Chapter 146: The Consul

"Piece of cake! Piece of cake!" Feng Xiaoyue said with a relaxed expression.

Little Xi shook her head and said, "It's better to stay alert. Although monsters in the Second World are categorized by level and type, the actual gap in strength cannot be simply judged by numbers alone. In different environments, monsters of the same level pose varying degrees of threat to players. Some ordinary monsters even possess attack capabilities and methods that rival elite-class ones."

"Alright, alright, I get it. Is it really that fun to recite all these precautions?!" Feng Xiaoyue still looked entirely unconcerned.

After that, quite a few land octopuses appeared along the way. We fought our way through without encountering much difficulty. Phantom Moon sliced the head of the last land octopus in half with a single sword stroke. White brain matter mixed with a bunch of unrecognized substances dripped continually from the wound, creating a rather disgusting scene.

These land octopuses dropped forty to fifty silver coins along with some materials. None of us were interested in the materials, so we collected the money and pressed on. However, at that moment, I vaguely caught sight of a shadow flashing past the right turn of the corridor ahead. Frowning, I asked, "Did any of you see something just now?"

Feng Xiaoyue said dismissively, "It's nothing. Whatever comes out, we'll just chop it down with a blade."

"Exactly," Phantom Moon chimed in.

Players are always like this. As long as there is a chance to obtain top-tier equipment or the like, no one will show the slightest trace of cowardice, even knowing there is a mountain of blades and a sea of fire ahead.

After clearing the battlefield, the group of four continued forward. Although I was deeply concerned about that shadow from earlier, we had no other choice. There was only one path, and we could only move forward with extreme caution.

Feng Xiaoyue remarked, "Do you think we might stumble upon some kind of treasure vault? If so, we're going to be rich!"

Indeed, finding a treasure vault in a place like this wouldn't be strange, but it wasn't going to be easy to find either. We wandered around this corridor for a few minutes until we turned and faced a partition wall.

This smooth and flat wall did not have the slightest gap or any trace of artificial construction. Little Xi walked up to the door and kept groping around the wall. When she pressed against a particular stone and pushed hard, a small passage unexpectedly opened within the smooth wall. Little Xi said with pleasant surprise, "This should be a passage. I wonder where it leads; let's go take a look."

With that, Little Xi was the first to squeeze into the passage, followed closely by me. There were no lighting facilities in the tunnel. Although it wasn't dark enough to not see one's hand in front of one's face, the passage was just wide enough to accommodate two adults, running vertically with a certain degree of incline. Its four walls were slick and bare, offering nothing to hold onto for leverage.

At this point, Little Xi pulled back her body slightly, thrusting her legs and torso downward first, and then grabbed the edge of the passage opening with both hands, saying to us beside her, "I'll go down first and let you know when it's safe!"

Then Little Xi slid down. A few seconds later, after receiving confirmation of safety from Little Xi, the rest of us slid down from above. When everyone saw the sight inside the pipe, we couldn't help but marvel, as such a scene was truly a rare sight.

Little Xi was at the very front, followed by me, then Phantom Moon, and Feng Xiaoyue brought up the rear. Under the pressure of reality, we were forced to play the role of reptiles for once.

The same distance is fast when running and slow when walking, and if you have to crawl, it goes without saying. The length of this straight passage exceeded everyone's imagination; the four of them crawled for a full ten minutes without seeing the end.

Finally, after playing the role of reptiles for nearly half an hour, I caught sight of a ventilation-grate-like opening not far ahead, unmistakably signaling that our final destination had been reached.

After Little Xi crawled out, I also climbed to the ventilation opening and looked down. As expected, below was a spacious room, and the distance from the ceiling to the floor was easily thirty meters high.

I couldn't fathom why the owner of this place built the room so vast and couldn't help letting out a sigh. However, I didn't panic at that moment; I leaped down from the ventilation shaft, and mid-air, I summoned Dragon Battle. The next second, I landed squarely on Dragon Battle's claws. Falling from this height would definitely cripple someone—falling from high places in the game could lead to severe injury or even death, making it one of the most agonizing ways to die.

