After comparison, everyone's mission objectives were consistent, which relieved everyone.

"The system prompt just mentioned, 'Friendly fire will be temporarily disabled during this mission,' but didn't label it as a team cooperation mode in the mission type."

David frowned and said, "Could it be that the system intentionally delayed the notification, wanting us to kill each other during this period due to the lack of clarity on the situation?"

"Not likely."

Hoenhem shook his head and said, "Players aren't fools. If they're not sure who's friend or foe and there aren't any critical conflicts of interest, they will definitely watch first to see if peaceful coexistence is possible.

If the system truly wanted players to kill each other, it should select those who know each other in the real world and have deep personal vendettas."

"Could the 'friendly forces' in the system prompt also include other types of beings?"

Ding Zhensi thought for a moment, pressed the speaker button on the control panel, and hesitantly said, "Like the natives of the mission world, or other players from the Star Gate world..."

Hoenhem glanced at him, musingly said, "It's indeed possible. In newer versions, there could be players from two different worlds in the same mission script.

Both sides may have different interests, stances, and mission objectives but can choose to oppose or cooperate...

Hmm, I remember, you're from the Special Affairs Bureau, right?

Do you all have relevant information to confirm this?"

Ding Zhensi was taken aback, and in a deep voice said, "Well, sorry, I'm not sure about that."

"Alright then."

Hoenhem nodded, stopping short of pressing further on whether Ding Zhensi didn't want to say or didn't know — this mage and professor from the Bell Tower actually had a decent character.

"We are now facing the dual threat of low energy zones and players from other worlds,"

Hoenhem thought for a moment and said, "The system has placed us together for a reason.

Personally, I suggest that since our objectives are the same, we might as well act together until we reach the Sacred Mountain mentioned in the mission, and then make plans, what do you say?"

"I agree."

David was the first to speak, glancing at the others with a smile, "In an environment with low-energy zones, Spiritual Power recovery speed will be suppressed to a very low range, making it difficult to handle high-intensity, long-term battles.

My power system, relatively speaking, can still hold up.

Although everyone has a one-time exit voucher from the previous Gate of Heaven battles, which allows for a quick escape, it's better not to waste it."

"I have no objection."

Li Ang patted the armrest of the wicker lounge chair, retracting the Swamp God Power probing underground, with a casual attitude.

His connection with the insect hive was already cut off, and his Divine Power was limited, recovering only a minuscule amount by believing in himself.

Divine Power had to be used sparingly. His current focus was on adjusting his mental state and consolidating Spiritual Energy.

In this mission, while Ding Zhensi and Amber were uncertain, Liu Wu Dai, David, and Hoenhem seemed to be strategic and comprehensive planners,

acting together would save some command hassle, making it easier for him to slack off.

"Same here."

Seeing Li Ang agree, Liu Wu Dai, who wore a half-skull mask, nodded lightly,

and Ding Zhensi beside him also controlled the Kui Ox Mecha, nodding in agreement.

Everyone's gaze turned to Amber,

the red-haired pirate woman said casually, "A flock of sheep has to stick together, while a beast always walks alone.

So I choose... to move together."

She flashed a bright smile, her hand resting on the handle of her curved blade, "I'm not good at much else, but I'm rather experienced in cutting people."

With everyone agree, the next step was exploration.

Through brief experimentation, they established several rules —

Using summons in this area (including but not limited to animals, plants, mechanical puppets, familiars, summoned demons, etc.) will be struck by thunder;

Attempting to fly or being more than thirty meters from the ground will result in a lightning strike;

Any object trying to pass through the stone monuments will also trigger a thunderous strike;

The power of each lightning strike varies, with continuous violations leading to increasingly intense strikes, 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Overall, the initial power of all lightning is enough to break the defenses of all the players present and cause damage, so it's best to avoid violations.

————

"Failure without punishment means that failing to arrive is itself a punishment.

We can't use drones, vehicles, or horses, and we can't fly low..."

