Chapter 12: Underground Surge
The deeper they ventured into the ruins, the more oppressive the environment became.
The natural light between the broken walls grew increasingly scarce. The putrid stench unique to the scaled beasts thickened in the air, mingled with the musty odor of damp earth and rotting building materials. Breathing it in made one's chest feel tight. The psychic turbulence floating in the air was no longer an intermittent ripple; it had transformed into a thick, stagnant tide, continuously washing over their Seas of Consciousness.
The Sea of Consciousness stabilizer pendant around Su Qin's neck had been trembling slightly, the faint light on its metal surface flickering. Every few dozen steps, she had to pause briefly, closing her eyes to gather her turbulent core of consciousness, fine beads of cold sweat constantly seeping from her temples. Even just walking slowly, the continuous psychic erosion was constantly draining her mental energy.
"The entrance to the old command center is right up ahead." Su Qin lowered her voice and pointed toward a massive, square collapsed pit ahead.
The reinforced concrete of the original ground had completely caved in, forming a giant downward-sloping hole. A pitch-black passage extended inward, swallowing all light. Scattered around the edge of the pit were broken metal frames, twisted cables, and the rusted remains of instruments—the ruins left behind after the command center was destroyed. A cold wind continuously surged out from the hole, carrying psychic turbulence several times stronger than that on the surface.
"The last coordinate is in the main control room on the third underground level." Su Qin took out the map from her emergency kit, identifying the location using the faint daylight. "The underground space is sealed; the turbulence has nowhere to dissipate. Once it erupts, its power will be multiplied. Furthermore, this kind of enclosed underground space is the easiest place to hide high-level scaled beasts. In previous assessments, the most people failed right here."
Lin Yan stood at the edge of the pit, his gaze fixed on the pitch-black underground passage. He opened his perception to probe inward. Deep underground, a thick, lurking consciousness rested in the darkness, terrifyingly silent, yet harboring a ferocity ready to strike at any moment.
There was something in there.
"Be careful." Lin Yan reminded in a low voice, stepping into the sloping passage first. The inner walls were covered with rubble, and the ground was slippery. The two could only hold onto the rusted metal supports, moving downward step by step.
The further down they went, the darker it became. By the second underground level, there was almost no natural light. They only had the faint cold-light flashlights taken from their emergency kits to illuminate a small area in front of them. As the flashlight beams swept across both sides, they revealed walls covered with scratches of varying depths. Some dried, blackened stains were firmly stuck to the concrete walls—the traces left by the fierce battles of many years ago.
The silence underground was absolute death. There was no sound of rolling rubble from the surface, only the two of them breathing evenly, and the faint, slow sound of crawling and friction coming from afar.
The sound was coming from the third underground level.
Lightening their footsteps, the two walked to the metal door leading to the main control room. The door had long been severely deformed, the frame twisted, and the door panel dented inward by immense force. A massive tear had been ripped in the center of the door, large enough for a person to pass through sideways.
The flashlight beam pierced through the tear, shining into the main control room.
This was the core command area of the old defense line back then. Countless broken consoles, display screens, and communication equipment were scattered across the floor, tables and chairs were overturned, and cables coiled on the ground like dead snakes. At the farthest end of the room stood a massive, shattered main control screen. On the open ground in front of the screen, a massive black shadow was quietly coiled.
Hearing the light of the flashlight, the black shadow slowly moved.
A scaled beast nearly six meters long slowly raised its head.
It was far larger than the three-meter-long individual in the garage earlier. Thick, black-grey scales were layered over its body, with dark purple patterns on its surface. The psychic glands on both sides of its head were massive and plump, continuously releasing psychic fluctuations invisible to the naked eye. Its four limbs were thick, and its claws were like giant alloy chisels, each one capable of easily tearing through concrete walls.
This was a sub-high-level scaled beast. It shouldn't have been present in this cleared assessment ruins. For some unknown reason, it had been lurking in this underground main control room.
Su Qin gasped, her body instantly freezing. Her Sea of Consciousness was immediately crushed by the massive psychic pressure. A severe headache struck her head, and she instinctively took half a step back. Her hand clenched tightly, almost touching the signal alarm in her emergency kit.
"Don't touch the alarm." Lin Yan's voice was pressed extremely low, his gaze locked firmly on the sub-high-level scaled beast. "Once triggered, the assessment fails immediately. Let's find cover first."
The scaled beast let out a low roar.
In the next instant, a violent, peerless psychic tidal wave exploded like a tsunami within the sealed underground main control room!
