Chapter 416

Chapter 416: Chapter 416

A black barrier, traversable by humans, with monsters lurking within.

That was identical to the phenomenon they had encountered on their way here. He hadn’t expected that very same thing to manifest near P City Base. If those monsters were to make an appearance, there was no telling whether the base would remain safe.

"What are you thinking about?" Fiona asked curiously, seeing Mark lost in silence.

Mark cast a glance at her and replied softly, "What you described... I saw it on my way to the base as well."

"What?" Shock registered across Fiona’s face as her expression turned grave. "There’s black mist in other places too?"

Mark nodded. "That’s right, and in more than one location."

The casual air faded completely from Fiona’s face, her tone turning increasingly solemn. "How many did you see?"

"On my way here, I saw two," Mark said, adding, "There were monsters inside those as well."

Fiona drew in a sharp breath.

Ever since she first learned about the black mist, a profound sense of unease had gripped her. After all, every time the base dispatched a team inside, a batch of badly injured survivors would return shortly after. She had expended a great deal of effort gathering information before learning that powerful monsters were hidden within that mist—a secret that had cost her dearly.

She had originally assumed the black mist was unique to the vicinity of the base. At the time, she had even considered herself fortunate that it was near the base, where an abundance of elite combatants and heavy weaponry could surely keep the creatures contained.

Yet now, Mark was telling her that this wasn’t an isolated case. The black mist had appeared elsewhere too.

And more than once...

Not just one...

How many monsters would there eventually be?

"What’s wrong? You don’t look so good," Mark said gently, a hint of concern in his voice as he noticed her face turning pale. He knew Fiona must have realized or recalled something significant to react like this.

"I... I’m fine," Fiona stammered, pulling herself back together with a strained, pale smile.

All romantic inclinations had completely evaporated from her mind. Her instincts warned her that an even greater catastrophe was looming—one wrong step, and death would be waiting for her.

"Did you remember something?" Mark asked.

Fiona looked back at Mark. Beneath the moonlight, his features remained strikingly gorgeous, and the coldness in his eyes had softened compared to earlier. But she could no longer take delight in it; her flirtatious thoughts were entirely eclipsed by the shadow of the black mist and its monsters.

"I..." She hesitated, unsure whether to speak.

"If you don’t mind, you can tell me," Mark said, lowering his tone with a touch of gentle persuasion.

Meeting his sincere gaze, Fiona slowly let down her guard. He already knows about the black mist and the monsters anyway, so telling him shouldn’t hurt, she reasoned to herself.

"I... I was just thinking about something."

"What is it?"

"What you just said about the black mist appearing elsewhere... I always thought it was only near our base. If it’s really as you say, and the mist isn’t isolated to this area, doesn’t that mean it’s descended across the entire country—no, maybe even the whole world?"

"It’s certainly possible."

Mark had entertained that very same suspicion. The moment he encountered the second black mist, the thought had already crossed his mind.

Seeing Mark agree with her reasoning, a brief flash of relief touched Fiona. But it didn’t last long before her eyes dimmed again. "If that’s really true... and every black mist holds monsters inside..."

She trailed off into silence.

If countless areas of black mist had appeared across the country, each housing dangerous beasts, humanity’s chances of survival would plummet further. According to what she had gathered, the creatures inside were extraordinarily powerful; even though she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes, the fact that top-tier squads from the base were returning severely battered spoke volumes about their threat level.

The more she pondered, the darker the future seemed. After enduring so many natural disasters with great difficulty, just when everyone thought the worst was over, this strange black mist had surfaced—complete with monsters inside.

Is the heavens really trying to wipe out humanity entirely?

"Sigh..."

Fiona let out a heavy sigh.

"There’s bound to be a solution eventually," Mark offered.

Fiona looked at him and managed a faint, forced smile.

Mark pressed further, "Do you know when the black mist near the base first appeared?"

"When it appeared..." Fiona knitted her brows, thinking carefully for a moment. "I’m not sure about the exact date, but this is actually the second time it’s appeared."

Fiona herself had participated in both missions.

"The creation time?" she genuinely didn’t know.

"The base suddenly locked down the West Zone three months ago. I’m guessing it happened around then," Fiona said.

Mark nodded thoughtfully. "You said the black mist has already appeared twice?"

"Yes, I participated in both lockdowns."

"Did it appear in the exact same location both times?"

"That’s right, both times in the West Zone, same location."

"It seems the black mist only descends in the same spot."

Fiona blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Yeah."

After a moment, she recalled what Mark had said earlier about seeing two black mists on his way to the base.

"Where exactly did you see the black mist?" Fiona asked.

Mark didn’t know the precise coordinates at the time, but he roughly described the surrounding terrain.

Fiona didn’t respond, falling completely silent.

A quiet beat passed between them, neither saying another word as both processed their thoughts about the black mist.

Fiona had never imagined that simply striking up a conversation would lead to learning all this. The pressure felt immense, leaving her deeply anxious.

Suddenly, Fiona stood up.

Mark glanced at her, assuming she was about to leave.

Fiona merely stretched her legs before sitting back down, asking, "Have you seen the monsters inside?"

Mark nodded. "I have."

Fiona pressed on, "What do they look like?"

Mark carefully weighed his words before giving a rough description of their appearance—humanoid creatures, looking like people, yet definitely not human.