Chapter 388: Chapter 322: The Magnetic Piles Reappear: I’ve Poked a Hole in the Sky
...
「The next morning.」
Winter had officially arrived. In the small courtyard, two plum blossoms had bloomed this morning on a wintersweet branch, where just yesterday only buds could be seen.
A faint floral scent wafted through the air.
Xu Zilan had already made breakfast for Gao Neng early in the morning.
Meanwhile, Hua Quanquan had been waiting outside the courtyard since dawn, because today was the day Gao Neng would enter the Underground City.
Gao Neng looked up at the sky.
The winter morning sun wasn’t hot. It offered only a little warmth, barely perceptible against the cold wind that howled in gusts.
"Go on," Xu Zilan said, standing in the courtyard to see Gao Neng off.
"Okay, Mom. I’m leaving." Gao Neng nodded, shouldered his luggage, and followed Hua Quanquan’s lead away from the Celestial King Group’s grounds.
Just as Gao Neng disappeared from view, a figure appeared at the courtyard gate.
It was Guan San.
"Only you could raise a genius like Gao Neng!" Guan San sighed involuntarily, his eyes fixed on the spot where Gao Neng had vanished.
"No. I never wanted him to follow in ’his’ footsteps. Besides, Gao Neng’s growth has nothing to do with me. He did it all himself," Xu Zilan said, shaking her head.
"All himself?"
"The opportunities he’s had were of his own making. Even I don’t know how he’s come this far, especially with his hidden talent..."
"I don’t understand."
"It’s fine if you don’t understand, because I don’t either. If I had to put a name to it, I could only say... perhaps it’s destiny!" Xu Zilan shook her head again, not elaborating further. She turned and went back into the room, then pulled a cleaner’s uniform on over her clothes.
"Are you really going to..."
"I’ve already said it. I just want to work in peace now. Unless it’s something particularly important, don’t come here again."
"Understood." Guan San bowed slightly, then quickly departed.
...
The Underground City.
The most central base of the Human Alliance.
For a place like this, the security at the entrance was naturally extremely strict. At the very least, someone with Hua Quanquan’s status couldn’t get too close.
Ten kilometers from the entrance, Hua Quanquan was stopped.
Then, a man in black with a four-colored emblem on his chest appeared before Gao Neng. After verifying his identity, he led Gao Neng to an armored vehicle.
Over the ten-kilometer distance, there were a total of five checkpoints.
「Thirty minutes later.」
They arrived at the entrance to the Underground City.
It was a military base disguised as a mountain. Its architectural style was somewhat similar to the base in the Forgotten Land, only much larger.
The armored vehicle drove inside.
Along the way, Gao Neng could see many heavy weapons.
Finally, he was brought before a stone gate. In front of the gate was a massive screen, and below it, eight guards stood on either side of the entrance.
Then, to Gao Neng’s surprise...
There was a line!
That’s right. At the entrance to the stone gate, a line of twenty to thirty people was waiting, holding identity verification cards and undergoing strict physical inspections.
Gao Neng’s arrival naturally caught the attention of those waiting in line.
"Huh? Is that Gao Neng?"
"Wasn’t he supposed to enter the Underground City half a month ago? Why is he only going in now?"
"He’s even more handsome than he looks on TV!"
People were curious. After all, the Federation Government had not publicly announced Gao Neng’s research at the gene lab. In the eyes of outsiders, he should have entered the Underground City long ago.
"Captain Gao, hello. My name is Jin Nan. I was ordered to wait for you here. Please, come with me!" A guard with a scar on his face walked over. He wore a different insignia on his chest than the other guards.
"Do I not need to wait in line?" Gao Neng asked, though inwardly he was marveling. He could clearly sense the aura of the scarred guard named Jin Nan before him. ’A high-rank expert?’
"You don’t need to." Jin Nan shook his head, then shouted to the person in charge of inspections, "All personal belongings must be inspected!"
"Yes, sir!" the inspection guard immediately responded.
"Do I need to be inspected?" Gao Neng asked again.
"You don’t need to." Jin Nan shook his head again.
Gao Neng didn’t ask any more questions and followed Jin Nan through the stone gate under the envious gazes of the others.
This time, he truly understood what it meant to be part of a privileged class.
Not only was a high-rank expert assigned to receive him, but he could also cut the line whenever he wanted?!
’It pays to be a genius!’
...
After passing through the stone gate, Gao Neng didn’t find any high-tech devices like a Teleportation Gate. He only saw a dedicated elevator leading straight down to the Underground City.
On this point...
’I’m giving them a bad review!’
Once inside the elevator, Gao Neng discovered several different buttons, each labeled with a different level.
They were designated by letters.
The topmost level was F-Class, and the bottommost was A-Class.
As for S-Class, he didn’t see a button for it.
After entering the elevator, Jin Nan swiped his chest insignia on a panel and then pressed the button for the lowest level, A-Class.
The elevator descended in a straight line.
It descended for a full twenty minutes before coming to a stop.
’It’s so deep!’ Gao Neng marveled inwardly. The elevator’s descent was incredibly fast, yet it still took twenty minutes.
This just showed how deep the Underground City was.
The elevator doors opened.
Only then did Gao Neng realize there was another stone gate at the elevator exit.
’Son of a... bitch!’
No wonder they said there were no spies from other races in the Underground City. With security this tight, what spy would dare try to sneak in?
Even if they managed to get in, they probably wouldn’t be able to get out.
"Yo! Isn’t this our Alliance’s superstar? You’re finally here!" Compared to the rigid Jin Nan, the guard at this stone gate was much more lively.
"Hello, I’m Gao Neng," he greeted.
"I know. I’ve seen you on TV several times. This is your special access pass. Once you’re inside, someone will be there to receive you!" The guard handed him a card.
