Trapped in a Cave

Xunyang City was located in the northwestern corner of Jiangxi Province, not far from the provincial border.

According to Yang Chunsha, even with all the twists and turns underground, they could reach neighboring Hunan Province in four hours.

"I have a safe house in the next county over. Once I get you there, I'll find a way to get you new IDs."

"Then you can fly out on your own. My mission will be complete."

Endless Summer frowned slightly. "IDs? Are they real? What kind of connection do you have?"

Yang Chunsha said proudly, "They're real IDs, not some shoddy forgeries. Of course I have my own connections."

Unexpectedly, hearing that they were real made Endless Summer sneer instead. "Real? Then we definitely can't use them."

"I don't care what kind of connections you have. They're all Unit 985's connections."

"Huh?" Yang Chunsha stared in shock. "What do you mean?"

Endless Summer scoffed. "I don't care what channels you use to get IDs. The reason they haven't been shut down is because they're all under Unit 985's control."

"Blocking is worse than guiding. They deliberately leave those channels open, even secretly acting as channels that provide newcomers with convenient new identities."

"That way, Unit 985 knows about every special ID used by people from the Calamity Realm operating within the country."

"No matter where you go or what you do, there'll be a trail to follow."

"They generally won't alert you. They'll deliberately let you continue existing."

"But the moment you obtain those IDs, it's like registering yourself with Unit 985. Once you get involved in a major incident, they'll come straight for you. You won't even know where your trail leaked, and you'll think there's a mole among your people."

Yang Chunsha's pupils shook violently. She had known nothing about this.

Not just her—most Calamity Realm users knew nothing about it. Many had used their IDs for years without anything happening.

Yet it turned out all of it was Unit 985's "fishing line," waiting for the big fish.

"Huh? Th-that's how it is? Is that real?" Yang Chunsha was struggling to keep it together. Did that mean she had been carrying out missions right under Unit 985's nose all these years?

The only reason she had not been caught was because she was too insignificant?

Wu Zhong was equally astonished. Damn, the authorities made the fakes themselves, so they were even more authentic than the real thing. Most people thought they were being so discreet.

In reality, they had become informants without knowing it.

Yang Chunsha took a deep breath. "Th-then we won't use any other IDs."

"According to your mission, as long as I get you out of the province and to the safe house, that counts, right?"

Endless Summer nodded slightly.

Yang Chunsha pressed on, "Then let me confirm something. You didn't kill anyone from Unit 985, did you?"

Endless Summer raised an eyebrow slightly. "No."

Yang Chunsha nodded. "That's good. Otherwise, once the Skyfire Squad is deployed, we wouldn't escape even if we dug three feet into the ground."

The corner of Endless Summer's lips rose. "Those psychics? Heh. Whether I killed anyone or not, they'll eventually be sent to Mount Lu."

Yang Chunsha was startled. "Why?"

Endless Summer merely said, "To guard Mount Lu long-term, they'll inevitably be needed."

Yang Chunsha's eyes darted about. "Could it be because of Best Metal... You mean the Mount Lu Incident requires Best Metal to guard it? For the long term?"

"Then... then... sigh, business throughout Northwestern Jiangxi will become even harder in the future."

The news made her deeply uneasy.

After all, she was the local boss in this area. No one would be happy to learn that a group of outsiders would be stationed here for the long term.

"The Skyfire Squad hasn't arrived yet, right?"

Endless Summer shrugged. "They hadn't when I left, but they should be arriving soon. That's why we need to leave Jiangxi Province as quickly as possible."

Yang Chunsha took a deep breath. "Don't worry. My Dark Tunnel is too deep for their psychic power to reach."

"Unless they happen to be directly above us and extend their psychic power straight downward to search."

Endless Summer said faintly, "Just hurry up. Speed up."

"..." Yang Chunsha froze. The tunnel was narrow and full of forks. They were already going very fast.

But since Endless Summer had said so, she immediately focused with all her might and accelerated.

The car took turns through the tunnel with practiced ease, but it nearly shook Wu Zhong sick.

It was the middle of the night, and he had already been exhausted and sleepy.

Seeing that Yang Chunsha had everything arranged and that Endless Summer was beside him, Wu Zhong finally stopped forcing himself to stay awake and fell into a deep sleep.

As he slept, he vaguely felt as though he was about to dream.

Then a burst of icy suffocation jolted him awake!

Wu Zhong opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by water.

The car was still in the passageway, but the windows had shattered, and dirt and rocks mixed with water were pouring in.

"The passageway collapsed! Groundwater is flooding in!"

Yang Chunsha shouted, holding up her book as her chest glowed.

The surrounding dirt and rocks immediately wriggled violently and surged upward, sealing the breach above them.

The breach was blocked, but the water was still rising.

Because the passage ahead had collapsed too! So had the passage behind them!

Rumble!

It seemed like a chain of mudslides had erupted. The tiny car was trapped in the narrow passage, with floodwater and mud before and behind it!

Wu Zhong looked toward the front of the car and discovered that a massive rock had already fallen and crushed the hood flat.

"Fuck!" Wu Zhong shouted, not knowing what to do.

