Chapter 77

Fog spread everywhere.

A faint glow appeared intermittently.

"What kind of move is that?" the gunner muttered.

"The power of the boxing gloves," the leader said.

Xiaobaihong couldn't help but turn the umbrella in his hand and said,

"This kid, why does he create so much fog just for a fight? Should we go in?"

"No," the leader said succinctly.

"The fog is to confuse the opponent's vision; if we go in, we might accidentally hurt each other," Eagle judged.

"From what we can see, Xiaowu isn't just a simple martial artist," the gunner said thoughtfully.

The next second.

A shadow rolled out of the fog.

Everyone was on high alert, but upon closer inspection, it was the lizard man.

He lay on the ground with a bruised nose and face, his body burned and tattered, looking deranged, and muttering with resentment:

"Dirty... too dirty..."

"This isn't a fight!"

"I never want to meet such a person again; I'd rather die!"

Everyone looked at each other.

Xiaowu seemed normal during the fight before.

What's wrong with this lizard man?

The leader took out a talisman and slapped it on the lizard man's face.

"Tell us, who are you, and why are you targeting us?" she asked.

"I came to clean up... the mission is about to enter its most critical moment, and your kind—"

The lizard man's voice suddenly cut off.

He was dead.

The leader frowned and said, "Xiaowu didn't use a killing blow, why did he die?"

The fog dissipated, and Wuxiaode emerged from the tunnel and said, "I suspect they have some mechanism that causes them to die immediately if the mission fails."

Eagle went up to examine the body and nodded, "He died suddenly; Xiaowu is right."

The monster was dead.

There was no point in dwelling on it.

"Check the surroundings, see what's in this T5 tunnel," the leader ordered.

"Yes!"

Everyone responded and began to explore deeper into the tunnel.

After about seven or eight minutes.

A row of warehouses appeared ahead.

The gunner kicked open the door of the first warehouse, stood at the entrance, and whistled.

Inside were boxes of canned food, all neatly stacked.

"These will last us for at least half a year," he said.

"See what else is there," the leader said.

Xiaobaihong gently turned the umbrella, and the lock on the second door opened automatically.

This door led to a room filled with bottled water, three times as much as the canned food.

"Is this a post-apocalyptic base?" Eagle couldn't help but ask.

"Looks like it," Wuxiaode said.

The remaining warehouses were filled with weapons, plant seeds, medicine, and garbage.

Indeed.

There was a dedicated warehouse for garbage.

Everyone checked it and found that the garbage included all kinds of household waste.

Could someone be living in this tunnel?

—It didn't make sense.

Wuxiaode had been standing near the gunner and heard a voice in his mind:

"Blow up all these weapons... Zhao Zhibing must die. I need to set a timed bomb and find an excuse to leave here."

Telepathy.

It had to be said, this skill was really useful now.

But it also consumed a lot of soul power.

Five minutes, 0.5 soul power. With Wuxiaode's current soul power limit, he couldn't afford to use it much.

Thinking about it—

In the Death Pit, the Cyclops must have dispelled this spell.

It was so proud, powerful, and invincible.

Would it really listen to the thoughts of these ants all the time?

That was the only possibility.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have missed hitting it.

So—

Who made it use telepathy before he entered the Death Pit?

Suddenly, a scale on the fairy armor made a soft sound.

A hero was responding!

Wuxiaode understood and knew the answer was in one of the hero's mirror worlds, waiting for him to explore.

But now wasn't the right time.

He glanced at his soul power.

Eating and resting had restored 2 points of soul power, which he had used in the battle.

Maintaining telepathy had cost another 0.5 soul power.

If it came to it—

He would ask Crow for soul power. Although it would increase his limit, it was better than having no soul power at all.

"Everyone, come and take a look!"

Xiaobaihong's voice echoed from afar.

Wuxiaode snapped back to reality and quickly followed the group to the end of the tunnel.

There, a large excavator was parked.

In front of it, two deep caves appeared, bottomless.

Above these two caves, there were signs:

"Preparation Room."

"Control Room."

Wuxiaode nodded silently.

—The Preparation Room was where the undead officer mentioned, with a mimicry invisible mech.

He needed to find a way to go in once.

Preferably without anyone else.

Everyone looked at the two caves and said:

"Are they planning to dig another path here?"

"Maybe... but something doesn't feel right."

"Right, are they just using the excavator?"

"Seems unreasonable."

The gunner suddenly said, "Leader, this place seems safe but also a bit off. I suggest we split into two groups to check the situation. You stay outside and wait for us to return."

Here it comes!

The gunner was planning to kill Zhao Zhibing!

Wuxiaode's expression remained unchanged as he listened to his proposal.

"Okay, but in pairs, so you can watch each other's backs," the leader said.

"Then I'll go with—" The gunner's gaze swept over Wuxiaode and landed on Eagle, "Eagle, how about we go together?"

"No problem," Eagle agreed.

Left were Xiaobaihong, the leader, and Wuxiaode.

Wuxiaode glanced at Xiaobaihong.

If he went with Xiaobaihong, wouldn't the leader be left here as the gunner wished?

She was Zhao Junyu's sister.

She had helped him throw a nuclear bomb.

She had given him a knife.

She had also helped on the bone dragon's back.

