Chapter 57: Danger

Chapter 57: Danger

More people arrived at the cliff's edge. Professional aerial ladders were deployed, bringing equipment teams, collection teams, and geological experts to the bottom.

A professional survey showed the pool's depth exceeded five hundred meters. The water was exceptionally clean and peculiar, containing almost no minerals and showing no signs of life.

The silver liquid, which could function as a Life Elixir, was lining the pool's walls. The deeper the water, the more silver liquid was present.

To withstand the impending cosmic radiation outbreak, naturally, the more silver liquid collected, the better.

As the collection equipment went deeper, more and more bubbles surfaced.

Initially, everyone thought they were bubbles from the machinery.

But alongside the sound of the operation, another sound gradually became audible.

"Hiss~"

"Did you hear that?" one collector asked their companion.

"No, you must be hearing things."

Ke Lin pricked up his ears and suddenly grabbed Jiang Yi's arm. "Master, there's another creature here. I heard its sound, like... a snake!"

Ke Lin's senses were sharper than others'. He not only heard the "hissing" but also sensed the sound of water being displaced deep within the rock beneath their feet. This deep pool might not be a straight vertical shaft; it could be connected to the entire underground system. The ground they stood on wasn't soil but water from the pool.

"Stop now!" Jiang Yi immediately shouted to the collectors.

But it was already too late. A violent tremor shook the ground from below. The water in the deep pool instantly overflowed, and cracks began to appear around the rim.

Everyone quickly moved away, but the area at the cliff's base was limited. The water rapidly spread around everyone's feet.

Jiang Yi immediately decided to evacuate. The researchers who weren't Espers were to leave first with the silver liquid, while others tried to get as far away as possible.

The aerial ladder could carry a maximum of four people at a time, and its operating speed was limited.

The monster beneath the ground wouldn't give them ample time to retreat.

A massive silver-white serpent erupted from the pool, its body as thick as a well opening, bursting through the hard rock. Its body resembled a snake's, but its head bore a pair of silver-white horns. It held its head high, its cold gaze looking down upon the people below. Its crimson forked tongue darted out intermittently, emitting a heart-stopping "hiss."

Its entire body was covered in water droplets and silver liquid, shimmering in the sunlight as if draped in a layer of flowing silver light.

Most people on this mission were technical experts, not Wild Wolf Corps soldiers, and hardly any were Espers. Seeing this suddenly emerging monster, they were already terrified out of their wits.

Jiang Yi and Ke Lin stood in front of them.

Jiang Yi released his psychic energy, attempting to communicate with the giant serpent.

But no matter how much he projected, it was like throwing a stone into the sea, not stirring a single ripple.

Seeing that the serpent currently showed no intention of attacking, Jiang Yi signaled for the others to continue evacuating via the aerial ladder.

The researchers on the ladder trembled, covering their mouths, trying to leave quietly without disturbing it.

However, the sound of the ladder's operation still attracted the serpent's attention. Its silver eyes, as large as bowls, turned towards the source. It had shown no reaction before.

The people on the lift immediately breathed a sigh of relief, accidentally exposing some of the silver liquid bottles they were holding.

Sunlight passed through the bottle, shining on the silver liquid and refracting a dazzling silver light.

The giant serpent instantly looked over, abruptly moving its body and charging toward the lift.

It moved with incredible speed, its crimson maw wide open as if intending to bite down on the entire platform.

The lift was currently the only way for everyone to leave the bottom of the cliff. Jiang Yi immediately leaped forward, channeling his supernatural energy outward into a shield in an attempt to block it.

The serpent's body was too massive. Even with Jiang Yi pushing his power to its limit, he only managed to stop it for a split second.

Realizing someone could affect it, the serpent lowered its head, its gaze zeroing in on Jiang Yi.

"Hiss~"

The serpent flicked its tongue toward Jiang Yi, then shot forward like lightning. Its enormous body raced across the ground, leaving droplets of water and silver liquid on the grayish-white rock surface. Under the sunlight, its entire trail glittered with silver.

Its entire body was actually coated with the precious silver liquid.

Jiang Yi swiftly dodged, narrowly evading the fatal strike. The serpent's head brushed past his clothes and slammed into the cliff wall. With a thunderous crash, the hard rock fractured into a spiderweb of cracks.

"Be careful!" Ke Lin drew a laser dagger from his waist and rushed forward, stepping in front of Jiang Yi.

Seeing its first strike miss, the serpent shifted its focus back to the ascending lift.

These outsiders dared to take its treasure away.

Just as it was about to bite down on the people on the ladder, Ke Lin seized the opening. He agilely leaped onto a nearby boulder, using the momentum to pounce onto the serpent's silver-white body, plunging the dagger deep into its side.

"Hiss!" The serpent let out a deafening shriek. The intense pain caused it to writhe wildly.

It was now thoroughly enraged. Its cold, vertical pupils narrowed into thin slits, fixing a deadly glare on everyone.

The situation instantly spiraled out of control. The serpent began indiscriminately attacking everyone at the bottom of the cliff.

Its thick tail swung violently, sending several slower people flying. Their screams echoed through the bottom of the ravine.

Meanwhile, the lift continued its steady ascent, carrying the personnel with the silver liquid halfway up.

