The King of Black Fog

The darkness surged up, forming two hand-shaped black chairs beneath Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan. As the two of them relaxed, the black box imprisoning the blind man dissipated.

If they were to make a move, now would be the perfect opportunity.

But in the darkness, countless black lines stood between him and Li Changzhou, and the black hand chairs beneath them could close their fingers at any moment to protect them.

An ice corpse still stood behind the blind man, its gray-white eyeballs spinning madly, silently staring at the blind man.

"'Life and Death Separation,'" the blind man said calmly, "the holder will transform into their ten-year-old self, both in appearance and character. The appearance changes instantly, but the personality gradually regresses to their ten-year-old state with each use."

He absolutely trusted the golden eyes' glimpse of the future, which was why he surrendered earlier and could remain so calm now.

Perhaps the side effect of 'seeing the future' was not just the complete activation of the golden eyes, restricting vision to only the future.

"'Perception of Everything,' this is a 'Great Power' in human skin form. Once merged with the body, the holder's skin can display information about objects they touch.

"It also has some minor uses. As long as the 'Great Power' remains, the skin inexhaustible; in the Abyss, cold only manifests as information on the skin, without harming the holder.

"The side effect is also 'displaying information upon touch.' If the body is not tightly wrapped with something containing singular information, the skin will constantly display information, and any uncut skin that displays words immediately transmits them to the holder's brain.

"Many holders of 'Perception of Everything' have their heads suddenly explode, many."

Li Changzhou mused, "If paired with other powers, these side effects are negligible."

The blind man said, "Yes, at the front lines, several 'Great Powers' have been combined, allowing the holder to use them without any side effects."

Li Changzhou's reference to 'other powers' was not limited to 'Great Power.'

"Sir," the blind man spoke again, "the old child has a finger bone, the finger bone of 'Never Rest in Peace.' The current holder of 'Never Rest in Peace' is frozen somewhere in the Abyss. With this finger bone, we can find him and obtain 'Never Rest in Peace.'

The black box capturing the little Black Flame Dragon extended six black hands, each grabbing at the six pieces of the child's split flesh at a frame-by-frame speed.

Simultaneously, Li Changzhou asked, "Do you know the side effect of 'Never Rest in Peace'?"

The blind man hesitated, "The holder must die."

Li Changzhou felt no regret or conflict.

"Reasonable. What about your ability?"

"'Great Power - Seeing the Future'," the blind man detailed the abilities and side effects of his golden eyes.

He wasn't worried about Li Changzhou taking his eyes. On the contrary, revealing it would increase his value.

In Li Changzhou's view, the blind man's power was similar to Si's ability, though each had its strengths and weaknesses… he also didn't know where Si was now, whether she would struggle with losing her ability to see potential futures.

Probably not.

After all, she was a player who had survived up to now, and the value game may have caused her to lose her innate 'Divine Race' abilities countless times in instances.

And as the blind man had thought, Li Changzhou did not gouge out his eyes.

"Unless ordered by me, do not use the ability 'Seeing the Future' next." He said.

"Yes." The blind man nodded.

The finger bone and the 'Extreme Cold Ice Sword,' 'Black Flame Dragon' detached from the 'Extreme Cold Ice Ring.'

The game immediately sent a notification.

[Acquired 'Great Power - Life and Death Separation']

[Acquired 'Great Power - Perception of Everything']

[Acquired 'Great Power - Extreme Cold Ice Sword']

[Acquired 'Great Power - Black Flame Dragon']

[Player mainline mission completed, starting return... detected 'No Taboos' and two 'Side Missions,' would you like to continue?]

[Yes]

Of the four 'Great Powers,' only the 'Extreme Cold Ice Sword' can be used safely.

"You take it," Li Changzhou said to Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan didn't hesitate, fastening the 'Extreme Cold Ice Sword' at her waist. Her swordsmanship wasn't as strong as Li Changzhou's, but she had trained since obtaining the 'Emerald Bee Sword.'

Moreover, the 'Extreme Cold Ice Sword' wasn't for performing swordsmanship.

With the 'Extreme Cold Ice Sword,' nothing could approach her easily. A 'Summoner' needed such a secure environment.

With her safe, Li Changzhou could freely engage in close combat with enemies, and Yang Qinglan could timely support him without worrying about her own safety.

