Dark Tunnel

Since the Air Shield was tied to the electrical energy carried, it was not too far-fetched for Multiversal Force to be tied to the Bitcoin carried.

He still had doubts about why Multiversal Force was measured in Bitcoin. Wasn't this a system that had existed since ancient times? Why was it connected to something as modern as Bitcoin?

But Wu Zhong held himself back and did not ask on the spot.

Yang Chunsha was getting a little impatient. "Kid, you're not with Unit 985, so why are you at Mount Lu Base?"

Wu Zhong said, "Huh? Who said I'm not? I work for Unit 985, raising pigs. Every day, I have to feed live pigs into a pipeline at set times."

"As for Unit 985, I never even knew that was the name of my workplace before. I kept running into strange things, even things that put my life in danger."

"Until this time, when things got completely ridiculous—even ghosts and gods showed up. I nearly died, and I couldn't stay there another day..."

He was completely making it up. Even Endless Summer could not help glancing at him.

Yet his emotions seemed genuine, conveying the anxious fear of the unknown.

Yang Chunsha not only believed him, but was also greatly astonished.

"Unit 985 raises pigs?"

"You feed live pigs into pipes? Why? What are they feeding? Is Mount Lu suppressing some kind of monster?"

Wu Zhong was surprised. He had not expected her to know nothing about the Happiness Zombie.

Even if Yang Chunsha was just a small fry in the Calamity Realm, she was still a local player. How could she not know that zombies were being raised in an underground base?

It seemed Unit 985's secrecy was excellent. No wonder the facility for raising zombies had been so ordinary, without any special guards.

In their understanding, probably no one in the outside world knew of this Calamity Artifact at all.

This showed just how extraordinary and capable Endless Summer was.

Wu Zhong recalled that when Endless Summer had told him intelligence such as the dog barking, the people from Unit 985 had all been shocked and asked, "How did you know?"

In the Calamity Realm, intelligence was king.

Endless Summer's breadth of knowledge was not something an ordinary mercenary possessed.

Wasn't Captain Lu's group holding him because they suspected he knew a great deal, perhaps even possessed intelligence-related traits?

For a moment, Wu Zhong thought of many things. He even considered whether this was related to the church organization Endless Summer had mentioned.

"Kid, don't imitate him and act like a silent Gourd."

"Brother Xia is a Gold-ranked mercenary. Since he personally brought you into the circle, you must have exceptional abilities."

"If anything happens to you in Jiangxi Province and you need help, ask your big sister directly. Call my private number, so the platform won't take a cut."

Yang Chunsha had the looks of an intellectual, aloof beauty, yet she was always trying every possible way to build connections.

A slender hand extended a business card from the front seat. Seeing that arm as white as lotus root, Wu Zhong instinctively reached out and took it.

Hengtuo Engineering Construction Company, Business Manager, Debiao.

Wu Zhong raised a brow. How could such a beautiful woman have a name like Debiao? This had to be a fake identity.

People in the Calamity Realm probably all had false identities. That was nothing unusual.

Endless Summer commented coolly, "Oh? You use phones to communicate?"

Yang Chunsha said nonchalantly, "For major matters, of course we have to use plants. But for minor things, it doesn't matter... It depends on who we're dealing with."

"Here in Jiangxi Province, I take any kind of work. Whether you need a safe house, forged documents, someone or something found, secured transport, secret-stealing, or intelligence purchases... You can come to me for all sorts of small, miscellaneous jobs."

"My prices are fair, and I accept cash."

Wu Zhong could not help saying, "Buy intelligence? From you? You don't even know why Unit 985 feeds pigs..."

Having been mocked by a rookie, Yang Chunsha could not quite keep a straight face.

Still, she explained, "Kid, it's not like everything has to involve major powers and important figures in the Calamity Realm."

"I can still handle ordinary people's affairs with ease."

Wu Zhong understood. She meant the mundane affairs of ordinary society could be brought to her.

