Flashback

Lily stood silently facing the dragon skeleton, while Kang De, who had walked away, listened to his son's praise.

"Father," the Transformers said, "You've grown up, and I'm very proud of you."

Kang De was immune to this level of discourse.

He glanced back at Lily, then looked at A Xing, who was also somewhat absent-minded A Xing noticed his gaze and gave him his usual silly smile.

Kang De sighed inwardly.

That Parrot has a big mouth; it doesn't speak when it should, and it chatters away when it shouldn't. It keeps quiet about A Xing's background and origins, leaving Ah Xing clueless.

Right now, A Xing's condition is a bit off, but he doesn't know how to comfort or resolve it.

Kang De smiled at A Xing and put his face shield back on.

"That shield... is interesting."

He was referring to the honeycomb-shaped purple shield that appeared around the charging, corrupted dragon the instant the howitzer fired at it. This shield blocked the explosive damage and shockwave from the howitzer, and even temporarily withstood the dense barrage of large-caliber machine gun fire.

This tough and efficient energy shield is something even otherworldly magic would find difficult to achieve.

"That's certainly interesting." Horus replied as his father brought up serious matters. "I've reviewed the combat recorder. The energy shield deployed instantly upon the grenade explosion. Our experiments confirm the same conclusion: that mysterious energy possesses a certain level of intelligence. It can be interpreted as the mysterious energy residing within the dragon sensing a highly threatening external attack and immediately taking the most effective countermeasure."

Several images flashed before Kang De's visor: amidst invisible waves and blazing fire, the air distorted, and the shield's purple light shone eerily.

"Father, please look. At the point of impact, the shield's color is clearly darker than the surrounding area, and we can even see traces of energy flow in the photograph. This shield is automatically distributing the energy ratio in the local area according to the intensity of the attack. This thing doesn't seem like a magical contraption at all; it's more like advanced energy technology."

Kang De paused for a moment, then said, "That's not important. What's important is whether we can take advantage of it."

"It's worth a try. The mechanism by which this mysterious energy works should be quite clear: when 'it' treats the object it inhabits as a host, it will automatically defend itself when the host is threatened."

Intricate structures and blueprints were projected onto the visor's display screen.

"Using this mechanism, we can create objects that appear in various works on Earth, such as large shield generators, or psionic shields..."

"The current challenge lies in how to guide and control the form and power of this mysterious energy. This requires a great deal of follow-up experimentation and testing, but we..."

Kang De interrupted the Iron Son's explanation, "Just give me your conclusion."

"The conclusion is that we can start by trying to make some simple personal protective equipment."

The complex blueprint vanished in an instant, and a Windows Paint interface appeared before Kang De. Instantly, Horus sketched a highly futuristic energy shield on it with astonishing speed and skill, enough to be a CG concept artist.

Only the outer corners are solid; most of the shield surface is a phantom-like, transparent purple.

"The outer physical frame is an energy field constraint component. In standby mode, it can fold and retract onto the wrist guard. When unfolded, a strong shield constructed of mysterious energy will fill it, forming a tough shield."

Horus quickly performed a simulation. "The maximum durability is unknown, but it can at least withstand short-term attacks from small-caliber firearms and single-target assault spells."

"Portable, advanced, efficient, and cool. It can at least be issued to relevant personnel for rapid advances in confined spaces, special missions, and even escort operations. I think it's a good option."

The Transformers summarized. "It's far more powerful than the Atmospheric Aegis Gauntlets currently popular in this other world. Those things consume a lot of resources and are very expensive to manufacture. Ours is different; we have entirely new materials, core technologies, and advanced production tools that are unattainable for people from this other world..."

"--Even if I end up being responsible for infusing this thing with mystical Element, don't forget, you'll still be in charge of designing and manufacturing the shield's restraining materials!"

Perhaps there are no tools, or perhaps everyone is a tool.

Even so, the capitalists who control the means of production and advanced productive forces have no choice but to work alongside the proletariat, which gives the Iron Son a sense of satisfaction from the completion of a magnificent undertaking.

Horus was just about to make a sarcastic remark when Lily's voice came in.

What are you two standing here for, just spacing out for?

--Kang De's conversation with the Iron Son was contained within the mask, its sound isolated to prevent Kang De from standing still and muttering to himself.

The visor opened, Kang De turned around to find Lily already standing behind him and A Xing.

Kang De laughed and said, "Are you done being happy?"

Lily's face stiffened slightly, then she said nonchalantly, "No, this is enough to keep me entertained for days. I can't wait to see what happens to the other bastards. Let's go."

Kang De glanced at the dragon skeleton left behind. "And this..."

"What?" the Dragon Girl asked, glancing sideways. "Want some?"

"That's not it."

Although dragons are treasures from head to toe, and their skeletons are extremely valuable with highly useful Element that can Extraction from every part of their bodies... Kang De's current demand for them is not high.

Well, how should I put it?

If the current situation can be resolved without major incident and the business agreement with Dragon Island can continue, then he will have plenty of ways to buy all sorts of dragon-related merchandise from the Dragon Emperor, and he won't have to risk losing Lily's favorability by collecting materials from this dead dragon.

