Chapter 208: Change at the Bottom of the Lake
The surface of the lake and the bottom of the lake were two different worlds.
The sky was covered by dark clouds, which made the forest dark. It also made it difficult for sunlight to shine through.
When the team was around five meters deep, they felt like they had sunken into a swamp and could not see a thing.
Even if superhumans’ visual cells were more developed than normal humans’ and they could see when normal humans would be blind and sense spirit energy fluctuations, they could only see waves of colorful undercurrents flowing at the bottom of the lake. They illuminated all sorts of strange aquatic creatures and bewitching aquatic etherealized plants.
Fortunately, the aquatic life and plants sensed the powerful presence from the superhumans and were baffled by the deep water bombs earlier, so they did not dare to go forward to bother the humans. They just hid away from them.
As for stronger hunters? It was just as Lu Siya said, no tyrant would allow another creature that could threaten its position. There was no s.p.a.ce for such creatures in the lake.
The group held onto the underwater vehicles and listened to the sound of the propellers turning as they sank deeper.
The vanguard with the best swimming abilities sent good news through the communication channel. He had already discovered the subsurface stream and was scanning the situation in the depths of the cave.
Soon, an even more detailed map appeared on everyone’s military-grade tactical watches. It pointed them to a winding path.
“Congratulations, everyone. We’re close to our treasure.” Lu Siya’s laughter rose in the communication channel. It was as if she already had victory in her grasp.
At that moment, the walls of the lake not far away from the group squirmed, and something opened its mouth at them.
The group was shocked. Eight searchlights gathered on the area and lit up a gigantic clam-type monster. It had been startled by the propellers.
Clam-type monsters were usually fixed on walls or huge aquatic-type monsters. They did not pose much of a threat.
The group laughed.
“We found the entrance to the subsurface river. Just as we expected, there’s a huge underground s.p.a.ce up ahead, and there’s a lot of fresh air in it. We can breathe there!”
The Sharp Blade vanguard’s excited shout came through the communication channel again.
Suddenly, the giant clam-like monster closed in a panic.
The insignificant aquatic life that had been swimming around the group also fled helter-skelter.
Even the bewitching etherealized plants that had been dancing around curled up and started trembling.
Whoosh!
An incredibly quick water current charged at them from the bottom.
The group was caught off guard. One of the underwater vehicles was struck by the water current, and it was smashed to pieces on the spot. All the people attached to it were thrown off.
“It’s another Lion Dragon Fish!” a fighting-cla.s.s superhuman cried out in surprise in the communication channel.
The vision of fighting-cla.s.s superhumans was better than that of the support-cla.s.s superhumans. They saw another Lion Dragon Fish in the dark, seemingly bottomless lake. It was larger and looked even fiercer. It swung its head and tail, and like a torpedo with hundreds of kilograms worth of explosives stuffed in it, it charged at them.
And in the water, the Lion Dragon Fish was at home. Its fighting strength there did not increase by a mere five times, either.
While it rushed at them, it opened its mouth and fired water blasts repeatedly, which created a terrifying whirlpool of death. The creature wanted to rip the humans to shreds.
The three Heaven Realm elites were sent scattering away by the undercurrents. They could not work together like they did on the surface of the lake.
Their spirit flames were affected by the current, and they could not bring out their strength to destroy it effortlessly.
The Lion Dragon Fish seized the chance to charge into the crowd. It bit a mine explorer’s lower body off and swallowed it whole. While doing so, it caught that mine explorer’s upper body with its sharp teeth and threw it at the humans.
It was a show of force, and it was also a way to affect the humans’ minds and distract them.
Sharps inhales instantly rose in the communication channel.
“Head to the subsurface stream!” Lu Siya immediately made her decision. “It is narrow and b.u.mpy, while this Lion Dragon Fish is large! It won’t be able to enter!”
Her personal bodyguard, Lu Fengying pounced on the Lion Dragon Fish without hesitation.
With the protection from the Heaven Realm elite, everyone started racing to the subsurface stream.
Meng Chao originally wanted to use the dual chain sabers he had just obtained for himself and the past memories he had just awakened—which showed him how to fight underwater—to face the Lion Dragon Fish.
But with a simple and crude water blast, it had basically made him deaf, and his organs were forced to his throat, which made him understand the true power of a h.e.l.l Beast.
“Do you want to die?!” Lin Chuan dragged him from the fangs of the Lion Dragon Fish by a hair’s breadth. With all his power, he threw Meng Chao in the direction of the subsurface stream. “I’ll be here, fighting! Go!”
When he saw the light of the Undying Bird shining stubbornly in the dark lake, Meng Chao gritted his teeth and swallowed the blood that had surged to his throat. Then, he turned around and swam to the subsurface stream.
He did not know how long he had been swimming in the raging lake. It felt like he was swimming in murky water or mud.
But he could sense a tsunami behind him. The shockwaves traveled forward in waves and struck his back like a warhammer.
When he crawled into the entrance of the subsurface stream, which was a crack in the wall of the lake, he refused to swim any further. Instead, he used his chain sabers to drag in the other mine explorers who arrived after him.
Lin Chuan was the last to arrive.
He used his beast soul to make the lake surge, and like a small fish with a fiery red tail, he swam in a zig-zagging motion.
