Chapter 477: Role Reversal

"Such decisive decision-making," Chen Ling couldn't help but praise when he saw this.

At this moment, Ying Fu had likely realized something was wrong. This disaster was not only extremely difficult to kill, but its strength would also increase after a period of time. Now, the 14% "Mockery" disaster already possessed the power to suppress him. Dragging it out would only be more disadvantageous for him... Once this disaster broke through to the Sixth Stage, he might have to leave his life here.

In this situation, avoiding the battle was definitely the best choice. Chen Ling had originally thought that with his overbearing personality, he probably wouldn't choose to retreat... Now it seemed he had underestimated Ying Fu.

Blindly fighting to the death with nothing but integrity was the act of a reckless "dim-witted general," while being able to analyze the situation at all times and make the wisest decision was the mark of a qualified "Emperor."

But clearly, the "Mockery" disaster was unwilling to let Ying Fu go just like that.

Even though Ying Fu’s speed had been raised to the limit, skimming across the broken earth and dust toward the depths of the mountains, the surging red cloud still followed closely behind him. Dense red paper strips intertwined into huge tentacles, wrapping toward his figure from all directions!

A cold look flashed in Ying Fu’s eyes. He raised his hand and pressed it into the void. The surrounding trees changed drastically amidst the wandering electricity, transforming into some unknown material and growing wildly toward the sky. The branches and leaves connected and intertwined, wrapping the mountain peak in the blink of an eye, and his figure vanished completely within.

The surging red cloud stopped above the mountain peak. That red sun watched the mountain below like an eye, still searching for Ying Fu’s trail.

Meanwhile, in the theater, Chen Ling’s eyes flashed with brilliance.

"It’s time."

14% audience expectation was almost his limit. If he dragged it out any longer and let the expectation value drop to 13%, he wouldn't be able to reclaim his body on his own... Inducing the "Mockery" disaster to confront the Emperor God Path was a risky move by Chen Ling, and now he had to quit while he was ahead.

Chen Ling stood in the center of the stage, one hand grabbing toward the back of the curtain. His fingertips touched the image of the "performance," and a feeling of toughness and hardness came through. It was extremely difficult to penetrate, no different from a wall...

A wall?

Chen Ling suddenly thought of the Fourth Wall mentioned by Mo Jiao, the critical point separating the story from reality... Could it be that this mysterious barrier in the theater was the Fourth Wall?

When he was performing on stage, the audience couldn't intervene in the performance. But when their expectation value dropped below 20%, the Fourth Wall could be broken, allowing the audience to cross the boundary between story and reality to occupy his body and continue the performance... Similarly, he had the opportunity to cross this Fourth Wall and reclaim his body. However, compared to the Mockery disaster, it would be much more difficult for him to cross the Fourth Wall.

A wall separated "performance" from "reality," and in the end, he and the Mockery disaster were both contenders for this stage.

At this moment, Chen Ling seemed to understand part of the theater’s mechanism, and the doubts in his mind were resolved... But now was not the time to delve into the mechanism. He had to cross the Fourth Wall as soon as possible and reclaim his body!

"Red Face."

Chen Ling closed his eyes slowly. When he opened them again, two touches of apricot red were already at the corners of his eyes, and his entire temperament became mysterious and eerie.

The moment this mask was summoned, Chen Ling clearly felt that the Fourth Wall’s obstruction to him had weakened. If it had originally been a half-wall that was hard to advance through, it had now become viscous mud, and he could slowly pass through it.

Just as Chen Ling predicted, the Fourth Wall at 14% was already his limit. If it dropped to 13%, even with the "Red Face," he wouldn't be able to pass through... At least not with the current "Red Face."

Meanwhile, the red cloud obscuring the sky suddenly trembled violently!

A small hole suddenly broke open on the surface of the eerie scarlet red sun above the red cloud, and a palm seemed to reach out from another world, grabbing the gap tightly...

Chen Ling’s voice came from behind the gap:

"You can exit the stage now... I am the protagonist for the next act."

As Chen Ling’s voice fell, the red paper monster’s body began to collapse with that crack as the center. Countless red papers drifted down like dancing butterflies, and its figure withered immediately... A second palm reached out from the crack, tearing it hard, and the figure in red robes returned to reality!

Two touches of apricot red adorned the corners of his eyes, like an actor who had just taken the stage, standing amidst the red butterflies, his stage robes fluttering in the wind.

Actor, audience, on stage and off, the roles reversed once again!

……

"This is Search and Rescue Team One, we have not yet discovered the whereabouts of the exploration team!"

"Search and Rescue Team Two has not yet discovered the whereabouts of the exploration team!"

"Search and Rescue Team Three has not yet discovered the whereabouts of the exploration team!"

“……”

Several well-equipped exploration teams were heading deep into Shennongjia in different directions. There were basically no researchers among these people; they were all military personnel, wearing uniform camouflage, acting in an orderly and agile manner... The mountains after the rain were still shrouded in thick water vapor, and everything looked misty as far as the eye could see.

"How could this happen? How could this happen!!"

At the base camp for entering the mountains, Wang Xinye, the person in charge of this exploration, gripped his walkie-talkie tightly, pacing anxiously in the tent.

He hardened his heart, pressed the walkie-talkie, and said decisively:

"Communications have been restored now. I don’t care what method you use, you must save all nine doctors! They are the elites in their respective research fields and the pillars of national development! Spare no cost! Even if you have to search every inch of Shennongjia, you must bring them back!!"

After speaking, he slammed the walkie-talkie onto the table, staring at the misty mountains in the distance, his face looking terrible.

Seven hours had passed since the exploration team of nine doctors went missing in the mountains. About an hour ago, the mysterious magnetic field affecting the entire Shennongjia suddenly disappeared, and all communication equipment returned to normal. But no matter what, Wang Xinye couldn't contact that exploration team.

Wang Xinye didn't know what had happened in Shennongjia, but he could be sure that the disappearance of the mysterious magnetic field must be related to the exploration team. They might have made some breakthrough progress... But they didn't respond to communications, which meant something unexpected might have happened in the process.

As soon as communications were restored, Wang Xinye dispatched several more well-equipped search and rescue teams to enter the mountains to save people. But strangely, when they followed the tracks of the exploration team that had entered the mountains, after walking a few kilometers, all their footprints disappeared...

These people seemed to have evaporated into thin air, disappearing between the continuous mountains. The three search and rescue teams split into three directions to radiate and search for over an hour, but found no trace of them.