Chapter 340: Marching into the Underground City
“Still unable to get in touch?”
I asked the staff at the research base who were still trying to contact someone with their equipment, while the base leaders beside me were anxiously stamping their feet.
“I’m afraid so. Those dream demons might be lurking somewhere, completely severing our connection with the surface.”
“I see…” I nodded, beginning to understand.
“Then try other means of communication quickly!”
“Sorry, this is our main communication line with the surface. If it’s wireless, not to mention the layers between the underground city and the surface, the interference from the outside world’s energy tide against the earth vein energy would greatly disrupt the signal,” explained a staff member responsible for the specialized equipment patiently.
In short, aside from the initial distress signal sent outward, specific information about the encounters faced by the underground city could not be transmitted upward.
So they could only resort to the most primitive way, which was to use the main elevator connected to the surface to send people up.
They had even started planning to send the most important scholars, technicians, and high-level personnel from the base to the surface first for safety.
But at this moment, they were also not very clear about the situation on the surface. If things were still in turmoil up there, it would be little different from delivering a package, so they were torn.
Moreover, this main elevator wasn’t available for use at any time; each use required maintenance, considering the long journey of ascent and descent to the surface.
The mid-section of the elevator track couldn’t even be cleaned by anyone, relying solely on the various inscriptions engraved at its establishment, which prevented corrosion, rust, and shape memory.
So unless absolutely necessary, the passage here wouldn’t be used as frequently as a civilian elevator; at least, this was the consciousness of people familiar with the technical difficulties of the underground city. However, that didn’t mean the people above would care.
But the underground city tacitly allowed people from above to come down frequently; after all, there’s a saying that extraordinary machines need to be used regularly to stay new. Machines left unused for a long time would also encounter problems; anyway… if an accident happened, it would be the people on the surface who would be trapped.
“Sorry, Scholar Xiao Han, for showing you such a disheveled side of our underground city.”
“Why are you apologizing to me? You should be responsible for your own safety. Besides… this is the information pried from those dream demons, but… I suggest you better not look at it now. Shouldn’t you have your higher-ups discuss it in a meeting? Don’t you enjoy holding meetings?”
“Yes, you are right.” The person I was liaising with nodded hurriedly, taking the paper document from my hands, and he had no desire to open it right now. As for my comment about their love for meetings, it was indeed true; after all, many issues could not be resolved by just one person without a meeting.
As for me, although I had said earlier that I would observe Ninglan Qiuyu’s actions and wouldn’t interfere in decisions, this did not mean I would go back on my word regarding sharing the intelligence obtained from interrogations.
For some things, it was best for the underground city to be informed. If Ninglan Qiuyu wanted to unify the surface and underground, then the opposing party would become an unchecked autocrat. I couldn’t believe these scholars at the Extraordinary Research Base could continue to research extraordinary projects as they were under the influence of that guy.
In fact, this was also my selfishness. I really liked the academic atmosphere here; sometimes, one cannot only rely on objective factors to do things. My thoughts are equally important, such as… I hope that the academic atmosphere for the students here can continue, and most importantly, there shouldn’t be another Ninglan Qiuyu looming over the heads of those base leaders.
Moreover, the high-level people in the underground city also understood what Ninglan Qiuyu’s behavior represented. Even if they knew the truth, they would still have to consider their interests. After all, the underground city could not survive independently without resources from the surface; they needed a continuous supply of goods, and as long as interests aligned or complemented each other, they wouldn’t care how despicable the means were. At most, they could become bargaining chips for negotiations between the underground city and the new city lord.
And when the time came, even if Ninglan Qiuyu became the city lord, if such information spread to the surface, he had ways to twist these messages into rumors and slanders.
Watching this person prepare to leave, I followed him directly. They were going to hold a meeting; I could just listen in. I figured they wouldn’t have the courage to refuse my presence on the side; otherwise, if those guys did something foolish, I could timely mitigate the losses. But most of the time, I would remain silent; after all, I wasn’t good at conversation.
After all, even if they were the higher-ups of the base, they still had an information gap with the lower levels, and their decisions were mostly made based on their own interests. Even if something major happened, as long as there was still time to hold a meeting, those people would scramble for their last bit of interest at the meeting. This is an unchanging characteristic of humans; if there were genuinely altruistic people, they wouldn’t be able to reach high positions. Even if they could, it should be remembered that people can change.
