The issues in the town beneath the Tot Mountains were discovered a month ago. Although this place was remote, it wasn't completely isolated from the outside world. Not to mention the residents, even just the local branch of the Mercenary Guild had considerable contact with the outside.

  However, all these connections were cut off two months ago. The people sent here all mysteriously disappeared after making contact with the town, without sending out any information.

  It seemed like this place had become a bottomless pit, swallowing anyone who came here...

  Until the Sacred Church noticed the situation and dispatched a large-scale investigation team. The fact that most investigators could be silently eliminated indicated the extraordinary nature of this place.

  Perhaps some cult saw potential in this location and used it as a base.

  "The efficiency of things in this world is too low." Watching the teams entering the town, Zephyr couldn't help but mutter. It took over two months to discover something was wrong? In reality, wouldn't such an issue be identified within a week?

  His head was then slapped by Loris.

  "Don't look anymore; you'll be discovered."

  "How could that be possible... we're several kilometers away!" With a dragon's vision, he could clearly see what was happening there. For humans, without binoculars, they probably couldn't even see this side.

  "Don't apply your world's definitions to this one."

  Zephyr nodded, still feeling somewhat strange. Was he perhaps the earliest crossover individual exposed in this world?

  Thinking about it, the people here weren't stupid. If they truly encountered someone strong, being detected wouldn't be unusual, especially if the strong individual was an ancient monster. Merely their vast knowledge and experience would suffice to notice something was off.

  Even though Loris said he was special, under such a disparity in power, it was hard to hide his identity.

  "What's wrong?" A knight in armor asked a robed mage beside him who was looking in a certain direction.

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  "It seems someone is watching us..." The mage frowned slightly, a glimmer of magic appeared on his fingers, faintly revealing the array pattern contained within. He shook his head, "Tell others to pay more attention."

  "Huh? What was that just now?" Walking along, Zephyr suspiciously looked around. Just then, he felt a strange sensation sweep past nearby but bypass them.

  "Scouting magic."

  "...Really ridiculous." Clicking his tongue, Zephyr muttered, "This feeling is better than radar," Did we get discovered?"

  "No."

  After the Church's team entered the town, they immediately began gathering useful intelligence. The gathered information made the team leader frown in thought. There were no signs of human activity here. Moreover, time seemed to have paused in this place. After two months, those unoccupied rooms should have been covered in dust.

  In reality, everything was completely new, as if time had lost its meaning here.

  "Did you find anything?"

  "...," Several mages in the team frowned and shook their heads. This abnormal state must have been caused by some force, yet they found no traces. That meant the opponent's level far exceeded theirs. "They might have already left."

  "Split up and search." After pondering for a moment, the captain ordered the others, "Remember not to spread out too much."

  The search of the town proceeded quickly. Upon finding the only anomaly point within the town, everyone immediately gathered around the Mercenary Guild branch. Opening the tightly closed door revealed a faint light membrane before them.

  "Don't touch this thing, it's dangerous." A mage stopped the captain from trying to touch the membrane, explaining, "It's a seal. Touching it carelessly might trigger a counterattack."

  "Can it be removed?"

  "It will take a day." The mage was puzzled inside. The seal wasn't particularly strong but was quite troublesome. A slight misstep could lead to the seal exploding. At best, the entire Mercenary Guild branch would be blown sky-high; at worst, the whole town might be wiped out. After all, only the person who placed the seal knew what it connected to.

  "Then let's start." The team captain nodded, leaving most of the team behind to protect the mages who couldn't stop once they started breaking the seal. Then, he led a small squad to search nearby.

  Their first search area was the Tot Mountains.

  After discovering that everyone in the town had gone missing, he had prepared thoroughly. This town was ordinary, and the Tot Mountains weren't particularly special either, although rich in resources, they were quite common. However, in the past six months, the town's development had seen additional improvements. The main reason was the appearance of a young dragon in the Tot Mountains.

  Could it be that the townspeople provoked the young dragon, leading to retaliation from an adult dragon, resulting in the annihilation of the entire town?

  Upon entering the forest, they encountered new magic. Originally, this was a very ordinary forest with few large beasts, but now it was filled with various dangerous creatures, which were exceptionally fierce. They were attacked as soon as they entered.

  "Captain, I remember this forest didn't have many formidable beasts, not even magical beasts," a team member said, looking at a wolf killed at his feet. The wolf's fur was a faint blue, and even after death, it still emitted a trace of magical energy. This was a wind-attribute magical beast!

  Though not highly ranked, its presence here was quite unusual!

  "First, confirm whether the dragon really existed." The captain observed the surroundings carefully and instructed the tracker in the team. Instead of finding the target young dragon, they found an area with signs of battle.

  "A heavy crossbow... and a ballista!?" The captain stared at the fragments in his hand, frowning deeply. These weren't shattered by impact but crushed by some force. Scattered pieces were everywhere, but strangely, there were no signs of people, and the environment differed from other areas. This place seemed cursed, barren and distinct from the lush regions around it.

  Apart from this, there were no other traces, everything cleaned up perfectly.

  "Captain, I found a cave... it should belong to the young dragon."

  "There really is a dragon? Let's go check it out!" Discarding the useless fragments in his hand, he immediately stood up and hurried towards the suspected dragon lair.