Chapter 63: Secretly Entering the Underground Cavern
At 3:00 AM, the night was as thick as ink.
At a concealed logistics exit on the south side of Panshi City, eight exploration squad members had assembled in full gear. There were no roaring motorcades or blinding headlights. Two lightly armored off-road vehicles, modified with silencers, rested quietly in the shadows, their bodies disguised with wasteland camouflage. Everyone kept their voices low as they checked their equipment. Metal buckles were wrapped in cloth strips to prevent any sound during movement.
Major Lu Heng, wearing dark combat gear with an alloy long knife slanted across his back, walked up to the crowd. He lowered his voice for a final set of instructions.
"The battle at the outer outposts is still ongoing; the artillery fire will cover the noise of our vehicles. We will take the route through the northern valley. Keep the vehicle headlights off throughout the journey and rely on infrared night vision to advance." Lu Heng's gaze swept over every team member. "Remember, our primary objective is not to kill scaled beasts, but to gather evidence. If you encounter a large-scale beast swarm, prioritize retreating; do not fight stubbornly. The underground psychic network is omnipresent. Everyone must maintain Sea of Consciousness vigilance at all times."
Everyone nodded and boarded the vehicles in sequence.
The vehicles slowly drove out of the concealed exit, merging into the pitch-black wasteland. Occasionally, flashes of artillery fire lit up the distant horizon, briefly illuminating the undulating scorched earth before sinking back into darkness. Low roars from scattered scaled beasts on the wasteland mixed with the muffled sounds of distant artillery, forming the unique background noise of this catastrophe-stricken land.
Sitting in the back row, Lin Yan closed his eyes to concentrate. A few silk-thin psychic threads extended slowly along the rock strata of the ground.
Beneath the entire earth, that massive psychic spiderweb lay quietly, with countless nodes alternating between light and dark. Most of the computing power had been mobilized to continuously strike the outer strongholds of Panshi City to restrain the garrison. However, within the main passage of the rift, sufficient psychic power was still retained, layered one upon another like a chain of traps, quietly waiting for the squad to arrive.
"They haven't committed all their forces to the outer siege," Lin Yan said, turning his head to whisper to Old Chen and Su Qing beside him. "The number of scaled beasts ambushing inside the main passage is extremely high, with psychic nodes set up in layers of defense. The deeper we go, the stronger the psychic suppression will be."
Su Qing held a portable psychic recorder in her arms. The soft glow of the screen displayed continuously jumping induction curves. "I will keep recording the waveforms. Once the nodes activate in a concentrated manner, I will issue an immediate warning."
The vehicles bumped along the rugged valley. Two hours later, they stopped in a rocky depression a kilometer away from the main entrance of the Green Rock Rift.
The terrain here was low-lying, and the massive rock formations could block the line of sight toward the cave entrance. Everyone disembarked, hiding the vehicles behind the giant boulders. Two drivers were left behind to stand guard, ready to provide support at any time. The remaining eight formed a single-file警戒 (alert) formation and hiked stealthily toward the main entrance of the rift.
The ground was covered with sharp gravel, requiring careful steps. The familiar stench of rotting earth and blood grew heavier with every step closer to the rift.
Ahead, a massive, pitch-black fissure stretched across the earth. The entrance to the main Green Rock Rift was dozens of meters wide, resembling the gaping maw of a giant beast extending infinitely into the underground. The edges of the cave were scattered with numerous scaled beast claw marks and dried dark green bloodstains. It was eerily quiet. There were no roars, no moving shadows. All the scaled beasts had concealed their auras, lying dormant in the rock crevices on both sides of the passage.
"Everyone, switch headlamps to the lowest brightness setting and maintain a three-meter distance," Lu Heng raised his hand to signal the team to stop. "Lin Yan, you are in the vanguard, responsible for sensing psychic anomalies ahead. Su Qing, follow closely behind him and continuously collect signals. The explosives expert takes the rear; watch the passage behind to prevent our retreat from being sealed off."
