The train carriage swiftly advanced.
The speed of the train was high, and it was evident that the technology behind this was quite advanced. Despite the rapid movement, there was hardly any sensation of shaking or bumping inside the carriage.
Roddy's complexion remained quite pale. After drinking a potion obtained from the system, he sat in his seat, gradually regaining his composure. Qiao Qiao was seated in front of him, looking back at him.
"Are you alright?"
"Doing fine," Roddy made a wry face. "I remember you kicked me in the end, right in the head. Weren't you afraid of turning me into a fool?"
Qiao Qiao couldn't help but chuckle.
Meanwhile, Lun Tai was sitting on the other side. He took out a strip of bandage and carefully wrapped it around his wrist, layer by layer.
"What are you doing?" Roddy asked.
"Getting prepared," Lun Tai frowned. "Haven't you thought about it? The final mission of this copy is to resurrect the demon's magic circle. Since it's something like that, I was worried that at the last moment, some of our firearms might be restricted, and we might need to resort to close combat."
He looked down at the bandage in his hand. "Using this, our grip on weapons would be stronger when we're in a fight."
"…That's a good idea," Roddy's eyes lit up for a moment, but then he looked disappointed. "But in that case, if firearms were really restricted, my mecha might also be limited."
"Everyone needs to wake up a bit. Right now, we're the only team in the Dark Camp, and when the time comes... the battle might be extremely fierce."
Lun Tai broke the silence that had fallen over the carriage.
The hearts of everyone onboard weighed heavily.
After a while, Xia Xiaolei whispered, "I wonder how the captain is doing right now."
The group exchanged glances, and then Roddy spoke, "I believe he's rushing to join us at top speed right now."
"But we can't contact him."
"He'll find a way," Roddy sounded confident. "He always does."
Lun Tai looked at the others, and it was clear that their spirits were still somewhat low. Continuing in silence would affect morale, so Lun Tai raised his voice, "Alright, now is not the time for idle thoughts. How far are we from reaching Tel Aviv?"
"Approximately..." Roddy calculated for a moment and replied, "about ten minutes left. This thing is moving very fast. Based on the distance from Stonemason Mountain, where we were previously, to Tel Aviv, it's at most ten minutes."
Just at that moment, the shuttle carriage gently vibrated.
Everyone in the carriage felt a noticeable inertia... the carriage was slowing down!
A few seconds later...
"What's going on?"
"It seems... the carriage has stopped," Qiao Qiao stood up. She first reached out and held Soo Soo's hand, then looked out of the carriage.
Outside the window, it was pitch-black; they were in an underground tunnel.
Roddy had already jumped to his feet and went to the control panel at the front of the carriage. After careful examination, he turned back to address everyone, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is... this thing isn't broken, there's no mechanical failure."
"So why isn't it moving?" Xia Xiaolei asked.
Roddy sighed, "The bad news is... the power source has been cut off."
"No power?" Lun Tai stood up, glanced outside the window, and then turned to look at Roddy. "Is there no other way?"
"It's not a malfunction, and I could fix it if it were broken. But without power... I can't exactly turn myself into a generator," Roddy shrugged.
Lun Tai pondered for a moment, "We have about ten minutes left, right? Considering this thing's speed of a hundred kilometers per hour, we're less than twenty kilometers from Tel Aviv now."
"More precisely, it's about seventeen kilometers," Roddy nodded.
"Then let's get off and walk," Lun Tai sighed.
...
"Route planning completed."
A combat vehicle raced down the highway, and inside the vehicle, on the dashboard, a red route appeared on the map.
Several Awakened individuals were fully armed, one of them with a leather patch over their left eye, wearing a fierce expression. "Have you found them?"
In front of the screen, a young man with hair resembling a messy bird's nest was rapidly tapping on the keyboard. "Found them... I suspect they might not be on the surface. Their coordinates shown on the radar have been following a certain route, but based on the maps I have, their route doesn't correspond to any known road.
