"Crystal palace...?"

"Thump-thump—"

"The sound from tapping the ground is indeed strange... But if it's a crystal palace... why is it so dark?"

"Is it that the environment has extinguished all light... or have our eyes... really developed a problem?"

From Jiang Ye's perspective, listening to the somewhat indistinct conversation coming from the distance, he couldn't help but complain inwardly—

Your eyes might not be the only thing with a problem, your ears are probably faulty too!

The effect of sound propagating in an enclosed environment versus in an open space, can't you tell the difference?

The sound you guys make when talking clearly couldn't possibly be coming from some cramped underground space!

Anyway, Jiang Ye felt the sound was very much like... a palace with a fairly vast space and not too many obstructions?

A crystal palace? That is indeed very possible!

However, his current state of being completely sealed within a liquid form might indeed be affecting his judgment...

Just as he was thinking this, Jiang Ye suddenly felt that the "drip-drip" water sound, which had become like ambient noise...

gave him an inexplicable... somewhat familiar feeling.

It was as if...

This kind of sound, which has a certain rhythmic quality and is easily overlooked... where had he heard it before?

Just as he was wondering where he might have heard it.

Suddenly, a loud "BANG!" sound.

It nearly scared a heart attack out of him!

This feeling was like...

He was there, seriously listening to the water sound.

Then the falling water droplets suddenly turned into a giant boulder.

Thus, the "drip-drip" sound of water droplets abruptly transformed into the "BANG!" of a boulder falling.

Catching people completely off guard.

Of course, those caught off guard weren't just him.

The discussion sounds approaching his direction were also clearly startled by this loud noise.

"Damn?! What... what was that sound?!"

"That sounds like... a giant rock falling from the sky?"

"But the ground... there's no tremor!"

"This 'BANG' sound seems to come from the same direction as the water sound!"

"Should we... still continue towards the direction of the water sound? Could there be danger over there..."

The earlier water sound, drip-drip, sounded non-threatening.

But this loud noise inevitably made people feel fearful.

So naturally, this group of players also hesitated.

Listening to their discussion and combining it with the familiar feeling he just had about the "drip" water sound, Jiang Ye felt like he had grasped something...

But for a moment, he couldn't form a clear answer.

Until the discussion continued, and they finally decided—

No matter what, they would follow the "drip-drip" water sound to investigate the truth.

It was then that Jiang Ye realized—

The drip-drip water sound had returned!

Or rather... this drip-drip water sound had never disappeared!

It was just that when the loud noise occurred, pulling at everyone's attention, people unconsciously overlooked the subtle drip-drip sound.

Only after the lingering sound of the bang completely faded did the drip-drip sound become obvious again.

This situation...

Jiang Ye suddenly felt as if enlightenment had dawned, instantly remembering where this familiar feeling came from—

It came from the "time travel" experience his clone had undergone in the Abyss Restricted Zone before!

Back then, what he heard wasn't a water sound.

But a "tick-tock" sound he interpreted as the movement of a second hand!

The current "drip-drip" and the previous "tick-tock" sound somewhat different to the ear.

But they are indeed fairly similar onomatopoeic words.

What made him feel familiar was mainly the rhythmic sense of the intervals between these sounds!

And what made him completely recall this familiarity was precisely the loud "BANG!" sound just now.

Although this bang sounded more like a giant rock falling.

It also greatly resembled the mysterious bell sound that suddenly rang out between the "tick-tock" movements of the second hand back then!

The first bell sound only rang once.

The second bell sound would ring twice...

If the current water sound truly corresponds to the second-hand movement sound heard in the Abyss Restricted Zone...

If the current giant rock falling sound truly corresponds to the mysterious bell sound before time travel... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Then, the second loud bang sound should ring twice?

Then, the place he is in now...

Perhaps has some connection to the Abyss Restricted Zone, or the secret of time travel?

Could it be that here... he might experience time travel again?

That's... not very likely, is it?!

A more likely possibility is... this place will become the Abyss Restricted Zone of the future?

Or, this place is what those players who want to explore the Abyss Restricted Zone truly want to explore?

While Jiang Ye pondered this, he also focused part of his attention on counting the drip-drip water sounds.