It seemed competition among the lower-tier mercenaries of the Calamity Realm was fierce.

That so-called Mercenary Club platform probably rarely had simple jobs. Most tasks involved other Calamity Artifacts.

Once a task was linked to official departments or major powers, lower-tier mercenaries would not dare accept it.

And Yang Chunsha appeared to take only jobs within her own province, which made life even harder for her.

But Wu Zhong said, "You're still crying poverty? This job of taking us on pays twenty Bitcoin. Even if the platform takes half, you'll still make ten million."

"Three years without a job, then one job feeds you for three years."

With that one remark, he revealed his ordinary-person background.

Yang Chunsha froze, then smiled. "Kid, there are only twenty-one million Bitcoins in total."

"Other than Awakeners themselves, it is the only vessel that can store Multiversal Force."

"Moreover, carrying it can increase the upper limit of Multiversal Force one can hold out of thin air."

"By now, it is impossible to buy at any price. Most of it is monopolized by the powerful of major nations and major factions. No one will sell regardless of how high the offer is, so its trading price has temporarily stopped rising. But if they were actually willing to put them all up for sale, the price would only be even higher!"

"There are only ninety-four wallets in the whole world holding more than ten thousand Bitcoin."

"A small fry like me only has 16.233 coins. It's rare for a job to pay ten Bitcoin. Why would I exchange that for cash? Your big sister isn't poor enough for that."

Wu Zhong's pupils shook. He truly had never looked into this before.

Only now did he understand what kind of value the USB drive with thirty thousand Bitcoin in Endless Summer's stomach represented.

This was not merely a matter of thirty billion. With Bitcoin able to raise the storage limit of Multiversal Force, being able to hold that much in itself meant Endless Summer was no minor figure in the Calamity Realm.

It was hard to say whether he was some major player in the circle, but he was surely a first-rate figure.

Judging by the sheer volume of his Multiversal Force, he was undoubtedly in the top hundred, perhaps even the top fifty. He might rank even higher.

No wonder Yang Chunsha maintained such an icy front while still trying to cling to Endless Summer... Even today's twenty-Bitcoin job was already an enormous order to her.

"Brother Xia, we'll have to take a detour next," Yang Chunsha suddenly said.

Only then did Wu Zhong notice that Yang Chunsha seemed to have driven the car into the wilderness. There was not even a paved road anymore.

Then, Yang Chunsha pressed something. Every window on the car rose with its shutter closed, plunging them into darkness, including the windshield!

"What are you doing?" Wu Zhong's muscles tensed as he hurriedly looked at Endless Summer.

Endless Summer remained calm, merely curious. "Everyone has secrets."

"It seems your route is very simple and crude... an actual secret passage."

Yang Chunsha kept driving, but the car was clearly jolting much more violently.

"To make a living in the Calamity Realm, you need some skills. I may not compare to you, Brother Xia, but..."

"Anywhere in Jiangxi Province, if you want to avoid every checkpoint and evade Unit 985's investigations, I'm the person to find."

"Gentlemen, fasten your seat belts."

One hand held the steering wheel while the other suddenly rose and snapped her fingers.

"Multiversal Moment!"

Her bearing abruptly changed. Her hair flew upward, and a soft glow shone from within the V-neck at her chest.

With a flick of her jade-like hand, she pulled a leather-bound book from the drawer beside her and held it before herself.

The leather book flipped through its pages on its own, blazing with light as well.

"Earth Escape: Yellow Springs Swamp!"

With her sharp cry, the car immediately shook and tilted.

At the same time, she floored the accelerator. A fierce sensation of weightlessness flung Wu Zhong upward.

Judging by gravity, the car seemed to be diving down a steep slope!

"Fuck..."

Wu Zhong gripped the handle above the window with one hand while hurriedly fastening the rear seat belt with the other.

After quite a while, the Bentley hit the ground with a thud and began driving straight again.

