised an eyebrow as he passed by him. "Is that a problem?"

—

As they ventured deeper, the air thickened with smog, and the sky grew heavy.

When they had first arrived, it had been midday with the sun high overhead, but now it felt like dusk.

"Pollution level is at 59%," a team member reported.

No one seemed particularly surprised.

Some had already put on their gas masks, preparing for prolonged exposure to the polluted air.

"Long-term exposure to pollution isn’t good for you," Chen Yihang said as he tapped his nose. "Put your masks on."

Ruan Xing didn’t feel any discomfort from the polluted air. But to blend in, he put on a gas mask, revealing only his striking emerald-green eyes.

"This is the amusement park's most classic and iconic attraction— Insect World! Have you ever wondered what real insects look like? How do their bodies and organs function? Want to learn about the habits of social insects? Here, you can experience the full picture and spend a day in their real world."

Chen Yihang pointed toward the building ahead.

The structure had an unusual design—it was a cylindrical building with half of its body buried underground. Despite its shape, the cylinder had smooth, polished edges, and its entire surface gleamed with a metallic silver sheen, giving off a futuristic, high-tech feel.

Suddenly, Ruan Xing recalled the large orange-marked area on the map and noticed that the entrance labeled on that section matched this building.

The entrance here differed from most buildings, which typically had doors perpendicular to the ground. This one opened downward, which resembled a cellar door.

Even before stepping inside, Ruan Xing could already smell the damp earth mixed with some strange, indescribable odor.

It reminded him of the scent from the ingredient cultivation chamber he had once set up that contained spiders, centipedes, lizards, and other insects.

—Perhaps calling it an insect nest would be a more fitting description.

Ruan Xing frowned slightly. He had no particular aversion to insects, but that was under the condition that he wasn’t at risk of being bitten. Given his current body condition, a single bite from a venomous centipede might be enough to kill him.

That would be a real hassle.

Fu Gui: [The concentration of pollution inside is extremely high. It’s simply everywhere.]

Inside Ruan Xing's pocket, something began to heat up.

It was the silver accessory infused with magic that he had found in the villa district.

Now, he knew its name.

Longevity Locket.

A charm traditionally gifted to newborns to ward off illness and disaster, symbolizing the elders’ wishes for the child to live a long and prosperous life.

He had attempted to draw out the magic within the locket, but the results had been disappointing. The magic was so weak that it couldn’t be absorbed and was barely sufficient to form a low-level master-servant contract.

Yet, the moment he stepped onto this land, the faint, nearly nonexistent magic inside it began to stir.

Now, as he stood in front of the entrance, the magic was not only growing stronger but also becoming more active—so much so that it felt like it was about to boil over uncontrollably.

What connection did this object have with the polluted zone?

"You two, stay at the back of the group," Pei Ye instructed.

The rest of the team started gearing up as well. Each pair of exposed eyes was now covered by night vision goggles.

Their vision turned into a field of eerie green, similar to the grass they had just walked through.

Ruan Xing wasn’t used to it and fiddled with his goggles.

"First mission?" A bald team member asked him.

Ruan Xing hummed in confirmation.

"Don’t worry. Stick with Qiao Zhi and stay in the middle of the team. We always take care of the rookies." The man grinned at him, his smooth forehead shining under the dim light.

Ruan Xing didn’t have a death wish.

In fact, if he wasn’t worried about ants continuing to swarm, he would have preferred to wait outside.

Qiao Zhi rubbed his hands together. "I'm a little nervous."

The door opened, and a wave of damp air rushed out.

As Ruan Xing stepped inside, it felt like he had passed through a bubble, as if a thin membrane had enveloped him, pulling him into a humid, underground world.

Although the door opened downward, the designers hadn’t been insane enough to make the entrance drop directly into the underground.

They arrived at a large hall.

A thick layer of dust had long since settled here, but due to moisture from some unknown source, the dust had turned into sludge that coated the floor like mud.

Footprints were clearly imprinted in the grime.

"These are tactical boots from the Investigation Corps," someone pointed out.

Chen Yihang crouched down. "According to the map, there’s only one exit here. But these footprints don't lead outside. They must have gone missing inside."

The expression of Second Squad's leader turned serious. "Stay sharp!"

Ruan Xing was drawn to a notice posted in the most prominent spot.

[Welcome, visitors, to Natural Amusement Park! Inside the glass display, you will find mascot costumes. By wearing them, you can fully immerse yourself as a member of the natural world.

To ensure a truly immersive experience, please follow these rules:

1. Remember your species. Do not act in ways that contradict your nature.
2. Do not attempt to harm your "leaders." If they become angry, the consequences are your own responsibility.
3. Do not trust your teammates. They may not be on the same side as you.
4. Always maintain ——.]

The last two words had been erased by humidity, making them impossible to read.

Ruan Xing studied it for a while but couldn’t understand it and eventually gave up.

Chen Yihang also examined the notice for a long time before turning to the glass display case and pulling out a few mascot costumes.

"Alright, put these on."

A teammate hesitated. "Do we really have to follow these instructions?"