As long as they made it up safely, the mission would be considered a success.

Knowing this, Jiang Yi and the others formed a defensive line in front of the lift, ensuring its normal operation.

Ke Lin was responsible for luring the serpent in the opposite direction.

He continuously taunted the serpent, making it attack him, then used short-distance teleportation to evade.

Although the serpent was extremely fast, it could never manage to bite Ke Lin.

The serpent's eyes darted, and it began forcing Ke Lin toward the edge of the pool.

The pool was relatively far from the lift. Ke Lin went along with it, leading the serpent away from the ladder.

At that moment, the serpent suddenly let out a long roar toward the sky. A massive, tornado-like vortex of air erupted, swirling rapidly with the pool at its center.

The pool had been torn open into a huge gap when the serpent emerged. Now, the water from the gap swirled with the air current, forming a seemingly bottomless vortex.

The vortex's suction pulled Ke Lin closer and closer to the pool water. His teleportation ability failed him at this moment.

On the verge of being swallowed by the whirlpool, Jiang Yi's heart nearly skipped a beat as he rushed over at the fastest speed of his life. Last time in the mine, he watched helplessly as Ke Lin was taken away by the vines.

That pain surged back once again.

This time, he absolutely could not let Ke Lin disappear right before his eyes.

Jiang Yi grabbed Ke Lin's hand just as the whirlpool's immense suction pulled them both toward its center.

"Master, you need to get out of here." Ke Lin tried to push Jiang Yi away. They had previously surveyed the area—the pool was at least five hundred meters deep. Falling in would mean certain death.

Jiang Yi pushed his hand away. "Listen to me. You go up first."

"No, we go together!" Ke Lin refused, trying to throw out his climbing rope. But the surrounding wind was too strong; his rope couldn't reach anything else.

As they neared the center of the whirlpool, Jiang Yi sensed an immense life force.

Jiang Yi closed his eyes, using his psychic power to feel.

In the whirlpool's center—at the pool's bottom—countless points of light shimmered with life, as if another world existed there.

At the edge of the cliff, Bainasen and Xin Ziyu had just arrived. They had been delayed because they were testing the subsequent effects of the first batch of silver liquid.

The silver liquid's effects were excellent. Combined with Bainasen's new technology, they were confident they could double the protective strength of the barrier compared to before.

Seeing the cloud ladder slowly ascending the cliff, with researchers holding bottles containing the silver liquid in their arms, the two happily stepped forward, not noticing the expressions of those on the ladder.

Before Bainasen and Xin Ziyu could take the silver liquid bottles, several researchers collapsed to the ground.

The life-and-death ordeal had kept them holding their breath the entire time.

They had constantly faced the risk of the giant serpent biting the chain and dragging them down.

They only felt they had truly regained their lives when they finally set foot on solid ground.

Bainasen immediately sensed something was wrong. "What happened? Is there danger below?"

The researchers gasped for breath, speaking with lingering fear. "Everything was fine at first, but suddenly the pool cracked open, and a giant serpent flew out. It... it seemed like it didn't want us to take the silver liquid. Thanks to the Director and the others holding off the serpent, we were able to escape."

The Director referred to Jiang Yi. Although he had only recently taken office, his psychic power level and contributions to the Life Elixir had quickly earned him the recognition of all the researchers.

"What about the others? How are they?" Xin Ziyu grabbed one person's shoulder and asked.

"I... I don't know..."

"Professor, I'll go down and check." Xin Ziyu said, about to board the cloud ladder.

"You're a mental-type. What use would you be down there? Contact headquarters for support immediately. Have them send Esper warriors from the nearest location." Bainasen said.

As the people on the cliff anxiously waited,

the cloud ladder began operating again.

More and more people were brought up.

After several rounds, there was still no sign of Jiang Yi and Ke Lin.

When asked, those who came up just shook their heads, saying it was too chaotic below. A sudden violent storm had arisen, with a tornado mixed with water droplets, making it impossible to even keep their eyes open.

When the wind stopped, Jiang Yi had vanished. Ke Lin signaled for them to return to the top first.

Their words left no doubt that something had happened to Jiang Yi.

Bai Nasen finally became frantic. "I'm going down there."

"Professor, I'll go with you," Xin Ziyu said.

Just then, Zuo Lai and Jia Zheyu also arrived, and the four of them took the cloud lift down together.

The cliff base was now eerily calm, the ground covered in slippery pond water and silver liquid.

Just the silver liquid the giant serpent had left on the ground was enough to fill several bottles.

But now, no one had any mind for the silver liquid.

They saw Ke Lin sitting alone by the pond, gazing fixedly at the now-placid water.

Just minutes before, Jiang Yi had used all his special powers to push Ke Lin out of the vortex, only to be dragged into its center himself and completely submerged.

After Jiang Yi disappeared, the giant serpent also dove into the water and vanished.

Had Jiang Yi not used his psychic power to send Ke Lin a message before vanishing, Ke Lin would have already jumped in.

"Ke Lin, I'll be fine. Don't come down. Wait for me to come out and find you."

Those were his master's final words to him.

He would obey and not go down to search, but he would wait here forever.

His master had said he would come out and find him.