My presence could at least make these guys restrain themselves a bit, while also… directly communicating with them about the interpretation of the intelligence obtained from the dream demons. If there were any discrepancies in the paper report, I could correct it.
…
“Alright, Ninglan Qiuyue, this isn’t the time to feel this sad. The worse the situation is, the more we must remain calm.” At this moment, Tan Han was also comforting Ninglan Qiuyue at the side.
Not only Tan Han, but other leaders from the Extraordinary Academy also gathered around, as they had roughly understood some of the circumstances earlier.
Likewise, they were very curious about the so-called underground city, and they hoped that this turmoil would settle down quickly; otherwise, their return would be a far-off prospect.
Many were also coming to provide comfort at this moment, as they were only peers. They could empathize with the pressure each other was under, even feeling a bit of relief.
Ninglan Qiuyue clearly understood in her heart that this assistance from outsiders was because they were all in the same boat, driven by mutual interests. However, it didn’t mean these outsiders were willing to be recklessly commanded by them. Including this time, she also needed the help of these outsiders.
As long as she appropriately guides these outsiders’ compassion, they would voluntarily exert themselves for her. Ninglan Qiuyue could see that the world the outsiders lived in was peaceful. From their eyes, she detected the naiveté and ignorance resembling that of a newcomer. However, she also understood that she could not appear too cowardly, as that would only be counterproductive, especially since there were many smart individuals among the outsiders.
“I understand… Thank you all for willing to help Ninglan New City…”
“It’s nothing, just a mutual need. After all, our consciousness has been trapped here for too long, and we have no idea what the situation is like at the outside academy right now.”
“With that said, we indeed have been trapped here watching for a long time. I hope the academy hasn’t given up on us…”
At this moment, their thoughts returned to their circumstances with that statement, and they began to worry.
However, everyone here were elites from various extraordinary academies, and those without strength had already been properly arranged to prevent them from dragging things down.
Before long, they adjusted their mindset; after all, such matters couldn’t be hurried. It was best to pay more attention to the current situation.
When the City Guard was already ready, most of the Extraordinary Academy side was also prepared.
Then, they arrived at the huge elevator leading to the underground city. This area had always been tightly guarded by the City Guard, akin to a military stronghold. However, it certainly wasn’t an exaggeration; below was the Extraordinary Research Base, the largest center for extraordinary skill research and innovation, as well as the largest production site for extraordinary armaments.
Because large quantities of goods needed to be transported back and forth here regularly, this elevator was mainly used for transport, so size-wise there was no cause for concern. In fact, it was a layered design, allowing multiple levels of movement at once.
To build such a massive project, this elevator itself also stood as a large architectural landmark on the surface of Ninglan New City.
However, most people in Ninglan New City were not aware of what it was, and over time they had simply grown accustomed to it.
As the enormous layered elevator platform powered up, the unique sounds of metallic collisions from the massive machinery immediately intrigued everyone present, even if the sound wasn’t particularly pleasant and could even be considered noise.
“Sorry, because the size of the elevator platform is limited, and the situation in the underground city is unclear, the number of supporters may need to be quite large. This will require you outsiders to temporarily arrange yourselves in an interleaved manner with the City Guard…”
Although this was anticipated, a number of outsiders didn’t particularly like the idea of their bodies overlapping with others, even if they were in a dream while the others were in reality. Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any contact, but putting yourself in another’s shoes, generally, people wouldn’t like having someone standing overlapping their body, right?
Particularly many young girls were quite concerned about this; playing around was all well and good, and the novelty wasn’t a problem, but maintaining such a situation for long could indeed be somewhat uncomfortable.
However, this was a special circumstance, and since they were descending in batches, most outsiders wouldn’t avoid it too much.
They stepped directly onto the elevator platform along with the City Guards, ready to head down and make a display of their abilities.
After all, they had previously prepared to battle the enemy, yet before they could revel in the confrontation, they learned that Ninglan Township Fort had changed hands, which was frustrating for those eager to vent their strength.
