Chapter 93

This mission was of great importance, and the Superpower Bureau could not send only two people. So Xiao Shengyun saw the reinforcements sent early the next morning. There were three people in total, all of whom were acquaintances.

Chen Buyan, Lu Chenzhou and Jieyuan.

Xiao Shengyun had worked with these people before, and he gave a brief introduction. The others' gazes lingered on Zhou Zhi for a moment, probably wondering why the people from the research institute were here.

However, they didn't ask any further questions.

After a period of training, Chen Buyan became much more composed than before. He did not return to headquarters but stayed in S City.

"Captain Ye was injured in an operation and usually stays in the office to command remotely. Fewer and fewer people are going out on field missions. Huang Yu and I are busy every day and are overwhelmed. If we leave now, we'll probably get scolded to death!" Chen Buyan said with a wry smile.

"Where have you been these past few days? I haven't heard a word from you."

Xiao Shengyun briefly recounted his bizarre experience of driving home that day only to end up in the western district, earning him a sympathetic look in return.

This team was a hodgepodge; Chen Buyan represented the East District, Xie Yuan was from the West District, and only Lu Chenzhou was sent by the General Administration.

Zhou Zhi frowned secretly. If he guessed correctly, these people were also brought together by the so-called "prophecy". The young people quickly started chatting enthusiastically, with a hint of flippancy towards fate.

They took a submarine to a depth of 100 meters, where it was pitch black and the sun was only a faint, shimmering halo.

As the submarine went deeper, everyone held their breath. The water outside was churning, and even though they could breathe freely inside the submarine, a feeling of suffocation still hit them.

After descending another ten meters or so, the submarine suddenly began to shake violently, and everyone was thrown about in a state of weightlessness.

Xiao Shengyun was at the very back of the seat, his hand tightly clasped with Zhou Zhi's, the hard bones between their fingers, and he subconsciously clenched those fingers.

"Take care of yourselves and hold on tight to the railings as much as possible," Lu Chenzhou shouted. He was the oldest and had the most experience on missions, so taking care of the other team members was an unconscious habit.

After the feeling of weightlessness, the submarine crashed to the ground. Fortunately, a cushioning system was incorporated into the design, so no one was injured, but the huge impact left them dizzy.

Xiao Shengyun grabbed the handrail with one hand and the person next to him with the other, and only opened his eyes after the impact subsided.

He looked out the window curiously. Had they reached the ground?

"It hurts so much, my butt!"

"Is everyone alright?"

"fine."

After everyone had confirmed the situation, they steadied themselves, supporting their backs and legs. They felt like their bones had been shaken apart even before the mission started.

Xiao Shengyun felt himself being tugged and realized that he was still holding Zhou Zhi's hand. He awkwardly let go under the other's smiling gaze.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a low voice.

"No, but you're quite strong; you've even deformed the handrail." Zhou Zhi pointed to the completely twisted handrail.

After confirming that everything was correct, everyone turned their gaze to the window. By the light of the submarine, they could see huge ruins, and above the ruins was churning, dark seawater. In other words, this vast ocean was above a vacuum.

But how is that possible? What force could support such a vast ocean?

boom-

The submarine door opened, and the group packed their equipment and stepped onto the land. Since sunlight could not penetrate the seabed, the cold air clung to their protective suits, and they could feel the bone-chilling cold.

The massive building was dilapidated, its exterior crumbling, with scattered boulders and debris all around. The central door was open, leading to a dark passageway.

Upon entering the building, a strange feeling arises in everyone's heart.

The chill intensified.

Zhou Zhi recalled the battle with the Eye Without Pupil. Some pollutants like to strangle humans on a mental level. When the will to fight is lost, death begins.

“I’ll be at the front,” Lu Chenzhou said, his tone gentle but convincing.

Chen Buyan followed closely behind; his talent could illuminate the surroundings.

Xiao Shengyun walked at the very back.

The passage was very long, and it took us a while to reach the first fork in the road.

Which way to go?

Finally, they placed a road sign on the ground and chose the right side.

As the exploration progressed, some murals began to appear on the adjacent wall. The murals were carved very roughly, and the outlines of human heads and snake bodies could be vaguely seen.

"This is... a snake-man?"

Chen Buyan moved the light source in his hand to the front of the mural.

It depicts the scene of snake people living, and further ahead is a huge crack from which some black creatures emerge.

Then there are wave-like patterns, which seem to represent the ocean.

Is it the sea above their heads?

When the light became clearer, they were able to see what those so-called "ripples" were—the corpses of snake people.

Countless people lay on the ground, their slender snake tails intertwined, forming a vast expanse of water; each black line represented a life lost.