Chen Yihang smiled. "It’s better to obey the rules in a polluted zone. It’s rare for one to lay out its rules so clearly."

The bald team member from earlier frowned. “Wait… does that mean we’re already inside the polluted zone?”

Ruan Xing nodded. "We must have entered the moment we stepped through the entrance."

The indicator on his wrist had already climbed to a dangerous level. Meanwhile, the door behind them, which had been propped open to prevent it from locking, had somehow shut itself without anyone noticing.

His words caused a brief stir among the group, but these were all seasoned veterans. After the initial discomfort, they quickly regained their composure.

The bald man showed a look of astonishment.

Adapting so quickly? Were all the new recruits this strong nowadays?

Ruan Xing pulled down the zipper on the back of the mascot suit and squeezed himself inside.

His assigned role was a brown ant.

The nameplate on the costume read: Worker Ant No. 1004.

Surprisingly, all the other team members had the same nameplate.

Chen Yihang shrugged. “There are no other roles. We’re all worker ants.”

After putting on the bulky mascot suits and securing their masks, the air circulation became even worse. But no one complained since everyone clearly understood what was truly important.

Soon, the team started moving.

Ruan Xing’s vision was severely restricted, and even his movements felt hindered. Fortunately, he was positioned in a relatively safe spot in the middle of the group so in any case, he wouldn't be the first one to die.

Fu Gui had also been stuffed into the mascot suit and was now nestled on top of Ruan Xing’s head.

[This place doesn’t even seem as dangerous as what we’ve dealt with before.

Look at the time in the cinema—the little girl, that fat pig, and the voyeur—every single one of them was terrifying. But now? This doesn’t feel like a problem at all. It’s actually kind of fun. After all, it’s my first time wearing a mascot suit.]

Fu Gui’s warm little body lay atop Ruan Xing’s head, trembling slightly as he chuckled, feeling like a living heat pack.

—

The air grew increasingly damp and sticky as the team descended deeper underground.

Like the moments before a summer storm, the humidity surged in the air. It was as if they had entered a vat of hot and stifling gelatin.

Walking felt like wading through water, with sluggish movements and stifled breaths. Moreover, there was nowhere to hide.

Ruan Xing panted slightly as a thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead.

This place had been abandoned for too long. The power system had long since collapsed, and the original ventilation system had stopped working. The air they were breathing in now was probably several years old.

At that moment, Ruan Xing felt relieved that he had worn a mask. At least it provided a small amount of clean air.

Fu Gui, wearing a tiny makeshift mask, gasped for breath.

[I take back everything I said earlier—this is just asking for death! This isn’t like before, when we could blow everything up and be done with it! This is literally boiling ourselves slowly like frogs! I’m gonna turn into a cooked bird! Is it too late to leave?]

Clearly, it was too late. They had been walking for at least half an hour, and who knew how deep underground they had gone.

Time had blurred, and all they could see around them were cold, earthen walls and a single line of footprints on the ground.

Would this group suffer the same fate as their predecessors, unable to leave behind a trace of their return?

Suddenly, the team stopped.

“What’s wrong?” someone asked over the radio.

“We’ve reached the ‘nest,’” Pei Ye’s voice responded.

The team moved forward.

They were now standing on a platform with no railings or safety barriers. It was about seven or eight square meters in size, so it was quickly crowded with over a dozen people.

Beyond the edge lay nothing but an empty void.

—It was the end of the path.

Below them stretched an unnervingly deep abyss. Above, a domed ceiling soared dozens of meters high, its edges vanishing into the distance.

They were inside a massive underground cavern.

Spanning tens of thousands of square meters, the space was completely empty—except for the rustling sound that echoed throughout.

Shhhff, shhhff…

The noise resembled the sound of arthropod limbs scraping against the ground. Or perhaps the sound of antennae brushing together, whispering in some unspoken language.

The bald man tossed a glow stick over the edge.

A swarm.

At the bottom of the enormous cavity was an area comparable to several football fields where countless ants wriggled together, filling the entire space.

Like sharks catching the scent of blood, the ants abruptly stopped moving.

One by one, pairs of scarlet eyes reflected the images of the intruders.

The sight of thousands of polluted creatures sent a chilling sensation up the group's spines.

Fu Gui trembled, then promptly rolled his eyes before fainting.

They were intruders in an alien world.

And soon, the ants began to move.

A sharp rustling echoed as the first wave surged forward, closing in at an alarming speed.

“Should we retreat?” Qiao Zhi’s voice trembled.

A dozen people versus thousands of ants—there was no comparison.

Pei Ye let out an odd chuckle. “What do you think?”

The leading team member in an ant costume raised one of his segmented limbs in front of him, cautioning those behind him. “Don’t act rashly.”

The rustling noises arrived in an instant.

These ants were noticeably larger than the ones they had seen on the surface. They were over a meter tall, unmistakably more robust and powerful.

They were excellent climbers, easily scaling the walls and swarming toward the platform to trap the intruders in a tight ring.

Just as Pei Ye was about to strike, an angry voice filled with irritation, cut through the tension—

“Worker Ant 808! What the hell are you doing?! Are you just going to stand there?! Do you expect me to do all the work?!”