If this matter cannot be resolved peacefully, it could eventually escalate into war...

Then there will be no shortage of dragon remains.

Perhaps the biggest exporter of dragon-related products in this other world will change from the Dragon Emperor to his Master Kang.

With this in mind, he said, "What I mean is, we don't need to take him back to the Dragon Tomb for burial?"

The Dragon Girl said calmly, "No need. If you don't want it, just leave it here. Actually, the fall of Dragonfall is the true destiny of a dragon. We are favored by the gods, like demigods in the Mortal World. We are born powerful and have long lifespans, enjoying all the benefits of the world. After our death, our remains return to the mortal realm, and our dragon blood and endless Magic Power are bestowed upon the world, giving those ants who struggle painfully because they are born weak a chance to change their fate. There's nothing wrong with that."

Kang De nodded slightly upon hearing this.

If this is the pride of a dragon, then he agrees.

But then, Dragon Girl raised her eyebrows and said smugly, "Then this idiot can't be counted as a work-related death because his body was never found, and his idiot father won't get any compensation. The nest he's been paying mortgages on for hundreds of years will be confiscated because of the default. Let's see if those conservative idiots will care. Damn it, aren't you traditionalists? Aren't you honorable? Don't you believe in that stuff?"

"..."

Kang De's eye twitched.

"--So that's the real reason!"

Lily snorted and turned her head away.

"Obviously not, you've reverted to your old self." Horus said with exasperation, "The Dragonfall theory is too far-fetched. When we take over this underground world and arrange its development, are we going to leave the dragon's corpse there for these hired, swindled, and bought tools to secretly enjoy?"

"As for the claim of death in the line of duty, that's even more absurd. Whether it's death in the line of duty or not is entirely up to the Dragon Emperor. Even if the body isn't found, just to appease the conservatives, the Dragon Emperor will still declare it a death in the line of duty."

"So, there's only one reason why she doesn't want to take the dragon's remains with her."

Iron Son sighed, "It's because this dragon's corpse is riddled with holes and tattered. Every wound on it was caused by a large-caliber machine gun. Such injuries are unique to you in the entire other world. If the corpse is brought back to Dragon Island, even with Lily's testimony, the conservatives will still pin the blame on you—she did this to avoid causing you trouble, to protect you."

Kang De then understood, felt a warmth in his heart, and looked at Lily's profile.

All I got in return was a small eye roll.

"Ha." Horus let out a wise, all-knowing sneer, "A cold exterior masking a warm heart, a tsundere."

A hint of a smile flashed in Kang De's eyes, and he said softly, "Let me think of a temporary solution."

Lily gave a soft snort, "None of my business."

They took one last look at the Land of Dragonfall before leaving.

"Deep."

It was clear that Lily was very anxious. Although the information provided by Aocheweier was limited, it was very important. Obviously, Cuixisi, the leader of the dragon delegation, had been bewitched by the mysterious energy, lost her mind, and even committed the heinous act of attacking her companions and using them as test subjects.

The fate of the other dragons is predictable.

But most importantly, Cuixisi, obsessed with ascending to godhood, is exploring this vast and mysterious underground world. Her progress far surpasses that of Kang De and his group, and she may have already reached the end, the River of Origin that Aocheweier spoke of.

Although it's unclear what Cuixisi's desired ascension is, based on the consistent patterns of various games, novels, and movies, this dragon will most likely mutate into a hideous, twisted, and deformed final boss wielding numerous tentacles, occasionally oozing disgusting thick fluid. At some point, deformed giant faces and dancing tentacles have become standard features of this type of boss.

We must catch up with him, find him, and stop him as soon as possible.

Although Aocheweier did not provide the exact locations of the "River of Origin" and the "Deep Abyss," clues still exist; at least they can trace back along the path the mad dragon took.

That's the only way.

If that dragon truly completes its so-called ascension, what it will do next is unknown, but it certainly won't be a good thing. And since this is Goth, Goth will inevitably be affected.

Strike first, strike hard!

The journey ahead was even more bizarre, with a deeper and more expansive underground world gradually appearing before Kang De: deep valleys, stone pillars, long rivers, plains, cliffs. If it weren't for the high stone walls at the top constantly reminding him that he was underground, Kang De might have even thought he was on the surface of the earth.

They roared down the cliffs, weaving through towering stone pillars and tall fungal plants. It was only thanks to Aocheweier's erratic behavior when he came that he left behind enough trail markers; otherwise, finding his way through such complex terrain would have been a pipe dream.

Even so, finding the way and determining the direction still consumed a lot of time.

Horus's sensors show that their depth is still increasing.

The entrance to the underground world is more than 1,800 meters below the surface, but how deep is the underground world? It seems endless and unfathomable.

As they descended, the light from the luminous plants and objects grew increasingly dazzling, transforming from soft to blinding, then vibrant and captivating, while the surrounding environment became even more profound and mysterious.

In the darkness, only dazzling light shone. The claustrophobic environment was oppressive. Horus's illumination could only light up a small area before being enveloped in darkness. Within that darkness, red, blue, and yellow lights shone, illuminating a small area around them and outlining the shapes of things further out as hazy and indistinct, like the claws of beasts, waving and galloping.