The underground space was enclosed, and the turbulence had nowhere to dissipate; it was entirely compressed within the room, causing the impact intensity to multiply exponentially. Invisible mental power slammed fiercely into their Seas of Consciousness. Su Qin let out a muffled groan, stumbled backward, and fell to the ground. She clutched her head with both hands as the severe headache instantly engulfed her. Her Sea of Consciousness was not inherently strong, and after the continuous mental drain from the long trek just now, she simply couldn't withstand this violent assault. Her Sea of Consciousness shook violently, the world spun around her, and her vision began to darken.
Lin Yan was also bearing the brunt of this terrifying psychic wave.
Even with his true heart, tempered through countless life-and-death trials, the core of his Sea of Consciousness felt immense pressure at this moment, his mind buzzing. Yet, he still stood firmly in place, not taking half a step back. He quickly scanned the environment of the main control room. The toppled heavy metal operating tables and the broken concrete walls could all be used to temporarily block the psychic impact.
The scaled beast pushed off the ground with its four limbs, its massive body slowly stepping forward. Its thick scales rubbed against the ground, making a harsh, scratching sound. It was not in a hurry to pounce and kill; it continuously released psychic turbulence, wanting to completely shatter their Seas of Consciousness first, and then leisurely harvest its prey.
"Su Qin! Retreat behind the metal operating table on the left! The thick metal can weaken the turbulence!" Lin Yan shouted in a deep voice, while simultaneously turning his body and moving quickly, detouring toward a toppled operating table on the side.
Su Qin gritted her teeth, enduring the tearing pain in her Sea of Consciousness. Using both her hands and feet, she struggled to crawl behind the metal operating table, hiding her body behind the thick alloy panel. The metal shield blocked most of the psychic impact, and the heavy pressure on her Sea of Consciousness instantly lessened considerably. She was able to catch her breath, trying her best to gather her turbulent, collapsing consciousness.
But this was merely a stopgap measure.
The massive body of the scaled beast could easily overturn this operating table; the metal shield could not withstand its physical impact.
Lin Yan quickly maneuvered through the wreckage of broken equipment, constantly changing his position to attract the scaled beast's attention while searching for its weakness. The sub-high-level scaled beast had extremely strong scale armor defense. The glands on its head were the core of its psychic turbulence release, and simultaneously its greatest weakness. As long as the glands were severely damaged, its psychic impact would greatly diminish.
But to get close to its head, he had to withstand the continuous oppression on his Sea of Consciousness.
Attracted by Lin Yan's movement, the scaled beast's massive body changed direction and charged fiercely toward his location. Its heavy footsteps shook the rubble in the entire basement, causing it to fall rustling. It raised its head, and a new, even more violent psychic wave swept over.
Lin Yan stepped out the footwork he used to dodge coordinated ambushes in Boulder Valley back then, nimbly dodging among the equipment wreckage on the ground, avoiding the scaled beast's heavy pounce. Its massive body slammed into the concrete wall behind, accompanied by a booming crash. Fine spiderweb cracks appeared on the wall, and rubble continuously peeled off.
Having missed its strike, the scaled beast let out a furious roar, and the light from its glands flared again.
Lin Yan was grazed by the overflowing psychic impact. A sharp pain pierced his mind, and his mental focus wavered slightly. It was this brief moment of hesitation that allowed the scaled beast's thick tail to sweep across like a steel whip!
In his haste, Lin Yan could only raise his arm to block. The immense force slammed hard into his forearm, sending him flying. He crashed heavily onto a pile of broken consoles. A dull pain erupted in his chest, and a mouthful of metallic sweetness surged up his throat.
"Lin Yan!" Su Qin cried out in alarm from behind the operating table.
The scaled beast turned its massive body, preparing to step forward and deliver a fatal blow to the fallen Lin Yan.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Yan supported himself against the ground and quickly stood up. His gaze fell upon a broken, thick alloy operating rod with a sharp tip nearby. He grabbed it in one hand, gripping it tightly with both hands, his eyes locked dead onto the glowing glands on both sides of the scaled beast's head.
"Distract it!" Lin Yan shouted at Su Qin.
Su Qin immediately understood. Enduring the severe pain in her Sea of Consciousness, she picked up a piece of rubble and threw it forcefully toward a pile of ruins on the other side of the main control room. The rubble struck the metal wreckage with a crisp sound.
The scaled beast's attention was instantly pulled by the noise, its head turning slightly toward the operating table where Su Qin was hiding.