"Thanks." Gao Neng took the card and stepped through the stone gate.
BUZZ!
A wave of energy rippled out.
Only then did Gao Neng understand. It wasn’t that they lacked advanced tech like a Teleportation Gate; it was just placed here.
SWOOSH!
This time, not much time was wasted.
As the energy rippled, Gao Neng felt the scenery before him blur and shift, and finally, he was delivered into a pitch-black tunnel.
Directly in front of him, a point of light began to shine.
’Magnetic Crystal Ore!’ Gao Neng’s eyes widened when he saw the light. This was exactly the same kind of scene his second attribute had perceived beneath the Dark Night Elf Royal City.
’Where there’s light!’
’There’s ore!’
He had officially stepped into the domain of the Underground City. Before him lay a base carved from ore—the Underground City itself.
Gao Neng’s heart pounded with excitement as he strode forward.
He quickly passed through the dark tunnel. Then, his vision opened up immensely as points of light ignited one by one.
The Underground City wasn’t pitch-black.
Instead, it was illuminated by countless specks of light, like sparks from a fire. At first glance, Gao Neng felt as if he had stepped into a galaxy.
’It’s so beautiful!’
"The Underground City... is this the Underground City?" Gao Neng gazed around. Before him was a winding road that stretched as far as the eye could see.
On both sides of the road stood various houses built from ore. They were mostly black, but on the roof of every building was an extremely bright piece of Magnetic Crystal Ore.
’Using Magnetic Crystal Ore for lighting?’
’How extravagant!’
Gao Neng subconsciously looked up and saw a shocking sight.
Above his head wasn’t a dark "ceiling," but rather floating mountains of various sizes, like cities in the sky.
’The mountains are floating in the air? Are they using magnetic energy?’ Gao Neng focused his senses. The energy within the Underground City was extremely abundant. He even felt as if he were back beneath the Dark Night Elf Royal City.
The energy concentration was at least ten times greater than that of the outside world!
And this was just the periphery of the Underground City.
’What would the core area be like?’
’This is awesome!’
’Cultivating here for one year... would definitely be better than cultivating outside for ten!’
Gao Neng took a deep breath.
Then, he tried to release his Spiritual Power. He wanted to test how far his Spiritual Power could extend within the Underground City.
’Wow, my Spiritual Power feels so much stronger than it did outside! Huh? Why do I get a strange feeling from those mountains overhead?’ Gao Neng had originally thought the floating mountains were suspended by some kind of magnetic energy, but as soon as he released his Spiritual Power, he sensed something was wrong.
After his Spiritual Power touched the first mountain, it suddenly became immensely powerful. Then, it covered the second mountain, then the third, the fourth, the fifth...
Each floating mountain was like an "amplification transmitter," expanding Gao Neng’s Spiritual Power and connecting it to the next "amplification transmitter."
BOOM!
A muffled bang.
A new world appeared before Gao Neng’s eyes.
His perspective was no longer straight ahead but was now a bird’s-eye view from the sky. Each mountain was like one of his eyes, allowing him to see everything happening throughout the entire Underground City.
Most importantly, he also saw several familiar faces.
Shen Ning’Er, Fang Tangtang, Lin Ying, Shaximo, Zhou Jin, Zhang Hongying...
Beyond them, he also saw a woman soaking in a medicinal tub. He couldn’t tell if she was bathing or cultivating.
’Hmm...’
’Her features are quite striking.’
’She looks familiar, too?’
’Wait a minute!’
’Is that... a makeup-free... Yi Qinglian?!’
Gao Neng was startled and subconsciously tried to retract his Spiritual Power, but he suddenly found that it seemed to be out of his control.
’This isn’t right. This feeling is wrong. My Spiritual Power seems to have been stimulated by some force... Holy shit, is it a magnetic pile?!’ Gao Neng suddenly recalled having this feeling before. In the underground factory in the Forgotten Land, his Spiritual Power had been amplified in the same way.
’Not good!’
’This is going to be bad!’
The things floating in the air weren’t fucking mountains at all! They were small magnetic piles that just looked like small mountains because ore had formed on them.
Gao Neng panicked.
He tried to pull his Spiritual Power back from the floating magnetic piles.
But his haste only made his Spiritual Power more chaotic. In the sky above, Spiritual Power Long Sabers began to faintly appear.
BUZZ!
Ripples spread out in all directions.
Yi Qinglian, who was still soaking in the medicinal tub, suddenly looked up.
"Ah!" Yi Qinglian cried out in alarm, apparently having seen the Spiritual Power Long Saber hanging in the air above her.
’Don’t scream! I wasn’t trying to peek at you bathing!’ It was as if Yi Qinglian’s shriek echoed in Gao Neng’s ears. He wondered if he should try to cover her mouth.
But the instant that thought flashed through his mind...
...he saw the saber that had been hovering over Yi Qinglian’s head plunge downward, slashing straight at her.
"Holy shit!" Gao Neng immediately tried to regain control. He couldn’t retract his Spiritual Power, so he could only force it to shift slightly. Even so, the saber still struck Yi Qinglian’s medicinal tub.
BOOM!
The entire tub exploded.
At the same time, Gao Neng felt countless streams of Spiritual Power rising up from within the Underground City. Each one was incredibly powerful, at least at the level of an Eighth-Rank, and there was even the pressure of a Ninth-Rank among them.
Most importantly, as those streams of Spiritual Power rose, they felt like pairs of sharp eyes turning to look in Gao Neng’s direction.
"Who is it?!" Several roars echoed simultaneously, shaking the entire area.
And at that exact moment, a clear announcement broadcast throughout the Underground City.
"To the Lower City, welcome Captain Gao Neng!"
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