"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
As Haoyun uttered this incomprehensible incantation, eerie gusts of wind suddenly poured into his mind. The strange wind was so bone-chillingly cold that Haoyun shuddered immediately upon feeling its icy touch. His consciousness snapped awake as if jolted from a dream, and the drowning sensation vanished swiftly from his body.
"We did it! We did it! The flaw in the code is gone! We can finally use the code to create a path to the gate!" As Haoyun gradually regained his senses, the first thing he heard was a cheer.
Haoyun shook his still groggy head vigorously and opened his eyes to survey his surroundings. Although his mental state was rapidly recovering, he remained in a trance-like state. Somewhat disappointed, he withdrew his gaze and followed the sounds of jubilation. There, he saw a Savior seated behind him, much like Elsie, with eyes closed and an expressionless face, from whom the excited cheers emanated.
When Haoyun heard the Savior again mention that the flaw in the code had been fixed, he finally realized and immediately turned his head towards the direction of the lighthouse. By now, the light illuminating the hall had merged with the divine power into a pillar of light, steadily injecting into the distant lighthouse. The tiny fish-like runes embedded within the divine pillar were no longer repelled by the lighthouse but flowed continuously into it. As a result, the lighthouse gradually faded its kaleidoscopic light, emitting instead a pale and feeble glow from its perforated body.
Soon, the released white light from the lighthouse converged into a column of light with the same diameter as the lighthouse itself, piercing into the night sky. Then, a magical scene unfolded. Although the beam of light from the lighthouse into the night sky was a dismal white, it transformed the pitch-black night into a colorful, beautiful spectacle.
Before Haoyun could admire the surreal sight in the night sky, Elsie's voice sounded again in his ear, "Ah Yun, well done! Leave the rest to us! Relax now, try to let go of everything related to this light and the lock. You can return from your trance to reality. Steamed Buns will take your place, and we'll finish unlocking the lock as soon as possible to open the door to the Xibo headquarters."
Haoyun could feel the urgency in Elsie's tone, although she spoke calmly, which surprised him. Why was Elsie so certain this time that they could not only unlock the lock on the door but directly open the door to the Xibo headquarters? Logically, they could only know the progress of opening the door after unlocking the lock, right?
Could it be that Elsie and the others knew early on that this decryption mission would definitely open the door? Could it be that Elsie was so eager to open the door to the Xibo people, not to catch the mastermind behind the scenes at the Xibo headquarters, but to leave here as soon as possible?
Moreover, Haoyun had not suffered any accidents as Elsie and the others feared from being in a trance state for too long. Yet why did Elsie and the others not care about this or express any surprise? Also, did Elsie and the others not sense the divine power released from Haoyun when he uttered the incantation? If they did sense it, why did Elsie and the others not react in any way, whether hostile or benevolent?
Thinking of this, Haoyun couldn't help but feel strongly cautious towards Elsie and the others. It seemed that Elsie and the others only wanted to focus their energy on unlocking the door's lock. Besides that, they no longer cared about the strange occurrences happening around them. Therefore, instead of following Elsie's request to empty his mind so he could end his trance quickly and be replaced by Steamed Buns, Haoyun decided to use his understanding of the divine pillar he inexplicably gained in his trance to concentrate once again. He tightly bound his thoughts to the divine pillar. From now on, wherever Elsie and the others went, Haoyun would follow. Only by doing so would Haoyun have the chance to enter the opening door and further uncover the truth behind this whole matter.
As Haoyun expected, although he had entered this trance realm under Elsie's guidance, his binding of his thoughts to the divine pillar prevented Elsie and the others from forcibly removing him from his trance state. As Elsie and the others attempted several unsuccessful times to sever Haoyun's trance state, they immediately asked in anger:
"Ah Yun! What are you doing?! Get out of here! Don't delay our time!"
"Auntie Elsie, it seems that the trance state cannot harm me. I seem to have adapted to the environment here. So, I want to persist here. After fixing the flaw in the secret, I sensed some information again. I feel that if I can find a way to realize this information, I can help you accelerate the unlocking of the lock on that door!" Haoyun replied earnestly.
"Ah Yun, you've done well enough! Leave the rest to us! Remember, only we Saviors can open the door to the Xibo headquarters. If you insist on getting involved, it could be fatal!" Elsie persuaded helplessly. But no matter how Haoyun listened, he felt that Elsie's words this time carried an obvious threat. This only strengthened Haoyun's certainty that Elsie and the others harbored some undisclosed secrets.
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With a passionate yet stubborn demeanor, Haoyun asserted, "Please trust me, Lady Elsie! I can definitely be of help!"
True to his words, since imbuing the incantation into the code, Haoyun swiftly established a connection with the door concealed within the lighthouse. Consequently, he discerned the method to open the door. However, lacking the strength to turn the lock on his own, Haoyun needed the assistance of the saviors who were channeling their powers into the divine energy pillar, searching for the key to unlocking the mechanism.
