Zhou Xuan's expression also darkened, and he continued to answer Wang Hu's question from earlier.
"It's different. The previous method of manipulating the rock layers to move forward underground can only be used when there are no enemies interfering."
If an enemy attacks from above, the underground pit we are in could easily collapse.
If that were to happen, we would all be buried underground...
No one spoke; everyone was acutely aware of the consequences if this situation were to occur.
A dull thud came from above.
Zhou Xuan frowned, channeling a large amount of Origin Power into the ground through his hands, reinforcing the surrounding soil. At the same time, he uttered a final utterance:
"Therefore, to avoid being trapped underground, I have no choice but to use this method: reinforcing the surrounding space into a unified whole, and then carrying it along. This is the only way to withstand the attacks from the Profound Crystal Griffin above."
The group remained silent, gazing at the unchanged soil layer before them, and at the other soil layers that were rapidly rising behind it.
They're like they're in a room, and that room is carrying them as they quickly escape underground.
A continuous rumbling sound came from above.
No one spoke, so as not to disturb Zhou Xuan, but...
Han Ling stood still, silently listening to the sounds around her.
Although the changes were small and gradual, making them difficult to detect, the sounds around me were indeed getting amplified little by little.
"Can't you shake him off?" Han Ling frowned slightly, looking at Zhou Xuan.
Everyone else looked over as well, their expressions equally composed.
Clearly, they had also noticed this situation.
"I..." Zhou Xuan opened his mouth, paused, and said, "Sorry, it seems I really can't shake off the Profound Crystal Griffin!"
" Sixth Tier, and you can't even burrow underground, yet you still managed to catch up?!" The inspector, whose ability was Corrosion, looked even more displeased.
"Although I don't want to admit it, it seems to be true, unless I'm given more time from the beginning!" Zhou Xuan frowned deeply.
"Couldn't it be any faster?" asked the inspector whose ability was Wind Howl.
"No, just like flying, the fastest speed isn't something you can just achieve whenever you want, especially considering you have to resist the force of the attack from the Profound Crystal Griffin above!" Zhou Xuan said. A significant portion of his Origin Power was being used to resist the attacks transmitted from the soil above; otherwise, he could have been much faster.
In contrast, the Profound Crystal Griffin doesn't need to worry about anything; it just needs to exert all its strength to charge downwards.
But there's no way around it; that's the difference between chasing and being chased underground.
"Can we help?"
"No..."
The crowd discussed the matter anxiously.
Wang Hu glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on the Stone-Armored Beast.
He paused, then interjected:
Can we abandon this Stone-Armored Beast?
Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly taken aback, and their gazes instinctively turned towards the Stone-Armored Beast. In an instant, they understood Wang Hu's thoughts.
Taking the Stone-Armored Beast with them when they fled was indeed a bit arrogant, considering that the Stone-Armored Beast Calamity Beast occupied more space than the six of them combined.
Seeing the crowd watching him, the Stone-Armored Beast's body stiffened slightly.
It instinctively wanted to turn its head to look at Lady Han Ling, but remembering how she had saved it earlier, and considering their current situation, it fell silent.
Han Ling looked at the Stone-Armored Beast, paused, and then turned her gaze to Zhou Xuan.
"Can we not abandon them?"
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Everyone's eyes widened slightly, looking at Han Ling with a hint of disbelief. They hadn't expected her to still want to protect the Stone-Armored Beast at this moment.
Beside her, the Stone-Armored Beast also stared wide-eyed at Han Ling, seemingly equally incredulous.
"It's not a question of whether we want to or not. If we don't abandon them, the Profound Crystal Griffin will catch up with us soon!" Wang Hu looked at Han Ling with a serious expression.
"Yes, Inspector Han, now is not the time to consider this!"
"It's Calamity Beast. If it comes with us, it'll likely die. If it doesn't come with us, it might actually survive!"
The other two inspectors from Chongshan City echoed this sentiment.
Cao Yiyi didn't speak, but his flickering eyes revealed that he meant the same thing.
Han Ling looked at everyone and said calmly, "I know, don't worry. If abandoning them really works, I will abandon them!"
As she spoke, she glanced at the Stone-Armored Beast.
The Stone-Armored Beast was still staring at her, its eyes filled with determination, and she couldn't tell what it was thinking.
The people around breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as Inspector Han doesn't forcefully protect the Stone-Armored Beast, then things will be fine!
They turned their gaze to Zhou Xuan.
However, Zhou Xuan, whom they had expected to agree, gave a wry smile and said:
"Even if we abandon the Stone-Armored Beast, it probably won't be of much use!"
"You're not saying this because Han Ling disagrees, are you?" Wang Hu asked in a deep voice, his brows furrowed.
"Of course not! If I could survive without the Stone-Armored Beast, I would definitely have said so!" Zhou Xuan retorted, his face darkening again. "But as I said before, speed isn't something you can just increase at will. Adding another Stone-Armored Beast and expending more Origin Power can stabilize this space, but speed..."
Upon hearing this, Wang Hu's expression darkened further.
He understood that Zhou Xuan wouldn't lie about this kind of thing, or rather, no one present, except for the Stone-Armored Beast, would lie about this kind of thing.
But it was precisely because he understood this that his expression became even more somber.
If that doesn't work, does that mean we can only wait for the Profound Crystal Griffin above to catch up?
The expressions of everyone around were somber.
The rumbling sound grew ever closer.
Zhou Xuan controlled the space around them to continue falling, then looked up at them.
He hesitated for a moment, then said:
"It's not very useful, but it should still be of some use, more or less. Shall we... give it a try?"
No one spoke.
Han Ling glanced around at everyone, frowned, pondered for a moment, and was about to speak when she heard Cao Yiyi suddenly speak.
"I'm so sorry, everyone! I misjudged the situation, which led to this predicament. Originally, some of you should have survived, but now, because of me, we may all perish here. I'm sorry, it's my fault!"
The underground space suddenly fell silent, and everyone stared wide-eyed at the mushroom-headed figure bowing to them.
The inspector, whose ability was to Corrosion, opened his mouth, but his lips trembled twice before he slowly closed them again.
Han Ling looked at Cao Yiyi, whose behavior surprised her time and time again.
She let out a soft breath and said:
"I can't forgive you on behalf of others, but I don't care about this. After all, you chose this plan to try and see if we could all survive."
"Yes, on the battlefield, no one dares to say that their decisions are always correct!" Wang Hu said in a deep voice, arms crossed.
"Yes, that's right!" the inspector, whose ability was Wind Howl, agreed.
"I... don't care!" the inspector, whose ability was Corrosion, said hesitantly.
"Everyone..."
Cao Yiyi stood up, her eyes slightly glistening with tears as she looked at the figures in front of her.
"Boom--"
A dull thud came from above; the Profound Crystal Griffin was getting closer, probably less than two hundred meters away.
Wang Hu looked up at the sky, then lowered his gaze again and said:
"Alright, there's no point in saying all this now. Let's think of another way!"
Everyone nodded, then their brows furrowed again.
If they could think of other methods, they wouldn't be underground now!
Cao Yiyi wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at everyone, saying:
"No need to think about it anymore. Since I caused this situation, I'll take responsibility. I'll have Inspector Zhou lead everyone up later, and then I'll figure out a way to temporarily stall the Profound Crystal Griffin..."