With Dragon Battle's height assisting, the others also successfully dropped from the ceiling into the room.

This room—or more accurately, this space—was larger than anyone could have imagined. It was at least the size of one and a half football fields. Bathed in the soft lighting from the zenith, all sorts of bizarre facilities within the enormous room were shrouded in a faint glow, heightening the sense of mystery. Before us stood a fragmented female statue, but this female statue had wings—could it be an angel?

However, standing there was a five-to-six-meter-tall entity, entirely golden in color, supported by four metallic limbs upholding a massive and bizarre body. Connected to the left and right sides of its body were not hands, but cannon barrels. I immediately scanned it with the Fiery Eyes of Truth.

Immortal, Level 100, Reinforced Mechanical Beast. Description: Immortals are equipped with twin-phase disrupter cannons and sturdy shields. These heavily armored and shielded warriors can withstand enemy ranged artillery fire, providing crucial support to their own troops, though high-speed attacks from small units make Immortals difficult to defend.

An Immortal! A Level 100 monster! This ghost town is way too insane! Just as we stood there in a daze, we were surrounded by over thirty Immortals. Those twin-phase disrupter cannons were aimed squarely at us, and I could see white energy truly charging within the barrels.

"What do we do?" Feng Xiaoyue began to panic.

I said helplessly, "I don't know either."

"Stop!" Suddenly, a voice echoed. Then, from behind that battered female statue, a three-meter-tall white, round sphere floated over. The next second, the white ball drifted right in front of us, less than a meter away. We couldn't help taking a step back, while Dragon Battle gripped the black sword in its hand tightly; at the slightest sign of trouble, it would immediately launch an attack!

At that moment, however, I saw the true appearance of the white ball clearly. The white exterior was actually a ring of energy wrapping around a ferocious monster's face and a set of armor, though only the monster's head appeared physical, while its limbs and other parts were composed of surging streams of energy.

Archon, Level 150 Boss. Description: Archons are formed when two High Templars or two Dark Templars sacrifice themselves, fusing their souls into one. The souls of the merged beings radiate boundless energy, wielding psionic power to strike down terrified enemies on the ground and in the air.

We are finished, completely finished. A Level 150 boss is going to cost us our lives here. Yet this Archon showed no intention of attacking us; instead, it waved a hand to signal the Immortals to back off, and then spoke: "Greetings, brave human adventurers!" The Archon bowed to us and spoke again: "My name is Zelaka, and I am the captain of this Protoss force. I apologize if my subordinates lacked manners and gave you a bit of a scare!"

Hearing this, we let out a collective sigh of relief. I stepped forward and tentatively asked, "Hello, my name is Vvdragon. May I ask, aren't you guys supposed to live on Aiur? How did you end up here?"

Zelaka replied, "That's right, my home is indeed on Aiur, but Aiur has now become a Zerg hive. The reason I am here is because when my companions and I were evacuating Aiur, the fleet I was in ran into a Zerg force. Unfortunately, I fell behind, veered off course, and collided with a space storm. In the end, the spacecraft I was riding in crashed down here. I imagine it must have been several thousand years ago, though I can no longer remember the exact time."

This alien monster had truly terrible luck. I asked further, "May I ask if this place is inside your spacecraft?"

Zelaka answered, "No, my spacecraft was reduced to ashes. This is a gathering place of a race called the Angels."

"The Angels!" everyone exclaimed in astonishment.

Zelaka said, "Indeed, but I remember that race vanished during a war. How tragic!" Zelaka shook his head.

Then Zelaka asked, "What have you come here to do?"

"Treasure hunting," I replied.

Zelaka scratched his head and said, "Treasure hunting? I don't quite understand, but if you can help me retrieve an item, I will give you what I brought from Aiur. What do you say?"

"Ding~! Do you accept Zelaka's request?!"