Without hesitation, Haoyun gathered his mental strength and ingeniously channeled a surge of divine power along with the saviors' released energies into the lock of the door.
Haoyun then began to mobilize his divine power, using his formidable mental prowess to communicate with the ongoing influx of energy into the lighthouse. As for the consequences of revealing his identity as a priest to Elsie and the others, Haoyun had no time to worry about it now.
"You! Who exactly are you?!" As expected, immediately after Haoyun released his divine power, Elsie demanded with a shocked and stern tone.
"Hmph! You'll find out soon enough!" Haoyun replied curtly, inwardly frowning at the reaction of Elsie and the others. It seemed they were sensing his divine power for the first time. Did they only discover his true identity now because he hadn't released his power while fixing the flaw in the code? Well, no time to dwell on that now! Since Elsie said unlocking this lock would open the door to the Xibo headquarters, let's deal with other issues after we enter the door!
With a roar from Haoyun, he reached out his hands towards the lighthouse, struggling to widen the gap between them. Though the angle he managed to create wasn't large, the distant lighthouse responded with a dull metallic crack. Subsequently, the divine energy pillar continuously pouring into the lighthouse paused briefly before collapsing into a powerful divine energy storm, pouring madly into the hall where Haoyun and Elsie were.
The mighty divine energy storm instantly filled the hall, quickly dispelling the astral projection of Haoyun and Elsie, returning their consciousness to reality. When Haoyun woke from his astral projection, he noticed the light cursor observation recorder originally placed in the hexagonal array was nowhere to be found. The entire room was as chaotic as the hall in the astral projection, stirred up by a violent wind seemingly from nowhere, forcing everyone to huddle low to the ground to avoid being blown away.
Dao Lao and the others who had been guarding Haoyun in reality clearly didn't know the origin of this violent wind. However, Haoyun didn't explain much either, struggling to support himself with one hand to maintain a half-kneeling posture amidst the howling wind. Then, he reached out with one hand to grab Dao Lao, shouting loudly over the system channel, "Dao Lao! Dream Jia! I've found a way to open the door! Quickly, grab Eva and the others tightly! We're going in to find out what's going on!"
In such a tense situation, Dao Lao and Dream Jia naturally didn't ask much. They no longer concealed their true strength, simultaneously activating their divine powers to withstand the violent wind and pulling Eva and Wang Defa close to themselves. After instructing them to hold on tightly, they each placed a hand on Haoyun's shoulder. Seeing this, Haoyun didn't say much either, immediately reciting the incantation again and activating the divine power within him to gaze towards the distant lighthouse.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded. The raging wind in the hall, as if sensing Haoyun's call, briefly paused before madly converging towards Haoyun's location. Soon, Haoyun and his two companions felt a powerful force descending upon them from above, pressing them so hard that even kneeling on the ground, they couldn't lift their heads. Eva and the others, being mere mortals, were knocked flat to the ground by the strong wind the moment it struck, unable to move an inch.
"Hold on tight, everyone! Don't let go! The door is about to open! We'll soon enter the Xibo headquarters!" Haoyun couldn't help but anxiously remind them aloud. At the same time, a terrifying white light shot from the distant lighthouse towards Haoyun's location, merging with the swirling winds gathered around him into a layer of dark purple energy shield flickering with electrical sparks. The formation speed of this dark purple energy shield accelerated, causing everyone trapped within to feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness and detachment, making it extremely difficult for them to even breathe.
"How much longer do you need?! If this continues, they won't be able to hold on!" Dao Lao urged, simultaneously pulling Wang Defa and Dr. Chu in front of him with great effort, then using one hand to embrace both men's necks. Under the influence of this inexplicably strong detachment, both of them were losing the ability to actively hold onto Dao Lao due to obstructed breathing.
"It'll be done soon! We're leaving right away! Hold on a little longer, everyone!" Haoyun replied urgently. At the same time, the layer of dark purple energy shield, pulsating with lightning, had formed into a ball of lightning, prompting Haoyun to entertain the idea of following the ball of light as it departed.
However, just as Haoyun was preparing to act, he suddenly felt someone grab his thigh. Hastily lowering his head to look, he discovered it was Elsie who had grabbed him. Due to the significant energy expenditure in decrypting the lock and the lack of time to recover, her current condition was not ideal, so she appeared quite disheveled as she lay on the ground, clutching Haoyun's thigh. And it wasn't just Elsie; the other saviors, huddled on the ground and clinging to each other, also looked extremely disheveled at this moment.
Elsie's eyes bore a look of resentment and bitterness as she gazed at Haoyun. Haoyun knew that Elsie's piercing stare was partly due to him forcibly joining the subsequent decryption of the lock, thereby disrupting her plans and causing chaos at the scene. On the other hand, it certainly had to do with Elsie discovering his identity as a priest. However, Haoyun didn't have time to pay attention to Elsie now. If he didn't quickly prepare to follow the lightning ball that could collapse at any moment, they might not have another chance to leave Earth NX and could miss the opportunity to find out who was causing the disaster here.