"All the cabins are empty!"

Diego frowned, walked back to Lieutenant Marcus, and said in a deep voice.

"Empty?"

Lieutenant Marcus was slightly surprised upon hearing this.

"Yes, I just opened the doors of four cabins, and all were empty."

Diego replied truthfully.

Lieutenant Marcus’s frown deepened.

After a moment of thought, he walked toward a cabin from which smoke was rising and gently pushed the door open.

Unlike Diego, who only stood at the door and looked around, he walked directly into the cabin.

The cabin was not large, and a glance around was enough to take in all of its interior arrangements.

What puzzled Lieutenant Marcus was that the cabin contained no bed, no place to eat, only a burning campfire.

Typically, people’s attention is drawn to their surroundings, so they selectively ignore one place...

Above their heads!

When he stepped into the cabin, Lieutenant Marcus had not looked up at any point.

One could say that he had scanned the entire cabin but had overlooked the area above.

Just as he was about to leave, a drop of liquid suddenly fell from above, landing on the back of his hand.

"Huh?"

Lieutenant Marcus’s eyes widened instantly.

At this moment, he finally realized that something seemed to be above his head.

He quickly raised his pistol and simultaneously lifted his head.

Above was a person hanging from the ceiling.

Because the individual’s body was parallel to the roof, Lieutenant Marcus hadn’t noticed them upon entering the cabin.

Although emaciated to the point of being skin and bones, the person was still alive.

His mouth hung wide open, eyes staring intently at Lieutenant Marcus below.

The drop of liquid was precisely his saliva.

He couldn’t move his body or make any sounds, using his saliva merely to alert newcomers.

Lieutenant Marcus observed carefully until confirming there was no threat from the person above; then, he exited the cabin and shouted to Diego and the others, "I found someone here!"

Upon hearing this, Diego and the others quickly approached the cabin.

"Above!"

Lieutenant Marcus pointed up with his hand.

Upon hearing, Diego looked up and immediately displayed a startled expression.

"Do you recognize him?"

Seeing this, Lieutenant Marcus couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course I do!"

Diego gently nodded and smiled, "Long time no see, Lieutenant Hussein!"

The person hanging parallel on the cabin ceiling was none other than Lieutenant Hussein, who led part of the navy into the Divine Temple!

Lieutenant Hussein was now so thin he was unrecognizable.

Had it not been for his military uniform and the mole on his brow, Diego might not have recognized him.

"Mmm mmm mmm..."

Upon hearing Diego say his name, a hint of excitement flashed in Hussein’s eyes.

"Let’s put him down!"

"If we want to know what this place is, he’s likely the only one who knows..."

Diego couldn’t help but sigh.

Earlier, he wondered where Lieutenant Hussein and the others had gone.

Unexpectedly, he was close, yet so far!

Lieutenant Marcus hesitated for a moment, waved his hand, and signaled his men to take Hussein down from the ceiling.

Once rescued, Hussein struggled to open his mouth, seemingly indicating something.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t speak yet, leaving everyone present puzzled.

"Is he... could he be wanting water?"

At this moment, Cao Rui suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, Lieutenant Marcus frowned and asked, "Who has water?"

"I have a small bottle!"

Kalu said, taking out a half-bottle of water from his pocket.

Lieutenant Marcus took it, unscrewed the cap, and poured it all into Hussein’s mouth.

It seemed Hussein hadn’t had water in a long time.

So when the water reached his mouth, he instantly showed a look of satisfaction.

"Th-thank you..."

After drinking, Hussein rasped a weak thank you.

"Can you speak now?"

Seeing him speak, Diego asked excitedly.

"A-a bit..."

Hussein nodded, but each word was uttered with great difficulty.

"Then can you tell me, what is this place?"

Upon hearing, Diego hurriedly asked.

"Don’t... know..."

Hussein shook his head, indicating he didn’t know either.

Hearing this answer, Diego and Marcus both furrowed their brows.

Clearly, this response left them very dissatisfied.

Diego then asked again: "Hussein, can you tell us what happened after you entered the Blood-colored Divine Temple?"

"Why are you bound to the ceiling, and what about the other naval soldiers who came with you?"

Upon hearing Diego’s questions, a flash of fear appeared in Hussein’s eyes.

His voice trembled as he laboriously spoke, "We... we..."

"After entering... the Blood-colored Divine Temple, suddenly found ourselves here..."

"At the foot of the mountain... we were attacked by red-eyed... red-eyed people..."

"We couldn’t... kill them... only had to escape upward..."

"But up the mountain... the monsters were even more powerful..."

"We were all... all captured alive..."

"They treat us... like food... consuming our flesh and blood every day..."

Hussein struggled to recount the situation they encountered after entering the Blood-colored Divine Temple.

Diego listened intently, and corroborating with prior experiences, understood what Hussein narrated.

It was evident that Hussein and his group, lured by the Blood-colored Divine Temple, encountered monsters like Zhang Songkang and the red-eyed humans.

Just like their recent experience, these red-eyed human monsters couldn’t be killed, so they had to flee up the mountain.

But upon reaching mid-mountain, they confronted even more formidable monsters.

They were then captured alive by those powerful entities.

Why were they captured alive?

Because these powerful entities needed Hussein and his group’s flesh and blood as food.

However, after hearing Hussein’s ordeal, Diego and the others soon had another doubt.

What were the powerful monsters Hussein mentioned?

Why did they not encounter any powerful monsters when they reached mid-mountain?

Just as Diego was about to ask, the ground beneath everyone suddenly began to tremble.

Hussein’s eyes widened instantly, and the fear in them almost became tangible.

"Th-they... are... back..."

"They... are back..."