What a horrible place.

The watch showed that twelve hours had passed since they entered the sealed cave.

It was nearly noon the next day on the ground.

The three of them set up a makeshift camp on a rocky peak. It was more like they had brought a few chairs, some food and drinks, and electrical appliances from the White Mist World, prepared some hot food, rested, ate and drank to relax, and washed away their fatigue.

Kang De took some time to return to the surface. He first met with Stella, then summoned Hong San to report on the progress and problems of the exploration. He then returned to Danfeng Lucerne and recounted the above events to Tina and the Grand Duke. After that, he went to the Phoenix King's tent—using teleportation.

He left a space beacon there.

He was in a menacing mood, clearly ready to settle scores with the Parrot. A Xing was in a rather low mood and lacked energy, obviously preoccupied. This was the first time he had ever seen A Xing like this.

Kang De was determined to pry some inside information out of this scoundrel, but the tent was empty, the bedroom was still like a mass grave, with trash scattered all over the floor, the laptop lying on the bed, the NS missing, but the charging dock was still there.

Touching the bed and bedding, they were icy cold to the touch, but one could faintly smell the alluring scent of flesh that made one blush and their heart race.

Where did that guy go?

Kang De frowned, wanting to wait for the dead bird to return, but worried that Lily and A Xing would be concerned. After thinking for a moment, he took out paper and pen, intending to leave a message for the Parrot.

He is illiterate and speaks the Continental Common Language.

I was afraid that if I wrote in Chinese, someone would pick it up and leak the information—after all, Chinese characters are very similar to the Zhendan Language. Anyway, for Kang De, who was born with a built-in simplified/traditional character conversion plugin, reading Cathay characters was not a problem.

So there's only one choice left.

Pinyin.

To teach his Parrot to speak swear words, Kang De, out of sheer boredom, even resorted to using pinyin to correct the Parrot's pronunciation and intonation—after all, intonation is the soul of many Civilization.

In this entire other world, only he and the Parrot understand this thing.

It tells the story of the underworld, the corruption and erosion by dragons, Cuixisi's yearning for ascension, the Long River of Origin deep underground, and A Xing's strange behavior.

Kang De folded the paper filled with pinyin, stuffed it into the laptop's inner compartment, and shook his head—he never imagined he could go back to first grade and write compositions using pinyin.

He looked around, sighed, and with a flash of black light, returned to the dark underground world.

All that could be seen was complete darkness.

Beneath their feet was the solid summit of a stone peak, indeed the spatial anchor point left earlier. However, the surroundings were silent and dark, with a faint light flickering in the distance, making everything indistinct.

But all of the things that had been brought out—the oven, several boxes of food and drinks, the generator, the floor lamp, the sofa and chairs, even the A Xing and Lily sitting in the chairs devouring their food, Horus who had been left here as a precaution when they were teleported back—had vanished.

Kang De's heart sank, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

He looked around and found himself alone in the pitch-black underground world. There was no light nearby, but he could vaguely make out the outlines of the surrounding stone pillar fungus forest, twisted like beasts. Below, he could faintly hear the footsteps of some large creature, its deep breathing, the murmuring of a river, and the occasional cry from the dark valley.

What happened?

Where are they?

Kang De took a deep breath.

The cold air travels from the nasal cavity all the way to the lungs.

It felt like I was back in the days right after I transmigrated, in a completely unfamiliar environment, far from Civilization, facing all the unknown and fear. That feeling is forever etched in my heart.

Kang De's palms were sweaty.

As if by instinct, he activated his spatial abilities, preparing to return to the world he was familiar with.

He had no weapons or supplies, and even to figure out what had happened, he needed to arm himself first... just like before.

There may be no response at all.

The White Mist World remained unresponsive, as if it had vanished.

The ability, which had been used hundreds and thousands of times and opened the door almost instinctively, had failed.

There was a deathly silence in the perception of time and space.

Hold!

A chill instantly swept over him, and panic truly surfaced, worse than when he was on the deserted island. Although the Fire Thief's powers remained, and he could still use Phoenix Vision, the power of time, and even the Extraction supernatural abilities, the real fear was not facing the unknown environment, but having no way back.

Just like before.

In his loneliness and fear, he was the first companion to appear by his side, someone he could rely on.

Kang De instinctively called out, "A Xing!"

"... Kang De?"

"What's wrong?"

The next moment, bright lights came into view, along with an oven, a sofa, and the aroma of meat. A Xing and Lily stood in front of him, their beautiful faces illuminated by the lights showing worry and surprise.

Kang De looked around blankly, then said in a hoarse voice, "I..."

Then, perhaps in the blink of an eye, or even less time, the world changed again. The person in front of me disappeared, the surrounding light vanished, and it was back to that deathly, cold darkness. There was light in the distance, and a beast passed by below. The White Mist World did not respond. The same environment, but a completely different world.

It was as if Time Flashback, flowing back to many years ago.

￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

PS1: Update... Today, the entire city's Unicom network crashed. From cell phone signals to broadband internet, everything went down. It was truly an eye-opening experience.