As for 'Life and Death Separation,' 'Perception of Everything,' and 'Black Flame Dragon,' their significant side effects meant they could serve as a last resort if needed.

The black hand gripped the three 'Great Powers' in its palm, transforming them into a black cube to contain them—these three 'Great Powers' can be 'held' merely by touch.

"A good start," Li Changzhou felt great, "let's go, keep up the good work."

The two of them continued to descend in the Black Box, the blind man, Ice Corpse, and Ice Man in another, with only a hidden gap in between, allowing sound to pass through.

"Tell me about the frontline."

"Yes." The blind man didn't speak immediately but awkwardly tried to squeeze out from between Ice Corpse and Ice Man.

After struggling unsuccessfully, he began to answer Li Changzhou's question.

All 'Great Power' comes from the Abyss, and the so-called frontline is the group of people who explore the deepest parts of the Abyss.

This group, without exception, is led by 'Great Power' holders. Moreover, the holders tend to form alliances, just like Black Flame Dragon and the Ice Sword Lady, the mummy, and the blind man.

Adventurers on the frontline use 'Great Power' to carve out camps on the ice walls, raising livestock, growing crops. Inside the camp, it's warm like spring, and many even reside there year-round, with children born in this place.

But the frontline is dangerous.

The 'Great Power' holders here, except for the very few who achieve balance, either enjoy themselves above the Abyss for a while, unable to restrain side effects, they return to the Abyss to make a last-ditch effort.

Or, due to prolonged combat, they also enter the side effects outbreak phase.

These holders have very extreme personalities, where killing is not just simple killing; torture killing is their hobby.

Moreover, this is the frontline, which means every next step is unknown, and no one knows what they'll encounter.

Living in the Abyss for a long time also has another problem—if they are careless, they might accidentally glimpse the Abyss...

"What happens if you see the Abyss?" Li Changzhou asked.

"Death, if you don't die, you'll become a monster."

"What kind of monster?"

"Experiments have been done on the frontline; the monsters that survivors turn into—no two are the same, not even similar. Ordinarily, seeing these monsters leads to pollution, gradually turning into the same kind of monster. There hasn't been a single identical monster transformed by seeing the Abyss."

Darkness sealed the gap, cutting off the sound.

Li Changzhou turned his head to Yang Qinglan, saying, "I have a feeling Qian Xia and her team are likely in this camp."

"Sigh, why can't I just be in there directly? Enduring all this hardship on the way." Yang Qinglan sighed.

"Because your 'Great Power' has no side effects, your curiosity isn't strong, and you don't like crowds."

The Golden-eye Blind man already told them about their 'Great Powers',

"So when I met you halfway, did I get kidnapped by you?"

"Or maybe a hero saves——"

Bang!

The Black Box shook.

This impact wasn't from the Ice Corpse.

Bang! The Black Box shook again, suddenly sliding downwards.

The outer wall of the Black Box was covered with many rice-grain-sized little Ice People. These little Ice People shattered extensively in the collision and died.

"There's only one opponent." Yang Qinglan placed her hand on the Ice Sword, "It should be the Abyss Monster the blind man mentioned."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It felt like a heavy hammer was pounding the Black Box.

The Black Box was fixed on the ice wall by four black hands, with each strike causing the Box to plummet a certain distance.

The Black Box was indestructible, but the impact of great strength and hard objects made the blind man feel dizzy and nauseous.

Abyss Monsters, each with strange abilities, the most terrifying being that a mere glance infects one, gradually turning them into the same kind.

Bang!

The sound of flesh and blood exploding.

The impact disappeared, but the feeling of nausea in the blind man's heart didn't; he heard Li Changzhou's voice: "Interesting, interesting, this 'human skin' really can explode heads."

What does this mean? The blind man didn't understand for a moment.

'Perceiving Everything' can make one's head explode, but it must be the holder themself...

His breath caught as he understood.

Could it be the opponent actively offered 'Perceiving Everything' to the monster? Is this how they used 'Great Power'?

He's never heard of such a thing!

It's something no adventurer would ever think to do!

Without using the Golden Eye, the blind man had a premonition, that this 'Great Power - Dark' holder, entirely different from other 'Great Power' holders, would bring earth-shaking change to the frontline!