Endless Summer had already activated Multiversal Moment, his body covered in a nano-colonization suit made of flowing purple plasma.

Rip!

He tore open the warped car door and roof with his bare hands, then dragged Wu Zhong out onto the roof.

But afterward, even he did not know what to do.

Clearly, even with his abilities, he could not hold back a flood. What was he supposed to do, fire a few shots and make the rock ceiling collapse even worse?

"Yang Chunsha! Use your magic to seal off both ends!" Endless Summer shouted.

Yang Chunsha crawled out through the window in a sorry state, soaked in water and covered head to toe in mud.

The passageway ahead and behind was collapsing in a chain reaction. Fortunately, she had already held up and repaired the section directly above them.

But somehow, it had connected to an underground river. Floodwater and mud surged fiercely from both directions, spiraling through the narrow passage under immense pressure with unstoppable force!

Rumble! Splash!

Terrifying roars echoed throughout the entire passageway.

At the critical moment, Yang Chunsha waved a hand. "Earth Release: Earth Formation Wall!"

Boom!

Thick stone walls rose up and blocked both ends of the passageway, immediately keeping the floodwater outside.

The scene also plunged into darkness.

Only Endless Summer's faint purple light remained, illuminating the surroundings with a dim and eerie glow.

"Good heavens, your tunnel has way too many safety hazards, doesn't it?" Wu Zhong was a complete mess, soaked through as well.

They were now inside an extremely small cave-like space.

It was only wide enough for one and a half cars, while its length could hold at most three cars.

Rough, uneven rock walls surrounded them on all sides, and the accumulated water had already risen halfway up the car.

"That makes no sense. It shouldn't be possible."

Yang Chunsha had not expected such an accident either. She climbed onto the car roof, mud gluing her hair to her face.

"All my passages run through bedrock. How could they collapse so easily?"

Wu Zhong said, "Even tunnels need layer after layer of reinforcement. You just dug out a path without securing it, so of course it collapsed."

Yang Chunsha wiped her face. "I reinforced it! I used magic to reinforce it!"

Wu Zhong was stunned, then said, "Then it must be too deep. The pressure above is too great. Either way, it collapsed."

"Damn it!" Yang Chunsha gritted her teeth. She did not dare claim the tunnel could never collapse, so she could only accept her fate.

Still, she muttered, "It makes no sense. Even if it collapsed, it should only have been a small area."

"When I dug it, I specifically checked. The nearest underground river should have been over a hundred meters away. Even if the rock layer cracked, the fissures shouldn't have spread that far..."

Endless Summer said, "Stop talking about that. Now that the underground river is pouring in, will your Dark Tunnel be completely flooded?"

Yang Chunsha put her glasses back on and shook her head. "That won't happen."

"The Dark Tunnel is huge. By my estimate, this nearby groundwater can at most fill a hundred kilometers of passages."

"The tunnel's sections rise and fall at different elevations. This stretch happens to be in a low point. We can dig a new passage and bypass the flooded area."

Endless Summer urged, "Then hurry up and use your magic to clear a path."

Holding up her book, Yang Chunsha shouted, "Earth Release: Earth... what?"

The pages in her hands flipped rapidly, but the book had already been soaked in water and mud.

With that sudden motion, the pages immediately turned to pulp!

The light on her chest vanished, and she stood there blankly.

"Huh?"

Yang Chunsha froze for a moment, then fear filled her face.

She timidly glanced at the two men, her glasses slipping halfway down her nose.

Endless Summer's imposing purple armor cast shifting light and shadow across her face.

"What's wrong? Your book is ruined, so you can't cast spells anymore?" Endless Summer asked coldly.

Yang Chunsha hurriedly said, "How could that be? I have other methods of casting spells!"

She could not stop trembling.

"Why are you shaking?" Endless Summer's tone was chilling.

Yang Chunsha stopped trembling. "It's too cold. Look, this ordinary person is shaking too."

Wu Zhong really was shaking. Although it was summer, they were underground.

The temperature was very low, and after being soaked in water, he was freezing.

"Don't waste my time. Use your methods and clear a path," Endless Summer said sternly.

Yang Chunsha felt around herself, then ignored the freezing water and jumped down into the car to search through it.

After searching for a while, she found another book, but without question, it had been soaked to mush as well.

The woman stood waist-deep in water, her face covered in mud, her entire body drenched, her hair plastered against her.

Holding a book whose pages had disintegrated into pulp, she continued waving a hand and muttering as if casting a spell, while her eyes repeatedly darted toward the person on the car roof.

"Stop putting on an act! If you can't cast spells, say you can't cast spells!" Endless Summer shouted.

Yang Chunsha jerked in fright. Her glasses drooped from her nose, and she looked utterly pitiful.

Her voice carried a sob. "I... I don't have any books left."

Her casting medium was a book. Without one, she could not cast spells.

Even Wu Zhong had figured that out, yet she had still tried to put on an act and hide it.

Wu Zhong shook his head slightly. This woman was obviously terrified. On one hand, without her Earth Release spells, they could not get out and would all be trapped here until they died.

