Dark, narrow, slick, filthy.
The drainage pipes were like the intestines of some colossal beast, twisting and branching, widening and narrowing without pattern.
They were filled with years of accumulated viscous grime, metal fragments, and some half-solidified energy residue that reeked horribly.
The Dark Gold Fragment Remnant was like a black pebble swept away by a raging current, stumbling and "fleeing" through the pipes.
Every impact against the pipe walls sent violent tremors through his soul. The cracks already covering the fragment's surface seemed ready to make it collapse completely at any moment.
Behind him, the aberration's hair-raising scraping and shrieking clung to him like maggots on bone, drawing ever closer!
Ming Xin had no time to distinguish directions. His only thought was to get away from that predator.
He controlled the fragment, squeezing through wherever the gaps were wider and turning wherever the bends were sharper, trying to use the complex terrain to shake off his pursuer.
But this labyrinth of pipes seemed endless, and the environment was abysmal. In some places, the inner walls were covered in sharp metal burrs that scraped against the fragment;
In others, thick, nearly solid filth had accumulated, requiring tremendous effort to force his way through;
Worse still, unstable Energy Turbulence filled certain pipe junctions, flickering with dangerous electrical sparks. One misstep could sweep him in or set it off.
His conscious power drained as swiftly as floodwater through opened gates. Every burst of speed, every turn, every struggle against the resistance of the filth wrung dry his already exhausted soul origin.
The glow of that "key" frequency had long since dimmed to the verge of extinction, barely able to maintain the fragment's most basic "vitality" and keep it from falling apart.
The pursuer behind him was clearly better adapted to this environment.