As the other party answered, Kanzaki Rei slowly closed his eyes.
He had already begun simulating the future.
Within the projected future, Kanzaki Rei accepted the invitation and joined the expedition alongside the man.
What he previewed was a scene thirty days later.
He saw unfamiliar figures beside him—
Four Level 8 class-advancers.
Existences at Level 8 were beings one would almost never encounter under normal circumstances, yet with a single future projection, he had already seen so many.
And the place they currently occupied…
His perception swept outward in every direction. He immediately sensed an overwhelming density of monster tides. Within his senses, he could even detect numerous incubation organs.
His Absolute Mana Sea had likely expanded to a radius of five trillion kilometers.
Yet even that remained insignificant compared to the endless scale of this world.
Through the corpses littering the ground—the remains of dead monsters—Kanzaki Rei roughly discerned the characteristics of this nest.
This place…
Was the Nest of Corruption.
And the target they intended to subjugate—
Was the Nest Lord of the Nest of Corruption.
"We truly owe it to Brother Kanzaki…"
"Without you, we never could've handled this many Eighth-Tier monsters on our own." A beautiful woman wearing a green crown smiled bitterly.
A Level 8…
Healing caster?
For Kanzaki Rei, who had directly projected himself into this point in time, the teammates around him were complete strangers.
However, after reviewing the records left inside his storage pouch—
The events gradually became clear.
The current Expeditionary Army was launching assaults from different sea-region entrances, attacking the Nest of Corruption from multiple directions. Their objective was to destroy several Nest Cores.
"A new theory regarding the birth of monsters…"
"Monster tides appear as though they're born from nothing, but in reality, they are not created out of thin air."
"Different types of monster tides each possess different origins."
"And within the Nest of Corruption, the source of those monster tides is the resentment left behind by the dead, the evil thoughts hidden within hearts, the distortion of souls. Every negative aspect connected to souls throughout the world is drawn here, allowing the Nest of Corruption to continuously create new powerful monsters."
"The root of all of this lies within the Evilheart Pillars of the Nest of Corruption."
"As long as every Evilheart Pillar throughout the Nest of Corruption is completely destroyed, no new monsters from the Nest of Corruption will ever be born again."
"This method is also the only way to kill the Lord of Corrupted Souls."
However, there was a question mark written beside this record.
Meaning that Kanzaki Rei himself had doubts about it.
In other words, even when he received this information, he had not been completely certain whether it would truly accomplish the goal.
Which meant someone else had likely provided him with this intelligence.
"And after joining the Expeditionary Army… with my current standing, I still wasn't qualified to access the final strategic plan?"
"So they only assigned me to one of the operations."
The cause and effect.
What these people intended to do.
Kanzaki Rei had already pieced it all together.
But another question still remained.
Where were the Ninth-Tier monsters of the Nest?
Could it really be possible for Ninth-Tier monsters to simply ignore them and watch as they destroyed the most important structures within the entire Nest?
As Kanzaki Rei continued thinking, he advanced alongside the four people beside him.
A healing caster.
A bard.
A Soul Shepherd.
An assassin.
That was the complete composition of his squad.
The most extravagant aspect of the team was that every single member was Level 8.
So this really was it—
The highest-end combat power in the entire world gathered together here.
Besides that, Kanzaki Rei had also obtained another important piece of information.
Iz and the others were also members of the organization known as the Expeditionary Army. However, their front line differed from his own, and they appeared to be carrying out an operation with an extremely high level of secrecy. At present, there was no way to contact them.
Still, merely knowing they belonged to the same organization was enough to put his mind somewhat at ease.
The five continued advancing toward their destination for an entire day.
At last, Kanzaki Rei's consciousness returned to reality.
…
The blindfolded man before him showed little expression on his face.
Yet Kanzaki Rei could still sense a trace of nervousness from him.
"So? Young man? Anything else you want to ask?"
"But honestly, our internal secrecy classification is extremely high. What I can tell you is limited to this much."
"All I can promise is that everything we're doing is for the good of this world. None of us want to live in a world filled with nothing but monsters and no people."
"And besides, if those things take over our homes, wouldn't we all end up as meat on the chopping block anyway?"
"So, brother… trust me."
Kanzaki Rei let out a soft sigh.
"Fine. I do still prefer living in a world with people in it."
"I can join you. But after joining, I want all the details I ask for to be told to me."
The blindfolded man nodded.
"You'll know eventually."
"Should I take you to meet the Great Sage now, or do you need some time first?"
Kanzaki Rei replied,
"No need. Better now than later. Let's go meet him immediately."
A faint change flickered through Kanzaki Rei's pupils.
He conducted another future projection.
Then immediately performed two more in succession.
Each projection previewed different segments of spacetime.
Only after completing four consecutive simulations did Kanzaki Rei continue speaking.
"Let's go directly."
BANG!
A spatial fissure instantly exploded open before the two of them.
A phased passageway appeared before the blindfolded man.
The blindfolded man visibly froze.
"Phase…"
"You can use Phase manipulation too?"
Kanzaki Rei replied casually,
"Mm. I know a little about it. Don't you people use it too?"
The blindfolded man's tone grew slightly heavier.
"It seems you know far more than I expected."
"I'm beginning to wonder whether recruiting you was actually a good thing or a bad thing."
Kanzaki Rei answered calmly,
"Of course it's a good thing. Just as I'm willing to trust you, you should also trust me."
As he spoke, Kanzaki Rei stepped directly into the phased passageway before him.
The blindfolded swordsman followed behind him.
After merely a few steps—
The two had already arrived within a pitch-black valley.
Before them stood a massive barrier restriction.
Upon arriving here directly, the swordsman immediately felt something was wrong.
Why did Kanzaki Rei know he intended to bring him here?
This place was supposed to be the secret base of the Expeditionary Army.
The blindfolded swordsman had just opened his mouth to stop Kanzaki Rei—
But Kanzaki Rei walked straight through the barrier as though he had seen it countless times before.
Kanzaki Rei turned back to glance at the blindfolded swordsman.
"What are you standing around for?"
"Do you need me to lead the way for you too?"
The blindfolded man's mouth twitched.
No…
Who exactly was leading whom here?
Why are you so familiar with this place?
Could you actually be one of our undercover agents stationed outside?
Even as shock surged through his mind, the blindfolded swordsman secretly transmitted this information to several nearby companions.
Kanzaki Rei strolled leisurely through the cavern deep within the valley.
Inside the cave, which was layered with numerous restrictions and seals, he could clearly sense several powerful perceptions sweeping across him.
This place housed more than one Level 8 class-advancer.
And Kanzaki Rei's excessively conspicuous and domineering behavior instantly made him the focus of everyone's attention.
Yet Kanzaki Rei behaved as though none of it mattered.
With only a few flickering steps, he moved ahead without waiting for the blindfolded man and directly arrived at a shabby little room deep within the cave.
Inside the cramped, rundown room sat a fishman dressed in a white lab coat, wearing reading glasses, his demeanor solemn and dignified.
He—
Was the Great Sage the blindfolded man had spoken of.