Considering their speed, ruling out the possibility of an aircraft, it's definitely a land-based vehicle. Since they're not on the surface... they must be underground! Meaning, they might be traveling on something like a subway."
"Can you track them?"
"Of course, boss!" The young man looked proud. "I'm a mechanical genius! Our combat vehicle has been continuously tracing their route, and we're getting very close to them! Almost parallel, but... I need just one more minute."
As he spoke, the young man pressed a button on the keyboard forcefully.
Soon, from the speeding combat vehicle, two miniature aircraft were launched from both sides, buzzing as they swiftly disappeared into the wilderness.
Inside the combat vehicle, the young man was focused, his eyes gleaming. "The deep scanner is already active. I'm calculating and estimating based on their previous route and scanning deliberate areas... Boss, I think we should exchange for a few more of these deep scanners; they're incredibly useful."
"Alright, our budget is limited, but... if you perform well this time, I'll consider exchanging for an additional unit for you."
"No problem, leave it to me!" The young man chuckled. After half a minute, he excitedly shouted, "Found them!"
The scan results appeared on the screen.
"Based on the previous underground route of the target... the deep scanner has yielded results. Approximately fifteen meters underground, there's a regular metal structure response... Haha, it's indeed an underground passage!"
"They're hiding underground? Where did this underground passage come from..." the One-Eye individual grumbled.
He turned to look at the other companions inside the combat vehicle and focused on one slender figure. "What about you? Do you have a way to catch them?"
"Leave it to me," the slender individual rolled their eyes but had a fanatical gleam in their eyes.
...
"Keep up, everyone," Lun Tai led the way at the front of the group, constantly urging them to hurry.
He held a tactical flashlight in his hand.
The tunnel was pitch-black, with only the beam of the tactical flashlight swaying.
Behind them, the shuttle carriage, halted due to the power cut, was already over a thousand meters away.
In the underground tunnel, it appeared safe, but Lun Tai couldn't shake a feeling of unease.
Even though the second stage of the system didn't allow for combat, after Qiao Qiao obtained the feather of the Demon King, the mission had changed, and Lun Tai couldn't help but sense that things might not be so simple. There might be more complex and dangerous situations ahead.
They were the sole Dark Camp against the rest of the world.
It was an instinctual response to danger that drove Lun Tai, leaving him with a vague judgment: he couldn't stay in one place! He had to act quickly, to run!
...
The combat vehicle had been stowed away. One-Eye, the young man, the slender individual, and another silent companion, all had some peculiar flying devices attached to them. They flew in formation above the wilderness.
During their high-speed flight, the young man held a tablet displaying a topographical map obtained from scanning the underground tunnel.
Soon, the slender individual at the rear of the group detached from the formation, also holding a tablet, and...
Bang, bang, bang...
On their flying device, a series of sounds echoed, followed by a dense cluster of metal projectiles being launched. They traveled through the air and landed on the ground far below.
These metal projectiles, each measuring just under five centimeters in diameter, as they landed on the ground, the sharp end would pierce into the soil and then suddenly transform into a spiral shape, burrowing fiercely into the ground. More than twenty of these metal projectiles had all drilled underground!
"Found them, little mice!" the slender individual grinned and chuckled.
A sudden rumble echoed from the ground not far away!
After the dust settled, a circular well-like hole appeared on the wilderness.
"It's right there! Let's go in!"
...
Boom!!!
Inside the tunnel, the vibration was particularly intense!
Everyone felt the tremors within the tunnel, and even little Will, who hadn't steadied himself, fell to the ground. Thankfully, Xia Xiaolei was quick to grab him; otherwise, the young boy's nose would have had an intimate encounter with the steel rails on the ground.
"What's happening?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
Hearing their teammates' exclamations, Lun Tai had already dropped to the ground, his ears pressed tightly against the floor. Roddy and Qiao Qiao immediately rushed to the edge of the tunnel. Roddy pressed his ear against the wall, while Qiao Qiao cradled Soo Soo in her arms.
