During the previous wait for news, Wen Wen didn’t sit idle.
He used some methods to conduct a preliminary investigation inside the car factory.
One of the findings was that hidden within the outer walls of the factory was a runic array.
The primary function of this array is to conceal abnormal auras, and without prior knowledge of a problem here, even Wen Wen would not notice the existence of the array.
Without Wen Wen’s expertise in runes, even a deliberate search would not reveal any issues from outside the car factory.
Apart from hiding the aura, the array on the fence also serves as an alarm; entering carelessly would inevitably be discovered immediately.
The person who set up the array on this factory wall must be a Rune Master.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Wen Wen took out a piece of special white chalk, drawing a special pattern on one side of the wall, which was also a runic array.
Then, Wen Wen took out a blood bag, covered his right hand with blood, and pressed his palm to the center of the array, and after a faint dark red glow, the array temporarily lost its effect.
Besides the array, the walls also have infrared devices, but these three people had no trouble with them; the more hidden arrangements there are, the more problems this factory likely has.
After jumping inside, the Little Wagtail Ghost quickly rotated her head, a movement speed only possible for birds.
She had long known there was something wrong here, but every time she tried to enter, she was detected and mercilessly driven away, and this was her first time seeing the inside here.
Wen Wen and Tao Qingqing looked at the Little Wagtail Ghost with their four eyes, waiting for her to lead the way, so the Little Wagtail Ghost could only shrug her shoulders helplessly.
"Looks like it’s adventure time next."
Wen Wen grabbed the Custodian Badge around his neck, and a strange symbol appeared in the void.
This is a built-in ability of the Custodian Badge called ’Mystery’; from now on, general detection methods will not affect Wen Wen, and the two women beside him would receive some protection.
Then a transparent sheen descended on Tao Qingqing and the Wagtail Ghost, forming a transparent shield.
This shield, from the Warehouse Manager’s Badge, could offer them some protection and shield them from some special mental influences.
After making the preparations, the three of them started the exploration.
Just after exploring a small portion, Wen Wen’s face turned serious, as the situation here somewhat exceeded his expectations.
Within this large car factory, the number of non-human entities was so high it sent shivers down the spine.
Below the ground were pervasive traces of the Tentacle Monster’s presence, and the aura of those giant mosquitoes was everywhere, under every shade and every eaves!
Du Kedan had previously worried about a few escaped mosquitoes, but if he knew the number of mosquitoes here, he would probably be scared into a heart attack.
Besides mosquitoes, various demons were everywhere; shadow demons, controlling demons, succubi, devouring demons, and Little Flame Demons, all of which Wen Wen had encountered before, could be found here.
Even more were some unseen exotic demons; a rough scan could find at least a hundred, and they had only explored a small part of the factory, with no shortage of high-order level elite demons, making it a veritable paradise for demons.
It seemed that River Willow Residence was not an important stronghold for these demons, merely a small trap set whimsically by two high-order demons!
Even the destruction of that stronghold was inconsequential for this place.
The Demon Worship Organization, Abyss Eye, operated under a council system, with the top tier being the chairman and thirteen council members, all of whom are True Order Rank masters, with more than half being demons.
Typically, a district would have only one council member to manage its affairs.
However, Wen Wen sensed at least two True Order Great Demons here!
The most troubling part was that there were also many ordinary people here; workers mixed with demons as the factory operated at night, making it impossible to separate them.
If they conducted a carpet bombing like before, the greatest loss would be to ordinary people, as many demons hidden underground would be hard to hurt.
Thus, Wen Wen didn’t attack immediately; he alone could not capture so many monsters, and acting rashly might cause these monsters to scatter, leading to greater losses.
Moreover, the gathering of so many demons here, combined with the mysterious kidnapping case, indicated that Abyss Eye had plans for this place, potentially posing dangers greater than True-order Masters.
For example... the Pure White Lord!
After advancing a bit more, the three found a walled-off area with much tighter security than outside, taking Wen Wen some time to break the outer runic array.
This time, he didn’t bring the Wagtail Ghost and Tao Qingqing with him; entering with their abilities, even with caution, they could be discovered. Seeing what was ahead, Wen Wen no longer intended to act immediately and decided to plan carefully before returning.
The enclosed area wasn’t large, housing only six buildings, but the demons inside were of much higher quality, most not even attempting to conceal their demonic forms.
The most conspicuous structure here was in the center, surrounded by dozens of giant pillars, an open-roofed building.
The architecture was somewhat similar to the decaying temple remnants from ancient kingdoms retained in the Golden Eagle District.
Under the temple, a dense crowd of people knelt, roughly over five hundred. Wen Wen saw the missing Xu Hongjiao and Miao Xuan, suspected to have been taken by Wang Qin.
They all knelt on the ground uniformly, heads tilted forty-five degrees upward, with sorrowful expressions and streams of blood tears.
Obscure energy flowed like gray mist over their bodies before drifting towards where their gazes directed, finally disappearing into the night sky. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Wen Wen found this mist somewhat familiar; when he first glimpsed the Gray Mist Layer, he had locked eyes with a Feathered Serpent Monster, forming a gossamer-thin link that allowed the Feathered Serpent Monster to enter the real world through that connection.
These mists, in essence, were the same as that link, but their vast quantity gave them a mist-like appearance.
With inspiration fully activated, Wen Wen gazed upward, where the mist vanished, seeing similar gray mist appearing, stretching upward to somewhere.
Opposite the end of the line, a similar scene appeared, with familiar yet different figures kneeling in the same stance.
That must be the scene of the Gray Mist Layer!