The euphoria of his discovery evaporated, replaced by the cold, hard reality of the tomb he was standing in. He was deep underground, in a secret, glowing paradise, with a stolen god-egg, a pouch full of priceless crystals, and an enraged, multi-ton monster likely guarding the only exit he knew.
Panic, a cold and greasy thing, started to crawl up his spine, threatening to seize his lungs. He ruthlessly crushed it. He forced his breathing to slow, his racing heart to calm, pushing the terror down with a wall of cold, hard logic. Panic is a luxury for those with an escape route. I don't have one.
He sat down on the edge of the glowing pool, pulled out a ration bar that tasted like compressed sawdust, and forced himself to chew and swallow. He needed energy. He needed to think.
"Okay," he said, his voice startlingly loud in the quiet cavern. "Let's not be an idiot. Going back the way we came is a death sentence. That thing is pissed, and it's not going anywhere."
That left one, terrifying possibility. This fissure system had to lead somewhere else. It had to. He once again turned to his only real tool. Editor, he commanded in his mind, run a wide-area environmental scan. I need air pressure differentials, geological stability, air current analysis. Find me another way out of this hole.
The Editor's interface shifted from biology to topography. In his mind's eye, a sonar-like pulse expanded from his position, mapping the surrounding rock in a ghostly 3D wireframe. The process was slow, agonizingly slow, draining his own mental energy. Minutes ticked by in the silent, glowing cavern. Lin Ke waited, his patience a thin, fraying thread. Finally, a faint, shimmering blue line appeared on his mental map, a fragile thread of hope snaking its way from the grotto through the mountain.
Analysis Complete. Faint but stable air current detected. Fissure system is not a dead end. Exit point projected 2.3 kilometers north-northeast of current position.
A surge of pure, unadulterated hope shot through him. He had a path.
He carefully repacked his gear, making sure the corrupted egg and the Earthheart Crystals were secure. "Alright, little guy," he said to the Rock Vole. "Time for another hike. Stay close."
The journey was a claustrophobic hell. It was a labyrinth of natural passages that twisted and turned in the pitch-black darkness, forcing him to rely completely on his flashlight and the Rock Vole's superior senses. His partner was a lifesaver, squeezing through tight gaps to scout ahead, its claws finding purchase on slippery, damp rock where his boots would have sent him tumbling into a black abyss. The scraping of his pack against the narrow walls was a constant, grating sound in the oppressive silence.
At one point, they passed through a section where the rock wall was thin. Lin Ke paused, placing a hand against it. He could feel it. A faint, deep vibration. And then he could hear it, a distant, muffled, furious scraping sound, followed by an enraged, frustrated roar that still had the power to make his blood run cold. The Alpha. Still trying to claw its way through the mountain to get to him. Yeah, he thought, a shiver running down his spine. Finding another way out was the right call.
They pushed on, the only sounds their own ragged breathing and the scuttling of the Rock Vole's claws. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few hours, he saw it. A faint pinprick of light, so small at first he thought he was imagining it.
As they drew closer, the light grew, and the fresh, clean scent of the open wilderness replaced the stale, subterranean air. The tunnel ended in a tiny, well-hidden crevice, obscured by a thick, thorny bush that scratched at his face and clothes.
Lin Ke pushed his way through the final few feet of rock and stumbled out, blinking, into the warm, humid twilight of the Blackstone Wilderness. He had made it.
He collapsed onto the ground, his legs giving out from under him. He was exhausted, triumphant, and so overwhelmed with the sheer, stupid relief of being alive that he could only lie there, gasping for breath. He was on the other side of the mountain ridge, miles from the Alpha's lair. He checked his terminal. A whole day had passed since he'd first stepped out of the city gate.
He looked back at the imposing, dark mountain that had been both his prison and his treasure chest. Then he looked towards the distant horizon, where the faint, dome-shaped glow of Mo City could just be seen, a different universe away.
He had the corrupted egg, a sleeping god in his pack. He had the Earthheart Crystals, the key to raising his first partner into a titan. His first expedition, a D-rank mission that had almost gotten him killed a dozen times over, had paid out on a scale he couldn't have even dreamed of.
His mind was already back in his lab, a whirlwind of schematics, purification protocols, and evolution plans. The long, grueling journey back to the city suddenly seemed insignificant. But as he got to his feet, the true weight of his situation settled in. He was exhausted, deep in a D-Rank Danger Zone, and carrying a fortune on his back. The heist was over, but he still had to get the treasure home.