Chapter 272: Failure

The crowd stared at the Contract Scroll and its eerie aura, hesitation written all over their faces.

Dongfang Yuan spoke mildly. "At this point, do you think you still have a choice? Either sign the contract, or... die."

That single, simple word exploded in their minds like a clap of thunder. It was as if endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood had risen behind Dongfang Yuan. The terrifying pressure left every cell in their bodies trembling.

Faced with the threat of a living legend and the massive rewards for completing the mission, the crowd ultimately chose to sign.

Once everyone had signed their names, they immediately felt something unseen connect to their souls.

"Very good. Now, I will explain the goal of this mission in detail. It is... to find the First Red King!"

"What!?"

"The First Red King?"

The crowd instantly erupted in an uproar. They had guessed this mission was unusual, but they never expected it to involve the First Red King.

Dongfang Yuan continued his explanation, slowly revealing a secret of the Empire. "In his later years, the First Red King was chosen as a nightmare apostle and entered the Nightmare World. His strength was formidable; even in a place as crisis-ridden as the Nightmare World, he handled himself with ease.

"An ordinary nightmare apostle survives for five years at most, but he lived for a full ten! However, one day after those ten years, the First Red King entered the Nightmare World for the last time and never returned. It has been over seven years since then.

"Given how much time has passed, His Majesty the First Red King has likely fallen in the Nightmare World. However, Her Majesty is filial. Unable to bear the thought of the late king's remains being lost to a foreign land, she specifically formed the Nightmare Squads to enter the Nightmare World and search for him. Your mission is to find traces of the late king and bring back his remains, or even just his relics. Upon your return, you will be titled as nobles, and your descendants will enjoy eternal wealth and glory!"

The word "noble" seemed to carry a strange magic, firmly captivating the crowd and turning their gazes feverish.

Afterward, Dongfang Yuan produced a portrait of the First Red King and had everyone study it carefully.

Su Mu studied it briefly. The First Red King did not look very old—perhaps in his forties. His brow bore some resemblance to the current King Chi, his posture was as straight as a pine, and his deep eyes carried an innate authority. Even through the portrait, a wave of striking majesty washed over them, projecting the unmistakable aura of someone who had long sat on high and looked down on the world.

However, Su Mu's focus wasn't on the First Red King's appearance, but on the dark gold ring on the man's right index finger—Supreme Heaven!

Dongfang Yuan's talk about finding remains or relics was a lie; the true goal was Supreme Heaven!

Supreme Heaven counted as a relic, so if a nightmare apostle actually came across it, they would naturally bring it back.

What Su Mu hadn't expected was that Dongfang Yuan still had no intention of revealing the mission's true purpose—finding Supreme Heaven—even after the contract was signed.

This showed just how much importance the Chiyan Imperial Family placed on Supreme Heaven. If he hadn't relied on his Sleepwalking State to overhear King Chi and the others plotting aloud, it would have been very difficult to learn the secret regarding the true and False Supreme Heaven.

Dongfang Yuan casually emphasized the matter of the relics a few more times before pulling out ten prepared portraits of the First Red King and handing them to the captains of the ten Nightmare Squads.

"The Empire has roughly pinpointed the area where the late king last appeared in the Nightmare World. Your ten teams will be dispersed across this region, entering different Nightmares to search for clues."

At this point, someone raised a question.

"Lord Dongfang, entry into the Nightmare World is random. How can our squads enter a designated area at the same time?"

Dongfang Yuan smiled faintly. "The Empire understands the Nightmare World no less than you nightmare apostles do. Furthermore, we have developed several new technologies based on the Nightmare World's characteristics.

"One of them is called soul-linking technology, which can connect the souls of your team members to ensure everyone enters the same Nightmare. There is also anchor technology to deploy you to the corresponding area. The specific details concern Empire secrets, so it isn't convenient for me to explain in depth. Just wait for the arrangements."

Hearing this, the crowd couldn't help but marvel at the deep foundation of the Chiyan Empire. Just a few of these technologies were things that they, as nightmare apostles, would struggle to touch in an entire lifetime.

"Alright, if there are no other questions, everyone, please set out. Guards, take them to Laboratory No. 1."

Staff members quickly appeared on the training field, leading the different squads into Laboratory No. 1.

