A few days later, once her preparations were complete, Li Luo said goodbye to the monitoring station and brought the Block to the entrance to the 2nd Floor of the Abyss—

—Flipping Mountain.

The path was winding, and the mountain peak itself looked rather unremarkable. Mo Ling felt that if he weren’t following the Young Lady, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to find this place.

What Mo Ling hadn’t expected was that after so many years of development, the facilities at the foot of Flipping Mountain had become extremely well-established.

It had even formed a small town, much more prosperous than Monitoring Station Seven.

He soon figured it out, though. ’This is the only passage from the First Floor to the 2nd Floor of the Abyss. It’s basically a vital checkpoint, so it’s only natural for it to be this prosperous.’

All around were various small shops where you could buy anything imaginable. Some were even selling specialty goods from Dawn City.

’They’re doing business all the way out here?’ Mo Ling could hardly believe it.

The small town was also filled with uniformed staff. After all, with both inspections and security to manage, a large number of personnel was surely necessary.

Fully armed squads were also patrolling the area.

Hunters came and went, carrying all sorts of relics. These relics were strange and wondrous; some were enormous, while others were exquisitely detailed.

However, a relic as large as the Block—and one that was flying—was still a special sight, drawing frequent stares from other Hunters.

There were also tons of small stalls. Peculiar Abyss flora and fauna and map-related goods were especially popular. An interesting stall might be surrounded by a crowd of curious Hunters.

Some Hunters even set up stalls in town to sell useless relics, so that Hunters who had enough points but no relic of their own could get one to meet the requirement.

The officials did not oppose this behavior. In fact, they placed more importance on points.

The point system was established to help Hunters quickly familiarize themselves with the Abyss, accumulate experience through missions, and understand the dangers it held.

It took a long time to accumulate ten thousand points. Throughout this process, a rookie Hunter would slowly transform into a veteran, which was exactly what the officials wanted to see.

As long as you had enough points, you could go to the next floor. This was the accepted unspoken rule at the foot of Flipping Mountain.

The officials even turned a blind eye to certain gray areas. Some Hunters would tame an aberration, claim it was their relic, and still be able to pass the evaluation and reach the 2nd Floor of the Abyss.

Li Luo only learned this after arriving and talking with other Hunters.

However, when the Hunters she spoke with saw the Block behind her, they couldn’t suppress their envious expressions.

After all, on the First Floor of the Abyss, such a special relic was a rare commodity.

"Once you get to the 2nd Floor, there are a lot more relics. The Chaotic Sand Dunes are the main place they’re found in the Abyss," a Hunter explained to Li Luo.

After a bit of walking and browsing, Li Luo soon passed through the town and arrived at the checkpoint.

With a steady stream of people coming and going, the procedures at the checkpoint at the foot of the mountain were surprisingly fast. A staff member simply checked Li Luo’s points and her identification tag, glanced at the Block behind her, and waved her through.

It all seemed very casual, but the checkpoint was surrounded by a ring of what looked like machine gun emplacements. There were also soldiers clad head-to-toe in sophisticated armor, holding various relics of their own.

Furthermore, these relics were clearly not simple ones. Each was uniquely wondrous and obviously not some run-of-the-mill item.

It seemed few would dare to cause trouble here.

On the road past the checkpoint, a large display screen continuously looped the precautions for the Flipping Mountain passage:

All Hunters who meet the point requirement will be issued a protective suit. The suit can be compressed and stored after passing through the channel, taking up no space.

Specialized guides will lead Hunters up the mountain from its base. You are free to tour Flipping Mountain, as all the paths are well-marked with comprehensive signs and indicators.

After crossing the summit, gravity will change rapidly. The abyssal pressure of the 2nd Floor of the Abyss will also set in, causing extreme discomfort and requiring a period of adaptation.

The final and most important point: the drop location after crossing the summit is random.

Completely random.

It could be anywhere in the Chaotic Sand Dunes.

To account for this, the officials have added parachute and jet functions to the protective suits. You must maintain a high level of concentration while passing through the channel. If the terrain below looks dangerous, you must take countermeasures immediately.

However, the majority of landing sites are in the desert, so there is no need to be overly anxious.

After landing, you must find a nearby landmark to determine your location as quickly as possible, then follow the map to the nearest monitoring station to report in.

Following that, the screen displayed a succession of landmarks from various locations in the Chaotic Sand Dunes, allowing Hunters who had not yet downloaded the image recognition database to connect and do so. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

With this image recognition database, you can identify your current position no matter where you land. Most locations can be recognized immediately.

...

As she downloaded the database, Li Luo carefully read through the precautions one more time.

’So it really is the Chaotic Sand Dunes... even the arrival points are random,’ Mo Ling thought.

However, thanks to the explorations of those who came before, patterns had been found even in these chaotic drop points.

Marveling at how advanced Abyss exploration had become, Mo Ling turned his gaze to the Hunters heading up the mountain.

These Hunters had already put on their protective suits and were checking their equipment. All their belongings were packed in vacuum capsules, and there were even staff members on hand to help with the inspection.

’How convenient.’

Li Luo put on her protective suit and followed the staff up the mountain.

After they had walked some distance, Mo Ling suddenly realized something was wrong.

’Then what about me?’

The air would be thin at the top of Flipping Mountain, so Mo Ling had no choice but to cycle the air inside the Block beforehand and continuously pump more in.

’I probably won’t suffocate.’

After walking a bit farther, Mo Ling discovered another problem.

’Why hasn’t the gravity changed?’

He tentatively released his control of the Block, allowing it to slowly fall to the ground under the pull of gravity.

The gravity outside the Block had indeed lessened, and quite significantly at that.

Yet he, inside the Block, hadn’t felt any change in gravity whatsoever.

Even by the time they reached the halfway point of the mountain, Mo Ling still felt no sense of weightlessness.

After a few more experiments, he finally understood.

’The Block is insulating me from the change in gravity?’

He couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. The dissonance from the conflicting gravitational effects—what he saw outside versus what he felt inside—was making his head spin.

Following the mountain path, they soon reached the summit. Mo Ling was still sitting stably inside the Block, but by now, the Block itself could float in the air without any input from him.

’How strange.’

Staff members were instructing the Hunters to line up and leap up from the summit.

Mo Ling watched as the Hunters floated into the air, disappearing into thin air just a moment later.

Before long, it was Li Luo’s turn. With a hand resting on the Block, she leaped from the summit and directly entered the anti-gravity zone.

Mo Ling made the Block fly up as well.

The instant gravity became negative, Mo Ling finally felt a change.

It was, however, quite a violent one.

His senses flipped upside down. His head slammed hard against the inside of the Block with no warning or buffer.

Mo Ling tumbled inside the Block as heaven and earth instantly switched places. The impact nearly rattled his long-idle bones apart.

After that momentary flip, everything returned to normal.

’What was that all about?’ Mo Ling wondered, rubbing his head in confusion.

Outside, however, Li Luo was holding onto the Block, floating along slowly and peacefully.