The passageway was deep and dark; after the steel gate behind us closed, there was no light left.
Sun Fei let out a soft shout, and strange changes began to occur in his body—
Multicolored light began to flash, revealing a wolf-headed skull helmet, a short-handled staff, a crimson belt, heavy steel boots, a small skull-faced shield, and yellow fur gloves... Almost instantly, Sun Fei switched to [ Druid Mode ], Summon the full set of armor befitting a level 21 Druid. A vast amount of elemental power surged from his body. Then, with a wave of his emerald green short wand, three clusters of milky-white elemental power erupted from the wand, landing on the ground and transforming into three giant white wolves, each over a meter tall and two meters long, which affectionately circled around Sun Fei.
Druid skill - [ Summon Spirit Wolf ].
Unlike Sun Fei, Summon Summon from the various continents of the first act [ Rogue Encampment ] from the Diablo World using divine skills but then loses control of them, the giant wolves Summon by Druid skills are inconceivably controllable and automatically. They look exactly like real giant wolves, possess a certain degree of intelligence, and are living, breathing beings. They have an innate attachment to their master Sun Fei, and are one of the unique combat assistants of the Druid class.
Sun Fei had his own reasons for choosing the Druid class in such a passageway.
Because these Summon giant wolves can walk at the front, helping him to explore the depths of the tunnel. Even if some sudden change occurs, they can know in advance, so as not to be caught off guard and put in a passive position.
The three giant wolves received Sun Fei's command. One walked more than ten meters ahead, another lagged behind by five or six meters, and the last one accompanied Sun Fei. The three wolves and the man walked slowly into the dark and boundless depths of the tunnel.
Sun Fei remained vigilant at all times. Through the magical connection between the Druid and his Summon pet, the vision of the three giant wolves could be clearly transmitted into Sun Fei's mind. He could see everything within a twenty-meter radius in all directions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Sun Fei had eyes in six directions and ears in eight directions at this moment.
After walking for about ten minutes, the darkness in the passageway could only be described as 'viscous'.
If it weren't for the gleaming magic armor on Sun Fei's body and the night vision ability of the Summon white giant wolf, Sun Fei would have been completely lost. Even so, he was still moving very slowly. Without any obvious landmarks, Sun Fei could only estimate that he had walked about three thousand meters forward. The passageway was not entirely straight and flat; in the past ten minutes, it had turned four times and undulated six times. For Sun Fei, who had been somewhat directionally challenged in his previous life, this was already putting his sense of direction to the test.
After walking for another ten minutes or so, winding and turning, Sun Fei finally announced that he could no longer distinguish east from west.
Fortunately, there were no forks in the passageway. Sun Fei had stopped earlier to carefully observe the stone walls of the passageway and found that the stone walls here were no different from those in [ City of Heroes ] before they were excavated and repaired. They were still very Jian Jie and rough, without any murals or other carvings with special meanings. If it weren't for the obvious traces of human intervention, Sun Fei would have really thought that this was a naturally formed underground passage.
Surprisingly, no matter how far they went, the air in the tunnel remained as fresh as it had been at the beginning, without the suffocating and oppressive feeling that usually accompanies the deeper one goes. Sun Fei could even find dust on the stone walls on both sides of the tunnel, which at least indicated that the air flow here was very smooth.
Just then, suddenly--
"Awoooooo--!!"
The white giant wolf walking ahead suddenly let out a low growl. Sun Fei immediately recalled what the white giant wolf had seen—a short black staff about fifty centimeters long. Sun Fei was overjoyed; he had finally made a small discovery. He quickly rushed over, affectionately patted the white giant wolf's head as a reward, and then squatted down to examine the short staff closely.
Sun Fei quickly recognized the short staff as an abandoned black iron torch. The fuel inside had completely dried up, clearly indicating its abandonment. Sun Fei also quickly guessed the torch's original owner—it must have been left behind by warriors sent by the King of Chambord City to explore the tunnel's secrets. According to detailed records in the royal archives, several generations of Chambord City King had sent hundreds of explorers, all of whom disappeared within the tunnel. These vanished individuals had undoubtedly used torches or similar objects for illumination, and this torch was clearly abandoned here after its fuel had burned out.
As Sun Fei expected, after walking for another half hour, he saw more and more tools left behind by the former exploration team.
