Encounter

Her remaining energy was rapidly depleting. According to the sonar system's readings, she was still nearly a hundred meters away from breaking through this region of gelatinous soil. Even without interference from the Epoch Clan soldiers, Sarah did not have enough energy to use the Negative Energy Shield to cross that distance.

Sarah understood that continuing downward was a dead end. She had to change tactics. The path beneath her feet had been deliberately reinforced by the Epoch Clan, but the surrounding paths had only been reinforced for a short distance—probably less than fifty meters. If she got lucky and found an unsealed passage, she would have a good chance of escaping this reinforced layer of gelatinous soil.

As long as she got out of here and continued buying time while avoiding being trapped, the layer of earth she occupied would eventually fall into the space below.

Once she had settled on a plan, Sarah immediately changed tactics. As she fell, her Echolocation System operated at full power. Suddenly, the Negative Energy Shield beneath her feet vanished. A solid sensation immediately traveled up through her body, and with her feet on firm ground, she stopped falling.

Although the shield beneath her feet had been shut off, her energy output coefficient instead surged. The Negative Energy Shield reactivated, but this time it appeared in front of her.

The soil it touched instantly vanished. Sarah drove her legs forward and charged ahead with the shield before her. The greatly expanded contact area made her energy reserves drain away as though a leak had sprung.

But this was no time to conserve energy. After Sarah charged ten meters with the shield and her energy reserves dropped below thirty percent, the obstruction before her suddenly cleared. She had burst into a passageway.

Ahead stood