On the other hand, she feared angering Endless Summer. With no means to protect herself, she might meet an unfortunate end.

Endless Summer said coldly, "You're only a Multiversal Awakened. Don't you have any other traits?"

Yang Chunsha looked miserable. "I wish I did, but how could I be someone born into good fortune?"

Her only ability was Multiversal Force.

Yet she required a casting medium. Without it, she became an ordinary person, completely at others' mercy.

Endless Summer frowned as he examined the surrounding rock walls, then asked, "How deep underground are we?"

Yang Chunsha spoke softly, her voice trembling. "This is very deep..."

Endless Summer barked, "Exactly how deep?"

"Four... four thousand meters underground..." Yang Chunsha herself was terrified. She knew full well how difficult it would be to dig their way out. Being trapped here meant certain death.

Hearing that number, Endless Summer abandoned the thought of digging his own way out.

Even if he could knead iron with his strength and carve a path with steel arms, he could not possibly dig four thousand meters upward... It would take an extremely long time.

"Is there anything special about magic books?"

Yang Chunsha answered honestly, "The paper from that other universe is no different from ours. It just has to be bound in cowhide, and there can't be any writing in the book."

Endless Summer had been tense as well, but upon hearing that there was nothing special about magic books, he immediately relaxed.

"Hmph."

Of course Endless Summer had a way to leave. It was as simple as how he had left Mount Lu Base... In an emergency, he could only do this.

After hesitating for a moment, Endless Summer seemed to toss something into the water. Then, in a flash, he vanished from the cave.

With their only light source gone, the surroundings fell into absolute darkness!

"Aaaah!" Yang Chunsha screamed in terror, thinking Endless Summer had attacked her. She assumed his sudden disappearance was simply because he had moved too fast.

"Glug glug." Pinching her nose, she crouched down and dove into the water, desperately trying to crawl beneath the car.

Wu Zhong was shocked too. He phased away? No, that had clearly been teleportation, right?

So his earlier guess had been correct.

No wonder Endless Summer had been so calm in the cell. He had never feared being trapped, since he could teleport away at any time after being captured.

He had even escaped, gone to another hideout first, taken a shower, changed clothes, and only then met up with him at the mourning hall. He had been absurdly carefree!

Having figured it out, Wu Zhong wrung water from his clothes in the darkness, producing splashing sounds.

He knew Endless Summer had teleported away to get a book. He did not know where he had gone, but since any blank cowhide-bound book would work, there had to be a way. He would not be gone long.

All he could say was that the ability was incredibly convenient. Fortunately, Endless Summer had this move. Otherwise, trapped in this deadly spot deep underground, they would truly be waiting to die.

"Crack... crack crack..."

Besides the sound of water, Wu Zhong heard rocks splitting apart. It was especially clear inside the silent enclosed space.

"Huh? Is the rock wall about to break?"

Wu Zhong was horrified. "Is the water pressure really that strong?"

He hurried into the water, following the sound as his hands searched along the rock wall and his ears listened closely.

Sure enough, one spot had split open, forming a hole with water gushing out.

"Damn!"

Wu Zhong hurriedly waded through the darkness back to the car, searching for something to use.

"Come out already. Stop hiding."

Wu Zhong called for Yang Chunsha, but that woman could really hold her breath. He had no time to worry about it, so he randomly grabbed a skirt and a pen from the passenger-side drawer and rushed back to patch the wall.

After a flurry of work, he slapped the clothing over it and jammed in the pen, plugging the hole.

Logically, the water pressure should have blasted through such a shoddy seal. But what kind of ability did Wu Zhong have? Blocking doors? This was his specialty.

The moment he decided this hole was a doorway and that he was sealing a door, it became welded shut on the spot.

Even if it was only blocked with a skirt, no amount of water could wash it open.

The sound of rushing water had disappeared, though his hand could still feel water seeping out. After all, fabric leaked.

But at that rate, it would take a long time to fill the cave. Wu Zhong was only afraid that the magically formed rock walls would not hold, that a tiny leak would bring down the whole structure in a thunderous collapse.

"Whew..."

Just as Wu Zhong worried that the rock wall was unstable, a gust of eerie wind suddenly swept over him.

The back of his neck went cold, and he felt as though he had been plunged into heavy, clammy dampness.

This feeling was so familiar!

"Fuck! Glug glug glug..."

His body was instantly shoved down, as if someone in the darkness were pressing him down with all their strength.

He was immediately submerged in the water, cold and suffocating.

A ghost! No... a god. Fucking Night Wanderer!

"Holy shit, it really gets in everywhere."

His eyes nearly split with rage as he struggled wildly in the water, but this time, Night Wanderer's strength was clearly much greater.

It grew stronger every day. Last time, it had already been able to lift him off the ground; this time went without saying. Wu Zhong felt like it had at least the strength of two adult men.

"I'm done for!"

In the darkness, he was pinned beneath the water. No matter how he punched and thrashed, no matter how he thought of Open-Door Iron Fist, it was useless.

He could not touch anything. He could not grab anything. He was completely suffocating!

Fear and anxiety, icy despair.