These murals reveal a cause-and-effect relationship: long ago, this was the home of the snake people. Pollution invaded the area, causing the snake people to be wiped out. Later, the snake people discovered a passage between two worlds, entered the inner world, and achieved a symbiotic relationship with the pollution.

This building also represents the civilization of the snake people.

They continued walking in the darkness until they heard a rustling sound.

What is it?

At the end of the corridor, some creatures on the ground rushed towards them at great speed.

"There's something there!"

Bang, bang, bang.

Lu Chenzhou was the first to react and immediately fired several shots. His talent was similar to Yue Ning's; he could sense the activity of living beings.

The light shone on those creatures, and they were...fish with legs?

The marine life has been polluted, and the fish that were originally there have grown two legs and are moving rapidly on the land, like big rats.

There were so many of these fish, they were densely packed together, and when the light shone on their eyes, they quickly fled.

These creatures live in darkness year-round, and their eyes cannot adapt to strong light.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. There were so many of these things that without this weakness, they would have been quite difficult to deal with.

Having been starving underground for so many days, these fish naturally wouldn't let go of their rare prey. They quickly changed direction and began attacking Chen Buyan from a blind spot in the light.

Because their bodies were completely shielded from the light, the vision of others was also affected to varying degrees.

A swift and decisive victory is needed.

Xiao Shengyun's black lines flew swiftly through the heads of the fish monsters, but the monsters continued to struggle.

A weakness isn't a head?

He paused, and at that moment a fish monster quickly broke free and attacked behind Xiao Shengyun's ear, but was blocked by a short knife.

"Legs, cut off their legs!" Zhou Zhi's voice rang out. Normally, fish are not very aggressive because they do not have legs. These fish monsters mainly move quickly using their two legs and then attack with their teeth.

The workload suddenly increased. These fish monsters moved very fast, and cutting off their legs was undoubtedly a difficult problem.

Zhou Zhi watched the "rats" moving in the shadows, scurrying about as they were driven by the light. "We can use the light to herd them together, then cut off their legs."

Chen Buyan changed the direction of the light, while Lu Chenzhou could hear the fish monster's movement and instructed Chen Buyan to adjust accordingly. Xiao Shengyun waited in the only dark corner, while the remaining two blocked the fish monster's attacks.

This method had an immediate effect; a large number of fish monsters had their legs cut off and were lying in the black liquid.

They struggled violently but could not move, only able to wag their tails.

Having dealt with all the troublesome fish monsters, Jie Yuan wiped the knife on his hand and looked at Zhou Zhi with admiration: "Impressive, you found a solution so quickly."

Since he completed the mission by clinging to a powerful figure last time, Jie Yuan was promoted upon returning, and he was extremely grateful to that person.

"Watch out!" Jie Yuan's gaze froze as a fish that had slipped through the net appeared behind Zhou Zhi. In the light, one could see that the fish monster had sharp, red teeth.

*Pfft*

The fish monster was hit by a bullet. The bullet didn't kill it, but the strong impact caused the fish monster to fall to the ground.

The crisis was averted, but the eyes of the group turned to terror.

Because a figure appeared in front of us.

Where did this godforsaken place come from?

"Are you alright?" The man scratched his head. He had a youthful face and brown curly hair, so he probably wasn't very old.

Seeing that no one answered, he whispered again, "Do I look that scary?"

It's not scary.

If the scene were different, he would be an ordinary young man, but this is an underwater ruin. How did he get in?

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Lu Chenzhou was the first to react.

"Let me introduce myself," the young man coughed solemnly. "My name is He Ping, a member of the Lighthouse Investigation Team. You must be sent by the General Administration as well. You're quite skilled."

Did the General Administration send another team at the same time? He Ping had the same insignia on his protective suit as the others.

“We’ve been here for a long time, wandering around aimlessly every day, but we haven’t found any useful information.” He Ping led the group forward.

They exchanged a skeptical glance and followed He Ping in silence.

"Us? Who else is in your team?" Lu Chenzhou asked.

“Brother Wu and Sister Liu Ying are also up ahead,” He Ping replied.

This person is highly suspicious no matter how you look at it. The investigation team consists of elite members, and there is no way they would expose their identity to someone whose identity has not been fully confirmed.

Everyone stared intently at He Ping's brown curly hair as they followed him deeper into the building.

After walking through a long corridor, they came to a room in the middle. Opposite the room was another passage, the destination of which was unknown.

"Brother Wu, I'm back."

The man called "Brother Wu" stood up and asked, "He Ping, have you found Xiao Cheng?"

Xiao City!

Everyone realized who they were: the lighthouse investigation team from twenty years ago!