Box

My body plummeted at high speed, the gale howling past my ears. Through my blurred vision, countless bizarre mechanical structures flashed by on all sides. Jumping vertically down from such a deep shaft felt like passing through a dim tunnel leading straight to hell. I even had the illusion that if I kept falling like this, I might land directly at the planet's core—though judging from Ilson's movements earlier, we should be close to the bottom now.

The elite soldiers intercepting us along the shaft walls initially chose to pursue us. They jumped down almost alongside us, clinging tightly to our heels and firing continuously. Though they were merely shells, their determination to never rest until the enemy was destroyed was still moving. And their shooting was not entirely ineffective: after more than a minute of frantic gunfire and our counterattacks, they were basically all dead.

"Strange, why isn't anyone chasing us anymore?"

Lilina twisted about happily in midair in a Superman-flying pose, then suddenly found the time to turn around and take a look, asking in puzzlement.

I thought about it, then told her when I figured the timing was about right. "Because we're almost at the bottom."

Lilina was horrified. "What—Bang!"

Everyone landed safely, dropping to one knee like several Terminators descending from the sky in a dramatic entrance. Only after slowly rising did we realize that our group had smashed a string of craters resembling the Big Dipper into the bottom of the shaft. Lilina lay sprawled in the bowl of the Big Dipper, her arms and legs twitching back and forth. After a long while, she finally spoke in a muffled, tearful voice. "Waaah, Boss... I twisted my neck."

Served the girl right for not behaving herself earlier!

Ding Dang flew over to treat Lilina's neck.