There were torches, ropes, iron hooks, clothing, and even some black marks left by flames. However, due to the air circulation in the passageway and its age, most of the ironware was rusty, and the ropes and clothing had rotted away, lying in deep crevices in the ground. They would turn into dust with the slightest touch.
These discoveries meant that previous expeditions had safely reached this place, but other than that, they meant nothing to Sun Fei. He stopped to rest for a short while, took out food and water from his belt space to fill his stomach, and then continued to explore.
Gradually, Sun Fei sensed a strange change—
At some point, a breeze began to stir in the passageway. It was a very slight air current, like someone breathing softly beside you, almost imperceptible, but for a master like Sun Fei, it was clearly perceptible. Moreover, the further they went, the more pronounced this air current became. After an hour, the wind in the passageway was strong enough to blow up the animal hide lining under Sun Fei's armor and to ruffle Sun Fei long hair.
Sun Fei suddenly remembered what Warden Oleg had once said—
"According to historical records, every so often, strange roars would emanate from the passageway, followed by terrifying suction forces that would pull living people in alive. Therefore, the current King, left with no other option, ordered the construction of these two massive steel gates to seal off the passageway!"
Wind power? Suction power?
These two things should be the same thing.
Thinking of this, Sun Fei couldn't help but become vigilant. Just how terrifying must such a suction force be to be able to reach all the way to the giant steel gate and suck away living people? Just thinking about it is enough to make one's blood boil. So he gradually slowed down his pace, being careful not to let the increasingly strong winds throw him off balance.
After walking for another thirty minutes or so, the wind in the tunnel exceeded the limit that the three white giant wolves, each with the strength of One-Star Warrior, could withstand. Amidst a series of mournful howls, they were successively swept up from the ground by the enormous wind and flew into the darkness far away in the tunnel, where they were swallowed up by the endless darkness.
Sun Fei's steps became unsteady; the wind was now strong enough to lift a massive boulder weighing a thousand pounds.
"Roar--!!"
Sun Fei roared, and a ball of earth-yellow elemental flames flickered from his body.
The next moment, Sun Fei's body began to undergo drastic changes. If anyone had seen this, they would have screamed in horror. Countless black, needle-like hairs sprouted wildly from Sun Fei's face, neck, and all the exposed skin on his body. Sun Fei's body expanded like an inflating balloon, quickly growing to more than twice his original height and waist circumference. Sharp Teeth emerged from his mouth, and sharp claws gleaming with a chilling light appeared on his hands.
These changes occurred almost instantaneously.
When the light and flames of the chaotic elements disappeared, Sun Fei had transformed from human form into an incomparably ferocious and terrifying Grizzly.
The Druid's innate skill, [ Werebear ], allows the Druid to transform into Grizzly with immense strength. Sun Fei has already leveled this skill to level 4. After transformation, the Druid's strength and physical toughness increase by two times compared to before the transformation, and their vitality and resistance to blows also increase by two times. However, the Druid still retains human intelligence and some basic characteristics, and will not suffer from the weakness of losing their mind after going berserk.
roar--!
In his Giant Bear Form, Sun Fei roared, shaking the tunnel. He stomped down, leaving two huge footprints in the hard ground. With a swipe of his paw, his sharp claws pierced the stone wall. The strong wind no longer posed a threat to him. Sun Fei began to walk deeper into the tunnel.
The level 4 [ Werebear ] skill can last for about half an hour. When Sun Fei's transformation was about to disappear, he came to a corner of a passageway where the wind was relatively weak. After the transformation ended, he could stay here for a while to rest.
Fortunately, the various skills in the Diablo World do not have a cooldown period. As long as there is magic power, they can be activated repeatedly. Sun Fei continued to transform and explore forward until four or five hours later, when the wind finally began to weaken. An hour later, it miraculously disappeared.
The passageway returned to its previous deathly stillness.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Sun Fei reverted to human form and then Summon three white giant wolves, accelerating his exploration.
Time passed slowly, and Sun Fei had completely lost his sense of direction. He didn't know where this deep, bottomless passageway led. Sun Fei felt like he had been walking for almost a whole day, but nothing had changed. The passageway was winding and meandering, sometimes high and sometimes low, like a maze.
Finally, just as Sun Fei was about to pause and enter the Diablo World to rest and level up, the white giant wolf at the front suddenly let out a joyful howl. The scene in the giant wolf's vision instantly entered Sun Fei's mind: a huge, unbelievable space appeared before him, and in the center of that space, like a pyramid, was piled high with countless white skeletons...