The heavy metal door slid silently inward, revealing a relatively narrow, pure white transition chamber behind it.

The chamber's walls were smooth and unadorned, with only the ceiling and floor emitting a soft white light. The air was colder than in the corridor, carrying a strong, pungent medicinal smell.

"Please enter the disinfection chamber and stay still." Although the face on the door disappeared, her voice still echoed in the chamber.

Duke obediently walked in, and the metal door behind him closed immediately, enclosing him completely in this pure white space.

A low buzzing sound began, and countless fine blue lights suddenly lit up on the ceiling and surrounding walls.

These lights were not still; they flowed and rotated like living creatures, forming a complex three-dimensional rune array covering the entire chamber.

An intangible energy field instantly enveloped Duke, sweeping back and forth over him.

Duke was not unfamiliar with this scene; a similar procedure occurred when he returned from the Beastman Plane to the Space Fortress.

He could feel the energy field meticulously scanning the surface of his body, even attempting to penetrate his clothing.

At the same time, a cold mist with a special energy sprayed from tiny holes in the walls, instantly filling the chamber.

The mist touched his skin, bringing a slight stinging sensation, as if countless tiny ice needles were clearing all foreign matter and energy residues from the body surface.

The disinfection process lasted about a minute. When the mist dissipated, the blue rune array also dimmed, the buzzing stopped, and the air in the chamber became fresh again.

After the disinfection was complete, another metal door of the same material silently slid open in front of Duke, revealing a shorter passage behind it, with another door at the end.

He passed through the passage and arrived at the second door, which opened automatically, revealing a more spacious, slightly darker room beyond.

In the center of the room was a raised circular platform, its edges inscribed with older, more complex silver runes.

In each corner of the room stood a black stone pillar, about the height of a person, with a fist-sized crystal embedded at the top, emitting a dim blue light.

A figure in a black robe stood with his back to Duke, next to the platform.

The aura was not particularly noticeable, making it hard to determine this person's specific strength.

But precisely because of this, Duke understood that this person was likely a very powerful Wizard.

"Stand in the center of the platform, Wizard Duke." The black-robed Wizard turned around, his voice deep and magnetic.

He appeared to be around forty years old, with a stern face and sharp eagle-like eyes, wearing glasses with crystal lenses, the edges of which flickered with subtle rune glows.

Duke obediently stepped onto the platform and stood at the center.

"I am the security chief of the Fifth Outpost, Soron," the black-robed Wizard introduced himself in an official tone, "The research on erosion pollution is still not thorough, so anyone entering the outpost must undergo disinfection; this is written in the safety protocols."

Soron continued, "There are many types of abilities among the Awakened, so to avoid any possibility of your soul being manipulated by an Awakened, some checks are necessary. Rest assured, the entire process won't harm you; it's just some scans. Here's the relevant document."

He produced a roll of parchment, which floated in front of Duke.

The parchment detailed various rules of the outpost; it was a very formal document, representing that all procedures aligned with the Black Sail protocols.

Duke carefully read the document and after confirming, nodded, "Understood."

Soron then began to move, raising his hands, his ten fingers quickly and precisely outlining several enigmatic runes in the air.

With his actions, the silver runes around the platform lit up one by one, emitting a soft silver glow.

Simultaneously, the crystals atop the black stone pillars in the four corners of the room suddenly brightened, casting four concentrated blue beams, which precisely converged above Duke's head.

Duke could feel a gentle energy sweeping over his body, stopping after a moment.

Soron spoke, "Hm, nothing seems amiss, you may enter the Fifth Outpost."

After completing the check, Duke couldn't help but ask, "Lord Soron, how is the Seventh Outpost?"

Soron's face showed little expression, as he said, "We can talk inside."

Duke nodded, following Soron forward through three similarly thick metal doors, finally arriving at the true interior of the Fifth Outpost.

The Fifth Outpost was established earlier than the Seventh, and it was more developed with all kinds of facilities fully equipped.

Compared to here, the Seventh Outpost seemed too rudimentary and primitive.

Upon stepping into the hall, Duke's gaze was drawn to the giant holographic map suspended in the center.

The map outlined the entire Arsenal Mountain Range in dim blue light, with the erosion pollution zones writhing like dark red cancerous tissues on the three-dimensional map.

Duke noticed how deep the interior was, with lifts that could move up and down on all sides.

He glanced downward, almost unable to see the bottom; it was evident that Black Sail had developed numerous things here, turning it into a strong, complete base.

Many Black Sail Wizards were moving about in the surroundings, seemingly unaware that Duke had come from the Seventh Outpost, not glancing much toward him.

Soron led Duke into a small room, where the teapot automatically floated up to pour each of them a cup of tea.

"The Seventh Outpost has fallen, Wizard Brandon is dead, Hela and other Wizards are missing, some Wizards managed to teleport back to the Wizard Plane before the outpost was breached. Brandon chose not to teleport back, and remained to guard until the very end..." Soron detailed the events of the Seventh Outpost.

The location of the Seventh Outpost was somehow exposed, attracting an apostle-level Awakened's attack.

Duke knew that an Apostle was a Level 3 being, and the strongest at the Seventh Outpost was a Level 2 Mage, certainly hard-pressed to withstand the onslaught of a Level 3 being.

The Seventh Outpost held out for a time due to the witch array there, managing to send most of the Level 1 Mages back from the outpost.

Hela and the other Level 2 Mages stayed behind to buy time for the teleportation; by the time everyone else was sent away, they no longer had time.

The witch array was breached, and for the safety of the Wizard Plane, they had to destroy the teleportation array and many facilities of the Seventh Outpost, leaving nothing for the attackers.

According to the soul imprint left by Black Sail, Brandon was completely dead, while Hela and others were still alive, just missing whereabouts.

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