Chapter 43

"Wh-what is this—"

Before Sally could finish her sentence, the mine cart suddenly changed its angle, and after a series of bumps, it began to travel down a long slope, picking up speed. Sally seemed to sense something and looked up in disbelief at Rody, who was holding a torch beside her. Her voice trembled as she asked, "It's not... going to slide down, is it?"

"Slide down?"

Rody shook his head, inserted the torch into a slot on the mine cart, and smiled, saying, "No... it's going to rush down."

As soon as he finished speaking, the mine cart jolted and entered a section with an extremely steep slope!

"Aaaaaah—"

Sally had never experienced "weightlessness" before. She screamed uncontrollably, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the rushing wind as the speed increased. The mine cart sped through the narrow tunnel like an orange lightning bolt. In Rody's memory, the mine shaft originally didn't have such a steep track. Everything changed because of the Chimera beast—this creature was adept at digging and climbing in caves, even causing several cave-ins. The current steep tracks were due to the Chimera's long-term digging below. Fortunately, Rody remembered that this tunnel had never had an accident, and players generally enjoyed the roller-coaster-like ride of the mine cart.

However, Sally was on the verge of tears—usually cunning and calm, she couldn't help but tense up and stiffen her body due to the intense, near-free-fall motion. Her hands, gripping the sides of the cart so tightly that they lost sensation, couldn't control her movements. As the cart turned the first sharp bend, she lost her balance and fell into the cart. Instinctively, she reached out and clung to Rody's waist with all her might.

The feeling was like a drowning person grabbing onto a lifeline. Sally clung to Rody tightly, her eyes squeezed shut, the wind howling in her ears, and the familiar scent of Rody filling her nostrils. Taking a deep breath, she felt her tense nerves gradually relax. She tried to open her eyes, though they were squinted due to the wind, and she saw Rody's profile illuminated by the torch, looking ahead.

If possible, Rody would have preferred to be riding a motorcycle or sitting in a car with Sally in this position—but unfortunately, the cart he was on was an old wooden mine cart, and the track ahead, which could have any unexpected incidents, required his full attention. So, he had to hold onto the edge of the cart with one hand and keep the lever-style brake ready with the other, always prepared to stop.

Based on his experience, this ride would last about an hour before reaching the end. Despite the loud noise and severe bumps, it was currently the fastest way to return to Holier. However, Rody's face suddenly changed after about half an hour of the ride!

"Damn it... what I feared has come to pass!"

At the end of his vision, a shadow suddenly appeared on the track. Rody yanked the brake lever hard, causing Sally, who was hugging his waist, to roll back into the cart due to inertia. She then covered her ears in pain from the screeching sound of the brakes.

The mine cart finally stopped after Rody pulled the brake lever with gritted teeth, dragging it for nearly fifty meters.

Rody panted heavily, staring at a pile of wooden planks and rocks less than three meters away. He was immensely relieved that he hadn't relaxed his vigilance—if he hadn't seen the obstacle in the distance by the torchlight, the outcome would have been no better than a car crash.

The air was filled with a strange, burnt smell from the metal friction, and his ears rang. He turned to look at Sally, who was speaking, but he couldn't hear her clearly.

Rody immediately made a "shh" gesture. Seeing Rody's tense expression, Sally, who had been scared out of her wits, obediently closed her mouth—she was also experiencing ringing in her ears and could only hear her own voice faintly. Worried about going deaf, Sally soon found that the situation improved within a minute. She weakly lifted her head and saw Rody jump off the cart, standing in front of it, lost in thought.

"Damn it."

Sally heard his unguarded curse, thinking he was angry about the rocks and wood blocking their path. She jumped down and asked softly, "Should we... start moving them now?"

"Shh."

But Rody's response was still a somewhat neurotic "shh" command. Sally looked around in confusion—the environment, illuminated by the torch, didn't seem as bad as she had imagined. The slope wasn't steep, and the surroundings were open, looking like a large, excavated area with no obstacles, appearing empty and desolate.

This open area was about four to five hundred square meters, with a faint cave entrance at the end.

To Sally, there was nothing unusual here.

But to Rody, it was as if he had the worst luck in the world!

