On the sea outside the ruins.

Rescue teams from various countries were conducting intense rescue operations.

Archbishop Andrew sat on a chair on the airship's deck.

He looked at the three team members who had miraculously survived, though barely clinging to life.

He asked calmly,

"What exactly happened in the ruins?"

After receiving emergency Holy Light treatment from a healer, one of the team members finally regained some color in his face.

He panted heavily, his eyes filled with the terror of having narrowly escaped death.

"Report... Report, Archbishop."

"We were preparing to rendezvous with Thor, the God of Thunder."

"But... but as soon as we entered, we were attacked by several terrifying undercurrents!"

As he spoke, his body trembled uncontrollably.

"In those undercurrents, we couldn't use any skills at all, and our bodies were completely out of control."

"That power... it was too terrifying, like it wanted to tear our bodies apart!"

"We... we watched our companions being swept away, powerless to do anything."

Another water-element Professional struggled to add,

"Those weren't ordinary undercurrents! It was too terrifying. My water element power was like a stream crashing into the ocean in front of that force; it was instantly swallowed!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"We only managed to escape by risking our lives during a brief weakening of that undercurrent."

"As for Thor, the God of Thunder..."

The survivor shook his head.

"We didn't see him. We... we don't know if he's alive or dead now."

Andrew simply hummed faintly after listening.

He turned to look at the hawkish-nosed middle-aged man who had been silent behind him.

"Marcus, when you scouted the ruins before, did you encounter such terrifying undercurrents?"

The middle-aged man named Marcus pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"Reporting to the Archbishop, we did encounter undercurrents in the deep sea of the ruins."

"But they were nowhere near as terrifying as he described."

Andrew fell into a brief silence.

"It's not a natural phenomenon."

"Then it's man-made."

"It's highly likely that someone released a large-scale water-element skill at the entrance to the ruins."

"Attempting to obstruct, or even eliminate, all who followed."

However, the survivor shook his head again, refuting this guess.

"Archbishop, that... that shouldn't be possible."

"The range of that undercurrent was too vast, its duration very long, and it came in waves."

"Its power was also terrifying."

"I don't believe any SS-Class Professional could unleash such a world-destroying skill by himself."

"This is more like... some powerful ruin mechanism was triggered."

Andrew nodded at his words.

This explanation seemed more reasonable.

"In that case."

"Then send another team in."

Marcus was stunned for a moment.

"But Archbishop, the rules..."

"The rules only state that each country sends a ten-person team."

Andrew interrupted him, his tone brooking no argument.

"But the rules didn't say that personnel couldn't be replenished after suffering losses."

"Immediately reorganize a team, find Thor, the God of Thunder as quickly as possible, and find out what exactly happened inside!"

Marcus's expression tightened, and he immediately bowed in acknowledgment.

"Yes! I understand!"

...Meanwhile.

On the Great Xia Country's ship.

Zhang Cheng had just flown back from the Great Bear Country's [N O V E L I G H T] ship in the distance, a strange expression on his face.

He quickly walked to Lin Zhu's side and reported in a low voice.

"Principal Lin, I just went to inquire."

"The situation is a bit strange."

"The injured teams that followed don't seem to have been attacked by Thor, the God of Thunder."

"They all said that as soon as they entered the ruins, they encountered an extremely terrifying underwater turbulent flow."

"Polina from the Great Bear Country was very astute; she realized something was wrong and immediately led her people out, so they were unharmed."

"However, Sakura Country and the Free Federation suffered several deaths and many injuries."

"Underwater turbulent flow?"

Upon hearing these four words, a subtle ripple, hard to detect, flashed in Lin Zhu's calm eyes.

Why, of all times, would an underwater turbulent flow appear at the entrance to the ruins now?

To call it a coincidence?

She didn't believe a word of it.

But at that time, the first to enter the ruins, besides the arrogant Thor, the God of Thunder, was only Gandalf.

Speaking of Gandalf... she seemed to recall Zhang Donglai mentioning something.

The new forbidden spell that boy comprehended at level 40 seemed to be water-attributed.

Thinking of this, a rare smile actually appeared on Lin Zhu's usually frosty old face.

This little fellow, she hadn't expected him to possess such terrifying methods.

Ruthless enough, and decisive enough.

Her side had just suffered a loss, and he immediately retaliated tenfold, even a hundredfold, in an even more ruthless manner.

This was completely beyond her expectations.

After all, Gandalf had been staying in her villa for some time now.

She had also observed this rising star of the Great Xia Country, on whom the military placed high hopes, more than once in secret.

To be honest, before this, she hadn't thought much of Gandalf.

Because she couldn't feel any of the vigor or emotions a young person should have in him.

His daily life was like a precise machine with a set program.

He was either tormenting himself in the Tempering Tower or frantically grinding monsters in the Instance Tower.

Although his strength was unbelievably powerful, he seemed extremely dull, even somewhat lifeless.

Even if such a person achieved something in the future, at most he could only become a fierce general.

But he wouldn't become a strategist who could plan effectively.

Now it seemed her judgment had been somewhat flawed.

This little fellow was far smarter than she had imagined.

A moment later.

The injured team members from various countries recovered their condition after emergency treatment.

Although their previous encounter had left them with lingering fear, the allure of the Divine Artifact ultimately triumphed over that fear.

Simple setbacks could not shake their determination to explore the ruins.

Soon, reorganized teams once again dove down towards the blue light curtain at the bottom of the sea... Inside the ruins.

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, was standing on a surfboard made of converging water currents, rapidly traversing the boundless sea.

The sea breeze ruffled a corner of his robes.

Above was blue sky and white clouds, and below was crystal-clear seawater.

Occasionally, he could even see some strangely shaped fish swiftly darting beneath the "surfboard."

If it weren't for the ancient and wild Qi that constantly lingered in the air, Zhou Huai would almost have the illusion that he hadn't entered the ruins, but was on vacation on some tropical island.

It was just that this ruin was simply too vast.

Unbelievably huge.

He had been traversing this sea at top speed for nearly an hour.

As far as the eye could see, it was still ocean.

Besides the ocean, there was still the ocean.

He hadn't even seen an island the size of his palm.