On the sea outside the ruins.

Rescue teams from various countries were carrying out tense rescue operations.

Archbishop Andrew sat on a chair on the airship deck.

Looking at those three team members who had survived by sheer luck, yet were left with only half a breath.

He asked in a calm tone.

"What on earth happened inside the ruins?"

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

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

"Report... Report, Archbishop."

"We were planning to rendezvous with Captain Thor at the time."

"B-But as soon as we went in, we were attacked by several terrifying undercurrents!"

Saying this, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

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

"That power... was too terrifying, as if it wanted to tear our bodies to pieces!"

"We... we watched helplessly as our companions were swept away, yet we could do nothing."

Another water-type Professional struggled to add.

"That wasn't an ordinary undercurrent! It was too terrifying. In front of that power, my Water Elemental Power was like a stream crashing into the ocean, instantly swallowed up!"

"We only managed to escape with our lives by taking advantage of the brief moment when that undercurrent weakened slightly."

"As for Captain Thor..."

The survivor shook his head.

"We didn't see his figure. Whether he... whether he is dead or alive right now, we don't know either."

After hearing this, Andrew gave a faint hum.

He turned his head to look at the silent, hook-nosed middle-aged man behind him.

"Marcus, when you scouted the ruins before, did you ever encounter such a terrifying undercurrent?"

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

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

"But they were by no means as terrifying as he described."

Andrew fell into a brief silence.

"It's not a natural phenomenon."

"Then it's man-made."

"It's very likely that someone released some large-scale water-type skill at the entrance of the ruins."

"Attempting to obstruct or even annihilate all latecomers."

But the survivor shook his head again, denying this guess.

"Archbishop, it should... it should be impossible."

"The scope of that undercurrent was too broad, its duration was very long, and it came wave after wave."

"And its power was also terrifying."

"I don't believe that any SS-Rank Professional could rely on their own strength alone to unleash such a world-destroying skill."

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

Hearing this, Andrew nodded.

This explanation seemed more reasonable.

"Since that's the case."

"Then send another team inside."

Marcus was stunned for a moment.

"But Archbishop, the rules..."

"The rules only say that each country sends a ten-person squad to enter."

Andrew interrupted him, his tone unquestionable.

"But the rules didn't say that reinforcements cannot be made after personnel losses occur."

"Immediately reorganize a team, find Thor at the fastest speed, and find out what on earth happened inside!"

Marcus's expression tightened, and he immediately bowed to accept the order.

"Yes! I understand!"

...

Meanwhile.

On the ship of the Great Xia Nation.

Zhang Cheng had just flown back from the distant Great Bear Country's ship, carrying a trace of a strange expression on his face.

He hurried over to Lin Zhu's side and reported in a low voice.

"Principal Lin, I just went to scout around."

"The situation is a bit strange."

"Those injured teams in the back don't seem to have been attacked by Thor at all."

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

"That Polina from the Great Bear Country is very smart. Finding the situation wrong, she led her people to retreat at the first possible moment, so she is completely unharmed."

"On the other hand, Sakura Country and the Freedom Federation lost several people and had a large area injured."

"Submarine turbulent flow?"

Hearing these four words, a trace of imperceptible ripple flashed in Lin Zhu's calm eyes.

Why would a submarine turbulent flow appear at the entrance of the ruins precisely at this time?

To say it's a coincidence?

She didn't believe a single word of it.

But aside from that arrogant Thor who entered the ruins first at the time, only Gandalf was left.

Speaking of Gandalf...

She seemed to have heard Zhang Donglai mention it in passing.

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

Thinking of this, a rare trace of a smile actually surfaced on Lin Zhu's old face, which was always covered in frost.

She wouldn't have thought this little fellow had such terrifying methods.

Ruthless enough, and decisive enough.

Having just suffered a loss on his side, he turned around and retaliated tenfold or a hundredfold in an even more ruthless way.

This was completely beyond her expectations.

After all, Gandalf had been living in her villa recently.

More than once, she had also secretly observed this rising star of the Great Xia Nation upon whom the military placed high hopes.

To be honest, before this, she didn't think much of this Gandalf.

Because on him, she couldn't feel any of the youthful vigor and emotions that a young person should have.

His daily life was like a precision machine with pre-set programs.

Either torturing himself in the Tempering Tower or crazily grinding monsters in the Dungeon Tower.

Although his strength was ridiculously strong, the whole person looked extremely dull, and even somewhat gloomy and lifeless.

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

But they could never become a commanding talent who devises strategies from afar.

Now it seemed, her judgment had deviated a bit.

This little fellow was far smarter than she had imagined.

Moments later.

After emergency treatment, the injured members from various countries recovered their states one after another.

Although their previous encounter left lingering fears in their hearts, the temptation of the Divine Artifact ultimately conquered their fear.

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

Soon, reorganized teams dove down toward that blue light curtain at the bottom of the sea once again.

...

Inside the ruins.

Controlling Gandalf, Zhou Huai was standing on a skateboard formed by converging water currents, shuttling at high speed across the boundless sea surface.

The sea breeze blew, lifting a corner of his mage robe.

Overhead were blue skies and white clouds, and beneath his feet was crystal-clear seawater.

Occasionally, some bizarre-shaped fish could be seen flashing past beneath the "skateboard".

If not for the ancient and primordial aura in the air that constantly lingered and refused to disperse, Zhou Huai would almost have developed the illusion that he hadn't entered ruins at all, but was instead vacationing on some tropical island.

It was just that these ruins were simply too huge.

Ridiculously huge.

He had already shuttled across this sea surface at top speed for nearly an hour.

Looking out as far as the eye could see, it was still the sea.

Aside from the sea, it was still the sea.

Not even a palm-sized island could be seen.