20demayo 044 Rising
044 Rising
Aki stopped filming, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to clear her mind of confusion. When she opened her eyes again, a hint of warmth had seeped into the cold, deep water.
A figure approached from the side and steadily supported her arm. Aki put her folding knife back into her pocket, her tense nerves suddenly relaxing.
"Signal interrupted!" Selma exclaimed aboard the Moniach, "Data transmission between us and Aki has been interrupted!"
Mans paused for a moment, then shouted, "Reel in! Reel in! Warning Ye Sheng!"
The engine at the stern started turning again, retrieving Aki's lifeline.
"There's no tension in the engine," Selma looked up. "Aki's lifeline has snapped!"
"You're back? Is the mission over? I didn't hear anything." Aki felt much more relaxed upon seeing her "partner" again.
"Underwater operations won't cause too much noise," Ye Sheng's voice came from the shadow. "I've already got it. We'll be heading back after we finish collecting the data. We don't have much time left. Look over there, we can try to bring that bronze statue back."
Aki looked in the direction Ye Sheng was pointing.
Not far away, on a bronze wall, floats a bizarre statue. It wears ancient Chinese robes and holds an ivory tablet, but its head is that of a cobra, its slender neck protruding from its collar. The snake-faced man's eyes are pure silver, gleaming with a solitary, malevolent light on the dark bronze surface, as if winking mockingly at her.
"Take it down," Ye Sheng urged softly beside him.
Aki nodded blankly and swam towards the statue. The voice began to whisper in her subconscious, urging her to stay in this city forever. She didn't find it absurd; instead, she felt a sense of relief.
She reached for her helmet, and the moment she unsealed it, a hand shot out like an iron clamp and gripped her wrist tightly!
Aki's eyes were filled with madness. She suddenly exerted force with her waist, slamming her right knee into the attacker's abdomen, while using her other hand to pull out a folding knife and stab him back.
The movements were ruthless and executed in one smooth motion.
But Lu Mingfei reacted even faster.
Faced with Aki's knee strike, he simply raised his left leg and stomped on it, forcefully kicking Aki's knee back.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Mingfei suddenly exerted force with his right hand, twisting Aki's left wrist, which was holding the knife, and the excruciating pain of her wrist bones almost dislocating forced her to loosen her fingers.
"what!"
Aki let out a short cry of pain as the sharp folding knife slipped from her hand.
"Wake up!"
The warm river water disappeared, and Aki was drenched in cold sweat, panting heavily. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at Lu Mingfei, who was gripping her wrist.
"Lu Jun, I just saw..."
"Close your eyes and regulate your breathing. Don't look at anything with patterns," Lu Mingfei said, holding Aki's helmet with both hands.
"Lu Mingfei! Lu Mingfei! Answer me!" Mans's anxious voice came through the channel.
"I'm fine, and Aki is fine too. She just experienced a phantom vision."
Lu Mingfei's voice was devoid of any emotion, but beneath this calm lay a terrifying rage that could boil even the deepest sea.
"Splash—"
A series of rapid bubbles surged from the gear channel below, and Ye Sheng, like a black fish, carrying a brass pot in his arms, suddenly darted out from the narrow gap.
"Got it!" Ye Sheng breathed excitedly into the comms, quickly swimming back to Lu Mingfei and Aki. "The main palace was completely undefended! Mission objective recovered! Withdraw!"
Ye Sheng glanced at Aki, whose face was pale, and asked with some concern, "Aki, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks to Lu-kun." Aki shook her head.
"We have ten minutes of oxygen left. Retreat now." Ye Sheng glanced at the oxygen supply and said, "Selma, report the weather forecast. We're preparing to surface."
"Received. Wind force 10 on the river, torrential rain. The lifeline is ready to be retrieved. I'll be waiting for you here," Selma replied immediately in the channel.
"Let's go! Go back the way we came!" Ye Sheng looked at Aki and Lu Mingfei, preparing to lead them to swim towards the passage diagonally upwards.
"Click...click click click..."
A chilling sound came from all around, as if someone was rubbing two rusty pieces of iron hard against your ears!
The river water, fifty meters underwater, instantly boiled!
The patterns on the surrounding bronze walls were now twisting and turning at a frenzied pace, with countless gears and screws beginning to move. Countless bubbles gushed out from the gaps in the bronze, creating powerful turbulent currents.
Faces on the bronze wall rolled across the surface, and sharp metal barbs sprang out from hidden gaps. The once wide passage began to rearrange, shift, and twist, rapidly contracting amidst the grinding sounds of teeth.
The defense mechanism of Bronze City has been activated.
This enormous bronze city existed to guard the brass jar, but it came to life when Ye Sheng took it. It sealed off all exits, determined to utterly crush the tomb robbers who stole the tomb owner's treasure underground!
"Alarm! Ye Sheng, Aki!" Professor Mans roared into the channel, "Hold onto Lu Mingfei! We're starting to retrieve the lifeline from Lu Mingfei! Hurry! Hurry!"
Ye Sheng and Ya Ji quickly grabbed Lu Mingfei's arms, one on each side. Lu Mingfei said, "Ready!"
The motor immediately started pulling the lifeline, and the three rushed towards the passage, but after a few seconds, the power suddenly stopped!
"Damn! The lifeline has been cut!" Ye Sheng raised his searchlight and shone it on the scene. The original passage was now being pierced by massive bronze gates descending one by one, crushing Lu Mingfei's lifeline. The surrounding walls began to compress, leaving only the dome above, which was still narrowing.
The original route through the city gate exit is no longer feasible; the only option is to ascend directly.
"Upstream!"
Lu Mingfei's voice came through the private communication channel. He looked up at the closing bronze dome. He pushed off the bronze floor below and swam upwards, with Ye Sheng and Ya Ji following closely behind.
"Hurry! Swim faster!" Ye Sheng shouted into the channel, desperately kicking his flippers, the brass can in his arms slowing him down under the impact of the water.
The gap ahead was less than two meters wide, and huge bronze gears meshed together at the edge of the wall, sparks flashing in the water. At their swimming speed, it was impossible for everyone to get through before it closed.
A hint of despair flashed in Ye Sheng's eyes. He turned to look at Aki, preparing to push the brass pot and Aki out together at the last moment.
"Don't do anything unnecessary, just stay close!"
Lu Mingfei roared at Ye Sheng.
"Buzz—!"
A dazzling golden light burst forth from Lu Mingfei's eyes, and a brilliant hexagonal absolute domain unfolded with a roar!