At this moment, Xiaobaihong looked at Wuxiaode, about to speak—

Wuxiaode spoke first, "Leader, Old Xiao used up his soul power to save me in the village. Let him rest here."

"Okay," the leader nodded.

Xiaobaihong protested, "I've rested enough, I can—"

"Shut up, you used up your soul power helping me. This place is dangerous. If something happens to you, I'll feel guilty," Wuxiaode said sternly.

Xiaobaihong was stunned.

Wuxiaode walked directly to the leader's side and said seriously, "Leader, let's check the 'Preparation Room.'"

"Okay," the leader said.

The leader then said to the gunner and Eagle, "You two go the other way and check the second cave."

"Got it, boss!" Eagle responded.

The gunner's eyes flickered, but he said nothing, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

The two groups entered the caves.

Xiaobaihong was left standing alone.

He stood there for a moment, then walked toward the warehouse filled with canned food.

"Coriander? Forget it, it's a small matter..."

His voice echoed in the darkness.

...

Wuxiaode and the leader walked side by side.

The leader didn't speak.

Neither did he.

But the leader's thoughts were clear:

"This Xiaowu, he's quite considerate."

"My deadbeat brother would have a girlfriend if he were this considerate."

"Wait!"

"What's the relationship between him and Xiaobaihong?"

"If... what about Xia Huilan?"

Wuxiaode was speechless.

Zhao Zhibing seemed cold, but her mind was full of gossip.

The time for telepathy was up.

Wuxiaode didn't want to spend any more soul power on gossip, so he stopped using the skill.

He followed the markers in the soil and walked into the "Preparation Room."

It was a vast, empty space.

Nothing.

The leader looked around and said, "Xiaowu, you seem to be hiding something from me."

"How did you notice?" Wuxiaode asked.

"You subconsciously wanted to fight with Xiaobaihong, but you chose me. I guess there's a reason," the leader said.

—Gossipy, but still sharp!

"Yes, I feel something is off in the team," Wuxiaode said.

"How so?"

"The gunner."

"How so?"

"Splitting up in a place like this is a problem."

He explained further, "Falcon is dead, the lizard man reappeared, and the layout and facilities here are clearly off. In such a situation, people would naturally gather together. Only those in horror movies suggest splitting up."

"Horror movies..." The leader laughed.

Wuxiaode walked to the center of the room and said, "I have something to do."

"What?"

"I once saved an officer in this world. He told me a phrase to activate something here:"

"Prisoners detected, activate 92026 model immediately, construct combat mode based on me!"

After he spoke,

The surroundings remained dark and silent.

Nothing happened.

The leader looked around and said, "So what's supposed to happen?"

"Supposedly, a mech will appear to help me fight," Wuxiaode explained awkwardly.

"Where's the mech?" the leader asked.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them:

"I'm here."

A human-like figure gradually appeared in the air, walking toward them.

It was covered in countless glass-like pieces, shimmering with various colors as it moved.

But soon, it took on a human form.

Wuxiaode.

—This being had transformed into Wuxiaode's appearance!

"Master, this is my mimicry ability. Now I am your shape," the "Wuxiaode" explained.

"What can you do?" the leader asked with interest.

"Before the 'Prisoner' appears, I follow the orders of the secret keeper and perform various tasks," the "Wuxiaode" explained.

Then, he held up three fingers and continued, "I can answer three secret questions. One has been answered, two remain."

Wuxiaode and the leader exchanged glances.

The leader smiled awkwardly and shook her head, "Sorry, I asked a meaningless question."

"No problem, who knew it would be like this," Wuxiaode said.

"You ask next," the leader said.

"What is a 'Prisoner'?" Wuxiaode asked.

"Some extremely terrifying and powerful beings are not allowed to exist—thus, they are imprisoned in the Sin Prison, where they forget everything and wait quietly for death," the "Wuxiaode" explained.

One question remained.

Wuxiaode thought for a moment, realizing the robot probably didn't know how to defeat the Cyclops, so he said to the leader, "You ask?"

"Okay, I'll ask—what is the Sin Prison?" the leader said.

"The Sin Prison is human civilization, more accurately, the human body," the "Wuxiaode" said.

They were stunned.

This answer was too bizarre, hard to comprehend.

The "Wuxiaode" further explained:

"Some extremely terrifying and destructive beings are imprisoned in human bodies, forgetting everything, living only as humans."

"They are sealed within human civilization, living as humans."

"Their lives are driven by human desires, busy with external things, pursuing material and false truths, never awakening or knowing their true identities until death."

"This is the most terrifying prison in all the worlds."

"—Low-level human civilization."

Wuxiaode and the leader fell silent.

This secret was too big.

It redefined human civilization.

How many people were actually imprisoned beings in human civilization?

"You're wrong, we are beginning to awaken soul power—many people are awakening," the leader said.

"Lady, I can only reveal three secrets, and I've reached the limit. I apologize," the "Wuxiaode" said with regret.

"If low-level human civilization is the Sin Prison, then there must be high-level human civilization, right?" Wuxiaode asked.

"That's not a secret, the answer is—of course there is."

The robot continued, "In fact, a significant number of the imprisoned come from high-level human civilizations, being extremely dangerous criminals."

"The others imprisoned in human bodies are countless evils and chaos, as well as some incomprehensible things."

"Let me also tell you my duty."

"I am the guardian of the Sin Prison, responsible for preventing all escape attempts."