"Lord Shen... Lord Shen Heng, are we leaving now?"
The sound came again from the side.
Shen Heng glanced at Stone, and this time, he didn't refuse.
"Okay, let's go!"
He led the way, reminding everyone as he walked:
"You saw what happened just now. Stay away from the bottom of the mine tunnel. Unless you've been told not to go near it, it's best not to."
"And also, don't mention this to any other Calamity Beast."
"Yes, I understand!"
Stone followed quickly behind, the scene from just moments ago still lingering in his mind.
It paused, then looked at Lord Shen Heng with lingering fear.
"Lord Shen Heng, was that Underground Demon just now?"
"Mm," Shen Heng replied.
"Then why didn't it come out?" Stone asked.
"I don't know, maybe he hasn't fully woken up, or maybe there's some other reason," Shen Heng replied.
"Won't it suddenly appear later?" Stone looked at Lord Shen Heng, his expression full of worry.
"Hmm, that's possible," Shen Heng replied.
"Huh? What should I do then?" Stone asked, his eyes widening suddenly.
Without an immediate response, Shen Heng glanced at the darkness behind him, then looked back and said:
"I'll stay here for another two hours to check on the rate at which the darkness is deepening."
"The darkness... is deepening at an accelerated pace?" Stone asked.
"Yes, the Underground Demon's awakening can be determined by the density of the darkness. When we felt the terror earlier, our visibility was around ten meters. In other words, the Underground Demon might appear when the visibility of the darkness is less than ten meters, and the denser the darkness, the greater the chance of it appearing," Shen Heng replied.
Upon hearing this, Stone nodded in realization.
Without saying anything more, Shen Heng paused at the edge of the darkness, as if he was going to wait there.
Seeing Stone hesitated for a moment, then chose to stay by his side.
Then, the man and the beast waited there.
As time went by.
Two hours later, Shen Heng looked into the darkness ahead.
If viewed with a subjective perspective, it is indeed possible to barely discern that the darkness is deepening at an extremely slow and faint pace, far less efficient than when he manipulated the sound waves to probe downwards.
Specifically...
"Don't worry, based on current observations, it will take at least ten days to shrink it to ten meters. Even if something speeds up the process, it's highly unlikely to be achieved in three to five days."
As Shen Heng spoke, he looked at the Stone and reminded it:
"However, you should still be careful in the meantime. If any unexpected situation arises, just run away as soon as possible!"
"Yes, I understand, I understand!"
Stone nodded in response, feeling a great sense of relief.
Its pioneering mission will be completed tomorrow, after which it can choose where to go and no longer need to stay down there.
So even if we consider speed, it doesn't pose a threat, as long as it completes its exploration mission tomorrow and chooses another location as soon as possible.
"Alright, you can stay here. I'll go upstairs first!" Shen Heng said to Stone.
Even though the existence of the Underground Demon was confirmed somewhat unexpectedly, Shen Heng wasn't too concerned about it given its pace.
He remembered this information, but then didn't pay much attention to it afterward.
When Shen Heng was going up, Stone wasn't surprised.
The day is almost over, and if Lord Shen Heng doesn't leave soon, the supervising Black Rat will arrive in another hour or two, which will cause some trouble.
Therefore, it nodded and said:
"Yes, Lord Shen Heng..."
night.
Just like yesterday, Shen Heng took the opportunity of returning from an outing to find Qin Yu.
The moment Qin Yu saw Shen Heng, she spoke:
"Captain, while I was scouting outside today, I suddenly... for some reason..."
Shen Heng nodded without any surprise, and then shared with Qin Yu the information about the extra Calamity Beast, adaptations, the triggering conditions for adaptations, and the confirmation of the Underground Demon.
A moment later, the words fell.
Qin Yu stood there, staring blankly at the captain.
The voice unconsciously echoed in my mind.
"No, isn't the captain... locked up in the mine? How come he has so much more information than us?! He seems like the one who can go out and freely gather intelligence!"
Qin Yu did not respond, but she generally agreed.
The amount of intelligence obtained by both sides does seem to differ somewhat.
"That's about it for me. Have you gotten any valuable intelligence?" Shen Heng asked Qin Yu calmly.
Hearing this, Qin Yu also came to her senses.
She looked at the captain and said:
"I haven't fully explored the area today, but based on what we've discovered so far, it's almost impossible for us to escape by crossing that outer ring of mountains."
There weren't many surprises, but Shen Heng's expression still became somewhat serious. He asked:
"Why?"
"The surrounding mountains are almost all connected, and at the lowest point, they are at least four or five thousand meters high and extremely steep. It would probably take at least half a day to cross them."
As Qin Yu spoke, her gaze remained focused on the captain.
"But many members of the Black Rat Clan patrol this valley, and they occasionally look up at the cliff face."
"It's virtually impossible to completely evade their sight in half a day."
"Aren't you capable enough either?" Shen Heng asked Qin Yu.
There was no immediate response; Qin Yu looked at the captain.
She paused, then lowered her head:
"Sorry, Captain. Because we don't know when the patrolling Black Rat will appear, I have to keep my ability active constantly to avoid their sight. In my current state, it's almost impossible to maintain it for that long!"
"There's nothing to apologize for. It wasn't your intention. We can just change direction," Shen Heng said calmly. "Have you found any other intelligence?"
"Well, I told you so!"
A voice echoed in my mind.
Qin Yu didn't respond. She opened her mouth and let out a soft breath, then nodded and said:
"Well, besides that, I found another exit, but it's to the east, and there's a bunch of Black Rat guarding it. Escaping from there is almost impossible."
"Then, besides that, I also discovered the location of the Black Rat Clan's territory."
"That playing field is to the north, about twenty kilometers from here!"
Without an immediate response, Shen Heng glanced north, then turned to the east that Qin Yu had just mentioned.
In the distance, the firelight flickered slightly.
The surrounding terrain, the swarms of Calamity Beast, Fifth Tier, thousands...