Chapter 1410: 466. Dual Line Plan

“When did the scent of the Metal Ancestor Dragon appear on their ship? How did I not detect it at all?”

Noland Lee’s “Magic Pipe Network” remained activated.

He had always been closely watching every move of the three cucumber slice individuals.

He could be hundred percent certain that, before the ship’s control console turned into a metallic maw, there was not the slightest abnormal aura on the ship.

It was only at the moment the control console underwent mutation that the iron-grey energy, signifying the Metal Ancestor Dragon, appeared on the ship.

Even though he detected the dangerous aura that suddenly appeared on the ship, it was already too late.

The Metal Ancestor Dragon moved too quickly, so quickly that Noland had no time to prepare and could only watch as the three cucumber slice individuals were swallowed by the metallic maw.

By the time Noland acted through spatial casting to rescue them, the metallic maw had already reverted back to the appearance of the control console, and the three cucumber slice individuals had vanished without a trace.

Furthermore, Noland found that the spell marks he had left on them were forcibly destroyed.

He had completely lost contact with the three cucumber slice individuals.

“It seems the problem is severe. The Metal Ancestor Dragon held back until now to make a move; it’s impressive how long it managed to wait.”

Noland’s brow was tightly furrowed as he quickly pondered over his options.

“Beep beep beep.”

Text appeared on the game interface, a message from “Command.”

“The souls and soul constructs of the three players, Cucumber Slice, Winter Melon, and Kelp, have been taken by the Metal Ancestor Dragon.”

“I have lost control over these three players. Both their souls and their soul constructs have fallen into the hands of the Metal Ancestor Dragon.”

The words written by “Command” seemed calm, but Noland could sense the tense atmosphere between the lines.

Noland typed in response:

“The appearance of the Metal Ancestor Dragon was very sudden, I didn’t have time to react.”

A line of purple text then appeared on the game interface.

“It was the Metal Ancestor Dragon itself that personally intervened. It’s normal that you had no time to react.”

Noland noticed the purple text and recognized the color and tone; it must be the Assassin Angel speaking.

Noland wasn’t quite sure, so he activated his soul contract with the Assassin Angel to contact the angel who was still visiting the “real” planet of the “players.”

The other party confirmed it.

After a brief meeting with Senati, the Assassin Angel decided to join the “Command” game system.

Unlike Noland, the Assassin Angel would not appear as an NPC in the player’s view.

The angel preferred to utilize the convenience of the game system, rather than participating in the plot of the Starry Sea game.

Like right now.

Using the game’s chat system, the angel could directly join the discussions between Noland and “Command,” without having to go through Noland as an intermediary like before.

The purple text continued typing:

“About 6 minutes ago, my counterpart in the Inner Cosmos alerted me that the Metal Ancestor Dragon initiated a ceremony in the magic ship toward the Outer Space from the Inner Cosmos. The ceremony was powerful enough to affect the Outer Space. Due to the significant delay in the message transmission from the Inner Cosmos to the Outer Space, I received the alert from my counterpart just 1 minute ago. I had intended to leave and notify you to be cautious, but I was still a step late.”

The counterpart in the Inner Cosmos issued an alert 6 minutes ago, and the Assassin Angel’s main body received it only 1 minute ago.

Between the Inner Cosmos and Outer Space, there’s at least a 5-minute communication delay.

When Noland previously contacted the Scroll Angel, he used the Array’s feature to mask the high-delay communication experience.

That means they felt no delay, but the delay indeed existed and was merely masked by the Array.

Considering that between the Inner and Outer Cosmos lies a black hole with enormous extraordinary power, a mere 5-minute communication delay is unbelievable.

But still, the Metal Ancestor Dragon found an opportunity, which is quite frustrating.

Noland looked into his Magic Vision.

The conflict at the Angel’s Voice Space Station was proceeding normally.

The Metal Ancestor Dragon only took away the three cucumber slice individuals and did not participate much in the fight.

Until now, Cucumber Slice, Winter Melon, and Kelp are the only three players who have experienced an attack by the Metal Ancestor Dragon.

The intent of the Metal Ancestor Dragon is clear.

It specifically came to capture the soul constructs for exploring the Illusion Space of the Inner Cosmos’s barrier.

The Assassin Angel clearly thought of this as well.

The angel asked Noland and “Command” to wait for a moment.

The counterpart it had placed in the Inner Cosmos was closely monitoring every move of the Metal Ancestor Dragon.

If the Metal Ancestor Dragon really sent those three players into the Inner Cosmos, the Assassin Angel’s counterpart would soon send a message.

While the Assassin Angel monitored the Metal Ancestor Dragon, “Command” was also not idle.

The disappearance of the three players’ souls and soul constructs meant that their bodies in “reality” had turned into a vegetative state.

Once their bodies became vegetative, their game helmets triggered an alarm, and their colleagues from the game studio sent them to the hospital.

During this process, “Command,” being the master of the players, intervened in this incident as the Plane’s Core.

The three had not yet married, had no romantic partners, and their parents were alive with no siblings, belonging to the group with very simple social relationships.

“Command” temporarily sealed the memories of the studio members, causing them to forget about the existence of the three cucumber slices in the short term.