The heavy steel gate rumbled shut behind them, letting out a deep, chilling boom that sealed off all destruction and commotion from the outside world.
In an instant, the world plunged into absolute darkness and silence.
Gone were the roars of machinery from the main station, the gunfire outside, and even the sound of the wind. The breathing of nearly a thousand people in the group amplified infinitely, weaving into a suffocating wave of sound.
Panic, like invisible spores, spread rapidly through the dark.
"Lights on!" Ban Shou's roar shattered the stillness.
Click. Click.
One by one, the beams from headlamps flickered to life above them, carving small, wavering circles in the vast, empty mine tunnel. Beyond the light lay an even deeper darkness, thick enough to devour everything.
Only then did the crowd see where they stood.
It was a main mine tunnel, abandoned for who knew how many years, wide enough for three steam trucks to drive side by side. Massive rock support columns were covered in damp moss, and the air reeked of a strange mix of earth, rust, and sulfur. Underfoot lay uneven ground, abandoned rails, and pools of murky water that glinted eerily in the light.
"Stay close! Don't fall behind!" Lao Zhong's voice came from the front of the line, carrying unshakable authority. In his hand hung an old kerosene lamp, its faint glow illuminating his wrinkled face. "This place was deserted decades ago. Traps and unstable ground everywhere. Keep your wits about you if you don't want to fall into a bottomless pit!"
The group began to move forward slowly, like a clumsy, glowing giant worm crawling deeper into the abyss.
Jin Wanchao walked in the middle, his face still pale. His body was nearly drained, but the moment he had clashed with the city's will through the Resonance Framework had sharpened his spiritual perception to an unprecedented degree.
"Fifty meters to the left front, unstable rock formation. Everyone move to the right."
"Halt. Pressure-sensitive mines laid by the Parliament ahead—three of them. Follow the path I mark."
His voice carried clearly through the special bone-conduction earpieces into the minds of Ban Shou, A Huo, and the other squad leaders.
They watched as Jin Wanchao raised a hand in the dark. Several faint, firefly-like specks of light materialized out of thin air, tracing a safe, winding route on the ground.
This almost supernatural guidance calmed the panic in every core member's heart.
As long as Jin Wanchao was here, they hadn't lost yet.
The group wound through the labyrinthine tunnels, losing all sense of time and direction.
Sometimes they passed enormous underground caverns where the headlamps couldn't even reach the ceilings, only the clear echo of water dripping from high above. At other times, they had to squeeze through narrow rock fissures, the crushing weight making it hard to breathe.
Suddenly, a faint, scuttling sound drifted from the darkness ahead.
"What was that?" A Huo immediately raised his blast gun, shifting his sleeping younger sister more securely onto his back.
The children, jolted awake by the sudden tension, let out muffled stirs.
Jin Wanchao's brow furrowed sharply.
"Not mechanical. Living creatures. Lots of them."
Hardly had he spoken when a dense field of scarlet dots blazed to life in the darkness ahead.
Eyes.
Countless pairs of hungry, rabid eyes.
"Screech—!"
A sharp, piercing cry split the air. A dozen giant rats, the size of hounds with pale, hairless skin, lunged from the dark corners toward the front of the group.
"Abyss Diggers!" Lao Zhong's face paled. He raised his iron pick. "Watch out! Their teeth can chew through steel plate!"
Chaos erupted in the ranks.
"Protect the children!" A Huo roared. His blast gun spewed violent fire, blowing one charging digger to pieces.
Yet the monsters were fearless. Stinking saliva dripped from their razor-sharp fangs as they slammed madly against the group's defenses.
One worker stumbled and was tackled to the ground. His scream was instantly drowned out by the sound of tearing flesh.
"Hold fast! Don't break formation!" Ban Shou commanded calmly. Each shot from her Gauss rifle precisely blew apart a digger's skull.
Amid the turmoil, Jin Wanchao closed his eyes.
He did not join the fight. Instead, he focused all his spiritual power, stretching it violently toward the increasingly distinct, ancient energy pulse rising from deep underground.
