Apocalypse Circular

A passage to Gandhi? A vine-covered high wall?

To be honest, Lu Luo felt a tiny bit of excitement in his heart. It was evident from the slight tightening of his fist. But now, he still maintained the demeanor of a superior being.

After pondering for a few seconds and adjusting his emotions, Lu Luo finally said to Bai Lin beside him, "Have Brother Kane and Gu Fang get ready. Just say the Explorer Plan is initiating, and we need to step out."

"Yes, Master."

Bai Lin walked away, and Lu Luo once again turned to look at Kevin Jones. The little blond man's gaze had not left Bai Lin's thigh for a moment.

Lu Luo understood because even though he already had several women, he still couldn't help but glance at other women's thighs. It was instinct, unrelated to whether he had a woman or not.

"You can handle it alone, right?" Lu Luo suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

Kevin Jones clearly did not grasp the meaning behind Lu Luo's words, but he wasn't stupid, and after a moment of surprise, he quickly understood.

"Does Mr. Lu Luo want to keep Lin Wen here?"

"Yes, I'm still a bit uneasy if you both leave together."

Lu Luo was blunt; leaving Lin Wen could serve as a second layer of insurance or even as a hostage.

Kevin Jones understood the implication, and his mental fortitude was excellent. He didn't scream or cry out over Lu Luo's request, nor did he say anything about unfairness or that Lu Luo couldn't do this.

As a Caucasian, Kevin had long become accustomed to the oppression by Asians. Over 20 years of life had taught him what it meant to endure and to compromise.

"I understand, Mr. Lu Luo. I will do what I should. But I hope you can be kind to Lin Wen, for she is my beloved. And she has never suffered since childhood."

At this point, Lu Luo's opinion of Kevin only grew more positive—the child of a poor family becomes householder early. This saying did not mean that poor children were superior to rich ones. Lu Luo understood it to mean that children from impoverished families face more hardships and setbacks than those from wealthy ones. Such adversities force the children of the poor to grow up; if you don't grow, you starve. It was cruel.

"Don't worry, Mr. Kevin. I am not that unreasonable, nor do I intend to threaten you. Leaving Miss Lin Wen here is not malicious; it's merely to serve as insurance. After all, I know nothing about the world you spoke of."

"I understand."

With Lu Luo's command, the Circle Company mobilized very swiftly. This time all 200 members of the Breath of Favor assembled.

They didn't know what their boss was about to do, but they felt this gathering was different. For this operation, even Bai Yuetong's reserved sniper cannon and the Mecha that had been rushed into development for over three months without passing the test were brought out.

Each person also brought twice the amount of ammunition, countless energy grenades, and various individual combat equipment.

They tried to maximize the personal combat power of every Breath of Favor soldier to the utmost. This seemed somewhat exaggerated; they thought they were going for a major battle somewhere. But according to Gu Fangyi's earlier words, this operation was merely a simple reconnaissance mission. This left the team members even more puzzled.

With such firepower, they could even overwhelm ten Lord-level Exotic Species.

This level of preparation was just for a reconnaissance mission? What kind of reconnaissance required such equipment?

With their doubts, the team members began assembling on the second floor of the Circular Base. Lu Luo, Qi Xinzhu, Gu Fangyi, and even Zhou Kai and Bai Yuetong had arrived.

Lu Luo hadn't planned to bring so many people, especially Bai Yuetong. But some things Bai Yuetong said made Lu Luo reconsider his decision.

"My sight is different from yours, and among you, nobody knows the high wall better than I do. Also, as the company's only senior research staff, you'll have to pass through a laboratory. Without a researcher, you might miss some crucial information."

These words moved Lu Luo, and he reset the baseline for this operation. It was a reconnaissance mission, true. But it was also an operation to delve deep into the most dangerous area of the Exotic Species world in the Fifth Ring.

Kevin Jones and Lin Wen might have safely made their way here, but that did not guarantee they would be safe as well.

Lu Luo had considered the pros and cons of a solo operation versus a large group. But after careful thought, he decided to move with a large force. He was no longer alone; training soldiers wasn't just for show. When the time came to use them, they should be used, without guilt. In times of danger, soldiers could indeed buy time for the main personnel. This sounded cruel, but it was what soldiers were meant to do.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Ready."