The Lion Dragon Fish swam madly after him. It was about to bite his legs!
No matter how Lin Chuan threw his chain spear forward, it was affected by the current formed by the Lion Dragon Fish.
A few times he nearly even lost his spear.
“Big Brother Lin, here!”
Meng Chao threw his chain saber out.
Lin Chuan reacted and grabbed the chain.
With a vicious pull, Meng Chao helped Lin Chuan break free from the Lion Dragon Fish, and both of them tumbled into the subsurface stream.
Whoosh!
The Lion Dragon Fish charged into the subsurface stream regardless of the cost.
But since its mighty head was just too large, it got stuck between the rocks. The more it struggled, the more it became stuck.
Meng Chao hesitated. He wondered whether he should use this chance to harvest its mouth.
Lin Chuan grabbed him and hissed, “Go!”
And just as Lin Chuan expected, when they swam a dozen meters forward, they heard a loud bang that made the earth tremble behind them.
The Lion Dragon Fish had finally broken free of the wall. Even though it did not swim inside, it used all its strength to fire an incredibly fierce water blast.
The shockwave it stirred up felt like a main fighting tank ramming itself into Meng Chao’s back.
He felt the taste of copper in his throat, and he could not help but cough up blood.
In his heart, he thanked his lucky stars. If Lin Chuan had not stopped him, he would have been torn to shreds by the Lion Dragon Fish.
‘It’s no wonder why that creature is known as a Lion Dragon Fish. I remember now. It didn’t gain its name because of its looks, but because of its greatest talent known as Lion’s Roar. It can release a deafening roar underwater!’
Meng Chao’s heart pounded in fear. He and Lin Chuan supported each other and gradually cast the Lion Dragon Fish and its raging roars behind them.
They did not know how many times they ran into deadends in the complicated subsurface stream, but at last, they saw faint light ahead of them.
It was the searchlight that came from the mine explorers who had climbed to the surface ahead of them.
Both of them swam with all their strength to the light and appeared above the water. Then, they crawled to the sh.o.r.e and lay sprawled on the ground with their limbs splayed.
The dark stream behind them continued surging and did not calm down even after a long time had pa.s.sed.
Meng Chao panted for a full five minutes before he sat up and observed his surroundings.
It was a cave half the size of a soccer field.
It had stalact.i.tes and stalagmites, which contained bites of crystals that let out faint light.
The air might have been humid and smelled sour and foul, but it was perfectly fine for a person to breathe it. It seemed like there was a crack that led to the surface.
They did not know what was above their heads. Could it be that they were already within the area of Raging Waves?
Meng Chao, Lin Chuan, and the other fighting-cla.s.s superhumans recovered very quickly.
The pale-looking mine explorers and crystal experts lay limp on the ground for more than ten minutes. They could not get up.
Lu Siya was the first to regain her composure.
Or rather, even when the second Lion Dragon Fish opened its mouth, she had not trembled in the slightest.
She, her bodyguard, and Scimitar did a head count and started packing up their equipment.
The sudden ambush resulted in the loss of two mine explorers and a hunter from Sharp Blade.
Another hunter’s left arm was torn off at the shoulder by the Lion Dragon Fish; he only survived because his teammate had risked his life to save him. At that moment, he was injected with a sealing agent, and medical gel was smeared on his wound. For the time being, his life was not in danger.
They also lost half of their food.
Miraculously, their exploratory equipment was in perfect shape.
But when they faced such great losses, even the expressions of mine explorers from Sky Pillar Corporation and a hunter as experienced as Scimitar turned dark.
“Ms. Lu, you shouldn’t have cared only about the exploratory equipment just now and given up on the underwater vehicle that carried our food supplies,” he said.
“Right now, our exit is sealed by the Lion Dragon Fish, and we don’t know how long we’ll have to stay underground. We’ll need food.”
“Once we find the Red Radiance Jade mine, we’ll get everything.”
After saying that, Lu Siya opened her palm and showed the loot she had obtained just now. It was a crystalline mineral that looked like a crystal flower bud.
Red Jade Pearls were not worth much, but they were commonly a.s.sociated with Red Radiance Jades. Usually, if someone discovered Red Jade Pearls and Blood Flowers at the same spot, they would also be able to discover a Red Radiance Jade mine.
Everyone in the place was an expert, so their eyes immediately lit up.
“I know that two of our teammates lost their lives just now, and we will have a hard time finding their corpses. My heart hurts too when such a thing happened.”
Lu Siya sighed and raised the Red Jade Pearl tightly while saying loudly, “But there are bound to be sacrifices in the fight between humans and monsters. The path of Earth’s civilization expansion in the Other World must be built by the spirits of countless brave warriors. We’re all superhumans here, and none of us are afraid of sacrificing ourselves, because we know that even if we die, someone else will inherit our spirit and complete our mission.
“The two brave warriors died for the sake of the Red Radiance Jade mine, so it’s only when we find the Red Radiance Jade mine as quickly as possible that we can comfort their spirits. It will allow us to calm the extreme weather on the surface so that our steel army can enter the fray and win this battle, thereby saving more of our comrades.
“And all of us, including the families of those sacrificed, will not just become heroes, but the richest heroes in Dragon City. This is the only thing that I, Lu Siya, can do for you!”