The formation was quickly arranged. Lin Yan walked at the very front, his psychic threads continuously probing into the pitch-black passage.
A faint psychic barrier shrouded the cave entrance; it was a warning node set up by the Lizardmen priests. As soon as the squad stepped into the rift's range, all the priests deep within would instantly receive the signal.
"We have already been discovered," Lin Yan informed the group in a low voice. "They know we've entered, but they haven't launched an immediate attack. They are luring us to go deeper."
Lu Heng's expression remained unchanged as he replied in a deep voice, "Proceed according to the original plan. Stay vigilant."
The team stepped into the rift.
The faint beams from their headlamps pierced the darkness, illuminating the rough, uneven rock walls. The walls were covered with grooves left by crawling scaled beasts, along with numerous branching caves of various sizes; each hole could potentially hide a lurking monster. The passage gradually sloped downward, and the temperature continued to drop. A damp, cold airflow surged up from the depths of the earth, carrying an indescribable chill.
The ground beneath their feet was muddy and slippery, mixed with decaying biological remains.
The squad maintained a steady pace, their eight-person formation taut. Team members on the left and right took turns guarding the branching caves on the rock walls.
After walking about three hundred meters, the passage forked. The main passage continued to extend downward, while two branching passages spread horizontally to the left and right. Lin Yan stopped and extended his mental tentacles to explore.
"The left and right branches each have a psychic node deployed and scaled beasts lying in ambush. It's a feint trap. If we split up to investigate, we will be divided and surrounded." Lin Yan pointed to the wide main passage directly ahead. "The true path is straight ahead."
Lu Heng pondered briefly and made a quick decision. "Do not enter the branches. The whole team will take the main passage. Do not separate."
The team continued to delve deeper along the main passage.
Along the way, they constantly sensed the auras of lurking scaled beasts in the shadows of the rock caves, but the priests never issued an attack order. The enemy deliberately let them continue deeper, continuously compressing the squad's retreat route, waiting to spring the net only after drawing them into the core trap area.
On the screen of Su Qing's recorder, the density of psychic signals rose steadily.
"The strength of the psychic network is continuously increasing, with multiple nodes linked in a progressively deepening manner," Su Qing whispered. "Once triggered, we will face multiple layers of psychic impacts simultaneously."
A scarred veteran gripped his short spear tightly, his eyes fixed on the rock caves on both sides. "This place is terrifyingly quiet. I'd rather the scaled beasts charged out early. This feeling of waiting for an ambush is too agonizing."
No sooner had he spoken than Lin Yan abruptly raised his hand, signaling the entire team to stop.
In the center of the passage ahead lay a massive rock strata fault. Below the fault was a bottomless abyss, and the faint sound of dripping water could be heard from below. On the rock wall opposite the fault, dozens of pairs of crimson compound eyes lit up quietly in the darkness.
The scaled beasts had already blocked the passage ahead.
At the same time, from the direction of the passage entrance behind the squad, came the muffled sound of falling rocks. Su Qing quickly turned the detector around, her face changing. "Rear passage! The rock strata has collapsed! Our retreat is blocked!"
Both the front and rear routes were completely sealed off.
The Lizardmen priests underground had finally activated the first layer of their encirclement trap.
From the branching rock caves in all directions, countless scaled beasts emitted low roars in unison. Under the unified dispatch of psychic commands, they slowly tightened the encirclement.
Lu Heng drew his long knife and issued a deep command. "Circular defensive formation! Hold the side of the fault. Do not separate!"
Standing at the outermost edge of the circular formation, Lin Yan spread his psychic threads with full force, searching for the intersection point of this layer's psychic network nodes. His second-tier peak Sea of Consciousness operated at full capacity, and a familiar swelling pain faintly arose in his skull.
He knew clearly that this was merely the beginning. The deeper they went into the underground, the more terrifying the traps waiting for them would become.
