Chapter 142 - 106: Underground City 3
"Should we follow them?" Niu Armor asked, staring at the seamless ground. It was impossible to tell that a large, automated staircase was hidden there.
Yuan Xiaobo wrestled with the decision for a moment before looking to Lin Kong.
Lin Kong’s mind raced. He quickly replied, "No! We’re not going down just yet."
"We’ll go back and pack up, erase all our tracks on the surface, and then come back here to wait. If no one comes up by tomorrow, we’ll go down ourselves. But that’s a huge risk. If someone does come up, we can use the opportunity to sneak down. The risk will be much lower that way."
After a moment’s thought, Yuan Xiaobo agreed with Lin Kong’s plan.
The group cleaned up all signs of their presence on the ice, packed all their gear into their backpacks, and returned to the building’s lowest level. They used the Illusion Generator to conceal themselves and settled in to lie in wait.
...
Meanwhile, the underdweller who had emerged from the automated staircase hurried to another nearby room.
"Supervisor! Something’s wrong!"
"Supervisor! Something’s wrong!"
"Aburara, what is it? Why are you in such a panic? Young man, don’t be so impetuous. You need to be more composed."
"Didn’t I send you to check on the problem in the communications room? Why are you back so soon?"
"Is the equipment in the communications room broken? That’s impossible. I was just up there a few days ago to check on it myself. Everything was fine."
Another underdweller, looking much older than Aburara, walked out of the room.
"Sir, the equipment in the communications room isn’t broken," Aburara replied, catching his breath.
"Then it’s nothing serious!" the Supervisor said, waving his hand dismissively. As long as the communications room was fine, nothing else was a big deal. "Hey, Aburara, why are you still dressed so warmly? Aren’t you hot?"
Aburara looked down at his own heavy clothes, realized his mistake, and took off his jacket.
Then, he grabbed the Supervisor, who was about to head back into his room.
"Sir, something major has happened on the surface!"
The Supervisor gave Aburara a strange look. "What could possibly be so major? Did the ice above us melt?"
"No, Sir! I found aliens!!"
Aburara didn’t answer the Supervisor’s question, blurting out his own discovery instead.
"Impossible. The entire planet is encased in ice, and that ice is incredibly hard. Even our most powerful excavators can’t break through the ice sheet. Besides, the temperature on the surface is far too low. How could any living creature possibly come down from there?"
The Supervisor was stunned. He absolutely refused to believe any creature could break through the planet’s outer ice layer. After all, their entire race had pooled its strength and still couldn’t shatter that solid ice. Their only option was to dig deeper into the ground, dragging out a meager existence while they waited for the ice to melt on its own.
"But it’s true, Supervisor!" Aburara explained hastily. "You sent me to check on the communications equipment, right? Well, when I got up there I found... and then I checked the surveillance footage. I saw an unidentified creature remove the Energy Core."
"That doesn’t prove they’re aliens. It could be some other kind of creature..." the Supervisor argued, trying to force an explanation.
Aburara just looked at him without saying a word.
The Supervisor continued, "Perhaps some kind of mutation..."
Under Aburara’s silent gaze, the Supervisor finally relented. "Fine. I admit those explanations are unlikely, but the possibility of aliens is just so remote. And the ice..."
"Sigh, forget it. Did you copy the surveillance footage?" The Supervisor held out his hand, wanting to see the video for himself.
Aburara’s jaw dropped. "Ah... I forgot!!"
The Supervisor: "???"
"You actually forgot to copy it?" Now the Supervisor was even more stunned.
"I-I-I was so scared, I just..."
"Sigh... how did I end up with such a foolish son?" the Supervisor lamented with a long sigh. "I’ll arrange for a few people to go up with you tomorrow to see for yourselves. Without video evidence, it’s difficult for me to report this to my superiors."
...