It was now!
Lin Yan seized this fleeting opportunity. Exploding with all his strength, his figure shot forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring, charging straight at the scaled beast. Before the scaled beast could react and release another psychic impact, he leaped into the air, gripping the alloy rod with both hands, and with all his might, fiercely thrust it toward the glowing psychic gland on the side of the scaled beast's head!
Pfft!
The sharp alloy rod pierced deeply into the translucent gland tissue.
The scaled beast let out an ear-piercing, mournful howl. Its massive body twisted and thrashed wildly, causing the entire basement to tremble. The glands on its head instantly ruptured, and a large amount of foul-smelling, light purple liquid sprayed out. The violent psychic turbulence that had enveloped the entire main control room was like a breached flood dam, rapidly receding and weakening.
Freed from the suppression of the psychic turbulence, Su Qin's headache suddenly lessened, and the turbulence in her Sea of Consciousness slowly subsided.
The scaled beast frantically shook its head, the immense force tearing the alloy rod from its grasp. It writhed in agony, its massive body continuously slamming into the surrounding walls and consoles, sending debris flying everywhere in the main control room. After struggling for a moment, its massive body crashed heavily to the ground. Its limbs twitched a few times, and then there was no more movement.
The underground main control room finally returned to dead silence.
Lin Yan panted heavily. His forearm burned with pain, and his chest was still tight and swollen. He slowly walked to the inner side of the main control room. There, resting below the shattered main control screen, was the blue signal collector.
The third coordinate point.
Su Qin walked out from behind the operating table. Her face was still pale. Looking at the massive corpse of the scaled beast on the ground, she couldn't calm her mind for a long time. She took out the collection chip, walked to the collector, and completed the entry for the final coordinate marker.
The blue light flashed. Collection complete.
All three coordinates had been obtained.
"We... we've completed the assessment collection task." Su Qin said in a low voice. She looked at Lin Yan, her eyes filled with disbelief and relief. "Now, we need to rush back to the assembly point at the ruins exit within the six-hour time limit."
Lin Yan nodded, his gaze fixed on the exit of the underground passage.
The danger was not over yet. There were still lurking scaled beasts within the ruins, and the hidden dangers of psychic turbulence remained. They had to leave this underground ruin as soon as possible and return to the exit on time.
End of Chapter
The natural light between the broken walls grew increasingly scarce. The putrid stench unique to the scaled beasts thickened in the air, mingled with the musty odor of damp earth and rotting building materials. Breathing it in made one's chest feel tight. The psychic turbulence floating in the air was no longer an intermittent ripple; it had transformed into a thick, stagnant tide, continuously washing over their Seas of Consciousness.
The Sea of Consciousness stabilizer pendant around Su Qin's neck had been trembling slightly, the faint light on its metal surface flickering. Every few dozen steps, she had to pause briefly, closing her eyes to gather her turbulent core of consciousness, fine beads of cold sweat constantly seeping from her temples. Even just walking slowly, the continuous psychic erosion was constantly draining her mental energy.
"The entrance to the old command center is right up ahead." Su Qin lowered her voice and pointed toward a massive, square collapsed pit ahead.
The reinforced concrete of the original ground had completely caved in, forming a giant downward-sloping hole. A pitch-black passage extended inward, swallowing all light. Scattered around the edge of the pit were broken metal frames, twisted cables, and the rusted remains of instruments—the ruins left behind after the command center was destroyed. A cold wind continuously surged out from the hole, carrying psychic turbulence several times stronger than that on the surface.
"The last coordinate is in the main control room on the third underground level." Su Qin took out the map from her emergency kit, identifying the location using the faint daylight. "The underground space is sealed; the turbulence has nowhere to dissipate. Once it erupts, its power will be multiplied. Furthermore, this kind of enclosed underground space is the easiest place to hide high-level scaled beasts. In previous assessments, the most people failed right here."
Lin Yan stood at the edge of the pit, his gaze fixed on the pitch-black underground passage. He opened his perception to probe inward. Deep underground, a thick, lurking consciousness rested in the darkness, terrifyingly silent, yet harboring a ferocity ready to strike at any moment.
There was something in there.
"Be careful." Lin Yan reminded in a low voice, stepping into the sloping passage first. The inner walls were covered with rubble, and the ground was slippery. The two could only hold onto the rusted metal supports, moving downward step by step.