End of Chapter.
At a concealed logistics exit on the south side of Panshi City, eight exploration squad members had assembled in full gear. There were no roaring motorcades or blinding headlights. Two lightly armored off-road vehicles, modified with silencers, rested quietly in the shadows, their bodies disguised with wasteland camouflage. Everyone kept their voices low as they checked their equipment. Metal buckles were wrapped in cloth strips to prevent any sound during movement.
Major Lu Heng, wearing dark combat gear with an alloy long knife slanted across his back, walked up to the crowd. He lowered his voice for a final set of instructions.
"The battle at the outer outposts is still ongoing; the artillery fire will cover the noise of our vehicles. We will take the route through the northern valley. Keep the vehicle headlights off throughout the journey and rely on infrared night vision to advance." Lu Heng's gaze swept over every team member. "Remember, our primary objective is not to kill scaled beasts, but to gather evidence. If you encounter a large-scale beast swarm, prioritize retreating; do not fight stubbornly. The underground psychic network is omnipresent. Everyone must maintain Sea of Consciousness vigilance at all times."
Everyone nodded and boarded the vehicles in sequence.
The vehicles slowly drove out of the concealed exit, merging into the pitch-black wasteland. Occasionally, flashes of artillery fire lit up the distant horizon, briefly illuminating the undulating scorched earth before sinking back into darkness. Low roars from scattered scaled beasts on the wasteland mixed with the muffled sounds of distant artillery, forming the unique background noise of this catastrophe-stricken land.
Sitting in the back row, Lin Yan closed his eyes to concentrate. A few silk-thin psychic threads extended slowly along the rock strata of the ground.
Beneath the entire earth, that massive psychic spiderweb lay quietly, with countless nodes alternating between light and dark. Most of the computing power had been mobilized to continuously strike the outer strongholds of Panshi City to restrain the garrison. However, within the main passage of the rift, sufficient psychic power was still retained, layered one upon another like a chain of traps, quietly waiting for the squad to arrive.
"They haven't committed all their forces to the outer siege," Lin Yan said, turning his head to whisper to Old Chen and Su Qing beside him. "The number of scaled beasts ambushing inside the main passage is extremely high, with psychic nodes set up in layers of defense. The deeper we go, the stronger the psychic suppression will be."
Su Qing held a portable psychic recorder in her arms. The soft glow of the screen displayed continuously jumping induction curves. "I will keep recording the waveforms. Once the nodes activate in a concentrated manner, I will issue an immediate warning."
The vehicles bumped along the rugged valley. Two hours later, they stopped in a rocky depression a kilometer away from the main entrance of the Green Rock Rift.
The terrain here was low-lying, and the massive rock formations could block the line of sight toward the cave entrance. Everyone disembarked, hiding the vehicles behind the giant boulders. Two drivers were left behind to stand guard, ready to provide support at any time. The remaining eight formed a single-file警戒 (alert) formation and hiked stealthily toward the main entrance of the rift.
The ground was covered with sharp gravel, requiring careful steps. The familiar stench of rotting earth and blood grew heavier with every step closer to the rift.
Ahead, a massive, pitch-black fissure stretched across the earth. The entrance to the main Green Rock Rift was dozens of meters wide, resembling the gaping maw of a giant beast extending infinitely into the underground. The edges of the cave were scattered with numerous scaled beast claw marks and dried dark green bloodstains. It was eerily quiet. There were no roars, no moving shadows. All the scaled beasts had concealed their auras, lying dormant in the rock crevices on both sides of the passage.
"Everyone, switch headlamps to the lowest brightness setting and maintain a three-meter distance," Lu Heng raised his hand to signal the team to stop. "Lin Yan, you are in the vanguard, responsible for sensing psychic anomalies ahead. Su Qing, follow closely behind him and continuously collect signals. The explosives expert takes the rear; watch the passage behind to prevent our retreat from being sealed off."
