Chapter 129: These Are All...?

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: These Are All...?

Everyone in the observation room was stunned when they fell. Yun Yiyou immediately issued an order to suspend the legion competition.

She ordered teams to be dispatched to retrieve the four squads still in the desert, as they were without food.

Meanwhile, Lin Jingjing and the others had fallen into a mysterious hole, and it was uncertain if they could ever get out.

Yun Yiyou also had a statement released online explaining the reason for the competition’s suspension.

After seeing the announcement, netizens understood why the other four livestreams had been shut down, leaving only one active.

A desert, traps, a place filled with human bones, treasure, a laboratory.

The thought of it all just made the netizens more excited, and they watched with growing enthusiasm.

"Damn, this kid is a walking jinx," Captain Li said, sighing as he held his forehead and watched the five of them on the large blue screen.

"From now on, I’m not taking any path you choose," Feng He said.

"You’re really something else," Lin Jingjing praised.

Shi Feng chuckled awkwardly. He had no idea why things always turned out this way either.

"Are we going in or not?" Mo Xuan asked.

"Of course we’re going! Why wouldn’t we? Let’s go in and see if there’s really treasure inside!" Gu Kaiwen said with excitement.

Shi Feng looked into the pitch-black darkness, shuddered, and then said, "I have a bad feeling something terrifying is about to happen in there. Maybe we should just skip it?"

He had a nagging feeling that if they went in, they’d never be able to get out.

"How are we supposed to get back to the surface if we don’t go in?" Lin Jingjing shot back.

Shi Feng sighed. It seemed this was the only way.

"Let’s go," Lin Jingjing said, walking ahead and gesturing for them to follow.

As they stepped through the door, the interior design changed in an instant.

The five of them stared wide-eyed. The style was industrial and mechanical. The floor and walls were made of iron, brightly illuminated by strips of light.

The door slammed shut right after they entered. Hearing the sound, the group quickly turned around, only to discover that while the outside of the door looked like stone, the inside was made of iron.

"It’s shut. What now?" Gu Kaiwen said with a frown, walking over to inspect it.

"We’ve got Shi Feng, don’t we?" At this, Feng He turned her gaze to Shi Feng. "With him around, any trap can be bypassed."

"Haha..." Shi Feng laughed awkwardly. ’I’m not that amazing,’ he thought.

[I agree, that guy’s amazing. He even managed to find such a well-hidden switch.]

[It was a total accident. He only hit the switch because he was freaked out by the snake.]

[Luck is a part of skill too.]

[They stopped the whole competition because of them? Seriously? I don’t want to watch these guys, they’re not even good.]

[Same, I want to watch Captain Chu.]

[I want to see Captain Si.]

The group was completely unaware of the netizens’ comments as they walked down the long corridor, laser guns in hand.

"This couldn’t be a laboratory, could it?" Shi Feng asked, looking around. "It’s so lavish. I wonder how many Star Coins were embezzled to build this."

"A lab for researching mutant beasts? Interesting." Lin Jingjing’s voice was filled with excitement. ’I wonder if we’ll run into the famous Dr. S this time,’ she thought.

"Don’t get so excited. We’ve stumbled upon someone’s hidden secret," Gu Kaiwen said. "And it’s being broadcast live to the entire Empire."

Livestream...

Hearing that word, the other four finally realized the hovering broadcast drone had been following them the entire time.

"If we see something truly shocking, will the netizens be able to handle it?" Mo Xuan asked, his brow furrowed as he thought of the human-mutant beast hybrids.

"Turn it off?" Shi Feng was about to grab the broadcast drone, but Lin Jingjing stopped him. "The things that have been hidden in the dark deserve to be brought into the light."

Some things were better left unsaid, so Lin Jingjing switched to a sign language that only their group could understand.

[If the Empire’s high command won’t deal with this, then we’ll make them solve it under public pressure.]

[The lives of common people matter too. They can’t just be ignored because they’re ordinary citizens.]

Feng He was the first to respond, her hands moving as well: [Exactly. There’s no harm in letting the public know.]

Mo Xuan was still worried. He signed: [But what if they can’t handle it?]

[You worry too much,] Gu Kaiwen signed back. [This is a dog-eat-dog world. They face mutant beasts every year; they’re not that fragile.]

After the signed conversation, Mo Xuan began to reflect, wondering if he was being too indecisive.

He followed behind them with his head down, lost in thought. Seeing this, Feng He, who was walking beside him, slowed her pace to match his, falling into step shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Are you upset?" Feng He asked.

"No," Mo Xuan denied.

"Your heart is in the right place, but this situation is different," Feng He said comfortingly. "You’re afraid of causing a panic, but you have to trust that the King of the Empire will be able to calm things down."

"Things are different here," Feng He said.

Mo Xuan thought for a moment, then finally hummed in agreement.

’Things really are different here,’ he thought. ’Everyone is strong and capable. They’re not afraid to die. I was worrying too much.’

"I get it now," Mo Xuan said, his normal demeanor returning.

Hearing his words, Feng He’s eyes crinkled into a beautiful smile.

The corridor was long. They walked for what felt like an eternity before they finally reached a junction.

Two paths branched off, one to the left and one to the right.

They were momentarily stumped. Then, all eyes turned to Shi Feng once again.

"You go pick a path," Gu Kaiwen said, nudging Shi Feng with his shoulder.

"Why me again!" Shi Feng grumbled. "You go!"

"Just go. No more nonsense," Gu Kaiwen said, shoving him to the front.

Shi Feng, forced into the role, stood between the two paths and then pointed to the one on the left.

"Alright," Lin Jingjing nodded, then immediately turned and started walking down the right path.

Seeing them head down the right path without a moment’s hesitation, Shi Feng completely lost it. He stood his ground and yelled, "I made a choice and you’re ignoring it! What are you trying to pull?"

"But you did choose," Lin Jingjing said, turning to him with a smile. "If you pick left, we go right. If you pick right, we go left."

"So the plan is to just never take the path I choose?" Shi Feng asked, his face darkening as he hurried to catch up.

"With your kind of luck, we wouldn’t dare take a path you’ve chosen," Gu Kaiwen said, slinging an arm around his shoulder with a grin.

They took the right path, and after walking for a short while, the walls on both sides turned into transparent glass, revealing countless mutant beasts imprisoned within.

The eyes of these mutant beasts were all tightly shut, as if they were in hibernation.

"Damn, it really is a lab," Feng He exclaimed, pressing her face against the glass to get a better look at the tall, slender mutant beasts.

As she looked at the mutant beasts, she understood instantly. These were artificially created.

"They’re man-made mutant beasts."

"What!" Gu Kaiwen was stunned. He looked past the long line of glass enclosures at the mutant beasts inside. "All of them?"