*Clang!* Outside, Wu Xu held the Binggu Spear horizontally. In his explosive burst forward, both ends of the spear slammed into the iron walls on either side, and the violent rebound threw him back.
It was actually a blessing in disguise, for at that very moment, the iron walls ground shut with a heavy, muffled thud. Had he dashed through, he might not have made it in time.
"Tangtang is gone," Yin Caixin said.
"Yeah," Wu Xu replied.
Inside.
Their gazes met for two seconds before Han Qingyu turned back around.
"You..." There was no time to ask how this had happened. Han Qingyu did not break stride, saying anxiously, "You stay... No, hold tight to the column sword and follow me, but don't attack under any circumstances."
He did not dare leave He Tangtang alone in these labyrinthine underground tunnels. He feared Alphonse might still have cards up his sleeve, or that they might end up looping around only for Alphonse to emerge in front of him.
"All right," He Tangtang responded. Hugging the column sword tightly, he peered ahead at the one-armed figure of Alphonse sprinting for his life.
Pursue.
Alphonse could not shake them.
Before long, their vision opened up abruptly as they entered a vast, cavernous expanse.
This appeared to be the heart of the entire underground city.
Alphonse brought himself to a halt on the far side and spun around.
Behind him stood a colossal apparatus easily over ten meters tall.
The walls of the apparatus were slightly translucent. Within it, thick, viscous liquid swirled alongside hundreds of corpses encased in iron skins, nourished by source energy, floating slowly.
Up close, the facial features of those corpses would likely still be distinctly recognizable.
The moment Han Qingyu and He Tangtang saw the apparatus, they froze in their tracks. A suffocating swell of wrath, distortion, and nausea struck them so hard they were left speechless.
Until they saw Alphonse actually activate the device, frantically yanking a conduit and slamming it against his chest.
"I'm going to kill him," Han Qingyu said in a deep voice.
"Good. Once he's down, I want to take a few swings at him too," He Tangtang said, pounding his chest twice to vent the suffocating rage trapped within.
"Understood." Han Qingyu nodded, gesturing for him to stay back and not follow, before taking step after step forward.
***
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Boom!*
The ground was littered with the corpses of Alphonse's men. The vast majority of them had refused to say anything, while the few who spoke claimed they knew nothing about the deeper levels either. Weapons relentlessly pounded against the iron wall...
Yet it was far too thick.
Three walls were solid iron, and both the floor and ceiling were solid iron as well. This had originally been the final battlefield designed by Alphonse to trap and kill Han Qingyu, while leaving an escape route behind for himself in case the need arose.
"Stop! Cease!" Wen Jifei called out. "Wu Xu, Rusty Sister, you two head back to where we came from and search around. Even if there's no way through, try to listen for any sounds. Remember, don't get separated."
"The rest of you, come back with me to call everyone from outside down here," he ordered. "Dig through the ground, tear down the walls—we're going to turn this place upside down. There's no way the entire place is encased in iron."
Just as his words fell, *swoosh! swoosh!* Two figures, Old Hugh and Black Tooth, burst through the breached wall behind them.
They had come in—over eight thousand men had entered.
The two earthquake-like tremors, coupled with the failure of their communicators, had made it impossible for them and the soldiers to wait any longer. They had moved in, swept through the entire "city" area, located the downward passage, and sent their top combat powers down to investigate.
"It's not just us who came in," Black Tooth said. "That Azure councilor, the reporters, the onlookers, and everyone looking to settle scores with Alphonse—they've all rushed inside."
"Where's Qingzi?" Old Hugh was the first to notice Han Qingyu was missing.
"Have all the soldiers come down. We need to go find him right now," Wen Jifei said, anxious and worried. He paused for a fraction of a second before continuing, "No—send all the top combat powers down, and have everyone else start digging from above. Tell them we're going to turn this place upside down today..."
"Yes, sir!" Old Hugh straightened up and barked in response.
Within Stream Vanguard, they rarely answered orders in such formal, military fashion, but in this moment, Old Hugh understood. He knew the gravity of the situation.
Leaving Black Tooth behind, he turned and sprinted off.
"When digging starts, have someone who's never been in a relationship and never had anyone like them pick the spots!" Wen Jifei shouted after him.
Old Hugh nearly ran straight into a wall...
Yet Wen Jifei had sounded entirely serious.
***
Inland from the waters nearest to Nepal, in the forested hills bridging the sea and the continent, quite a distance still remained to the Third Fixed Exploration Site.
A burly young man with a buzz cut and a small braid at the back of his head was leading another person along, their devices activated as they sprinted at incredible speed.
Had ordinary people laid eyes on them, they would have been astounded by that terrifying velocity.
Consequently, people of the source energy world usually took care to travel through desolate areas. Near coastal waters, however, such isolated paths were few and far between.
*Whoosh!* Another masked figure suddenly darted across their path from ahead.
As if having pursued them over a great distance for a long time, the person came to a halt looking somewhat weary. Turning, the figure raised a long blade wrapped in black cloth, blocking the pair's way.
"You... your white hair is showing, Shu You? Whoa, you actually dare to come out? Aren't you afraid to die?" The buzz-cut youth halted, squinted for a moment, and asked in utter astonishment.
Shu You ignored him. The man across from him was named Amugulang, ranked ninth on the Dome Leaderboard, hailing from the Self-Preservation Faction's Deep Sea organization.
Earlier, having seen the warning issued by Chen Buer, Shu You had abandoned his plan to attack the Snow Lotus base. Unable to put his mind at ease, he had taken the risk of leaving the City of Iniquity to lie in wait in this region, determined to prevent any powerful experts from entering the fray.
Their gazes locked in silence for several seconds.
"Help! Where are the Azure people? Shu You is right here! Somebody come grab him!" Amugulang suddenly spun around and hollered at the top of his lungs.
He bellowed six times in a row. Seeing that no one paid him the slightest mind and that only startled birds and insects scattered in the air, Amugulang finally turned back... The little braid at the back of his head swayed as he spoke:
"Why are you blocking me?"
"Stay here, or turn back," Shu You said. "When even Snow Lotus chose silence, does Deep Sea intend to meddle in this?"
"I only came to have a look. Uh, how about we go together? Maybe we can fish in troubled waters. That 'The King' must have something extraordinary on him, or there's no way he could have advanced this fast."
Shu You shook his head.
"If Azure comes hunting you, I'll cover your retreat."
Shu You shook his head again.
Amugulang finally understood. He abruptly spun around once more.
"Come look, everyone! The rumors are true! The King and Shu You really are in cahoots!"
"Watch out, everyone! The City of Iniquity isn't content staying in hiding anymore!"
There was still no response.
Helpless, Amugulang turned back again, his gaze turning fierce. "You really won't let us pass?"
"I won't."
"..." Amugulang raised a hand, pointing at the person beside him. "Don't say I didn't warn you. He's a super combat power too, and I have no intention of fighting one-on-one."
"Very well. Go ahead," Shu You replied with a calm nod.
"...Hey! Don't get so cocky!" Annoyed, Amugulang rolled up his sleeves. "To tell you the truth, even though I'm ranked ninth, my actual strength goes well beyond ninth."
"Is that so? Actually, if I disregarded fairness and forcefully intervened, I could kick you straight off the rankings," Shu You said. "Then you wouldn't even be ninth."
"Ah... let's not do that, okay?" Amugulang's expression turned sour. "Our Deep Sea relies on my ranking just to brag!"
Ye Jian finally chuckled out loud. Still laughing, he pushed himself up from the ground and strolled out from the nearby woods.
Chapter 581