The formation was quickly arranged. Lin Yan walked at the very front, his psychic threads continuously probing into the pitch-black passage.
A faint psychic barrier shrouded the cave entrance; it was a warning node set up by the Lizardmen priests. As soon as the squad stepped into the rift's range, all the priests deep within would instantly receive the signal.
"We have already been discovered," Lin Yan informed the group in a low voice. "They know we've entered, but they haven't launched an immediate attack. They are luring us to go deeper."
Lu Heng's expression remained unchanged as he replied in a deep voice, "Proceed according to the original plan. Stay vigilant."
The team stepped into the rift.
The faint beams from their headlamps pierced the darkness, illuminating the rough, uneven rock walls. The walls were covered with grooves left by crawling scaled beasts, along with numerous branching caves of various sizes; each hole could potentially hide a lurking monster. The passage gradually sloped downward, and the temperature continued to drop. A damp, cold airflow surged up from the depths of the earth, carrying an indescribable chill.
The ground beneath their feet was muddy and slippery, mixed with decaying biological remains.
The squad maintained a steady pace, their eight-person formation taut. Team members on the left and right took turns guarding the branching caves on the rock walls.
After walking about three hundred meters, the passage forked. The main passage continued to extend downward, while two branching passages spread horizontally to the left and right. Lin Yan stopped and extended his mental tentacles to explore.
"The left and right branches each have a psychic node deployed and scaled beasts lying in ambush. It's a feint trap. If we split up to investigate, we will be divided and surrounded." Lin Yan pointed to the wide main passage directly ahead. "The true path is straight ahead."
Lu Heng pondered briefly and made a quick decision. "Do not enter the branches. The whole team will take the main passage. Do not separate."
The team continued to delve deeper along the main passage.
Along the way, they constantly sensed the auras of lurking scaled beasts in the shadows of the rock caves, but the priests never issued an attack order. The enemy deliberately let them continue deeper, continuously compressing the squad's retreat route, waiting to spring the net only after drawing them into the core trap area.
On the screen of Su Qing's recorder, the density of psychic signals rose steadily.
"The strength of the psychic network is continuously increasing, with multiple nodes linked in a progressively deepening manner," Su Qing whispered. "Once triggered, we will face multiple layers of psychic impacts simultaneously."
A scarred veteran gripped his short spear tightly, his eyes fixed on the rock caves on both sides. "This place is terrifyingly quiet. I'd rather the scaled beasts charged out early. This feeling of waiting for an ambush is too agonizing."
No sooner had he spoken than Lin Yan abruptly raised his hand, signaling the entire team to stop.
In the center of the passage ahead lay a massive rock strata fault. Below the fault was a bottomless abyss, and the faint sound of dripping water could be heard from below. On the rock wall opposite the fault, dozens of pairs of crimson compound eyes lit up quietly in the darkness.
The scaled beasts had already blocked the passage ahead.
At the same time, from the direction of the passage entrance behind the squad, came the muffled sound of falling rocks. Su Qing quickly turned the detector around, her face changing. "Rear passage! The rock strata has collapsed! Our retreat is blocked!"
Both the front and rear routes were completely sealed off.
The Lizardmen priests underground had finally activated the first layer of their encirclement trap.
From the branching rock caves in all directions, countless scaled beasts emitted low roars in unison. Under the unified dispatch of psychic commands, they slowly tightened the encirclement.
Lu Heng drew his long knife and issued a deep command. "Circular defensive formation! Hold the side of the fault. Do not separate!"
Standing at the outermost edge of the circular formation, Lin Yan spread his psychic threads with full force, searching for the intersection point of this layer's psychic network nodes. His second-tier peak Sea of Consciousness operated at full capacity, and a familiar swelling pain faintly arose in his skull.
He knew clearly that this was merely the beginning. The deeper they went into the underground, the more terrifying the traps waiting for them would become.
End of Chapter.