"Move out."

Marked with the Circle Company logo, the troop carriers began moving towards the Fourth High Wall.

After they left the Circle Company, Qin Wanyu and Tong Yuan, who had rushed over with the Nightmare Demon's command, stood somewhat puzzled on a high building to the side.

"With such a lineup, what are they going to do?"

"Don't know!"

Tong Yuan finished speaking and seemed to subconsciously lick her paw. But under Qin Wanyu's stern gaze, she casually withdrew her paw.

"Eh, I won't lick. Shall we follow and take a look? Aren't you quite concerned about him?"

"No need, we're now on completely different paths, and there's no need for that."

"Tsk, saying one thing and meaning another."

Tong Yuan was right; after much indecision, Qin Wanyu once again followed behind Lu Luo's team.

Soon, Lu Luo led his team through the Explorer's Wall.

Upon surveying the Explorer's Wall, Kevin Jones was once again stunned by this outrageous construction. Can such things really be built by humans? Even the Imperial couldn't possibly have such construction technology, could it?

"Mr. Kevin, do you like to watch the high walls?"

"Uh, mainly because it's quite shocking. The Imperial doesn't have such buildings."

"Then what is the biggest and tallest building in the Imperial like?"

"The biggest building in the Imperial? Probably the Cruxi Academy, it's really big, incredibly so. But it's still not as outrageous as the high walls here. However, the Cruxi Academy is the sacred place for Transcendents to study in the Imperial, so the situation is a bit different."

"I see! Hehe."

Lu Luo smiled politely but he could tell that Kevin Jones yearned for that place. The Cruxi Academy, huh? I'll put that aside for now.

The armored vehicles began to move outside the walls, and the surrounding Scavengers, upon seeing the lineup of the Circle Company, retreated one after another, whispering among themselves.

"Circular is launching a large-scale operation again; it's been several times these past few months."

"Rich enough to burn money," this person said disdainfully.

But others looked down on him even more because this guy was someone who had been rejected after applying to Circular.

"Weren't you eliminated by Circular? What, are you angry about it?"

"Shut your mouth!"

"Enough, stop quarreling!"

"Circular opening up new areas is also good for us Scavengers."

"Yes, the areas they have swept through are generally very clean. There wouldn't be any Exotic Species left, and the safety has usually greatly improved."

"That's right, no matter what, they are doing work for the humans of the Fourth Ring. So you can dislike Circular, but don't belittle or insult them at this time. It's quite pointless."

"Exactly."

After getting lectured, the man fell silent.

Circular's convoy quickly arrived near the Yin-Yang Marsh. Amidst this area, vehicles could no longer move.

After disembarking, Bai Yuetong and the others directly operated their Mechas. The team silently sped up, moving very efficiently. In less than a day, they had already reached Gandhi's location.

"Mr. Kevin, lead the way."

"Oh, okay."

Kevin Jones, leading Lu Luo and the others, began to wander around Gandhi. This area had already become a high-risk area. An expedition of over 200 people naturally attracted the attention of Exotic Species. But now the combat power of Circular had advanced immensely.

Even a Lord-level Exotic Species would be annihilated under such formidable firepower. Thus, the group's movement efficiency was reasonable.

However, the situation that followed was not quite as desired.

Kevin led Lu Luo around Gandhi, but he couldn't find the cave he had mentioned before. As time passed, Kevin himself started to get anxious.

"What's going on? I clearly remember it was around here! Why is it gone?"

Kevin looked at Lu Luo next to him, his expression becoming tense and uneasy.

"Mr. Lu Luo, I really didn't lie to you, I wasn't lying."

Indeed, there's no sign of lying. If we couldn't find it, there must be another issue.

"Of course I know Mr. Kevin is not lying. Don't worry. If Mr. Kevin can't find it quickly, you can give me more details, and with so many of us here, we can certainly help Mr. Kevin search together."

Lu Luo was as courteous as ever, but Kevin became more uneasy. He didn't at all believe that Lu Luo would be as pleasant as he seemed. He had to find that passage quickly, otherwise both he and Lin Wen would be in trouble.

