Chapter 1160: Startling Rebellion in the Underground
“Achoo!”
“What’s wrong, Marybelle?”
Rhode turned around and asked. Marybelle rubbed her nose gently and c.o.c.ked her head in doubt.
“I don’t know… Your Majesty. My nose suddenly feels itchy… how strange.”
No wonder Marybelle was puzzled. She had abandoned her body and concluded a contract with Rhode in her spiritual form, so logically speaking, she couldn’t possibly be sick. In fact, she didn’t have any sign of illnesses. She merely felt an itch on her nose and couldn’t help but let out a sneeze.
“Oh-no, Big Sister Marybelle, someone must be talking behind your back.”
At that moment, the fearless Bubble No. 1 came over and spoke her mind. After spending a period of time together, Canary and Bubble had gotten familiar with the people around Rhode. But what surprised Rhode was that despite Bubble behaving like a delusional brat on the Internet, she was a smooth-talker and didn’t have a hard time addressing others as ‘big sisters’. But come to think of it, a person’s personality was different on the Internet than in reality, in the first place…
Ugh…
In Rhode’s impression, Bubble was a patient in the end stages of adolescence syndrome. But it seemed now that no matter how delusional she was, she was still a true, wealthy young daughter in the past…
On the other hand, despite Canary getting along well with Erin, she just couldn’t open up to Lydia, perhaps due to Lydia’s overly ‘bold’ att.i.tude. As a young lady who grew up under a relatively traditional education, Lydia’s enthusiasm was too much for Canary to handle. But Lydia seemed to like seeing Canary behave in bewilderment and often teased her about it. Due to that reason, Rhode occasionally was able to feast his eyes on some ‘girls love’… it was really rare for him to witness such a visually-attractive scene in the underground.
“Someone is talking behind my back?”
Facing Mini Bubble Gum’s remarks, Marybelle couldn’t understand what she meant at all. Mini Bubble Gum didn’t elaborate further, but let out a cheeky laughter and sprinted ahead to chat with her ‘younger sister’. If they were to choose a most heartless person to transmigrate to an alternate world, Mini Bubble Gum would surely be second to none. After coming to this world, she didn’t seem as uncomfortable as Canary. Not only did she drag her ‘younger sister’ (even though Bubble No. 2 strongly claimed that she was the older sister, Mini Bubble Gum reb.u.t.ted with the fact that Bubble No. 2 was created later and calling someone else ‘big sister’ sounded really cool, so she agreed immediately that she was the younger sister) to watch and enjoy the updated animes episodes from the Internet, but she also scampered to get close to Lydia and Erin. In fact, Rhode understood what was going through Mini Bubble Gum’s mind. She was just like him last time. In the past, Rhode was amazed beyond words to witness game characters showing up before him as real people. It was rarer and more precious than looking at the most perfect ‘cosplayers’, so naturally she would pounce on them curiously. Back then, Rhode had similar thoughts too. But it was a pity that he couldn’t protect himself well enough yet, so he naturally couldn’t do something so carefree.
The group didn’t face any accidents along the journey. Apart from occasional wild creatures that jumped out and were wiped out in the swing of a hand, there was nothing else dangerous. Under BoBo’s (the primitive man) lead, the extending, circling tunnel wasn’t able to stop them from advancing. According to him, they could reach the bottom of the stone column of the Seven Fantasy Boundaries after this final stretch.
“Ah…! Ahh!!”
Suddenly, BoBo’s screams sounded from the front of the tunnel. Upon hearing his screams, everyone was taken aback. The reason why they stopped temporarily was because BoBo told them that there was an ally tribe ahead. In order to prevent any unfortunate accident from happening, he volunteered to speak to the tribe, hoping that they would allow them to pa.s.s. Although it would also be effortless for Rhode’s group to crush the tribe either way, Rhode couldn’t be bothered with stirring more trouble since he had a ‘local guide’ with him now. Anyway, if the tribe were to attack them, Rhode’s group could simply annihilate them all. But now… What was the situation?
Before Rhode’s group reacted, BoBo came running back to them, gesticulating in a fl.u.s.ter. He widened his eyes in fear, waved his arms, and yelled at the group. Although they didn’t understand what he meant, any perspicacious person could see that something was wrong. Rhode swept a glance at BoBo, s.h.i.+fted his gaze to his group, and gave a command.
“Let’s go and check it out.”
Under BoBo’s lead, Rhode’s group pa.s.sed through the dusky, s.p.a.cious tunnel. Upon seeing the view ahead, Rhode finally understood why BoBo made such terrifying screeches like those in horror films. Because at that moment, it was exactly a scene from a horror film.
