When Orion reappeared, he felt many things. First, his chip's connection to the outside world was severed. He could no longer send pictures or communicate with his family and friends. This was strange, as his device worked perfectly well on Planet Pandemonium, even in its deepest parts. This meant he was either in a secret world or in a place surrounded by a strong barrier.
Second, there was a strange change in the atmosphere. He felt something wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. Third, the mana in this place was disgusting, repulsive. Even the world itself seemed to be stained with ash.
Orion looked around and found himself in a long stone corridor, unable to see its end. Suddenly, he heard an automated voice in his ear: "Participant number 859,649,357,148,753,448." Orion was shocked by the number of participants. A place like this should accommodate thousands of low-level planets, hundreds of medium-level planets, or dozens of high-level planets. He didn't know if this number represented the living people in the pyramid, or both the living and the dead.
Orion's mind began to analyze. "I've never heard of a secret world like this pyramid with this number of people. Why? Second, I didn't see anyone when I was in front of the pyramid. Why? What if the pyramid is just a portal, meaning I'm not actually inside the pyramid, but in another place? So, are there, for example, many pyramids all over the planet? Or could the portal have been in the shape of a pyramid because I was in a desert area? Could the portal then take other forms depending on the environment, like a giant tree, a mountain, a huge rock, or even a sea? But this doesn't explain why I haven't heard of a place like this on the network. A place this huge would have been known on social media. Wait, what if all the people who entered never left, meaning they are all trapped in this place, whether alive or dead? But Planet Pandemonium has rules, when you reach sixteen, you are expelled from the planet. Does this place not apply to the planet's rules? But why? What's the point? I refuse to believe that this huge number of participants didn't succeed in killing a monster or solving a puzzle or maze. There's something greater than that, something dangerous."
Orion analyzed everything, and made many assumptions, all within seconds, thanks to the Heart of Shadows. He was calm, analyzing and calculating everything quietly. Orion looked at the corridor, his eyes filled with absolute focus, seriousness, and caution. Then he summoned Anarak, Severus, and Legolas, and told them everything. They immediately put on serious expressions, formed a battle formation, and began moving forward.
After an hour of moving, they entered a large hall with many paths. When Orion was about to move, he heard footsteps coming from two paths towards the hall. Immediately, he ordered the trio to hide in the shadows, while he focused on the newcomers.
When the newcomers came out, their eyes widened. They were Kai Nova, Liana Weaver, and Orion Terra, the two young people with anomalous conditions he met at the conference. Orion looked at them calmly, while Liana looked cautiously at the two, and Kai looked curiously at the two.
Then Kai spoke with a smile: "Well, what a strange surprise, aren't these my dear friends?"
Orion and Liana looked at him at the same time and said, "Since when were we friends?"
Kai: "Come on, don't be shy, didn't we even play a game together?"
Liana: "Hmph, it was an interesting game, didn't you want to know the personalities and thinking of the attendees?"
Kai: "Ahem, well, let's leave that for now, does anyone know what this place is?"
Orion, although he was taciturn and not interested in making friends, his instincts and the whispers of the shadows urged him to get close to them. Therefore, Orion followed his feeling. "Well, first, the number of participants is enormous, which means this place accommodates thousands of planets. I don't know its size, but that's the minimum. Second, I've never heard of this place on the network or any information about it, which is impossible given the huge number of participants, which means all participants are trapped in this place, whether dead or alive. And I refuse to believe that none of this number of participants can end the secret world, if this is truly a secret world. This leads me to the assumption that this is not a secret world, but something else. I don't know about you, but I entered this place by touching a giant pyramid in a desert, and during my stay next to the pyramid, I didn't meet anyone, not even a monster. So, this leads me to propose the issue of the portal, which is that the pyramid I touched is a portal that transports me to this place, and that there are many portals in many other areas, also in the form of a giant pyramid, or perhaps in other forms such as a giant tree, a giant rock, a mountain, or a sea, etc."
Kai and Liana looked at Orion in astonishment. They had their own assumptions, but they didn't come to an ideal conclusion like his. But their faces darkened when they remembered the part about being trapped in this place. Then Kai spoke seriously: "So, what do we do? I don't want to stay here for the rest of my life."
Orion looked at him and said, "Neither do I, and don't worry, everything has a weakness, and our mission is to find it."
Then Liana looked at them and said, "How about forming a mana pact alliance?"
Kai and Orion looked at her, then looked at each other as well. Orion began to think about the alliance. Usually, he would refuse, but his instincts and the whispers of the shadows urged him strongly, for the first time with such force. Then the trio looked at each other, nodded, and began to approach each other, placing their hands on top of each other. Then Liana began to speak: "I am Liana Weaver, I will never betray Kai Nova and Orion Terra." Then a thread of mana from Liana's mana heart went to Kai and Orion's mana hearts. "I am Kai Nova, I will never betray Liana Weaver and Orion Terra." Then the same thing happened. Then the two looked at Orion. "I am Orion Terra, I will never betray Kai Nova and Liana Weaver." And thus, a mana pact was formed between the trio, the first mana pact for Orion.
And thus, an alliance was formed that will shake the world in the future.