"That was possible." Schiller stroked his chin. "Although there was plenty of space there, it was still on the edge of their territory. And if they could hollow out a mountain range, then maybe they could hollow out an entire plateau..."
Strange looked like he was about to faint, so Schiller waved a hand. "All right. Back when Demon Gods ran rampant across Earth, which one of them wasn't a walking bomb? Didn't Earth survive just fine? Whatever China does on its own territory is none of your business. Besides, they have an excellent reputation when it comes to safety."
"I'm a little curious," Steve said. "Building all this underground must have been difficult, right? Just digging out a cavity more than two thousand meters deep and making sure it didn't collapse would already be incredibly hard. They might be short on land, but there should be plenty of uninhabited areas aboveground. Why go to all this trouble?"
"I think it might be because those Demons back then came out of the ground." Schiller shrugged. "They've always believed in settling old scores. Following that line of thought, it might not just be the Himalayan Mountains that have become an empty shell. The underground beneath all of Asia might be..."
Strange was genuinely struggling to breathe. Schiller could only help him catch his breath before saying, "I know that from your perspective, the magical defense network is already safe enough, and you, as the Sorcerer Supreme, are fairly reliable. But they always plan far ahead. If they couldn't guarantee that the magical defense network would always be safe and the Sorcerer Supreme would always be reliable, they would certainly find a way to create their own backup measures. What you've seen is probably only the tip of the iceberg."
"I suddenly