Even with the plant essence, the foul odor lingered. Qiao Zhiya lay awake for a while, unable to sleep. Glancing at Chu Rong, who was still focused on observing the situation outside, he sat up and took out three encrypted texts, starting to translate them using the characters he had previously deciphered.
He had deciphered the entire character set of the encrypted text days ago. However, with everyone focused on finding the monster’s lair, he didn’t want to distract them with this matter, deciding to finish translating the books first.
The three encrypted texts had some overlapping content, and he started by translating these sections. Time flew by as he worked, and just as he finished this part and was about to move on to the next, a large hand suddenly covered his, and his ear was gently tugged.
“Time to sleep.”
Chu Rong’s voice came from above him. Qiao Zhiya looked up, about to speak, but a yawn escaped him instead.
He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, wide-eyed and looking at Chu Rong, his face gradually turning red.
Chu Rong, seeing the glimmer of moisture in Qiao Zhiya’s eyes from the yawn, felt his heart soften completely. He leaned in and kissed him lightly, then sat beside him and pulled him into his arms. “Sleep now.”
Qiao Zhiya glanced at the screen, which still showed smoke rising from the crevice, and asked, “What about you?”
“I’ll stay with you for a while.” Chu Rong pulled out a blanket, wrapped it around him, and leaned comfortably against the sofa’s armrest, gently patting his shoulder. “Lin Zhen will take over the watch soon. I’ll wake you up then, and we can go back to our room to rest.”
Reassured by his words, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but yawn again. He snuggled closer to Chu Rong and closed his eyes, falling asleep in his arms.
Chu Rong kissed his forehead and gazed at the crevice on the screen, his eyes clear and alert, with no hint of sleepiness.
The next day, Qiao Zhiya woke up in a room, finding several pieces of jade on the pillow beside him. On the floor was an air purifier emitting a plant-based fragrance, and on the bedside table was a food warmer containing his favorite porridge and a few side dishes.
The warm yellow lighting in the room gave him a brief sense of being back at the Chu residence, but he quickly shook off the feeling, splashed water on his face to wake himself up, and quickly got out of bed to wash up and eat breakfast before hurrying to the command room.
Everyone else was already awake and gathered for a meeting.
As he arrived, the meeting was just ending. Seeing him, Chu Rong quickly got up and led him to an adjacent rest area.
“What’s going on?” Qiao Zhiya asked, puzzled and feeling a bit guilty for waking up late.
Chu Rong patted his bedhead, closed the door, and handed him a protective suit. “The crevice has stopped smoking. Everyone has decided to go underground. Put on the protective suit, and we may need your and your mother’s help to clear the ash underground.”
Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya quickly nodded, set aside his guilt, and deftly changed into the protective suit.
After the elite troops were fully prepared, they disembarked, and the flagship ascended, guarding three positions around the planet to prevent the monster from escaping while they were underground.
Mi Lai and Qiao Zhiya took the lead, using earth magic to delve into the ground, turning over layers of soil to bury the Zerg ash, converting it into fertilizer for the planet.
“Done,” Mi Lai said, retracting her hand and looking at Chu Rong. “Most of the area below has been hollowed out, and the terrain is very complex.”
Chu Rong helped Qiao Zhiya up and replied, “It won’t be complex for long.” He then gestured for everyone to enter their mechs. Following the prior arrangement, Qiao Yi entered Qiao Zhiya’s cockpit, while Qiao Zhiya’s mother entered Chu Rong’s.
The new version of [Rong Tian] was still taller than most mechas but had more rounded limbs and joints, resembling the [Elf] design. With the addition of metal-elemental1before I forgor – metal is written with the character for gold. So QZY, being a golden dragon, is inherently metal-element aligned magic, it had become sturdier than before.
At that moment, it stood at the forefront of the group, easily noticeable.
“Let’s go!”
Chu Rong activated his mecha, spread his spiritual power, opened a public channel, and after giving the order, glanced at the [Elf] mech beside him before leading the charge into the depths of the crevice. The [Elf] and the rest of the team followed closely behind.
With the Zerg all burned away, the team moved quickly deeper underground. As Mi Lai had described, the terrain was a labyrinth of tunnels, complex and winding.
Chu Rong, lacking patience for navigating the tunnels, used the Zerg ashes and soil collected earlier to seal off the tunnels, blasting through walls when necessary, effectively “sealing the wound” of the planet’s interior.
Upon reaching the end of the crevice, Chu Rong extended his spiritual power downward, detecting signs of life deeper underground. Instead of retreating to burn them out, he and Qiao Zhiya worked together, with Chu Rong using spiritual blades and Qiao Zhiya spreading magic, trapping and eliminating the Zergs hiding below the surface.