Just like counting seconds while listening to the "tick" sounds in the Abyss Restricted Zone before.

However, because he realized this point, he had already missed part of the water sounds.

So the number he counted couldn't be precise either.

And Lin Dong and the others approaching his direction clearly had no thought of "counting seconds" at all.

After all, to them, the "drip" sound was merely the sound of water droplets falling, impossible to associate with the passage of time, second by second...

And so, another while passed.

"BANG—"

This time, the loud noise indeed came twice in a row!

The discussion in the distance also realized with alarm—

"This time... were there two boulders falling?"

"Could this place... have some kind of formation mechanism?"

"We can't see anything, recklessly groping around in this dangerous environment in complete darkness... are we really going to be okay?"

However, voicing these doubts and worries was somewhat meaningless.

Because they seemed... to have no other choice!

Otherwise, which other direction could they explore?

If the sound of the falling boulders truly represents some kind of opportunity...

Then there might be a chance to seize it and soar to great heights!

Thus, no matter how much they discussed, Lin Dong's group of players still resolutely walked towards Jiang Ye's direction.

Jiang Ye could also tell that their voices were getting closer and closer.

So close it felt like they were right by his ear...

"BANG—"

This time, it was three loud bangs in a row!

The consecutive bangs seemed to directly hurt the eardrums of Lin Dong and the others.

For a good while, after the lingering echoes of the bangs completely dissipated, they spoke with lingering fear:

"Damn! I feel like this time's bang was right next to my ear!"

"Such a huge commotion, but why is there no feeling of vibration in the surroundings at all? Where exactly is this sound coming from?"

"Huh—"

Amidst the discussion, Lin Dong suddenly let out a "Huh" sound.

"What is it, President?" The players following him immediately asked.

Lin Dong seemed to be hesitantly testing something and soon stated: "I think I've touched... a smooth curved surface... feels like a... pillar standing on the ground?"

A player from behind immediately responded: "A pillar? Could it really be a crystal palace? What would a pillar inside a palace be for?"

Lin Dong's voice then said: "I hear it—the drip-drip water sound seems to be coming from inside this pillar!"

A pillar?

Hearing his description, Jiang Ye couldn't help but guess—

Could the container holding his liquid form be a pillar?

His vision was a blur with a sense of light, his sense of touch was the icy-cool feeling of a liquid, his whole person felt imprisoned, unable to move.

He truly couldn't determine what his exact situation was.

So, was it really a pillar containing his liquid form?

And the water droplet sound also happened inside the pillar?

Jiang Ye found this strange in his mind.

Meanwhile, he heard Lin Dong instructing his group of players to come over one by one.

He wanted to use the posture of all players spreading their arms to embrace the pillar to measure its width.

And the reason this group of players hadn't gotten separated seemed to be because they were holding onto the same iron chain.

Thus, when they were about to join hands to encircle the entire pillar, they decided to try wrapping the iron chain they were holding around the pillar as well.

These players were quite obedient to Lin Dong.

So the step-by-step arrangements proceeded in an orderly manner.

When they had almost all gathered around the pillar...

"BANG—BANG—BANG—BANG—"

This time, four loud bangs!

No matter how slow one was, Lin Dong realized by now—

"The four loud bangs we heard were exactly one, two, three, four sounds... So the next one should be five sounds?"

His follower questioned: "But what's the significance of these bang sounds?"

Lin Dong didn't answer immediately, instead continuing to arrange: "Is Zhang E there? Stretch your hand over, see if you can reach my hand..."

Zhang E's voice wasn't far either.

However, he said: "Can't reach! My arm is stretched to its limit, can't reach your hand!"

"Should I try letting go of Wu Zhu's hand to reach for yours? See how much distance we're still short?"

Hearing this, Lin Dong quickly stopped him: "No! Don't act recklessly!"

"In this bizarre and pitch-black environment, once we get separated, we might never find each other again!"

"The same goes for everyone else! If you don't want to die, no one is allowed to let go on their own! And no one is allowed to act on their own!"

This authoritative warning indeed intimidated the others.

Zhang E also didn't mention letting go to reach Lin Dong's hand again, but he proposed another idea:

"How about we factor in the length of the iron chain too?"

"Starting now, everyone move the iron chain in their hand towards my direction."