After entering the laboratory, the crowd was divided into ten connected rooms, with one squad per room. Inside each room sat a massive instrument.

The instrument was built from dark metal and glass, giving off a cold luster. Its giant frame bridged the floor and the ceiling, housing complex, tangled mechanical structures where gears and chains engaged to emit muffled clanking sounds.

In the center of the instrument sat a glowing white glass sphere filled with some unknown floating liquid and numerous white, cotton-like masses. These clumps were what emitted the light, making the sphere look like a glowing demonic eye gazing at everything around it.

Ten thick metal tentacles connected to the glass sphere. They looked like living creatures, slowly swaying in the air.

Such a bizarre machine left even the well-traveled nightmare apostles somewhat astonished.

A living instrument?

Su Mu narrowed his eyes, examining the machine's construction.

Just then, a staff member spoke with a cold expression. "Everyone, stand under the instrument. The ten metal tentacles will automatically lock onto and connect with your souls. Please cooperate and do not resist."

The corners of Su Mu's lips curled up slightly as he stepped under the instrument first. Seeing this, his team members hesitated for a moment before following.

The next moment, as if drawn by some magnetic force, the ten metal tentacles abruptly sped up their swaying. They darted toward their respective targets, ultimately hovering just above the heads of Su Mu's ten-person squad.

Hiss!

Accompanied by a sound like a snake flicking its tongue, the tips of the metal tentacles slowly split open, and countless tiny, shimmering white threads drilled out.

These threads seemed immaterial. Upon landing on the group's heads, they phased right through their skulls and drilled inside.

Everyone immediately sensed something was wrong. Zhou Hui and the others even revealed looks of terror as they experienced an unprecedented sensation—a foreign object piercing their souls. It felt as if something was weaving back and forth through the deepest parts of their bodies, a powerfully invasive feeling.

However, the terror did not last long. Barely three seconds later, their consciousness sank. Their eyelids grew heavy, and they uncontrollably drifted off to sleep.

Time fell completely still. In their groggy state, the group felt like plankton in the ocean, drifting endlessly on the waves.

Did they drift for a year? Two years? Or just a second or two? They seemed to have lost their perception of time.

Suddenly, the drifting stopped, and their senses began to clear. Everything around them became vivid, like violently breaking the water's surface after a long submersion.

Su Mu, who possessed the strongest spiritual power, was the first to open his eyes. But upon seeing the scene before him, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes, his expression inscrutable.

In his line of sight was a massive mechanical instrument, precise gears, a glowing white glass sphere, and ten metal tentacles.

He looked to the side and, exactly as he expected, saw Su Qing, Yan Wu, and the others. Not a single one of his nine teammates was missing.

At this time, Su Qing also opened her eyes and immediately froze. "Why are we still in the laboratory? Did the machine break?"

Her voice jolted the others awake. Everyone's reaction was essentially the same—utterly astonished.

A staff member jogged over and apologized. "I'm sorry, everyone. This technology isn't fully mature yet, and it does occasionally fail. Please head back and wait patiently. We'll have you return once we've overhauled it and recharged the instrument."

"How do you people run things, brushing us off with a half-finished product?" Wen Xuan grumbled.

The staff member apologized repeatedly, saying they would inspect and repair it as soon as possible.

"Don't be angry. He's just an operator, not the researcher who actually built the machine," Su Qing hurriedly consoled him.

Su Mu glanced at the staff member and suddenly asked, "Did the other nightmare apostles succeed?"

The staff member looked slightly embarrassed. "The other squads all succeeded. Only your squad failed."

Su Mu frowned slightly. Only their group failed while everyone else succeeded? Was it a coincidence? Or was it caused by a problem with his own soul?

The staff member scratched his head. "I'm puzzled, too. Your First Squad clearly used the best instrument, yet you were the only ones who failed. Logically speaking, the soul threshold we adjusted earlier shouldn't be wrong. It's definitely enough to cover the peak of your soul fluctuations.

"Everyone, you should head back and wait for now. I'll call the doctor over to inspect it shortly, and we'll notify you the moment it's fixed."

"Fix it faster! If the other nightmare apostles beat us to completing the mission, I won't let you off!" Wen Xuan glared at the staff member, then strode out of the room.