As the ground shook, Mi Lai and Qiao Yi used their magic to stabilize the earth, while other soldiers secured the area with prepared tools, keeping [Rong Tian] and [Elf] mechas at the center.
A message from Yuan Lie reported a sudden appearance of Zergs elsewhere on the planet, seemingly escaping.
Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, realizing the urgency, intensified their assault, directing their efforts towards the reported coordinates. They continued until no more Zerg life signs were detected.
Exhausted, Qiao Zhiya slumped in his seat, while Qiao Yi rushed to replenish his magic. Chu Rong also felt the strain, pressing a hand to his forehead, but Mi Lai handed him a potion, her concern evident despite her somewhat stiff lingua franca.
“Drink this to regain some strength. Overexertion could lead to irreversible damage,” she advised.
Surprised, Chu Rong accepted the potion, expressing his gratitude, “Thank you, Aunt2Just as Chu Rong referring Qiao Yi with Bofu, he refers Mi Lai with 伯母 “Bomu”, basically the female version of Bofu..”
“Don’t call me Aunt, it makes me sound old…” Mi Lai muttered, then busied herself providing more restorative items, enveloping him in her protective magic, fulfilling her role as an elder.
After a brief rest, Mi Lai volunteered to continue excavating.
Clearing more of the underground path revealed not just ashes but a large number of Zerg corpses. Soldiers moved in to clean up, finishing off any surviving Zerg. Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, after discussing their next steps, decided to head towards the area where the Zerg had surfaced earlier, avoiding further excavation.
They continued sealing tunnels and blasting new paths, eventually reaching a massive tunnel leading directly to the surface, previously unnoticed because it was blocked by Zerg.
Chu Rong ordered the flagship above to block the entrance and extended his spiritual power down the tunnel.
Despite burning two waves of Zerg, they were still deep inside the planet, with more Zerg below. Chu Rong frowned, continuing the strategy of trapping the Zerg, while the flagship monitored for any escaping Zerg.
After clearing several more waves of Zerg, Chu Rong sensed a strange energy fluctuation.
“It’s corrupted spiritual stones,” Qiao Zhiya said, his expression tense as he detected a bloody smell. “I smell blood.”
Suddenly, soldiers cleaning up Zerg remains shouted, reporting the discovery of black slabs etched with symbols.
“They’re here too!”
“And here as well…”
Soldiers found these slabs everywhere, the scent of blood intensifying. Qiao Zhiya’s face changed as he realized the situation. “Gather together, don’t spread out! Connect with silver nets and activate shields! We’ve been lured into a teleportation field; a black hole is about to appear!”
Chu Rong, realizing the same, quickly threw out a silver net to link himself with [Elf], then aimed his double-barreled gun at the discovered slabs, channeling spiritual power into it and firing.
“Boom!”
The stone slab exploded, sending soil flying and intensifying the scent of blood. Dark red liquid seeped from the shattered earth, quickly soaking the ground beneath them. Beneath the broken slab, another layer of stone was faintly visible.
This seemed to signal a beginning. The surrounding land grew increasingly damp as the dark red liquid pooled and spread, wetting the soil underfoot. As the blood accumulated, an eerie red glow began to spread, distorting the air. The already dim underground became darker, accompanied by the distant sounds of beastly growls.
“Mom, Dad!”
Qiao Zhiya called out urgently.
Responding to his call, Qiao Yi and Mi Lai released their magic.
[Rong Tian] and [Elf] mechas began to emit green and brown light, respectively, which spread out to protect the surrounding soldiers. A golden light appeared, sketching symbols in the air.
The interference slowed the air’s distortion, allowing Chu Rong’s spiritual power to coalesce and slice toward the stone slabs beneath the blood, probing for any sign of the lurking creature. Given the volume of blood, the monster had to be nearby!
Sensing their counterattack, a clear beastly roar echoed, and the spreading blood suddenly surged towards them, the red glow intensifying and nearly overshadowing the magical light.
“Baby!”
In a crucial moment, Mi Lai called out sharply.
Recognizing the timing, Qiao Zhiya poured more magic into the spell. The golden magic circle in the air rapidly completed, expanding and emitting a brilliant light, encapsulating the black hole that had begun to distort the air with the red glow.
“You all will die!”
A slick voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by a surge of powerful, strange energy that nearly shattered the golden magic circle. The black hole expanded violently, creating a tremendous suction force.
Chu Rong’s eyes sharpened. He abruptly turned, raised his double-barreled gun, and fired a powerful shot at the soil layer behind them!
