Chapter 97: Chapter 95: Re-entering the Phantom

After double-checking, Cixing led them back to the Stone Ball.

Shibeng didn’t back out. Once he knew how to use the Stone Ball, he walked straight toward the steps.

Mo Ling thought for a moment and followed him. He was still a bit fuzzy on the details after entering the battlefield the first time, and he wanted to get a clearer picture.

When the entrance opened, Mo Ling and Shibeng entered the Stone Ball together.

In the center of the Stone Ball, Shibeng stood like a statue, his expression unreadable to Mo Ling.

As the entrance closed, the rippling sensation spread out once more.

Mo Ling found himself in total darkness again, but this time, he didn’t materialize next to an ore vein.

Instead, his perspective suddenly shifted. With a yanking sensation, he was pulled out of the body of a Mineral Race member that was flashing with white light, and he found himself floating in midair.

’What’s happening?’

He was floating right in the middle of the chaotic battlefield. The fighting of the surrounding Mineral Race didn’t affect him; their attacks passed right through his body.

’Looks like this signal really can pull people into the battlefield.’ Mo Ling was finally sure his experience had been real.

The deep voice from before sounded again, just as emotionless as ever.

"Observer Mode," the voice stated mechanically.

’Observer? Why can’t I participate?’

Mo Ling held out his hands and was surprised to find he was wearing pajamas. The sight of them made him suddenly remember something, and he felt his head.

Sure enough, his head had turned into a block again.

He had taken on the appearance of the block person from his dreams once more.

’Why am I in this state again?’

But this time, Mo Ling didn’t feel the memory distortion he’d experienced in the dream. In fact, he felt incredibly light, able to float freely around the battlefield.

The surrounding Mineral Race seemed completely unaware of him, as if he were in another plane of existence—unable to interfere with the battle, and in turn, unaffected by it.

But then, an idea struck Mo Ling.

He aimed his teleportation reticle at a Mineral Race member in the throes of battle and activated his ability.

To Mo Ling’s surprise, his teleportation ability could actually interfere with the battlefield. He casually deposited the Mineral Race member’s corpse back onto the ground a short distance away.

This time, however, the surge of strengthening power didn’t come.

’It seems only participants get that power-up feeling.’

Mo Ling’s action seemed to have startled the victim’s opponent. It looked around warily, searching for the source of the sudden attack.

But it found nothing, and as another member of the Mineral Race attacked, it was drawn back into the fray.

Mo Ling began experimenting again. He found he could teleport the rocks, dirt, and corpses on the battlefield into his Block.

Even inside the Block, they retained a low-quality, shoddy feel, clashing with the other items like they were from two different art styles.

Mo Ling focused his perception on these objects and found that even their internal structures were full of this same shoddy quality.

He could also teleport these items out of the Block, just like any normal object.

However, Mo Ling’s experiments seemed to have displeased the deep voice.

"Do not interfere. Observers are forbidden from meddling with the battlefield." The familiar warning came again, its tone much more severe this time.

Mo Ling felt a tremor in his surroundings that almost yanked him out of the battlefield—a clear warning from the voice.

Mo Ling decided he had better behave and act as a proper "observer."

But it wasn’t long before Mo Ling spotted a familiar figure.

Shibeng.

He still looked the same as he did in the real world. His black armor was so imposing and distinctive that Mo Ling spotted him on the battlefield instantly.

After arriving, Shibeng was also looking around, just as confused as Mo Ling had been on his first visit.

But soon, a member of the Basalt Race charged and attacked him.

Shibeng didn’t react in time and was struck squarely in the chest by a stone spike.

However, the spike couldn’t even leave a scratch on Shibeng’s armor; in fact, it nearly shattered against it.

The ambusher, on the other hand, was knocked to the ground by the immense recoil, its face a mask of terror.

Shibeng glanced at his fallen enemy. He, too, must have heard the voice’s instructions, because he now seemed to understand the rules of the battlefield.

He raised a fist and smashed it down on the prone enemy, shattering it into pieces.

After doing this, Shibeng froze, likely feeling the surge of power for himself.

He held out a hand, clenched it into a fist, and savored the power surging through his body.

Understanding what was happening, Mo Ling watched as Shibeng charged into the fray, slaughtering his own kind.

’He won’t get addicted to that power, will he?’ Mo Ling worried.

While the Mineral Race People didn’t typically crave power, this kind of strength could eliminate their fear.

’Thinking about it,’ he mused, ’in a battlefield like this, continuously obtaining the gift of power from killing enemies is the only way for the perpetually fearful Mineral Race People to feel secure.’

Mo Ling had a bad feeling about this.

But right now, he had no way to intervene.

He knew that if he tried to influence the battle again, the voice would surely kick him out. Then he wouldn’t even be able to spectate.

At this point, all Mo Ling could do was trust Shibeng.

While Mo Ling worried, Shibeng had already annihilated the surrounding enemies, leaving only a few powerful opponents.

He charged forward and dispatched them in a few swift moves.

Afterward, he once again seemed to be savoring the power surging within him.

From Mo Ling’s perspective, however, Shibeng didn’t seem to be using this power to alter his body.

He was still over two meters tall and clad in his armor, though the power had undoubtedly made his body much tougher.

Soon, Shibeng stood still again, presumably listening to another instruction from the deep voice.

’It looks like the battle is entering its second phase.’

As an observer, Mo Ling now had a map appear in his mind as well. This time, however, the map was fully revealed, with none of the dark fog.

Shibeng was currently in the Basalt Ore Vein, located in the center of the entire Thorn Stone Forest and surrounded by a dense cluster of various other ore veins.

’The situation doesn’t look good.’

Mo Ling recalled that when he first entered the battlefield, his emerald ore vein had few enemies because it was a rare ore type, and it was located at the edge of the map.

Furthermore, the adjacent ore veins were few and far between, resulting in very few enemies.

The other enemies he encountered just outside the emerald ore vein weren’t very strong either, likely because they hadn’t killed many of their own kind in their internal struggles.

Judging by the intensity of the battle in the Basalt Ore Vein, the enemies emerging from the dense surrounding veins were likely to be formidable opponents.

’So being a common ore has its downsides,’ Mo Ling mused.

Sure enough, this time, enemies charged into the Basalt Ore Vein before Shibeng even had a chance to leave.

They came with a vengeance.