"If he doesn't come to save you, you're definitely going to die."
The Scruffy Man glanced at Hu Chan. "Since you already know how this ends, why not kill yourself now and spare yourself the torment and fear of facing death?"
Hu Chan gave no answer. The Scruffy Man leaned close to his face and grinned. "Whether you admit it or not, you're still holding out hope for him."
Hu Chan fell silent for a few seconds, then gave a self-mocking smile. "You're right."
"The reason I haven't killed myself yet is that I'm still clinging to a sliver of hope that he'll come back to save me. Even though I know the odds of that hope coming true are less than one in ten thousand..."
Before Hu Chan could finish, he suddenly felt an extremely faint tremor beneath the ground.
Was that... my imagination?
He waited a little longer, and the trembling grew stronger.
It felt exactly as it had when the Drill Pod surfaced earlier.
Shock spread across Hu Chan's face.
Had Qin Siyang come back?!
A smile creased the Scruffy Man's pustule-covered face. He stopped looking at Hu Chan and focused on sensing the movement underground.
A dozen or so seconds later, a deep bang echoed through the surroundings.
The sand and stones nearby were blasted away in an instant by a high-pressure impact, sending grit and dust swirling in every direction.
The Drill Pod's dark gray shell gleamed coldly. Fragments of rock from the underground strata still clung to its spiral drill, striking against it in tiny sparks.
At full power, the Drill Pod shot into the air, breaking free of gravity's hold and charging unstoppably toward the sky.
Qin Siyang really had come back!
He had driven the Drill Pod back to save him!!
Hu