"Then Wu Zhu and I will each hold one end of the chain, and I'll let go of Wu Zhu's hand, then feel along the chain to try and reach President Lin's hand?"

This way, they could indeed use the length of the iron chain to replace the players' arms to measure this strange pillar in a space their eyes couldn't see.

However...

Lin Dong thought for a moment and temporarily rejected this proposal: "Wait a bit. I'm a little worried that players who lose the chain in their hand might experience some abnormal situation."

"So, without my instruction, none of you are to let go of the chain!"

This statement was naturally accepted.

Lin Dong thought some more and continued: "The length of the iron chain should be a bit longer than all our arms combined..."

"So we should indeed be able to try using the chain's length, but not with Wu Zhu and Zhang E each holding one end."

"All of us need to have the chain in our hands. But we can straighten it out, stretch it..."

"Then pass the excess part of the chain towards Wu Zhu's direction."

"Then, Zhang E, you try holding the excess part of the chain and walk towards me."

"Any objections to this approach?"

This proposal was indeed more cautious than the one Zhang E suggested.

Jiang Ye indicated he had no objections, though he couldn't speak.

He didn't know what Lin Dong and the others had experienced, nor where the iron chain in their hands came from...

But he had a vague guess in his mind—

Could it be that the length of their iron chain was exactly enough to go around the pillar once?

While they were trying out Lin Dong's method.

The loud bang in the space rang out for the fifth time.

Lin Dong was now basically certain: "Indeed, each time the bang sounds, it adds one more ring."

"And also, this bang definitely comes from inside this pillar!"

His tone was very firm, and the other players seemed to agree.

Jiang Ye was somewhat puzzled...

Wasn't it just him inside this pillar?

But the bang he heard didn't come from himself, but from the outside.

So...

The container holding his liquid form might only be a small part located inside the pillar?

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard Lin Dong's somewhat serious voice say: "Wait! Quiet down!"

"I think I hear other players' voices coming from afar!"

Other players?!

Sure enough, Lin Dong's group quickly quieted down.

Jiang Ye didn't hear anything, though.

Maybe because the pillar had some soundproofing effect?

After a moment, he heard Lin Dong say with certainty: "It's Li Ku and Li Si!"

Following his conclusion, Jiang Ye indeed heard a different kind of footsteps.

It was a kind of footsteps that seemed to be accompanied by leg irons.

Jiang Ye heard the sound of an iron chain being dragged on the ground, approaching rapidly from far away!

Then, Li Si's voice really came through:

"It's Lin Dong and the others."

That was indeed Li Si's voice.

But this time, Jiang Ye didn't sense Li Si's clone!

And...

Lin Dong soon also exclaimed, raising a question: "Li Si? You... can see me?!"

The sound of leg irons approached even faster.

Immediately after, Jiang Ye heard Li Si gasp in shock, followed by his astonished voice: "Your eyes..."

Lin Dong and the others seemed to realize something then.

One of the players panicked: "What's wrong with our eyes?"

"So it's not that the environment here is dark, but that our eyes have a problem?"

Li Si's voice was now very close: "Your eyes only have the whites. From a distance, they look like grayish-white stone eyes."

Upon hearing this news, it was Lin Dong's group's turn to gasp in shock.

It was also at this moment that the loud bang rang out for the 6th time.

As the lingering sound of the bang ended, Lin Dong took a deep breath and calmly asked: "Our eyes have turned into stone eyes... but the right eye you borrowed from Du Yuheng can see normally?"

"Then could you trouble you to tell us, what kind of environment are we actually in right now?"

As soon as Lin Dong finished speaking.

His right hand, which he had been continuously stretching to the right, was suddenly grasped.

Then, from the direction on the right, came Zhang E's somewhat delighted voice: "President Lin? Is this your hand? I've got you!"

"The length of this iron chain seems to be exactly enough to go around the pillar once!"

Following this voice, Lin Dong felt Zhang E hand over the excess part of the iron chain he was holding to his own hand.

Lin Dong instinctively wanted to try connecting the iron chain pulled from his right hand with the one held in his left hand, making a complete loop...

But just as he had this thought, before he could act.

He heard Li Si's voice: "Wait! Don't act rashly!"