What displayed itself before them was a huge underground cave no less than the size of the sacred palace’s cave on Earth earlier. Magic crystals and luminous moss spread along the walls, illuminating the scenery. Unlike the sacred palace, it didn’t have any exquisite and refined buildings, but rows of tunnels were cut into the walls instead. Processed stones scattered all over as though a primitive society just entering a period of civilization. However, that wasn’t the main point.
There were corpses and blood stains all over.
The thick stench of blood wafted in the air. At a glance, several corpses were seen laying all over the ground. Their appearances were similar to BoBo’s. Even though they looked like humans, their skin was coalesced from an unknown black liquid and their tall, burly built didn’t resemble the humans from their impressions. But all of this was meaningless now because they were crushed to bits, where their limbs had scattered all over. There were signs of destruction everywhere in the cave. It could also be said that it was an appalling scene of devastation.
“Woah… this is terrible…”
Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum couldn’t help but make a groaning ridicule. On the other hand, Canary turned ashen. If it weren’t for the fact that these creatures weren’t exactly the ‘humans’ in their impression and that Canary and Mini Bubble Gum had witnessed the more disgusting and revolting things in the moon bases earlier, strictly speaking, perhaps they would be horrified by now.
But compared to them, Rhode and Marybelle were more concerned about another critical issue.
These victims had faced an ambush and were killed. That wasn’t the strange thing. Instead, it was the damage that was left behind after the battles. Not only did Rhode witness traces of explosions, but he also saw a lot of melted debris as though they were burned in high temperatures. If they were in the Dragon Soul Continent, Rhode would have believed that they were ambushed by magical attacks. If they were on Earth, high-tech weapons were also capable of leaving behind such wreckage. But in this place where civilization was primitive and people could only use throwing stones as weapons, Rhode refused to believe that they had the ability to release fireb.a.l.l.s or missiles.
Who exactly ambushed them?
Rhode puckered his brows and gazed ahead. Right there, the simple and crude stone houses were crushed entirely, revealing an empty path behind them. It seemed as though a monster of an unusually huge bulk had arrived and went on a rampage. Logically speaking, even though creatures of this world couldn’t possibly overpower Rhode’s group, it was still safer for them to remain cautious. After all, they were in the underground and not on the surface. In order to avoid the violent elemental lords, Rhode’s group hadn’t seen the sun for almost three days.
All of a sudden, Rhode heard Bubble’s voice.
“Hey, Leader, check this out. I found something fun.”
Rhode turned around and the intensity of his gaze changed slightly. Mini Bubble Gum squatted by a pile of debris, waving a large handful of bra.s.s-colored metals toward him. Marybelle went up and took the bra.s.s-colored metal from her curiously. Then, she realized the metals that were slightly larger than her fingers were empty in the middle. Not only that, but also after taking a sniff, a smell a.s.sailed her nostrils. What were they?
“Interesting.”
Unlike the clueless Marybelle, the instant Rhode saw those objects, he knew who had gone past here.
Back then, he wondered if it was premeditated or simply a coincidence for those people to set the coordinates to the middle of nowhere. But no matter which possibility it was, they couldn’t have just pa.s.sed by the area. If humans had the technology to build bases on the moon, they wouldn’t be that naive to only launch s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps to observe the moon from s.p.a.ce. After all, in comparison, living here was more cost-effective. Besides, considering the fact that these mysterious beings had once headed to the Dragon Soul Continent, Rhode refused to believe that they chose to teleport to this place, before spending the effort to head to the Dragon Soul Continent to accomplish their goals. If those beings were that dumb, what was there for Rhode to worry about?
It seems like they have indeed established a base here, and it also seems well-expanded.
At this thought, Rhode’s expression turned incomparably ice-cold. Just as the saying went, ‘one chose to visit h.e.l.l instead of heaven with its doors open’. Rhode intended to clean up Chaos from Earth, but he would need to spend a lot of time capturing them. He was also in a hurry to return to the Dragon Soul Continent. No matter what, Earth was his home. He didn’t feel good knowing that Earth was tangled in Chaos. However, he just didn’t have enough time, so he had to put this matter aside temporarily.
Rhode had initially decided to deal with them after transmigrating the Dragon Soul Continent to the solar system. But he didn’t expect them to come knocking on his door on their own!
At this thought, Rhode beckoned for Marybelle. He gazed at her and curled his lips at the terrified BoBo at the side.
“Ask him where this tunnel leads.”
“Okay, Your Majesty.”
