Chapter 98: All Gold?

Chapter 98: All Gold?

Every doubt has an answer.

Why could the Machine God Sect "tame" monsters, why could the unskilled-at-digging "Mongol" eat still-fresh plastic-wrapped synthetic food, and why does it still show strong aggression under intense stimulation?

That's because the monsters in Huangzhou City were never just one, but two.

Only, one of them lives underground.

What "Mongol" has no aggression.

The truly non-aggressive one should be this underground earthworm!

At this moment, the underground earthworm had completely vanished from the drone's view, and Shen Yue, operating the drone, spoke with lingering fear:

"This thing shouldn't even be called an earthworm anymore; it's practically a land dragon."

"Now what, should we still go down?"

"It must have broken through some underground emergency depot, and the entrance isn't far off; otherwise the Mongol couldn't get food."

"As long as we find the depot's entrance and open it from inside out, we can emerge from the other side."

After He Shuo finished speaking, Chen Jian frowned, thought for a moment, and finally resolved:

"We have to go in!"

"This land dragon clearly doesn't belong to the monsters we've encountered before; it is truly a neutral creature."

"The risk is low, the expected gain high; not going in would be unsuitable."

"Let's go."

"Zeng Yi, you have no rebreather, stay outside the nest to observe and guard."

"The radio might lose contact; if there's a problem, throw two thermobaric grenades at the mouth, and we'll hear them."

"Understood!"

Zeng Yi nodded immediately, without hesitation, the group set off at once, climbing down from the altar and heading straight for the dark mouth.

As the distance closed, the drone's signal continued to strengthen.

The two drones maintained optimal relay distance, following the squad of four's advance, constantly scanning and modeling the tunnel's internal structure.

In just a few minutes, a three‑dimensional image of a vast underground passage system emerged before everyone's eyes.

"Looking at this trend, the entire underground of Huangzhou City might have been hollowed out—this thing, damn it, belongs to a tunnel boring machine?"

While walking along the slick road, Shen Yue clicked his tongue in amazement.

Chen Jian walked in front, shaking his head as he replied:

"Based on the tunnel's current direction, it has broken through only soft soil areas, bypassing rock whenever possible—far inferior to a tunnel boring machine."

"But it's strange; if that's the case, how did it manage to breach the underground fortifications?"

"Corrosive fluid."

Lei Jie scooped up some of the slime left on the cavern wall and then said:

"The pH isn't low, but it's probably around 3."

"Long‑term corrosion would definitely weaken the structure."

"The problem now is, if this slime seeps into the depot and creates an acidic environment, things get messy."

"Most of what's inside has likely been acceleratedly corroded; finding anything good will be tough."

"Indeed."

Chen Jian nodded, then gave the order:

"Open the rebreather; the life‑support system is warning."

"Understood."

The few quickly put on their masks, and at the same moment, the forward‑going drone finally spotted signs of a side‑wall collapse in a branch passage.

"This is it—move in fast!"

At Chen Jian's command, everyone quickened their pace.

In the distance, the land dragon's writhing sound drew nearer, the huge noise echoing in the tunnel, chilling to hear.

If we hadn't seen the monster's true form beforehand and had blindly charged in, just that terrifying roar would be enough to make intruders flee in fear.

No wonder the Machine God Sect has no record of this land dragon—they wouldn't dare enter the cave at all!

Good thing they didn't dare come; otherwise, our squad would have found nothing to scavenge.

Pressing on, the originally spacious cavern suddenly narrowed, the tunnel diameter dropping below three meters, then further to about two meters.

The surroundings were no longer hard rock but turned into relatively soft earth—this is the true passage the land dragon bored out.

Everyone sped up, nearly sprinting through this final passage.

The collapsed gap appeared before them; without hesitation, Chen Jian quickly secured a rappel rope and dropped it, and the group swiftly descended into the installation.

"It feels like we're grave‑robbing; wonder if we'll dig up two zongzi later?"

Shen Yue's voice was muffled by the mask, sounding a bit dull.

Chen Jian didn't bother with his ill‑timed joke, turned, quickly switched his headlamp to flood mode, and in an instant most of the underground space was fully illuminated.

And then what came into view was:

a scene of utter chaos.

Not only overhead, the floor of this underground depot bore a huge hole that had been drilled open.

Around the mouth lay a few spoiled emergency rations, but most had clearly been dragged away by the land dragon.

Chen Jian glanced around and then said:

"This isn't an emergency depot!"

"This looks like a civilian facility, a converted underground garage?"

"Exactly, it's a triple‑defense facility made from an underground garage; according to the INS readout, above us is the high‑tech zone industrial park."

"The supplies were probably also rushed in, even more hastily than 7025—these bullets aren't even boxed."

After making a full circuit, He Shuo frowned and continued:

"The exit is ahead, but it's been blown shut."

"On the right there's a heavy isolation door, likely leading to the elevator shaft, but it's completely rusted shut."

"We need to hurry; the rebreather will last eight minutes. If we can't open the isolation door, we'll have to turn back the way we came!"

"Understood."

Chen Jian answered immediately, then gave the order:

"Lei Jie, try to breach and open the isolation door."

"Everyone else, spread out and quickly search for any usable supplies."

“Evacuate in three minutes, hurry!”

As the words fell, everyone sprang into action.

Chen Jian sprinted toward the largest pile of supplies stacked in the middle, but after a quick inspection he was bitterly disappointed.

The cache contained weapons, ammunition, food—everything one could want—but lacking the airtight preservation of Facility 7025, most of it had rotted and corroded beyond use.

A small amount of food sealed in cans and plastic remained edible, but Chen Jian’s group wasn’t short on provisions, so hauling it out would be pointless.

Indeed, not every emergency depot could be as perfectly stocked as 7025.

No time to dwell on disappointment, Chen Jian hurried to another stash, only to find the situation much the same.

“Heshao, Shen Yue, what’s the situation over there?”

“Any high-value items?”

“None!”

Shen Yue answered immediately, while Heshao fell silent for a moment before saying:

“Captain, come look at this.”

Realizing Heshao had found something, Chen Jian rushed over to the spot indicated by his light.

What he first saw were sheets of bones piled together; a rough glance showed at least dozens of skulls.

One can imagine the horror endured by those trapped here before death.

Next, his gaze shifted forward.

A large heap of scattered, glittering objects came into view.

“Holy shit.”

Chen Jian drew a deep breath, then exclaimed in disbelief:

“What the hell is this??”

“Is it all gold??”

(End of chapter)