Chapter 123: They Lay Supine on the Back of the Mineral Beast…

“Wow.”

You Liang spoke dryly, as if his throat wasn’t a throat at all, but rather crumpled sandpaper that had been barely smoothed out.

“I really hope I’m seeing things.”

Under that pair of glowing yellow beastly eyes, his voice grew smaller and smaller. “Or maybe… we’re actually in some kind of hallucination?”

Xie Jianxun felt his own throat burning too, unable to say a word.

After a long moment, he murmured, “Even then, it shouldn’t be ‘both of us.’”

What in the world was this thing?

The massive beast’s head poked in from outside, its long, curly fur brushing against the hard stone walls with a rustling sound.

Only when its horns and patches of crystalline blocks on its body came into view could they tell that this was also a mineral beast.

The two humans stood frozen in place, rigid and not daring to move a muscle.

In the pitch-black darkness so close at hand, those eyes shone like lanterns, hovering right above their heads.

After a long moment, no one moved.

Not the two humans, nor this mineral beast.

If something over a person’s height was called a Giant Mining Beast, then this one definitely qualified as a “Giant Mineral Beast.”

Xie Jianxun couldn’t help but think hopefully that the electric baton could paralyze a Giant Mining Beast for a few seconds—how long would it work on a Giant Mineral Beast?

He heard You Liang whisper, “Damn it, I’ve never seen a mineral beast this big… Is this even a mineral beast? It can’t be, right…”

It was pure self-deception.

Xie Jianxun wasn’t sure how many bullets were left in his gun—zero, or maybe a few?

But with a beast this massive, its hide was probably thick and tough. What if even bullets couldn’t pierce its skin…

Xie Jianxun drew in a faint breath and, together with You Liang, retreated step by step backward.

But as they backed away, the colossal creature followed them step by step.

You Liang forced a smile uglier than crying. “I never thought that before dying, I’d get to see the underground kingdom of the mineral beasts with my own eyes. Is it their king?”

Like a bullet-time slow-motion replay, the Giant Mineral Beast’s head descended bit by bit from above.

Xie Jianxun’s hand landed on You Liang’s collar, ready at any moment to yank him aside to the open space nearby.

Just as the head was only a meter away from them, Xie Jianxun yanked hard. The two of them lunged to the side, rolling several times on the ground amid flying dust. Xie Jianxun’s night vision goggles flew off his face, leaving him blind.

But he hadn’t expected their momentum to carry them straight into the stone wall, knocking them unconscious.

Rocks crumbled and dust billowed; the entire tunnel fell silent.

Xie Jianxun only felt a buzzing in his head.

Golden stars exploded before his eyes, and he couldn’t think of anything, as if his spirit had left his body, gazing down dazedly from above at his own form.

He didn’t know if it was a minute or an hour before he suddenly shuddered and snapped awake.

“I—”

Only then did he realize that it was pitch black before him—he couldn’t see his hand even if he held it out.

The ground beneath him rose and fell slowly, and it felt fluffy to the touch.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was the footfalls of a giant beast moving slowly, echoing through the vast, enclosed tunnel.

…Was he lying on the back of this giant beast?

Before he could react, a hand reached over and clamped precisely onto his shoulder.

Xie Jianxun twisted his head in terror and heard You Liang’s voice. “You’re awake!”

“…You Liang?”

Xie Jianxun felt dazed. He touched the ‘fluffy carpet’ beneath him, still gripped by an unreal sense of disbelief.

He was still alive? You Liang was alive too?

“Am I blind again?” Xie Jianxun muttered to himself. “Why can’t I see anything…”

You Liang irritably took off his own night vision goggles and pressed them onto Xie Jianxun’s face. “We’re still in the tunnel. Your night vision goggles just flew off, that’s all.”

Xie Jianxun gripped the frame of the goggles and surveyed their surroundings.

You Liang was right—they were indeed sitting on the back of the Giant Mineral Beast, rising and falling with its movements, just like rocking on an endless sea.

He still couldn’t believe his eyes. “…It didn’t eat us?”

You Liang said, “I told you normal mineral beasts don’t eat people—except the crazy ones that charge at you.” He recounted what had happened earlier.

It turned out this mineral beast had been extremely friendly toward them. It had stared at them from so close only because it was a bit nearsighted (You Liang’s guess). Then, for some reason, it had lowered its head to the ground, signaling them to climb on.

You Liang had dragged Xie Jianxun up first, then struggled to climb up himself.

While they rested on top, the beast had slowly begun moving outward.

You Liang didn’t know where it was taking them, and with Xie Jianxun still unconscious, he’d decided to wait and see.

You Liang’s voice was very clear. “Are we going down now, or should we see what happens?”

…Wait, his voice was very clear?

Xie Jianxun reached up to touch his ear and found it empty.

His earmic was gone.

He reached back and only grabbed a broken connector clip. He cried out in alarm, “Where’s my earmic?”

You Liang said, “Huh? I didn’t see it. Did it fly off during that roll just now?”

It was likely that when he’d slammed into the wall, the connector had torn, and the earmic had slipped off into the depths of the tunnel.

Damn it—Xie Jianxun realized that Idis could no longer see or hear his current situation!

Would Professor Idis… think that he…

Right now, a single thought exploded in Xie Jianxun’s mind: Get out of here, fast!

You Liang reached out. “Hey, I only have one pair of night vision goggles. Give them back when you’re done looking.”

Xie Jianxun handed the goggles back to him, and darkness returned.

Logically speaking, they should be safe now. Whether it was a berserk mineral beast or not, none would dare provoke them at this point.