It was important to note that upon arriving here, they found that their strength had increased significantly, naturally leading to an urge to show off. Initially, when outsiders came to Ninglan New City, there were quite a few mishaps as a result, causing considerable trouble for the local residents.
Just as they were making a grand advance into the underground city, in the distance, a group had gathered. From the robes they wore, it was evident they were the long-absent Wizard Academy.
At first, the Wizard Academy had established direct contact with that city lord, and as outsiders deemed the only pure-blooded human race, that city lord offered different treatment. He hadn’t anticipated that the old city lord would also be an advocate for human supremacy. Compared to those who were different from normal humans, having someone who was like them felt more amicable.
So, in principle, that old city lord had never trusted those outsiders because they were not purely human; at least, they appeared that way. Those with wings, pointed ears, or even scales on their bodies, and those featuring beast-like characteristics made that old city lord quite suspicious.
Even the wizards of the Wizard Academy were aware that the old city lord was wary of them, although not as overtly as with other extraordinary academies.
Now, the Wizard Academy had fighters who joined forces with the old city lord to slay most of the confirmed dream demons, yet unexpectedly, they could not hold out due to physical constraints, at which point the old city lord severed contact with them.
He only left a message stating he would pass the position of the city lord to his son.
Everything happened so abruptly that it directly interrupted their subsequent plans.
However, in the end, they still chose not to re-align with Ninglan Qiuyu; they opted for neutrality, removing themselves from limitations and overlooking the bigger picture.
At this moment, the Wizard Academy received news about Ninglan Qiuyu’s actions, even watching from afar.
Regarding their actions, the people of the Wizard Academy scoffed just the same, questioning what was different between Ninglan Qiuyue bringing the main force of the underground city to the surface and leaving the underground city weakened?
They had seen the slyness of dream demons. But even if they appeared to remind those fools, they probably wouldn’t listen. Thus, they chose to remain here, guarding Ninglan New City from above to prevent the fundamental base from being attacked again by dream demons using tactics like luring the tiger away from its lair.
“Aen, are we really not going over?”
“Wait. We are the last line of insurance for the surface, and… I feel there are some issues with that Ninglan Qiuyu.” The youth referred to as Aen, full name Aen Galande, was also among those who actively succumbed to the slumber curse, and he was one of the Child of Fortune that the Wizard Academy had kept hidden during the previous dream communication competition.
But he himself wasn’t aware of this. During the last communication contest, to keep him hidden, the Wizard Academy had provided plenty of resources as compensation.
“Listening to the boss is right; we aren’t those rash and hot-blooded individuals who go to our doom. We are wizards.”
“Alright, alright… I just want to go back quickly.”
At this moment, in the underground city.
The high-level meeting discussion at the Extraordinary Research Base was intense. Although I, as an outsider, was present initially, they were a bit restrained, but gradually, due to differing opinions, they began to argue. Then, united by their interests, they sat down to negotiate properly, resulting in a dramatic interchange.
At that moment, someone knocked on the conference room door.
Immediately, everyone ceased their movements. This was the highest-level meeting at the base, and aside from specific matters, interruptions were not allowed.
“Come in.” Finally, one of them spoke, as matters that could disrupt the meeting weren’t many, and everyone tacitly blocked out the topics of their discussion.
The person who was told to come in stepped forward for a brief inquiry, and subsequently, that person exited.
Everyone looked towards that individual, curious about what information had interrupted the meeting process.
“Ahem, the person just now brought us some good news. The elevator connecting our underground city with the surface has just applied for a multi-layer lift request. We have now established contact with the support team from the surface through the elevator system.”
“Really!”
Instantly, uplifting emotions rose on their faces. Support had arrived, which meant the underground city would no longer experience the terror imposed by those dream demons.
“The meeting is temporarily adjourned; let’s go welcome them.”
With this announcement, the meeting ended for the time being. However, many people’s gazes shifted towards me, as they were quite astute. Although the base wasn’t far from the main elevator, if there was no one to guard it, the lurking dream demons could potentially eliminate them within a short time. While the probability wasn’t high, facing the unknown always makes people frighten themselves.
“In this situation, I naturally must go along and see.” I stood up and said.
