The scraping came once, then again, slow and continuous, echoing clearly along the inner walls of the vertical pipe above the reservoir like a rusted saw blade cutting through solid ice.
The source of the sound was descending. It was not fast, but it was unnaturally steady, advancing with purposeful persistence, as though it had locked onto prey and was closing in step by step without haste.
Not a worm. A worm's movements were soft and slimy. This sound was hard and sharp, more like some arthropod or mechanical structure grinding against metal.
Had the commotion just now drawn something from higher up in the ruins?
The tension that had only just eased after Ming Xin drove back the worms instantly tightened to the limit again!
The weakness and searing pain in his soul surged over him like a tide, nearly drowning what little consciousness he had left. But he knew he absolutely could not reveal even the slightest flaw now!
He immediately suppressed the presence of the Dark Gold Fragment Remnant to the utmost limit, until even the fluctuations at the core of his soul nearly came to a halt.
Like a truly lifeless object, it sank into a corner of the viscous liquid, pressed tightly against the wall of the pool.
At the same time, he carefully extended his remaining, blurred perception toward the pipe opening like the finest strand of spider silk.
The scraping grew closer and clearer. He could faintly hear an extremely subtle sizzling sound as well, like joints moving or energy flowing.
At last, a silhouette appeared in the darkness at the edge of the pipe opening.
It was neither humanoid nor beastlike. It looked more like a deformed existence haphazardly pieced together from twisted metal, damaged pipes, and some kind of dark brown