Because this place was the "transfer station" leading to the Chimera's lair! The guild players who had come to challenge the Chimera in the past had stopped their mine carts here and fought the beast—his memory told him that the massive Chimera was in the cave at the far end. Just walking to the entrance of that cave and going in for two minutes would lead to its lair.

Rody was so tense now because... the loud noise from earlier might have woken it up!

Rody couldn't rely on the hope that the Chimera wasn't there, as he knew it was better to consider how to get out of this situation quickly.

The pile of debris in front of them completely blocked the path, making it impossible to climb over, but fortunately, there were no large, immovable rocks. So, Rody, having made his decision, ran to the pile of rocks in front of the cart and gestured for Sally to help move them.

Rody moved quickly but tried not to make too much noise. Sally, being clever, followed suit, and the two of them silently began to frantically clear the pile of rocks—

But a sudden, heavy thud made Rody's heart sink.

"Thud."

"Thud."

The heavy footsteps echoed around, and the enclosed cave seemed to become even more silent with their appearance.

"What the hell kind of luck do I have... Don't stop! Dig faster!"

Rody could do nothing but curse and speed up his digging—there was no place to hide in the open area behind them, and they had already dug a smaller passage through the debris...

If they could dig through in time, they should be able to crawl through!

He glanced back at the cave entrance illuminated by the torch—the Chimera's footsteps were slowly approaching. Rody knew that if he faced it directly, he would be instantly killed before he could even counterattack!

So, he frantically moved the rocks, and it seemed that fate hadn't abandoned him. They finally dug a hole that looked big enough to crawl through...

"Get through, quickly! Don't look back!"

Rody grabbed Sally and, without a word, roughly pushed her through. Sally understood that there was no time for hesitation and, with her slender figure, quickly crawled through the narrow passage under the pile of rocks, reaching the other side.

But when she turned around, she saw that Rody hadn't followed.

In that moment, Sally felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head. She suppressed her panic, turned, and knelt on the ground, looking back at the narrow opening, only to find that Rody couldn't fit through because his shoulders were too wide!

"Damn, damn, damn... I miscalculated—"

Rody thought he could fit through based on his previous experience, but he had forgotten that his current build was much larger than before, realizing he had trapped himself.

"Roar—"

The Chimera's roar was filled with the terrifying aura of a top predator. The heavy footsteps even made the rocks above Sally's head shake, causing numerous pebbles to fall.

Sally's eyes widened as she realized she might have to watch this man be torn apart by an unknown giant beast right in front of her, feeling an indescribable panic. But then, she suddenly remembered something, quickly reached for the necklace around her neck, and threw it to Rody—

"Rody—catch it!"

Rody immediately understood Sally's intention, caught it accurately, and hastily put it on his head. As the Chimera's gaze swept over, he whispered the activation incantation for the Stealth spell: "Ol'kahla!"

Sally saw Rody suddenly disappear through the gap and immediately knew the spell had worked. She took a dozen steps back, leaning against the cold wall and looking at the pile of rocks that let in some light, holding her breath.

Because soon, a massive shadow gradually blocked all the light.

Rody truly experienced the suffocating coldness of death approaching again—the Chimera that emerged from the cave was the terrifying creature that countless teams had come to kill. Standing four meters tall and over ten meters long, it had a hard, triangular head similar to a wyvern, a pair of spiral goat horns, thick, lizard-like limbs, and a tail that burned like a torch, emitting a terrifying heat.

These creatures were rare species, and this "wild boss" template was even rarer. There were only five wild bosses in the entire Everton territory, and this was the lowest level one—yet it was still a formidable presence that Rody couldn't resist.

The Chimera, a hybrid of various creatures, looked almost comical, but no one could laugh in the face of its wrath. Rody remembered that the first major guild to explore this area had sent a group of elite tank warriors with a total level of at least 30. In the first three weeks, the cost of repairing the main tank's equipment nearly bankrupted the guild.

Because this creature could breathe fire, and the damage was so high that it could instantly kill players!

Rody didn't dare to move at all—because the 3rd-level Stealth spell had a high chance of being detected by a 20th-level boss like the Chimera. Any small movement could reveal his position even outside the creature's alert range.