Yet the Little Adventurer’s heart still fluttered with unease.

Please don’t…

His hand brushed against something warm. Xie Jianxun thought it was the beast’s back at first, but before he could pull away, two small front paws latched onto his arm, accompanied by a familiar grunting sound.

You Liang beside him exclaimed, “What’s this? Cubs?!”

Xie Jianxun freed up his other hand. “…Lend me the night vision goggles again.”

With his vision restored, he saw two familiar little cubs clinging to his arm, their eyes sparkling, tails wagging, grunting and snorting who knew what.

Xie Jianxun recognized them at a glance: Weren’t these the mineral beast cubs he’d caught for checkups before!

“These mineral beasts have mild temperaments and are one of Silver Watchtower’s specially protected animals.”

The Wild Squad Captain’s words echoed in his ears. “We do regular checkups on them to ensure their survival rate. They’re not very dangerous to capture either, because they’re friendly toward humans.”

Xie Jianxun let out a breath of relief, half the weight lifting from his heart.

He reached out with his other hand to scratch their chins and said easily, “So it’s you two.”

“You know them?” You Liang asked suspiciously. “What, did you hit it off in two seconds?”

Xie Jianxun explained, “These are the mineral beast cubs we caught for checkups before. Looks like they still remember me.”

Everything suddenly made sense.

Perhaps these two cubs had put in a good word, convincing the Giant Mineral Beast to carry them out slowly.

The mineral beast was huge and tall.

They couldn’t stand up and could only sit. Reaching up a little, they could touch the upper part of the stone walls.

They simply lay down flat, quietly waiting for it to take them to their destination.

You Liang asked, “Will it take us out?”

Xie Jianxun thought, Who knows?

The two cubs nestled by Xie Jianxun’s head, pawing at each other, rolling around in play, full of life.

They were newly born and hadn’t eaten much ore yet, so no crystallized bodies had formed on their exteriors—just fluffy short fur.

Xie Jianxun’s heart softened at the sight. He reached out to pet them.

After a thought, he pulled a raw ore stone from his Light Brain Space—one that hadn’t been polished yet.

“Can you eat this?”

Before he could even ask, the two cubs pounced on the raw ore and chomped away with crisp cracking sounds, their teeth clearly healthy.

Amid the faint crunching, Xie Jianxun felt sleepiness creep over him.

He lay supine on the mineral beast’s back and unconsciously called out, “Professor Idis, are you there?”

No one answered. Only then did he remember the earmic was no longer on him.

…

He didn’t know how long they traveled.

The beast walked so slowly, so very slowly, that Xie Jianxun slept a full cycle, and it was still dark before his eyes.

He shifted his foot and kicked You Liang in the stomach. The other yelped in pain and sat up with a rustle.

The City Lord’s son complained, “I gave you the night vision goggles—why’d you kick me?!”

Xie Jianxun said, “Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t see!”

“…Hmph.” You Liang snorted. A moment later, he said, “After we get out, wanna grab a meal together? My treat.”

Xie Jianxun caught the awkward tone in his voice and curved his lips slightly. “Sure. Thanks in advance for treating me.”

You Liang started to say more. “Forget it, no eating out. Come to the City Lord’s Mansion for dinner—the chefs there are pretty good…”

Halfway through, he paused. “Why am I seeing light?”

Where?

Xie Jianxun, wearing the night vision goggles, was less sensitive to light. He looked around but found nothing, so he took them off and looked up.

A tiny light spot appeared directly ahead.

He held his breath. You Liang said excitedly by his ear, “It really brought us out!”

The light spot grew closer, larger, expanding from a small white dot into a decent-sized cave opening.

At that moment, the mineral beast beneath them stopped.

It shook its back, shaking the two people off, then carried its cubs away on its own.

Xie Jianxun tumbled on the ground, covered in dirt, but that didn’t stop him from scrambling up. He saw the mineral beast cubs poking their heads out from the Giant Mineral Beast’s back, squeaking softly at him.

Goodbye, goodbye.

Xie Jianxun waved to them.

In high spirits, he reached out to pull You Liang up and hurried toward the bright exit.

Next time he saw them, he’d have to take a photo together, Xie Jianxun thought happily.

You Liang was excited too. After crawling and rolling in the tunnels for so long, seeing sunlight again made him want to bask in it like a sunbath. He’d developed a psychological shadow from the all-encompassing darkness.

“Why don’t exoskeletons have single-point lighting or global scanning functions? We wouldn’t have been so passive otherwise.”

In a good mood, he naturally talked more.

Xie Jianxun thought for a moment and replied, “The things you mentioned have all been optimized in the Brain Domain Mech.”

“Exoskeletons take up less space and reduce muscle strain—they should have even more functions optimized,” You Liang poked Xie Jianxun. “Tell your Professor Idis to revise a couple more design drafts. Plenty of manufacturers would line up to collaborate with him.”

Xie Jianxun smiled. “That depends on Professor Idis’s own wishes.”

He paused, a sense of unease washing over him.

He didn’t know what it was, but it made Xie Jianxun instantly anxious, quickening his steps outward.

You Liang, clueless, tried to keep up. “Why’re you walking so fast? I’m telling you, my exoskeleton’s out of power. I’m exhausted right now.”

Xie Jianxun said haphazardly, “I don’t know, but Professor Idis said earlier…”

As he spoke, the two emerged from the cave, fully exposed to the sunlight.

“What did he say?”

You Liang saw him stop and curiously followed up, but Xie Jianxun had already fallen silent.

He looked up instinctively and saw the sunlight blocked out. Above them hovered bombardment drones lighting up red across the entire mountainside.