Zero narrowed his eyes as he looked at the black bead.

The color of this black bead is extremely similar to the white bead on the puppet's wrist before. I wonder what it is?

Could this be what controls the puppet?

Thinking of this, Zero immediately pointed his sword at the puppet.

However, his actions did not seem to attract the attention of the puppet. It stood there blankly, its eyes fixed on the ground, as if waiting for some command.

Sure enough, the beads were what controlled it!

Thinking of this, Zero sneered inwardly. He decided to try and see if he could control the puppet with this bead.

"Buzz—"

The bead emitted a strange fluctuation that instantly enveloped the puppet, and at that moment, the puppet finally reacted.

"ah!!!"

Its mouth was wide open, as if something had happened, and its face showed fear and pain.

"It worked!"

Seeing this, Zero was overjoyed. So this meant he could control the puppet!

After some further attempts, Zero confirmed that the puppet itself could not move; everything was controlled by the black bead.

In other words, as long as the bead is in his hands, the puppet is entirely under his control.

This is undoubtedly a huge help!

With a thought, Zero moved the enormous puppet into his spatial dimension and stored it in a corner, ready to be taken out and used whenever needed.

Since Zero made his move, the demonic dragon had been retreating to the side. Now that the puppet had been subdued, the demonic dragon approached Zero, curiously looking at the black bead in Zero's hand, and asked:

"Master, is this what controls that puppet?"

Zero nodded upon hearing the dragon's question;

"Yes, that's right. With it, I can control it and make it work for me."

Zero put away the black bead, turned to the demonic dragon, and whispered:

Let's go.

The dragon responded and followed Zero away from there.

The two returned to the secret passage. They had already explored the path behind them, and the path ahead was the one they had come from. So, only the passage extending to the right remained...

Inside the secret passage, Zero and the Demon Dragon walked slowly, but this time the atmosphere was somewhat silent. Zero didn't say anything, just walked forward quietly, which puzzled the Demon Dragon.

"Master? What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Forehead……"

Zero paused for a moment, looked up at the demonic dragon, and said calmly:

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something."

Upon hearing Zero's answer, the dragon did not press further, but simply accompanied Zero as they walked forward.

The dragon stopped in its tracks as it walked to the end of the passage.

This is the final exit.

"Master, the exit is just ahead. We can leave now."

Looking at the exit, the dragon's face lit up with excitement; he couldn't wait to see the outside world.

Zero nodded. "Mm."

The two of them stepped out of the exit together, and suddenly a flash of light appeared before their eyes.

After they got used to it, the two of them realized that they were standing in a barren desert.

The yellow sand in this desert was very thick and even had a faint yellow glow. Looking at the desert before him, Zero couldn't help but frown and say:

"Why does this place look so familiar?"

Why does it look so much like the place where I was trapped in the quicksand vortex back then?

besides……

Didn't I go to find Jiang Quan? The stone chamber deep in the base leads to this place?

Ling frowned. His goal was to find Jiang Quan and find out what had happened back then, but now he was far from his destination...

Just as Zero was about to return to the secret passage and the stone chamber they had come from, he discovered that the exit from which the two of them had come was now slowly disappearing from his sight.

His expression changed slightly, and he rushed inside, shouting, "Hurry!"

Seeing the dragon's stunned expression, Zero hurriedly shouted, and the dragon immediately reacted and rushed after Zero.

However, when the two returned to the exit, all that remained was endless yellow sand; there was no exit left at all!

With a sigh, Zero had no choice but to change course and head in the direction she had originally planned.

Two hours later.

The two returned to the base where Zero One had arrived.

Everything here is exactly the same as before.

A strange feeling welled up in Zero's heart, as if he had been tricked. For some reason, he felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him.

Zero sent the dragon back to the contract space first, and as before, Zero quietly sneaked in.

After searching around the base, Zero finally spotted Jiang Quan in a huge, palace-like place.

Jiang Quan was sitting there with a smile on his face.

Ling slowly approached Jiang Quan.

When Jiang Quan saw Ling suddenly appear, the smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold expression.

"What? Don't you recognize me? Didn't you send people to arrest me? What, now that I've come here on my own, you're unhappy?"

Ling lowered his eyelids slightly, a wicked smile playing on his lips, and looked at Jiang Quan, asking a question.

Jiang Quan snorted coldly, glanced at Zero with disdain, and said:

"You really think you're something special. I'll send people to arrest you, but we'll see if you cooperate."

Ling sneered upon hearing this, glanced at Jiang Quan disdainfully, and said:

Do you think I'm someone you can just grab as you please?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Quan burst into laughter.

He pointed to zero and said:

"You're really funny, you know? A few months ago, you thought I was dead, and I thought I was dead too, but unexpectedly, my soul, which should have dissipated, actually came back to life. I'm really tough. But this time, you won't be able to escape."

Upon hearing this, Zero shook his head dismissively and said:

“Jiang Quan, you overestimate yourself. If I wanted to kill you, you would have died hundreds of times over. I’m standing here now just to catch up with you and ask you a few questions.”

Upon hearing Ling's words, Jiang Quan couldn't help but scoff and said:

"Reminisce? What is there for us to reminisce about? Let me tell you, you absolutely cannot escape this time. Just surrender obediently, or else..."

Looking at Jiang Quan's cold expression, Ling shrugged and said:

"Let's get to the point. I'm here to catch up with you, not to fight."

"Heh, what a sharp tongue you have. But do you think you can escape from me? I'd like to try."

After saying that, Jiang Quan's figure flashed and he appeared directly in front of Zero. He slammed a punch into Zero's chest.

Seeing the fist coming straight at him, Ling smiled mockingly, then stretched out his right hand, fingers together, and clashed fiercely with Jiang Quan's fist.

With a loud 'thud,' both men's fists retracted simultaneously, then separated again. Jiang Quan's eyes flickered involuntarily.

"Huh? You actually blocked my attack?"

Upon hearing this, Zero raised an eyebrow and said:

"Of course I can stop it, otherwise why would I come to you?"