The road was still extremely bumpy, but it was no longer diving downward.

"Yellow Springs Swamp? Is that ninjutsu?" Wu Zhong grumbled after recovering.

Endless Summer released the handle. "You believe whatever people tell you? Have you ever seen ninjutsu that needs a book to cast?"

Wu Zhong blinked, sighing at how sinister people could be.

Even shouting the name of a move could be made up.

Yang Chunsha tossed the book onto the passenger seat and adjusted her glasses with a fingertip. "Welcome to my Dark Tunnel."

Endless Summer knocked on the window. "You sealed the windows. Of course it's dark."

"Open them and let me see."

After thinking for a moment, Yang Chunsha smiled. "Sure. It doesn't matter if I let Brother Xia have a look."

She reopened the window shutters, but it was still dim outside.

Fortunately, there were lights inside the car. By their illumination, Wu Zhong could see that they were driving through a dark, narrow underground passage.

Irregular rock walls surrounded them, with barely any soil in sight!

Clearly, they were already deep underground.

There were bends in the road from time to time, but Yang Chunsha was completely at ease. She turned the steering wheel one-handed and passed through them easily without hitting the walls.

They even came across intersections with multiple branching paths. Yang Chunsha chose one without hesitation every time, even though the tunnels bore no signs or markings at all.

She drove incredibly fast through these tiny, tunnel-like places. That demanded an extreme familiarity with the route.

Wu Zhong noticed that the compass ornament on the steering wheel was now spinning wildly! Clearly, compasses and other direction-finding devices did not work properly in this area.

Anyone else would surely get lost.

"No wonder you dared take this job. So you dug such a complex network of Dark Tunnels underground."

"Don't tell me they cover all of Jiangxi Province?"

Even Endless Summer was astonished. He had not expected a local small-time mercenary to be so capable, secretly carrying out such a huge project.

Yang Chunsha chuckled. "Making a living isn't easy. Some people are born wealthy, unlike me. I have to rely on hard work."

"Jiangxi Province has many mountains. I specifically dug passages beneath remote mountain wildernesses, winding and crisscrossing, connecting with one another. They can cover the cities and counties throughout Jiangxi Province, even extending into neighboring provinces."

"Every city and county surrounding Jiangxi Province can be reached from here!"

"Of course, if you were trapped in the city center, I wouldn't dare take the job. I'd be afraid I couldn't even get out of the urban area."

"But outside the city, let me say without modesty: there is no one my Dark Queen cannot hide!"

"These twenty Bitcoin were absolutely worth every penny!"

Only then did Endless Summer give her a more serious look and nod slightly. "Indeed. If I come to Jiangxi Province for work in the future, I'll find you."

Yang Chunsha beamed. She desperately wanted repeat customers, especially someone as formidable as Endless Summer.

Wu Zhong asked, "Sis, such a huge network of tunnels, dug so deep... are you the only one?"

Yang Chunsha brushed back her hair. "Of course not. I have helpers too. Everyone is responsible for a different area, and in the end, we connected them all together."

"They are all formidable experts—Gold-ranked mercenaries, even Platinum-ranked ones."

"When you're out making a living, who doesn't have some backing? What if someone tries to screw you over? Your big sister doesn't dare be a lone wolf in the Calamity Realm."

Wu Zhong could hear the subtle display of strength in her words.

That made sense. She had already brought them into the tunnels. What if Endless Summer killed her and left on his own?

Without Yang Chunsha to guide him, he would surely get lost here, but who knew whether Endless Summer had other means of finding his way?

So Yang Chunsha took the opportunity to make it clear: she had people behind her, and she had her own faction.

Thinking one step further, she had deliberately hung that compass on the steering wheel so people could see how it spun wildly after entering the tunnels, reminding her passengers that if she died, no one would know the way.

Wu Zhong wiped his face. Good lord, everyone was full of schemes.