The further down they went, the darker it became. By the second underground level, there was almost no natural light. They only had the faint cold-light flashlights taken from their emergency kits to illuminate a small area in front of them. As the flashlight beams swept across both sides, they revealed walls covered with scratches of varying depths. Some dried, blackened stains were firmly stuck to the concrete walls—the traces left by the fierce battles of many years ago.
The silence underground was absolute death. There was no sound of rolling rubble from the surface, only the two of them breathing evenly, and the faint, slow sound of crawling and friction coming from afar.
The sound was coming from the third underground level.
Lightening their footsteps, the two walked to the metal door leading to the main control room. The door had long been severely deformed, the frame twisted, and the door panel dented inward by immense force. A massive tear had been ripped in the center of the door, large enough for a person to pass through sideways.
The flashlight beam pierced through the tear, shining into the main control room.
This was the core command area of the old defense line back then. Countless broken consoles, display screens, and communication equipment were scattered across the floor, tables and chairs were overturned, and cables coiled on the ground like dead snakes. At the farthest end of the room stood a massive, shattered main control screen. On the open ground in front of the screen, a massive black shadow was quietly coiled.
Hearing the light of the flashlight, the black shadow slowly moved.
A scaled beast nearly six meters long slowly raised its head.
It was far larger than the three-meter-long individual in the garage earlier. Thick, black-grey scales were layered over its body, with dark purple patterns on its surface. The psychic glands on both sides of its head were massive and plump, continuously releasing psychic fluctuations invisible to the naked eye. Its four limbs were thick, and its claws were like giant alloy chisels, each one capable of easily tearing through concrete walls.
This was a sub-high-level scaled beast. It shouldn't have been present in this cleared assessment ruins. For some unknown reason, it had been lurking in this underground main control room.
Su Qin gasped, her body instantly freezing. Her Sea of Consciousness was immediately crushed by the massive psychic pressure. A severe headache struck her head, and she instinctively took half a step back. Her hand clenched tightly, almost touching the signal alarm in her emergency kit.
"Don't touch the alarm." Lin Yan's voice was pressed extremely low, his gaze locked firmly on the sub-high-level scaled beast. "Once triggered, the assessment fails immediately. Let's find cover first."
The scaled beast let out a low roar.
In the next instant, a violent, peerless psychic tidal wave exploded like a tsunami within the sealed underground main control room!
The underground space was enclosed, and the turbulence had nowhere to dissipate; it was entirely compressed within the room, causing the impact intensity to multiply exponentially. Invisible mental power slammed fiercely into their Seas of Consciousness. Su Qin let out a muffled groan, stumbled backward, and fell to the ground. She clutched her head with both hands as the severe headache instantly engulfed her. Her Sea of Consciousness was not inherently strong, and after the continuous mental drain from the long trek just now, she simply couldn't withstand this violent assault. Her Sea of Consciousness shook violently, the world spun around her, and her vision began to darken.
Lin Yan was also bearing the brunt of this terrifying psychic wave.
Even with his true heart, tempered through countless life-and-death trials, the core of his Sea of Consciousness felt immense pressure at this moment, his mind buzzing. Yet, he still stood firmly in place, not taking half a step back. He quickly scanned the environment of the main control room. The toppled heavy metal operating tables and the broken concrete walls could all be used to temporarily block the psychic impact.
The scaled beast pushed off the ground with its four limbs, its massive body slowly stepping forward. Its thick scales rubbed against the ground, making a harsh, scratching sound. It was not in a hurry to pounce and kill; it continuously released psychic turbulence, wanting to completely shatter their Seas of Consciousness first, and then leisurely harvest its prey.
"Su Qin! Retreat behind the metal operating table on the left! The thick metal can weaken the turbulence!" Lin Yan shouted in a deep voice, while simultaneously turning his body and moving quickly, detouring toward a toppled operating table on the side.
Su Qin gritted her teeth, enduring the tearing pain in her Sea of Consciousness. Using both her hands and feet, she struggled to crawl behind the metal operating table, hiding her body behind the thick alloy panel. The metal shield blocked most of the psychic impact, and the heavy pressure on her Sea of Consciousness instantly lessened considerably. She was able to catch her breath, trying her best to gather her turbulent, collapsing consciousness.
But this was merely a stopgap measure.
The massive body of the scaled beast could easily overturn this operating table; the metal shield could not withstand its physical impact.
Lin Yan quickly maneuvered through the wreckage of broken equipment, constantly changing his position to attract the scaled beast's attention while searching for its weakness. The sub-high-level scaled beast had extremely strong scale armor defense. The glands on its head were the core of its psychic turbulence release, and simultaneously its greatest weakness. As long as the glands were severely damaged, its psychic impact would greatly diminish.
