Reunion

The fire spread at an incomprehensible speed, illuminating the entire underground cavity like daylight. But the truly terrifying part wasn't the flames themselves. Those spherical bacteria contained vast amounts of flammable gas. When ignited and burned, the gas would merely catch fire. However, bacteria further away, untouched by the flames but exposed to intense heat, experienced rapid expansion of their internal flammable gases. This expansion caused the bacteria to burst, spewing out large quantities of gas in a near-jetting fashion. Upon contact with the flames, this gas formed massive fireballs. Some bacteria exploded outright, with terrifying force.

Mo Li could no longer worry about what was happening behind him. He could only feel the air temperature rapidly increasing. Explosions erupted one after another, and shockwaves buffeted his body, making him stumble even as he ran at high speed. Fortunately, Mo Li managed to maintain his balance each time, preventing him from falling and being consumed by the flames.

As he reached the underground lake, a massive bacterium exploded not far behind him. It was less than ten meters away. The terrifying blast wave sent Mo Li, who was carrying Zhong Lichun, flying through the air. Both of them then plunged into the lake.

The icy water of the lake provided relief from the scorching heat of the air. Although Mo Li was dazed from the explosion, he hadn't lost consciousness. The moment he hit the water, his mind cleared. After paddling to keep himself balanced, Mo Li looked around. The lake, which should have been dark, was surprisingly bright due to the raging inferno above.

Soon, Mo Li spotted Zhong Lichun. She was also conscious and paddling to stay afloat, just like him. Mo Li swam to her side and pointed upwards, indicating his intention to go and assess the situation.

Zhong Lichun nodded in understanding. Mo Li then swam towards the surface. As he got closer, the water temperature continued to rise. Mo Li noticed other creatures in the lake. Most were a strange-looking, white, scaleless fish. They weren't large, the biggest being about the size of an adult's palm, but they were numerous. Perhaps due to the rising water temperature, they were all swimming towards deeper waters.

Of course, such a large underground lake wouldn't only contain these fish. Mo Li also saw various bizarre creatures. One resembled a water snake but had short, stubby limbs. Others looked like scaled shrimp. Most astonishingly, Mo Li saw some tadpoles. Their appearance was similar to ordinary tadpoles, but their size was outrageous. The smallest were the size of an adult's head, and the largest were over a meter in diameter. Judging by their size, Mo Li surmised these tadpoles might be the offspring of the giant frog.

When Mo Li surfaced, his first sensation was an unbearable wave of terrifying heat. Enduring the heat, Mo Li looked around. The entire underground cavity, except for the area around the underground lake, was now engulfed in flames. In the distance, more bacteria continued to explode, their booming sounds incessant. With each explosion, the entire underground cavity trembled violently, and debris rained down from the ceiling. One piece fell so close it grazed Mo Li's head.

Fearing being hit by falling rocks, Mo Li dove back underwater. To his surprise, Zhong Lichun had followed him up. Mo Li didn't let her surface but pointed in a direction and swam ahead.

After swimming about twenty meters, they reached the edge of the underground lake on the other side, which was against the cavity wall. When Mo Li had surfaced earlier, he had carefully observed the environment. The cave wall here had an inward slope, so even if rocks fell from the ceiling, this area should be relatively safer.

Zhong Lichun had reached her limit for holding her breath. As soon as she reached the cave wall, she eagerly surfaced and gasped for air. When she saw the scene in the underground cavity, her face was filled with horror. She would never have believed the entire cavity was engulfed in flames if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

"Hey, hey! What did you two do? How did the entire underground cavity catch fire?" Just as Mo Li surfaced close behind Zhong Lichun, Wei Dengke's voice came from a small protrusion on the cave wall not far to their right.

Hearing the voice, Mo Li and Zhong Lichun turned their heads and their faces lit up with surprise. They saw Wei Dengke perched on a small ledge on the cave wall not far from them. Although the ledge wasn't very large, it should be able to accommodate three people.

Having found Wei Dengke, Zhong Lichun and Mo Li quickly swam over and climbed onto the ledge. As soon as she was up, Zhong Lichun took off her soaked assault jacket and lay down tiredly on the ground. Mo Li, meanwhile, looked at Wei Dengke.

Wei Dengke seemed to be in decent condition, though his appearance was rather pathetic. He had been fair-skinned, but after being corroded by the giant frog's stomach acid, his skin was now a dark red, with some areas showing minor ulcerations. Fortunately, it was only superficial and shouldn't be life-threatening.

Wei Dengke knew Mo Li was looking at him. He gave a helpless, wry smile and then said seriously to Mo Li, "Thank you for before. If you hadn't thrown me into the water, I would have been corroded by the stomach fluid even if I had gotten out. I was too weak to reach the lake on my own then."

"...How did that big guy spit you out? I doubt you were so unpalatable that it made the giant frog sick, right?" Mo Li asked with a strange expression, a question he'd had since Wei Dengke was expelled but never had a chance to ask.

Wei Dengke chuckled wryly, then held up the pen-like object and shook it. "This is a disposable high-voltage stun baton. As the name suggests, due to its small size, it can only store enough electricity for one attack. The advantage is its portability, and the voltage is a hundred thousand volts. It's my life-saving treasure."

"You didn't use this thing to shock the giant frog in its stomach after you were swallowed, did you?" Mo Li seemed to understand, but he still pressed for details.

"What else could I do? Fortunately, the strong current caused the giant frog's stomach to contract violently and spit me out. Otherwise, I would have become that frog's excrement," Wei Dengke replied with a peculiar expression.

"Seeing as you can still joke, you should be fine. But this place is completely covered in fire now, so we won't be able to leave for a while," Zhong Lichun said, seemingly having recovered. She didn't sit up but lay on her back, turning her head to speak to Wei Dengke.

Mo Li and Wei Dengke glanced at Zhong Lichun and then, as if by instinct, swallowed. Zhong Lichun, with her years of training, had a remarkable figure. Lying on the ground in just her undergarments, the scene was undeniably tempting for any normal man.

Mo Li awkwardly scratched his head and instinctively looked away. Wei Dengke, on the other hand, pouted and said, "Hey, tomboy, can you be a little more mindful? It's fine if you don't see yourself as a woman, but we're two hot-blooded young men. You're making it very easy for us to commit a crime like this."