The camera followed the Amber as it entered the deep passage, winding its way downward, moving faster and faster.
At last, it emerged from the mouth of the cave, right above Lin Zhen’s head.
Then, the camera flipped upside down and back again.
Immediately, Lin Zhen’s face appeared in the lens.
He wore an expression of amazement, walking inside a vast city made of both soil and stone.
Most of the city’s buildings were boxy and square, stacked one on top of another, like rows of upright rectangular prisms.
Lin Zhen raised his head, walking as he slowly spun in a circle.
In his eyes, this city—or rather, this world—had no sky at all, only an extremely high, ochre earthen dome, and not a single plant in sight.
All he could see were earth, rocks, and the Huang Elf weaving through the city.
Yes, he had arrived…in the world beneath the Surface—a city that belonged entirely to the Huang Elf.
“First time coming to a big city like Ochre City? Trust me, once you get to King City, you’ll be even more amazed. That’s the most luxurious place in the whole Underground World.”
Walking beside Lin Zhen, the Huang Elf he had rescued the other day grinned and patted him on the back.
“You saved my life, so I have to take you to meet my parents!”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Lin Zhen withdrew his gaze and nodded with a smile.
The day he landed, he saved the other, only hoping to glean some local information from his mouth. But unexpectedly, he learned something extremely important.
This planet was far more complicated than what he’d seen.
On the Surface were plants—the world of the Green Elf.
But underground, it was earth and stone—the world of the Huang Elf.
Once he learned this, he immediately decided to go and see the world of the Huang Elf—the Underground World.
The hardest part of Lin Zhen’s escape plan was how to secretly assemble his spaceship and engine without the Battle Camp’s surveillance catching on.
On the Surface, this would be extremely difficult.
After all, the battleships could directly observe everything happening on the ground.
But in the Underground World…
Battle Camp could only monitor the trainees via the cameras in the Wristwatch or Neck Collar.
And these two things were much easier to deal with.
He could simply find a spot deep enough underground, where the signal was too weak to transmit.
Or find a way to block the signal entirely.
However, he hadn’t expected the Underground World’s signal-blocking effect to be so powerful.
Even his Xin Hao Fasheqi couldn’t penetrate however many meters of earth and soil to reach outside.
Let alone receive any signals from others.
Lin Zhen lowered his head to look at the Wristwatch; the map on it was a blank expanse, with only a single, lonely green dot remaining.
“Turns out Lao Lin’s not in the service area after all.”
“No need to worry then.”
“Reminds me of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth.”
“But if Lao Lin keeps hiding and everyone on the Surface thinks he’s been eliminated, that’ll be pretty interesting.”
“Then Lao Xi will cry for you to see.”
“Crybaby Xi? That wouldn’t be bad.”
“Come on, follow me!”
Lin Zhen and his friend, Randall, walked into the crowd together.
On his way to the Underground World, he’d passed through the city of the Green Elf.
Unlike there, this place—though ugly—was far more lively and free.
Yes, free.
Lin Zhen was surprised to see Green Elf walking openly on the street, and the others didn’t seem to have much hostility toward them.
“My mom says the Tree Worms up on the Surface have all gone mad, worshiping some ridiculous Tree God, dividing people into ranks based on their bloodline. I didn’t believe it at first, but when I went up to have a look—hey, it really is like that.”
Along the way, Randall chattered endlessly, as if wanting to vent all his grievances and shock from the Surface.
Lin Zhen was eager to learn more from him and was happy to listen, so he simply listened quietly.
“All those Green Elf you just saw are the Surface’s Basefolk. The Earth King is very benevolent, and also wants to show we’re different from those bloodline-obsessed Tree Worms. Once they admit their mistakes, they’re all set free.”
“What if there are spies among them?” Lin Zhen asked curiously.
“Ha, those Middle Citizen and Upper Citizen wouldn’t want to crawl underground and get all covered in dirt. At most, they’d send the Lower Citizens. But for the Lower Citizens, the Underground World is paradise, alright?”
Randall spread his arms wide, full of pride. Then he cupped his hand to his mouth and lowered his voice:
“And anyway, there are only so many Basefolk in the Underground World—a new face is easily spotted!”
As his words fell, a squad of Huang Elf soldiers in ochre leather armor hurriedly crossed the street,
passing right by Lin Zhen and Randall.
Da-da-da-da—
As the soldiers marched past, all the Huang Elf along the street instantly raised their hands, cheering and shouting encouragement.
Randall was no exception.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Lin Zhen remained unmoved. Quickly, he tugged Lin Zhen’s sleeve and whispered, “Hey, why are you just standing there? Cheer! Even if you’re part of the Peace Faction and hate war, you have to keep up appearances!”
“Otherwise, watch out for the War Faction noticing you.”
Peace Faction and War Faction?
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Lin Zhen’s eyes. He raised his hand and cheered with everyone else. Once the cheering died down and people lowered their hands, he asked curiously, “Where are they going?”
“Who knows? Maybe to one of those Tree Worm cities. There’s been a lot of military action lately.”
Randall replied indifferently.
“Haven’t there always been a lot before?” Lin Zhen probed further.
“Not as much as now.” Randall said as he suddenly hurried toward one of the “rectangular prisms” at the roadside.
“Come on, we’re here!”
Lin Zhen followed him into the “rectangular prism.”
Only then did he realize that these rectangular buildings had more than just the parts he’d seen above.
Underground—that is, beneath the underground—there were even more.
Randall’s home was in the mid-levels below ground.
And according to him, the deeper you went, the more expensive the houses became.
Judging from this, Randall’s family situation seemed pretty good?
Lin Zhen thought to himself.
Randall’s parents looked a lot like Randall.
Of course, it was also possible that, to Lin Zhen, all Huang Elf and Green Elf looked pretty much the same.
They were extremely grateful to Lin Zhen for saving their son, and of course, took the opportunity to scold Randall for sneaking up to the Surface.
Randall’s father, with a swoosh, grabbed a stone stick from a dirt drawer beside him.
“You brat, how many times have I told you not to go to the Surface? And you still sneak off! Are you trying to anger your father to death? Today, I have to teach you a good lesson!”
As he spoke, he was about to hit Randall.
Randall, terrified, ran all around the house, hiding behind his mother.
She had no choice but to get up, grab the stone stick, and persuade him, “Alright, alright, he’s back now. He’s been scared enough—he definitely won’t dare go wandering on the Surface again.”
“Hmph!”
Randall’s father snorted coldly and threw down the stone stick.