"Gurgle— gurgle—"
Bubbles gradually rose from the puddle. Mi Le sat by the puddle, following Duan Chen's instructions, his face filled with anxiety.
"Don't worry, Little Le. Duan won't hurt you. What are you afraid of?" Qi Qing chuckled.
"Me neither," Mi Xue'er chimed in.
"I'm just afraid he'll... take revenge for personal grievances!"
After all, ever since Duan Chen returned to Su City, he had been mocking him whenever he saw him. Naturally, he was afraid of Duan Chen retaliating.
Duan Chen let out a sinister chuckle.
"That's not necessarily true."
"Holy cow! Xue'er, you have to save me."
Mi Xue'er was a bit speechless, "Brother... Brother Duan is just joking."
"You traitor— you're siding with outsiders—!"
"Splash!"
Suddenly, a blue light erupted from the puddle, and an ugly, strange-looking sea monster crawled out, scaring Mi Le into a drawn-out wail.
The sea monster extended its claws and grabbed directly towards his chest.
"You pervert!"
Mi Le shrieked.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
At the critical moment, Duan Chen and Jun Ci simultaneously fired a shot, knocking off the sea monster's claws. As the creature retreated, Duan Chen grabbed them both and pulled them in.
"Let's go!"
Their vision went white, and an altar appeared before them.
Indeed, it was a bare altar, with nothing on it. Duan Chen discarded the sea monster's corpse and looked behind him.
On a stone slab, a powerful character for "mountain" was carved.
The Mountain Altar.
"Strange, where are the Apostles? Where are the sea monsters?"
Jun Ci scanned the surroundings with wide eyes. He was ready for a fierce battle, but upon reaching the altar, there was nothing?
Duan Chen looked at the statue of the Saintess beside him.
He guessed that those guys might be hiding in the shadows, preparing to attack. But no matter what, this Saintess statue was their object of worship, and the Apostles wouldn't ignore it.
With that thought, Duan Chen raised the Thousand Illusions Pandora and fired a shot at the Saintess statue.
"Bang!"
To everyone's surprise, the bullet didn't emerge from the dark muzzle of the gun. Instead, it shot out from the Saintess statue's forehead, aimed directly at Duan Chen's brow.
No one had anticipated such a turn of events. Duan Chen's expression changed, and he quickly transformed the Thousand Illusions Pandora into a shield, blocking the bullet.
"Clang!"
"What's going on?"
Qin Nanyuan also tentatively unleashed a stream of fire. Just like Duan Chen, the stream of fire unexpectedly shot out from the Saintess's palm, turning to attack her, its master.
"This place is too bizarre. Everyone, don't use your abilities for now, and don't make any rash moves," Duan Chen said in a deep voice.
Why were their attacks being reflected back at them?
"Let's try without abilities, using my dagger."
Qi Qing walked to the front of the altar and lightly scratched the altar with his dagger.
"Ssss!"
He stared at the scratch on his wrist, looking somewhat dazed.
"Could it be... a mirror?"
Duan Chen frowned.
His eyes darted around, and he pointed the muzzle of his gun at himself, firing a shot.
"Captain!"
His movements were too swift; everyone else didn't even have time to stop him.
"Bang!"
With a gunshot, the bullet finally fired from Duan Chen's side.
"Ssss!"
Unfortunately, it didn't hit the Saintess statue. Instead, it was swallowed by another force.
"Tap, tap, tap."
"As expected of you, Duan Chen. A person of such importance that even Lord 01 values you. You've discovered my methods so quickly."
"Who are you?"
Duan Chen looked forward. A figure emerged from the void. The person was thin and gaunt, almost reduced to a skeleton. They were alone, without any sea monsters behind them.
On this person's face was a bronze mask with four holes at the top.
"Are you... Apostle number 04?"
"More accurately, I am the new Apostle number 04."
Duan Chen recalled that Apostle 04 was originally Situ Ying, who had died during the ritual in the department store that summoned Leviathan.
Thus, this person was likely an Apostle who had taken her place.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the new Apostle 04, Tun Yue."
Tun Yue smiled slightly, spreading his arms as if expecting Duan Chen's praise.
Duan Chen's mind was not on him at the moment. He was contemplating something.
When one Apostle died, another would appear to take their place. Did this mean the Apostles were endless? As long as one believed in the evil god and possessed great ability and strong will, they could become an Apostle and gain the evil god's power?
Take the previous Ye Yan, for example, who was succeeded by Gu Sang.
And the one who succeeded Situ Ying's position was this Tun Yue.
How could they curb the "succession" system of the Apostles?
Duan Chen looked at Tun Yue, lost in thought.
"Why aren't you paying attention to me—?!"
"Do you look down on me?!"
"I'm telling you! You'll regret this!"
Unexpectedly, seeing Duan Chen ignore him, this guy completely lost it. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his pale complexion turned ruddy with anger.
"This lunatic!"
Mi Le rolled his eyes.
"Did we do something to provoke him?" Qin Nanyuan's mouth twitched.
Tun Yue sneered sinisterly, "It doesn't matter. I will make you all who look down on me pay!"
He raised his hands and roared.
"Chaos!"
Duan Chen and the others were on high alert. Strangely, nothing happened around them. Tun Yue calmly lowered his hands and giggled, "Everyone, don't move around now, okay?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Jun Ci frowned and raised his dual guns of light and dark.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two bullets shot towards Qin Ze!
"Clang!"
Duan Chen lunged forward, transforming the Thousand Illusions Pandora into a shield, blocking the bullets for him.
Qin Ze stood frozen.
"Don't freeze. Use your ability," Duan Chen whispered, then retreated.
"Oh dear... I already told you not to make any rash moves."
Jun Ci looked at the muzzle of his gun. He clearly remembered firing at Tun Yue, but the bullets had flown towards Qin Ze?
Duan Chen said in a deep voice, "This is his ability!"
"That's right! Chaos. Even if you punch me from a distance, you might end up hitting your own companion's face. So... stop moving around, will you? Just let me kill you obediently."
Tun Yue smiled wickedly.
[Qin Ze! Use your ability to determine where to hit Tun Yue!]
[Huh? Can I do that?]
[Hurry! Don't forget I'm your instructor. Don't make me repeat myself!]
Duan Chen's tone was sharp and serious. Qin Ze didn't dare to argue and secretly took out the Coin of Right and Wrong from behind him.
[Instructor, shoot behind you!]
Duan Chen didn't hesitate. He fired a shot at Mi Le behind him.
"Bang!"
Whoosh!
The bullet grazed Tun Yue's temple.