But to get close to its head, he had to withstand the continuous oppression on his Sea of Consciousness.
Attracted by Lin Yan's movement, the scaled beast's massive body changed direction and charged fiercely toward his location. Its heavy footsteps shook the rubble in the entire basement, causing it to fall rustling. It raised its head, and a new, even more violent psychic wave swept over.
Lin Yan stepped out the footwork he used to dodge coordinated ambushes in Boulder Valley back then, nimbly dodging among the equipment wreckage on the ground, avoiding the scaled beast's heavy pounce. Its massive body slammed into the concrete wall behind, accompanied by a booming crash. Fine spiderweb cracks appeared on the wall, and rubble continuously peeled off.
Having missed its strike, the scaled beast let out a furious roar, and the light from its glands flared again.
Lin Yan was grazed by the overflowing psychic impact. A sharp pain pierced his mind, and his mental focus wavered slightly. It was this brief moment of hesitation that allowed the scaled beast's thick tail to sweep across like a steel whip!
In his haste, Lin Yan could only raise his arm to block. The immense force slammed hard into his forearm, sending him flying. He crashed heavily onto a pile of broken consoles. A dull pain erupted in his chest, and a mouthful of metallic sweetness surged up his throat.
"Lin Yan!" Su Qin cried out in alarm from behind the operating table.
The scaled beast turned its massive body, preparing to step forward and deliver a fatal blow to the fallen Lin Yan.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Yan supported himself against the ground and quickly stood up. His gaze fell upon a broken, thick alloy operating rod with a sharp tip nearby. He grabbed it in one hand, gripping it tightly with both hands, his eyes locked dead onto the glowing glands on both sides of the scaled beast's head.
"Distract it!" Lin Yan shouted at Su Qin.
Su Qin immediately understood. Enduring the severe pain in her Sea of Consciousness, she picked up a piece of rubble and threw it forcefully toward a pile of ruins on the other side of the main control room. The rubble struck the metal wreckage with a crisp sound.
The scaled beast's attention was instantly pulled by the noise, its head turning slightly toward the operating table where Su Qin was hiding.
It was now!
Lin Yan seized this fleeting opportunity. Exploding with all his strength, his figure shot forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring, charging straight at the scaled beast. Before the scaled beast could react and release another psychic impact, he leaped into the air, gripping the alloy rod with both hands, and with all his might, fiercely thrust it toward the glowing psychic gland on the side of the scaled beast's head!
Pfft!
The sharp alloy rod pierced deeply into the translucent gland tissue.
The scaled beast let out an ear-piercing, mournful howl. Its massive body twisted and thrashed wildly, causing the entire basement to tremble. The glands on its head instantly ruptured, and a large amount of foul-smelling, light purple liquid sprayed out. The violent psychic turbulence that had enveloped the entire main control room was like a breached flood dam, rapidly receding and weakening.
Freed from the suppression of the psychic turbulence, Su Qin's headache suddenly lessened, and the turbulence in her Sea of Consciousness slowly subsided.
The scaled beast frantically shook its head, the immense force tearing the alloy rod from its grasp. It writhed in agony, its massive body continuously slamming into the surrounding walls and consoles, sending debris flying everywhere in the main control room. After struggling for a moment, its massive body crashed heavily to the ground. Its limbs twitched a few times, and then there was no more movement.
The underground main control room finally returned to dead silence.
Lin Yan panted heavily. His forearm burned with pain, and his chest was still tight and swollen. He slowly walked to the inner side of the main control room. There, resting below the shattered main control screen, was the blue signal collector.
The third coordinate point.
Su Qin walked out from behind the operating table. Her face was still pale. Looking at the massive corpse of the scaled beast on the ground, she couldn't calm her mind for a long time. She took out the collection chip, walked to the collector, and completed the entry for the final coordinate marker.
The blue light flashed. Collection complete.
All three coordinates had been obtained.
"We... we've completed the assessment collection task." Su Qin said in a low voice. She looked at Lin Yan, her eyes filled with disbelief and relief. "Now, we need to rush back to the assembly point at the ruins exit within the six-hour time limit."
Lin Yan nodded, his gaze fixed on the exit of the underground passage.
The danger was not over yet. There were still lurking scaled beasts within the ruins, and the hidden dangers of psychic turbulence remained. They had to leave this underground ruin as soon as possible and return to the exit on time.
End of Chapter