"It's an explosion behind us," Lun Tai stood up and glanced at Roddy, who nodded. "My assessment is the same. Something definitely happened in the tunnel ahead, an explosion. It's not an earthquake; if it were, the tremors would be much stronger, and the tunnel would have twisted and deformed already."
Lun Tai's heart sank, and he turned to look back in the direction they had come from...
...
Somewhere in the rear of the tunnel, near the ceiling, a skylight had been created!
The metal projectiles had drilled into the tunnel, and then, from the walls and the earth, slender metal appendages suddenly extended from these projectiles, and they swiftly crawled out like insects.
In the overhead cavity, four flying devices descended from above.
One-Eye individual, on the ground, pressed a button, and the flying device transformed rapidly, automatically detaching and folding up into a small metal block about the size of a palm. He casually stowed it into his wrist storage device.
The others did the same.
If Roddy and the others were here, they would surely be surprised... these four unidentified individuals each had a wrist storage device!
"Pest, let your little things do their work quickly. We need to find those guys as soon as possible! Other Awakened individuals will be coming soon. I don't want to compete with others for the prey that's right in front of us," One-Eye shouted.
The slender individual chuckled, then extended his palm, and a metal bug crawled onto his hand. At the top of its body, two antennae-like structures appeared, resembling antennas. They swayed slowly for a moment...
"Found them. They're ahead of us," the slender individual grinned, pointing ahead in the tunnel. "About two kilometers away from us, detected signs of life."
One-Eye licked his lips at the news. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Gaul, prepare the War Fortress!"
The young man grinned. "Charging is already complete, always ready, boss!"
The other silent companion suddenly waved his hand and made incomprehensible noises with his mouth.
This companion was, in fact, mute.
"No Tongue, do you mean... a tactical move?" One-Eye seemed to understand the mute's sign language.
"I think No Tongue has a point. We need someone to act as bait, launch a feigned attack, draw their attention, and then have someone else attack them from the other side, catching them off guard!"
"Alright then, No Tongue, we can make use of your abilities." One-Eye, clearly a flexible team leader, immediately nodded in agreement with the suggestion.
No Tongue grinned, walked to the edge of the tunnel, and placed his hands on the wall. His body quickly phased into the wall.
"Let's go! No Tongue's skills have a time limit. We'll catch up from behind and attack! Then... No Tongue will launch a surprise attack from the other side!" One-Eye shouted.
...
Chen Xiaolian jumped out of the stopped shuttle carriage.
He had also felt the tremors in the tunnel just now.
He bent down and touched the steel rails on the ground.
Although he lacked Roddy's mechanical skills, Chen Xiaolian couldn't determine what had happened to his shuttle carriage... but it didn't matter - he couldn't repair it anyway.
Fortunately, there were still items in his wrist storage device.
After taking out the fiery red motorcycle, Chen Xiaolian hopped on, and the motorcycle roared to life, speeding forward in the underground tunnel...
...
"A tear, halfway back, I only have battles, battles... Stars, after falling, I pray, don't go, don't go... That warmth, can no longer be preserved, love has turned cold, turned cold... My heart, wishes to share with you, together to the end, to the end..."
Shen walked with his hands in his pockets, strolling along the road - his direction was surprisingly a return to Jerusalem.
He casually hummed some strange and unclear lyrics.
In the night, with the cool breeze and enchanting starlight, Shen's expression seemed quite relaxed.
However, at that moment, a lazy sigh emerged from the darkness.
"I have to say, your singing is quite dreadful. If those screaming fangirls could hear your singing, they'd definitely be disillusioned."
Shen suddenly stopped, and his relaxed expression disappeared.
His sapphire-like eyes scanned the darkness, fixed on a particular direction, and his gaze gradually relaxed.
"It's quite lively here, isn't it? A [B] class Instance, and you showed up too." Shen's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. He didn't hide his teasing tone as he continued, "Aren't you usually quite lazy?"
After a pause, Shen shook his head. "You criticize my singing, but can't you come up with something more original?"