David frowned at the stone monuments that Amber hacked at, yet remained intact, then turned to the others, "Considering the system allows us five hours to reach the foot of the so-called 'Pale Holy Mountain,'

the time spent on traveling should be enough—the challenge should lie in how to find the Pale Holy Mountain and tackle the obstacles on the road.

Looking at the system's habits and our team's composition, none of us have abilities that can directly scout several kilometers or even tens of kilometers, right?"

"No."

Amber shook her head and said, "If we were at sea, my scouting range would be much larger.

But now, whether it's Prometheus' reconnaissance drone or the Beast of Thousand Throats' purchased biological weapon, as soon as I bring them out, they'll get struck by lightning,

flying over thirty meters off the ground will also get struck by lightning—it doesn't even work to stand on the ground wielding a camera-tied stick."

"There must be clues to be found."

Hoenhem said, "I just measured and scanned the stone monuments,

their material is ordinary stone, and the biological statues serving as bases contain no bones or muscles—in other words, they're not made from living organisms.

And all the stone monuments, which appear to form a straight line that separates the forest,

but upon careful measurement, you can find a subtle curve between these monuments that's almost imperceptible."

As he spoke, he walked to the front of the stone monument and gently tapped its surface with his index finger.

Long rectangular flat light screens appeared along the monument's surface, showing the others that the stone monuments were indeed a virtual dashed edge of a large circle.

"If you apply the circle curvature and diameter formula,

the center it points to should be in the eleven o'clock direction."

Hoenhem put away the ghost image, raised his arm, and pointed towards the forest depths, "That area is a hill, and once crossed, perhaps we can see signs of the Sacred Mountain.

If nothing else, we can climb higher and look further.

Let's go first."

Having a goal is better than none, and no one else objected, so the group moved forward.

The forest is deep and dense, the terrain complex, vines and dead branches everywhere, making it impossible to use medium or large vehicles. The lack of spiritual energy also prevents players from freely using equipment and tools, forcing them to travel on foot—

After testing, the natural recovery time for a full gauge of spirit energy value has increased from half an hour to five hours, and the efficiency of obtaining spiritual power by drinking magic potions has greatly decreased.

After all, the principle of many magic potions is to enhance the body's efficiency in absorbing external free energy, not water without a source, or wood without roots.

Fortunately, Ding Zhensi's mecha can serve as construction machinery to clear the way.

The three-meter-high Kui Ox mecha walks ahead, merely tilting its high-frequency cutting blade without activating high-frequency functionality. Its mechanical arms lock into automatic mode, easily slicing through all obstructing vines and trees in front,

while snakes and insects hiding within the trees are effortlessly dealt with by David and Amber, two close-combat specialist players—relatively, they're less reliant on spirit energy value and can slay a swath of mundane life by simple slashing alone.

Teaming with high-level players, feels kinda nice.

Li Ang nodded silently, occasionally patting a tree trunk lightly with his hand, infusing a trace of Swamp God Power to investigate the tree's rings, and leaving marks to prevent getting trapped in labyrinth scenarios.

Liu Wu Dai glanced at him without questioning, as Li Rising's actions never seem to surprise,

even if he pulls out an air purifier from his pocket, claiming it can purify the air and mitigate the surrounding lack of spiritual energy, encouraging everyone to mimic Benjamin Franklin by flying into the air to summon thunderbolt to power the air purifier,

she wouldn't be particularly shocked, she could even picture it.

"Do you see anything?"

Hoenhem, in the shadow of the Kui Ox mecha, looked up and asked, "Man-made structures, smoke, startled birds in the distance, mountains, heat-sensing shadows, etc."

"Nothing."

Ding Zhensi carefully observed the data returned by the sensors and replied through the broadcaster: "It's normal ahead."

The environment lacking spiritual energy also affects the Kui Ox mecha slightly. The spirits become lethargic, barely responding even after long calls, and some spirit-based functions can't be used, with energy consumption slightly increasing.