Marybelle wasn’t a fool. She had already detected the remaining aura of Chaos here. After all, she fought against Chaos for thousands of years and couldn’t be more familiar with its existence. Therefore, she knew why Rhode asked this question and didn’t doubt him. She went up to the pale primitive man and asked quietly. Facing her questions, BoBo finally calmed down, extended a finger, and pointed at the pitch-black cave ahead. Then, he brought upon a petrified expression and responded to Marybelle, before making some odd hand gestures. After hearing his answer, Marybelle’s eyes glinted. She nodded and went back to Rhode.
“Your Majesty, I’ve gotten the details. BoBo said a group of mysterious monsters appeared all of a sudden. They were vicious and terrifying and have killed several tribes around here. Besides…” Marybelle paused for a few moments. Then, she continued. “… they used some really strange weapons.”
Right on point.
Upon hearing Marybelle’s answer, Rhode nodded slightly. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the pitch-black cave ahead with an ice-cold gaze. After a few moments, he revealed a pa.s.sionate and brilliant smile and clapped his palms together. Mini Bubble Gum (x2), Canary (x2), Lydia, Erin, and the rest turned toward him curiously. Then, they witnessed his smile and raised both arms.
“10-man abyssal dungeon in hero-difficulty begins! Looking for DPS, tanker, healer! Interested players join the party…!”
With a commander leading the team, the 10-man party was completed. Next, all they had to do was to enter the dungeon and kill to their hearts’ content under Rhode’s command…
Yes, that should have been the case. But it was a pity that there was always a gap between game and reality.
Even though they were capable of annihilating those enemies with their current strength, for safety’s sake, Rhode decided to check out the situation first. Even if they weren’t able to eliminate 100 percent of the enemies, wiping out 80 to 90 percent of them would be more than enough. After all, they had no intention of staying here for a long time. After Rhode transmigrated the Dragon Soul Continent to the solar system, they could say goodbye to First Wilderness. When that happened, whether the group of idiots went extinct or grew stronger to dominate First Wilderness had nothing to do with him anymore.
But now…
Warm air blew in their faces.
The cave ahead was in pitch-blackness, but the group strolled ahead calmly with Rhode leading the way. Even though they didn’t know what weapons the ambushers used, the path they opened up was relatively flat and wasn’t as slippery as natural caves, so it wasn’t inconvenient for them to proceed. The group pa.s.sed through the darkness and headed deeper into the cave.
Mini Bubble Gum and Canary stayed behind Rhode closely. Gazing at the view ahead, they couldn’t hold back their agitation. After all, even though they had been with Rhode for a long time, this familiar feeling of them as though returning to the game and raiding a dungeon together made them open up their feelings a lot. At that moment, Canary and Mini Bubble Gum were no longer feeling unaccustomed to this world. They followed him in movements no worse than their projections. Looking at them, Lydia and Erin exchanged surprised looks with each other. Of course, they knew about Canary’s and Mini Bubble Gum’s background. However, Canary had always been gentle and low-profile, while Mini Bubble Gum wasn’t too reliable, which was why Lydia and Erin weren’t too confident in their abilities. But now, after witnessing them releasing power that wasn’t inferior to their projections, Lydia and Erin were stunned.
“Stop.”
After a short while, the group reached the end of the tunnel. They could vaguely see the skipping maroon light on the outside, as well as smell the scent of sulfur in the air. At that moment, Rhode came to a halt abruptly and gestured with his hand. Upon seeing his hand gesture, the two Mini Bubble Gums stopped beside him like mirror reflections of each other. They cast their skill at once, releasing two faint halos that flitted across the place. Shortly after, the anti-detection ritual and silent spell exploded, concealing everyone within the thick smoke.
The group gathered around Rhode quickly and looked at the surroundings. Upon seeing the view ahead, they couldn’t help but widen their eyes in astonishment.
Although they didn’t know what the enemies had done, the path they opened up had a downward-spiraling ladder from top to bottom. Looking downward, one could clearly see a huge lake of lava, where blazing lava splashed in the enormous underground cave. The scorching heat struck their faces, which even caused Mini Bubble Gum’s hair to burn and curl on its own. However, the group wasn’t worried about such a small issue as they focused their attention on the enormous, black metallic structure sitting above the lava lake instead. There were five tower-like shapes erected in the lava. The five towers were interconnected by the dark, wide aisles. Rhode spotted red energy crystals in the core area between them. Gigantic, armored security robots were stationed around them, while blinding searchlights shone in all directions.
“Good.”
After scanning the place, Rhode nodded in satisfaction. He thought he might have a hard time dealing with the enemies. But it seemed like it was much easier than he had imagined.