"That passage is hidden underneath a huge boulder, but that boulder is fake, a metallic object in disguise."

"A boulder, a metallic disguise, I understand. Bai Lin..."

"Got it."

Information about the passage was quickly passed down, and Kevin felt once again the absolute control Lu Luo had over the Circle Company.

Actually, Lu Luo had considered using the Nightmare Power combined with the Observer's Eye to give Kevin Jones and Lin Wen a brainwashing session. But after much consideration, he ultimately did not do so. Kevin Jones was a poor boy. Based on his description of himself, he had no background, no identity, no status, and he was Caucasian. In the Imperial, he belonged to the lowest status group. Except for his decent personal abilities, he had nothing else to his name. But Lin Wen was different. Even though she was useless in terms of personal abilities, her identity and status were very good. A healthy and normal Lin Wen might be of use to Lu Luo. Currently, Lu Luo knew nothing about the Imperial, so it was better to keep Lin Wen and see if she might be useful in the future.

A new round of searching commenced, and this time, even Lu Luo himself did not stop. Months of training had led to new progress in his control over his own Sequence. When Lu Luo slowly closed his eyes, countless eyes opened in the void. The Demon of a Thousand Eyes.

These eyeballs appeared around every rock, helping Lu Luo analyze the characteristics of these rocks through the Observer's effect. Lu Luo personally taking action greatly increased efficiency.

After a short stroll, he quickly found a suspect rock. There was no Dark Spirit Stone and it wasn't a Corrosive Item, but there was a slight energy response from the rock in front of him – clearly abnormal.

Lu Luo didn't rush. He slightly twisted his fingertip. A slim tendril suddenly extended from the air next to the rock. The tendril swept away the surrounding dust, then began to touch the rock itself. The moment it made contact with the rock, a chill traveled up the tendril.

"So there really is an energy response."

Lu Luo stopped using his Sequence. The Observer and Devourer were becoming more powerful and useful. But compared to these two, he was still more eager for the Fusioner. The legend of the Undying Body; once Fusioner's level improved further, Lu Luo felt he could continue to court death. And this kind of courting death probably wouldn't need to activate the Circular Disk.

"Alright, I've found it. Everyone, come over here."

Found it? That fast?

Hearing Lu Luo say this, Kevin Jones was somewhat incredulous. But when Lu Luo brought him before a rock that was completely different from what he remembered, Kevin was even more astonished.

"This place..."

Kevin instinctively wanted to say something, but Lu Luo had already spoken for him. "This place is different from what Mr. Kevin remembers?"

"Uh, yes."

"That's okay, the important thing is that we found it."

Kevin couldn't understand why Lu Luo was so easygoing. He wasn't angry, nor did he blame him for finding the wrong place. This person seemed a bit too nice.

"Why is Mr. Lu Luo always so nice?"

"Can I take Mr. Kevin's words as a compliment?"

"Uh, of course it's a compliment."

"People should be kind, true, and beautiful. A little more kindness can bring a little more love to the world."

"I understand now, thank you, Mr. Lu Luo, for clearing my confusion."

"You're welcome, Mr. Kevin."

He believed it, truly terrifying!

The reason Lu Luo didn't blame Kevin for finding the wrong location was simple: the place was filled with Sequence Force. A rock that can use Sequence Power to disguise itself is indeed unimaginable. However, Lu Luo had already seen many inconceivable things and this was just one more.

When Lu Luo and his group arrived beside the rock, Gu Fangyi had already used a feather to wipe clear a transparent area. Kevin was somewhat surprised to see the feather in Gu Fangyi's hand and wanted to ask questions, but he felt he shouldn't speak up. Lu Luo and the others were used to such oddities by now. They waited until the soldiers lifted a transparent glass panel.

A passage that could accommodate two people walking abreast was revealed before everyone.

"Mr. Kevin, is this the passage that you and Miss Lin Wen walked through before?"

Kevin looked at the interior of the passage. Glass steps, metallic walls, and many lights that weren't very dim—all exactly the same as when they came.

"It should be here, but I can't be sure because this location is different from what I remember."