"By the way,"

Ding Zhensi remembered something, "According to recent tests, drones and intelligent machinery are considered summons and will attract thunderbolt strikes.

Why hasn't my mecha been attacked?

Is it because I transported the mecha here?"

"That's possible."

Hoenhem said: "Though it could also be because your mecha occupies a greater share.

This situation appears in the Bell Tower records,

some players from the Slaughter Game, being able to directly launch ultra-long-range curses in mystics against others,

may not affect people under certain circumstances,

but instead destroys the item precious to them, carried around.

Like glasses, wigs, etc.

We believe it might be because these items occupy such a large portion of that person's life that they outweigh the person themselves in mystics.

What's casually known as: 'The glasses are the true self.'

You might be in this situation—the area doesn't recognize you as a person, instead, sees the mecha you pilot as the extraordinary life's main body, and you are merely a fleshy embellishment in the cockpit."

"Uh, this..."

Ding Zhensi smiled wryly, "Even though I might have luckily escaped judgment, why does it sound so annoying..."

"What's the bad in that, you haven't seen other people from our Bell Tower."

Hoenhem said, as if it were no big deal, "For conducting mystical experiments, they can do anything.

To hatch a snake monster, they carry roosters on their way to work and back;

to optimize the 'Dissipation of Idle' spell, they sit by the scenic area's restroom daily to observe effects;

to cultivate curse spell bases, they risk themselves in red-light districts, contracting syphilis virus to emotionally break down and enhance curse power;

There's nothing you can't imagine that they can't do.

Being a special case in mystics like you, they're simply overjoyed."

Ding Zhensi opened his mouth slightly, laughing awkwardly, "Well, sounds quite colorful."

"They're much more restrained than before, as everyone has phones now, wizards doing something too outrageous get photographed and published."

Hoenhem calmly stated, "Many unscrupulous tabloids like The Sun Newspapers, for sales aren't afraid of retaliation,

they love digging up bizarre, absurd news involving Slaughter Game players—especially ones linked to the high-altitude and aloof Bell Tower.

Like two mage apprentices casting spells while drunk to test spell barrier effects, turning both into cats in heat;

The Bell Tower's medical office, mistakenly administered IV drips daily over three days to a wild mouse, treating it as a student failing shapeshifting practice, and sent condolences to the student's parents upon the mouse's tragic death—only for it to be confirmed that the missing student had eloped with a Shapeshifter to Romania, even having a child there;

Hoenhem paused, asserting: "Originally, the Shapeshifter was to be contained per Bell Tower regulations,

but the Shapeshifter's month-old child unexpectedly received Player eligibility from the Slaughter Game, becoming a precious special player,

thus benefiting from offspring, the Shapeshifter and its child have become valuable academy assets, uncontained,

instead, the academy built a little villa with a pool for the trio, catering all, making other students struggling for credits, theses, or to extend graduation highly envious—

To prevent them from acting out, the school had to enhance protection over all magic creatures, especially good-looking ones."

Hoenhem shared amusing incidents from the Bell Tower in a composed manner,

The Bell Tower's current development is quite promising, with knowledge from ancient records swiftly converting to productivity,

and numerous affiliated academies establishing themselves—they regularly visit various Great Britain regions each quarter,

seeking children with ancient wizard family lineage scattered among the populace, and other kids with spell talent among the populace, inviting them to study at the academy.

It's said in two or three months, a new, more efficient Crystal Ball will be used to identify spell talents.

All eligible children within Great Britain can line up to touch the Crystal Ball under academy recruitment staff supervision, to assess qualifications.

Perhaps the scene of "Spell talent, stage three!" might appear...

As everyone sparsely chatted, Ding Zhensi suddenly sensed something while leading the way, and the Kui Ox mecha abruptly halted, the high-frequency cutting blade roaring to life, slashing towards a specific spot ahead.