“I bought it from someone.”
“I see. Let’s not talk about that for now. I’ll explain to you and your mother what might happen after entering the underground tunnel.”
Despite the confusion swirling in his heart, Shen Yan hid it well and moved past the topic.
Su Aoxue, however, was not so easily convinced.
‘This fellow Old Shen… he couldn’t possibly know what this ore is, could he? The expression on his face practically screams “I know!”‘
“The underground tunnel is extremely oxygen-deficient,” Shen Yan continued. “With a population of nearly 200,000, that deficiency will reach its peak.”
“I have a method for regulating breathing that can significantly reduce the need for oxygen. It’s similar to the Turtle Breathing Method. You can use it even without an Awakened Talent.”
As Shen Yan spoke, he looked toward Su Muqing.
Su Muqing asked excitedly, “Wait, can I learn it too?”
“Of course.”
Su Aoxue looked at Shen Yan with curiosity. “Where did you get all these strange things?”
“Study more, see more.”
Shen Yan was not lying. In this era, very few people truly took the time to research such obscure skills.
He had spent his previous life alone with nothing better to do, so he had studied them out of boredom.
“Tsk, what a load of nonsense!” Su Aoxue frowned.
If the library really had so many obscure methods, how could she not know about them!
Right then, Su Aoxue’s mother suddenly swatted her on the head. “Look at you! You’re the perfect example of someone who hasn’t studied enough!”
“Study more!”
“Wait, Mom, you—!” Su Aoxue looked at her mother in surprise.
“All right, Shen Yan, hurry and teach us the breathing method,” Su Mother said with a smile.
“I’m getting old and I learn slowly. I can’t afford to reach the underground tunnel without having mastered it.”
“Okay.”
As Shen Yan began teaching the breathing method, Su Aoxue watched the smile reappear on her mother’s face. She couldn’t help but smile as well.
During these past two days of flight, she had rarely seen her mother smile.
Her mother’s face had been a mask of numbness, alertness to their surroundings, and worry for her younger sister, Su Muqing.
Now, with Su Muqing awake, the smiles were gradually returning to her mother’s face.
At that moment, Su Mother swatted Su Aoxue’s head again. “What are you daydreaming for? Pay attention!”
“You want Shen Yan to have to teach it a second time?”
“Ow, Mom, stop hitting me!”
……
“Right, let me tell you one more piece of ‘useless’ knowledge.”
After the breathing lesson, Shen Yan spoke with a mysterious air.
His strange statement piqued Su Aoxue’s curiosity. “Go on.”
“The underground and the surface are the territories of two different types of creatures. They usually don’t encroach on one another.”
“In other words, after entering the underground, the frequency of attacks from Abyssal Creatures will increase significantly, but Grey Fog Creatures will rarely venture down there.”
“Is that so?” Su Aoxue was stunned. This was indeed the first time she had heard such a fact.
She became even more curious about what books Shen Yan read besides his usual martial arts training, and where those books even came from.
He was always pulling out a collection of strange little tricks!
……
Led by A-rank Warriors, the group began searching the ruins of the abandoned Base City.
Despite having the original blueprints for the mining base, it still took the squad nearly 2 hours to find the entrance to the underground tunnel.
A vanguard squad of ten people immediately descended into the tunnel for a preliminary scout.
The results were very successful; there were no collapses, and it was quite safe. However, the mineral transport cars were long past repair due to their age.
They would have to travel through the tunnel on foot for the remainder of the journey.
“The end of this direction is the Sub-Core Base City. Let’s go this way.”
The Association President, Meng Fei, acted as the temporary leader. Holding a map and pointing in one direction, he led the group northward.
Talented individuals who required core protection, like Shen Yan, were positioned near the front of the column, escorted by several A-rank Warriors.
Not long after the large force had fully entered the underground, a group of Grey Fog Creatures arrived late, stopping at the site of the abandoned vehicles where the scent of humans still lingered.
Among them, the two Commander-rank Grey Fog Creatures—now fully recovered—stood there and let out another long, angry cry.
……
In the pitch-black underground, time passed quickly. However, the moment their phones died, many people lost their sense of time.
Gradually, no one cared what day it was anymore, and their faces began to take on expressions of numbness.
During this period, they encountered several sudden attacks from Abyssal Creatures, resulting in significant casualties. Fortunately, the threat level wasn’t overwhelming, and the threats were quickly cleared.
As for the Gray Mist Tide, it seemed to have vanished entirely; they never encountered it again.
It appeared that the underground was indeed not the territory of Grey Fog Creatures. They would not easily attack here.
Just as the crowd was reaching the brink of despair while following the tunnel, the life-detection instrument in the hands of the lead Martial Artist suddenly flashed an alarm.
“Life signs ahead! On guard!”
In an instant, the team of three A-rank Warriors shifted into a combat defense stance.
However, right at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out: “We are the S-rank Combat Squad sent to provide support. My name is Jiang.”
The sound of a human voice drifted over from the distance.
Upon hearing this, everyone relaxed instantly. No one could understand how happy they were to hear a human voice at this moment!
“Is it the support team? We finally met!”
As they rendezvoused with the support squad, the Association President, Meng Fei, noticed that all six members of the opposing team seemed to be carrying injuries.
He was stunned. “Did you… go through a fierce battle?”
Captain Jiang, acting as the leader, spoke with a solemn expression. “Yes. While looking for you, we happened to encounter those two Commander-rank Grey Fog Creatures mentioned in the reports.”
“Those two Commander-rank Grey Fog Creatures were incredibly powerful. It took us a long time to deal with them.”
“Our squad is a combination of three S-ranks and three A-ranks, and even then, the fight was extremely difficult. If we hadn’t seen the traces you left along the way, we would have almost thought none of you survived.”
A hint of relief was hidden in Captain Jiang’s tone.
After learning of the existence of an SS-rank Talent Potential Possessor, the Core Base City had dispatched their powerful S-class Squad for this escort mission.
If they had failed to escort the target back, they would have faced severe reprimands or even dismissal upon their return.
“Is that so? It’s a blessing amidst misfortune!”
……
In the end, the refugees from Base City No. 2568 were finally rescued after 5 days of arduous trekking through the underground tunnel when they met the support squad.
Of the nearly 200,000 survivors who started the journey, at least 80,000 had died during this period, leaving roughly 120,000.
They had perished due to the toxic gases in the tunnel, oxygen deprivation, and attacks from Abyssal Creatures.
If Shen Yan hadn’t used others to spread the breathing regulation method during this time, the death toll would have doubled.
Shortly after, led by the support squad, the refugees successfully reached a nearby Base City for a short rest.
They planned to head to the Sub-Core Base City the next day to use the Regional Teleportation Array to reach the Core Base City.
The human territories were vast—so vast that a Regional Teleportation Array was required to travel between them.
However, only Sub-Core Base Cities possessed such arrays.