"Alright, I know. Let's go, then."

Lu Luo put away several mechas, and Circular's entire team began to boldly enter underground.

The ones leading were naturally ordinary Breath of Favor soldiers, with Lu Luo standing at the forefront of the team, Bai Yuetong, and Qi Xinzhu following close behind him.

The passage was filled with a sense of technology that the facilities within the Alliance did not have. Their actions weren't rushed, but rather, they maneuvered around Bai Yuetong.

When Bai Yuetong took down one of the lights in the corridor, her expression gradually became serious.

"Lu Luo... something's not right."

"What's wrong?"

Bai Yuetong's research was fully supported by Lu Luo because oftentimes, Circular's technological level depended on Bai Yuetong to maintain. Just like the sniper cannon Gu Fangyi currently held, these special material mechas, and so on.

When Bai Yuetong said something was not right, it really meant that something technological was amiss.

"The energy source of this light is odd."

"How so?"

"They are naturally absorbed, the principle of which, I can't even comprehend right now."

Lu Luo frowned slightly. "Naturally absorbed? What do you mean? Explain it more clearly."

"These lights are equipped with a renewable energy node, meaning that... if there aren't any major environmental changes, these lights will keep shining. For hundreds, even thousands of years."

Lu Luo took the light fixture from Bai Yuetong's hand and looked at the corridor again. If this place was indeed built together with the High Wall, then it might indeed be thousands of years old. A light that has been lit for thousands of years without going out... How incredibly inconceivable is that technology? Renewable energy... something like solar power? No, there's still a difference compared to solar power.

"Renewable energy, huh? If we could overcome the technological barriers, could Circular use it?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know how this method of energy regeneration works."

"Understood. Don't worry, take it back and study it slowly."

Lu Luo took down several light fixtures and stored them in his ring, then instructed the team to continue forward. "Let's move on. There should be a lot more here that we don't know about."

The team continued onward; the passage was exceedingly long, and they advanced without any place to stop and rest.

According to the Observer's records, they had traveled over 50 kilometers, which made Lu Luo wonder if they had entered some kind of maze.

"Is this passage really that long?"

"It's indeed long. We also took several days to reach the end."

"Several days!"

Lu Luo was somewhat astonished. Although Jones, with Lin Wen undoubtedly had limited mobility, Kevin Jones, after all, was a Third Tier Transcendent, and walking 30-40 kilometers in a day should not be a problem for him. If they also had to walk for several days, then the length of this corridor was truly preposterous.

"Keep on moving!"

The team set off again. They were all elite soldiers with strong Constitutions, so there was no need to stop and rest.

Finally, on the afternoon of the second day, after traveling over 330 kilometers, they saw something different. The underground laboratory Kevin Jones had mentioned before.

"Dumb Hair, what do you think?"

"This place has been abandoned, but from some of the remains, it seems they once studied some creatures here..."

Something is approaching!

Before Bai Yuetong could finish her sentence, Lu Luo had already grasped her and held her in his arms. Then he yelled at the others, "Enemy attack!"

Shadows suddenly burst out from deeper within the laboratory. They were moving at an extreme speed, like cheetahs. But now, the quality of Circular's members had significantly improved.

After Lu Luo sounded the alarm, everyone already raised their guns toward the direction of the darkness. RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

The dense firepower sent swaths of shadows tumbling to the ground. Bullets mixed with grenades demonstrated the full potential of human firepower weapons in that moment. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The shadows were suppressed, killed, and Lu Luo placed Bai Yuetong next to Qi Xinzhu, then strolled over leisurely.

"Hey? Mr. Lu Luo, that's a lot of bullets!"

Kevin wanted to stop Lu Luo, but was blocked by Gu Fangyi. "Don't do anything unnecessary."

"But?"

"No buts."

Gu Fangyi's expression was very cold, and he spoke sparingly, which made Kevin feel uncomfortable. But he still couldn't understand, were they really letting their boss take the lead and charge through the gunfight? Didn't they have any sense of employee loyalty? So Kevin held back for a long time and finally blurted out a sentence. "With this attitude, you guys will probably never get a raise for the rest of your lives!"

Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai were taken aback, suddenly feeling as if Kevin's words had caught them off guard. Almost two years had passed, and indeed, they hadn't received a raise, which was quite frustrating.

Lu Luo ignored the bullets hitting him. During previous training sessions, he had also repeatedly emphasized the importance of bullet firing techniques. He had also tested the extent to which he was immune to the damage from bullet shots. Of course, these details were confidential. Lu Luo's instructions to his men had been simple: "Ordinary Non-Dark Energy Bullets? Fire at will. Just try not to hit my clothes; they're expensive."

Lu Luo casually picked up a corpse from the ground and frowned immediately. Unknown deformed species, particularly distorted, between the Second and Third Tier, fast, other abilities unknown.

Seeing the Observer's prompt, Lu Luo roughly understood what the term "particularly distorted" meant. Cat head, patchwork body, warped limbs, and an asymmetrical pair of wings. Lu Luo even wondered how this thing could run so fast.

Although it was ugly, the energy in their bodies was not bad. But there were too many team members, and it was inconvenient for Lu Luo to act openly under their watchful eyes, so he could only continue forward.

"Clean up here, then continue forward."

"Yes!"

Gu Fangyi and the others probably knew Lu Luo wanted to devour. Thrifty housekeeping was a good habit of Lu Luo's; with so many Exotic Species corpses, he wouldn't waste them.

The gunshots and explosions ahead continued without cessation, while Lu Luo was safely devouring these Exotic Species corpses at the back.

No one raised an alarm, indicating that the team's operation was still very safe.

It's comfortable to have more people around; I don't even need to hunt Exotic Species myself.

The fight didn't last too long, slowing down after about ten minutes. Occasional scattered gunfire could be heard, probably when finishing off the bodies.

Gu Fangyi thoughtfully led the team to wait ahead, while Lu Luo finished devouring all the corpses, gaining nearly 60,000 energy before leisurely catching up with the team.

"There are quite a lot of Exotic Species. What do you think, Mr. Kevin?"

"Uh... we really didn't encounter any anomalies when we came."

"Oh, you call them 'anomalies.'"

"Yes, that's right."

Kevin thought Lu Luo would blame him for the appearance of these anomalies, but Lu Luo was still smiling, not angry at all. This made Kevin feel that Lu Luo was a very strange person.

"Mr. Lu Luo, do you really never get angry?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I make a mistake, you don't get angry; I give the wrong information, you're still not angry. Even when your subordinates shoot at you, you don't get angry. I feel, it's not just a matter of being good-tempered."

"Don't think too much, Mr. Kevin, not getting angry isn't because I don't have a temper; it's because these things, to me, are not worth the energy of getting angry. Don't worry too much, let's continue on."

Bai Yuetong continued to examine the abandoned laboratory, with the team surrounding her in the middle. But she was very efficient, quickly coming up with results.

"This place seems to have been abandoned intentionally; many of the materials have been removed. There have been biological experiments and energy experiments, but the traces are blurred, and quite some time has passed. There's not much left to investigate, so not much was gained, not even as much as those lamps."

Lu Luo nodded and looked at Gu Fangyi and Qi Xinzhu. "Have you found the exit?"

"Following Kevin Jones's guidance, we've found it, but we can't confirm it's the exit just yet."

"That is the exit, the same one we entered through previously. All we have to do now is get out, and we'll see that high wall entwined with vines!"

Kevin was somewhat anxious, fearing that Lu Luo wouldn't trust him. But Lu Luo maintained a casual demeanor as if it wasn't a big deal, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

When the team reached the end of the tunnel and saw the light from outside, Lu Luo finally felt a slight emotion stir within him. He too wanted to see the Fifth High Wall, to discover for himself what lay beyond.

"Let's go, let's take a look at the Fifth High Wall! And then, let's name it."

As the re-equipped team emerged from the passage and stepped onto the ground, before they could even spot the Fifth High Wall, a wave of thick Dark Energy and an intense premonition of danger made Lu Luo's temples throb violently!

A shadow loomed over the land, enveloping the 200-plus members of Lu Luo's team.

Lu Luo instinctively turned his head.

When he saw what was behind him, his pupils constricted.

"Fuck!"