In the darkness, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
Not tall, but very upright, the figure moved gracefully, and under the faint starlight, their chestnut-red hair lightly danced in the evening breeze.
"Oh, trying a different approach, are we? Let me think." The voice remained lazy. "Alright, then how about this... When you start singing, female wolves within a ten-mile radius come running in cars. Is that a fresh enough statement?"
Shen actually lowered his head in contemplation. "That's a bit too harsh, doesn't quite suit your aristocratic status."
"Well, I can't help it. Your demands are too high." The red-haired individual stepped forward, spreading their arms. At this moment, they revealed a fair face that appeared exceptionally delicate under the starlight. The facial features were refined, but the eyes flickered with a captivating intensity.
"It's quite a surprise to see you," Shen remarked while looking into their eyes. "Why are you here? If I recall correctly, the last time I saw you was in Napoleon's Instance, and you nearly set half the palace on fire."
"How do I remember it? The torches I used were handed to me by you." The red-haired youth smiled lightly.
Shen burst into laughter, a hearty sound that traveled far into the night.
After a moment of laughter, Shen squinted his eyes. "Alright, no more small talk. Why did you come here?"
"It's quite simple, really. I heard that this Instance has a side quest related to the Demon King," the red-haired youth's eyes carried a hint of mockery. "The Demon King, you know, I've always been interested in such things."
Shen rolled his eyes outright!
"And now? Are you satisfied with your interest?"
"Satisfied. I just went to the ruins on that path a moment ago. The slime there is really disgusting. The Demon King, it lacks any aesthetic appeal," the red-haired youth seemed somewhat disappointed.
Shen thought for a moment, his expression turning serious. "No jokes now; I'm saying this very seriously."
"What is it?"
"Leave this Instance, now," Shen's tone became cold.
"What's this? Are you staking a claim? Showing me your territory boundaries? Do you own this Instance now?"
"Say whatever you like," Shen shook his head. "In any case, don't appear in this Instance anymore. Leave immediately. Consider it... consider it a favor from me."
"In the name of friendship?"
Shen pondered for a moment and then became surprisingly serious in tone. "Alright, let's consider it as a favor in the name of friendship."
The red-haired youth looked somewhat surprised at Shen's words. "My goodness, it seems like this Instance is really important to you," his peculiar eyes narrowed slightly. "Shen, are you sure? In the name of friendship? According to our agreement, we can only use that three times on each other."
"No need for your reminder, I know, and I also know that with this pretext, you've already used up all three chances."
The red-haired youth chuckled somewhat sheepishly. "Well, because I'm lazy sometimes. When I can find an easier way to drive you away without fighting, why not use it?"
"Alright, enough chit-chat. Will you go or not?"
"...Alright, I'll leave." The red-haired youth waved his hand. "My curiosity is satisfied, even though I'm quite disappointed."
Just as the red-haired youth was about to retreat into the darkness, Shen stopped him with a question. "Let me ask you a question, and I need a serious answer."
"Hmm?"
"Did you really come to this Instance solely out of curiosity for the Demon King's side quest? There are no other reasons?"
The red-haired youth gave a sly smile. "Are you asking me to tell the truth?"
"Yes."
"In the name of friendship?"
"In...," Shen suddenly stopped and then stared at the other person, chuckling, "Of course not! You're too cunning. I won't waste something so valuable like that! Will you answer the question or not?"
The red-haired youth suddenly turned serious. "In that case, I refuse to answer!"
With that, he retreated into the darkness, swallowed by it, and disappeared completely.
Shen sighed and muttered to himself, "Interested in the Demon King? Don't joke with me. When it comes to demons, who can be more devilish than you... Hmph."
Then, he suddenly shouted into the air, "All those with the last name Rudolf are jerks!"
From the darkness, a response came in the air, "All those with the last name Augustine are fools."
"Aha! You're still here, you trickster!"
"Aha, I knew you'd be cursing me behind my back. Alright, alright, I'm leaving now."