He *saw* it.
Beneath this main tunnel lay an even older, forgotten transport rail. Its power system, close to the geothermal source, still partially functioned, barely clinging to life.
"A Huo! Ban Shou! Hold this line!"
Jin Wanchao snapped his eyes open and issued the order through the communicator.
"Lao Zhong! With me!"
He grabbed the still-fighting Lao Zhong and turned toward an unremarkable rock face nearby.
"Here?" Lao Zhong stared in confusion.
Jin Wanchao offered no explanation. He pressed his hand against the rock, and the "flame" within him erupted.
Boom!
The seemingly solid wall collapsed in an avalanche of stone, revealing a sloping, dust-choked slide.
A scorching gust of wind billowed up from below.
"Everyone, take the children and go down! Now!" Jin Wanchao shouted to those behind him.
Though full of doubt, they obeyed out of absolute trust. Members of the Fire Worshipers herded the terrified children one by one into the slide.
A Huo, Ban Shou, and the others held the rear, barely fending off the endless horde of rats.
Once the last person had slid down, Jin Wanchao glanced at the sea of mad, red eyes. He kicked a long-rusted support pillar.
Rumble—
A massive collapse followed. Boulders crashed down, sealing the tunnel completely and burying the monsters' screeches behind them forever.
The slide was short.
Everyone landed quickly on a new platform.
It was an abandoned underground station. Several rusted mine carts rested silently on the rails. Further away, a giant steam engine rumbled weakly, still turning.
"Good God…" Lao Zhong ran a hand over the ancient machine, his eyes blazing with fanaticism and awe. "This is a masterpiece from the era of the First Artificers! It still works!"
"Can you fix it?" Jin Wanchao asked directly.
"I can! Give me half an hour!" Lao Zhong thumped his chest and immediately called over his most skilled craftsmen.
Half an hour later.
With a long whistle, the mine carts, silent for a hundred years, rumbled slowly forward under steam power.
The children were settled in the carriages, curiosity and excitement finally returning to their faces.
With the mine carts, evacuation speed rose sharply.
The group raced deep underground along the forgotten tracks.
Jin Wanchao sat at the front, eyes closed, his spiritual power stretched taut, constantly dodging collapsed rails and fractured chasms ahead. Blood trickled slowly from his nostrils again, but he wiped it away casually.
He could feel it—the ancient energy pulse from the earth's core drawing nearer.
It was a power of the same origin as the Whispering Fang, yet vaster, more overwhelming. It acted like a lighthouse, pulling him forward and giving him the strength to keep going.
Time blurred.
Perhaps two days, perhaps three.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared ahead of the mine carts.
Not lamplight. Natural daylight, seeping through cracks in the rock.
"The exit!"
"We made it!"
Muffled cheers erupted from the carriages.
The mine carts slowed to a stop. The crowd poured eagerly out of the tunnel.
Outside lay a desolate gobi desert. Low, gray clouds hung in the sky, and the air was cold and thin.
Directly before them, a magnificent fortress beyond description stood silently on the horizon.
Carved seemingly from an entire mountain range, it was colossal, ancient, and quiet, exuding a weathered majesty.
This was their destination—the Heartrock Citadel.
Everyone was stunned by the sight. Weariness and fear from the long journey vanished, replaced by heartfelt awe and longing for a new life.
At that moment.
Jin Wanchao's pupils constricted violently.
"Take cover!"
His warning had barely left his lips.
A blinding energy beam burst without warning from behind a boulder before the citadel, striking the front mine cart dead-on.
Boom!
The violent explosion flipped the front cart, sending several workers who had just stepped out flying.
All cheering died instantly.
On top of the boulder, several figures slowly rose to their feet.
They too wore chimera-style bio-armor, but far more grotesque and powerful than any foe they had faced before. The leader stood unusually tall, half his body reforged into a savage, steam-wreathed metal arm.
His cold mechanical optical eye swept over the panicked crowd, finally locking onto Jin Wanchao. A harsh, metal-scraping laugh erupted from him.
"Welcome to your graves, rats."