Chapter 259: Target and Betrayal

Chapter 259: Target and Betrayal

Jie Ming mentally simulated the situation and reached the same conclusion as Levin Mills. “This will multiply the search area, and we can’t proceed in the same formation as before.”

“So, I’ve decided to split the wizards into two teams,” Levin Mills announced. “The wider, higher area above will be searched by our more coordinated team members. The narrower area below will be handled by you recruits.”

Jie Ming and the others had no objections. The upper area likely held more resources, but their weaker strength and lack of teamwork made self-preservation their priority. Their main task was to find the lost wizard, not to hunt for treasure. Grouping together in the narrower area might allow faster searching and potentially yield more resources. Thus, Levin’s proposal was adopted without dissent.

—

The next day, the two teams proceeded as planned. Jie Ming, the strongest among the recruits, was appointed temporary leader. He led the ten other recruited wizards along the designated route in the lower part of the spatial distortion zone.

This lower area was much smaller than the vast, desolate regions they’d explored before. After careful inspection, they confirmed its width was only about ten kilometers. Instead of spreading out, the wizards formed a tight battle formation to advance together, ensuring mutual support.

Upon entering, Jie Ming immediately sensed a difference. The inverted trapezoid shape concentrated matter at the bottom, transforming the previously illusory cloud-mist into a semi-solid “ground.” Though useless for freely flying wizards, it provided a stable resting place.

After days of searching, the area continued to narrow, shrinking from ten kilometers to just a few. The once-pure-white ground grew denser, displaying various colors as matter became so concentrated it produced pigments that absorbed specific light wavelengths.

Naturally, biological and mineral resources grew richer. The team encountered more creature colonies, their strength increasing as they progressed. However, the recruits’ teamwork shone through. Unlike lone wizards, their combined strength handled tough species efficiently, with knowledgeable members quickly identifying weaknesses and devising countermeasures.

The only downside was the scarcity of pure energy-based resources, which Jie Ming speculated were more abundant in the matter-sparse upper regions where Jack and Levin’s team operated. Messages from Jack confirmed that their search area was expanding, forcing them to slow down for thorough exploration. This created a speed gap, with the lower team advancing faster, resulting in a staggered formation.

Jie Ming felt a vague unease but had no concrete reason to voice it. Observing Jack’s team through the mosquito network, he saw their diligent work and held his silence.

That day, Jie Ming’s team was shocked to find the search area contracting rapidly, forming a narrow, canyon-like space flanked by solid mist cliffs, its vertical height soaring beyond perception. The wizards grew cautious, deploying all their Glimmer Bugs to scout meticulously.

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Strangely, this seemingly ideal habitat showed no signs of life. Jie Ming activated his All-Purpose Eye, risking soul strain, but found no ambushes, confirming the earlier scans.

Downing a soul-healing potion, he turned to the others. “What do you think we should do?”

After confirming the area’s safety, they agreed to press forward.

After what felt like an eternity in the endless canyon, Jie Ming sensed some of his forward Glimmer Bugs entering a vast, open area. Even straining his mental strength, he couldn’t probe its boundaries.

“Strange, something’s blocking the way. A spatial barrier?” Jie Ming wondered aloud.

The others, sharing the bugs’ perception, were equally puzzled. Without hesitation, they hurried toward the area.

Emerging from the narrow mist canyon, they were awestruck by the sight: a flat, mirror-like white wasteland stretching endlessly, flanked by towering mist walls like mountains cleaved by a giant axe.

Prepared for combat, they advanced toward the area the Glimmer Bugs couldn’t penetrate. As their vision pierced the layered mist, they froze.

Behind the “spatial barrier” sat a battered, bloodied wizard, radiating an aura as vast as an abyss. Jie Ming swallowed hard, realizing this was a Fourth-Order Wizard.

Their arrival, or perhaps the Glimmer Bugs, had already alerted him. His sharp, hostile gaze met them. Jie Ming stepped forward to explain their purpose, but the wizard abruptly raised his hand.

“Careful!”

“Evade!”

Shouts erupted as the wizards reacted swiftly, raising shields or cloaking themselves. Despite the vast power gap, they instinctively prepared to resist the imminent attack.

Jie Ming, stunned for a moment, activated “Acceleration.” With heightened reflexes, he spun around, raising a massive shield toward the seemingly empty direction behind them.

Boom!

A deafening roar followed as a barrage of attacks struck from behind, hitting Jie Ming’s shield just in time. Simultaneously, the Fourth-Order Wizard’s terrifying attack descended—not at Jie Ming’s group, but at Jack’s team, who had somehow appeared and attacked them.

As the wizard clenched his fist, space warped violently, the mist revealing a massive distortion covering the sky. Yet, the attack, capable of killing a Third-Order Wizard instantly, missed.

Levin Mills’ team, as if anticipating it, had retreated precisely out of the distortion’s range. Jie Ming rose from the blast’s aftermath, his gaze piercing the warped space to lock onto Jack’s cold expression above.