Determined to explore, I moved forward cautiously, scanning my surroundings. Something about this place gave me a strange feeling.
The landscape looked like a desolate wasteland, vast and silent, but it wasn't a natural silence. It felt as if a predator were deliberately targeting me. The ground, dark and cracked, gave off a faint, repulsive stench, almost as if it were alive or breathing a corrupt energy that seemed to seep through my boots.
I frowned as I scanned the horizon.
"Who on earth would place a teleportation array inside the palace…?" I muttered to myself.
The idea was absurd.
A place like the imperial palace wasn't just protected by countless barriers, warriors, and detection seals. Placing a teleportation array there, right under everyone's noses, was practically impossible… or at least it should be.
I looked up.
