So the high-voltage grid must have a circuit breaker! The realization jolted Long Yixiang awake. His eyes rapidly scanned the grid. There, in a rather obvious spot, was a clearly visible hand-pull switch, with a small door next to it.
"Haha! We're saved!"
Long Yixiang laughed heartily, completely ignoring the dragon now right before them. Truly, fear disrupts the mind. The path was right in front of me, yet I couldn't see it. Losing the will to fight is a terrible thing.
"What is it?" Lilith asked, confused.
"See that? Later, I'll shut off the power. Once we're through, you immediately use wind magic to turn it back on remotely!" Long Yixiang tried to suppress the excited tremor in his voice.
"Circuit breaker?"
"Watch me pull it down. After we pass through, push it back up!" Long Yixiang explained as simply as possible.
Lilith didn't hesitate, nodding slightly in understanding.
"I'll count to three. One..."
Long Yixiang stared intently at the dragon's eyes. Perhaps the creature was toying with them, cat-and-mouse style, and didn't immediately attack. From its perspective, Long Yixiang and Lilith were already trapped. With its power, there was no need to rush; it could savor the sight of its prey cornered.
"Two..."
"There might be danger! There's no path behind this door, just a bottomless pit!" Lilith quickly scanned with a detection spell, her voice urgent.
"Danger? Jumping down might not mean death, but not jumping might!" Long Yixiang suddenly exploded into action. He leaped forward, mana jetting from his feet, propelling him like a rocket. One hand grabbed the switch. "Three!"
"ROAR!!!"
A gentle force wrapped around his waist, forming a whirlwind that lifted him. Lilith, one hand holding Long Yixiang, used the other to open the iron door, simultaneously directing a sliver of her focus to control a blade of wind that shot toward the circuit breaker. The moment their bodies completely passed through the doorway, the wind blade struck the switch. As the circuit reconnected, the electricity, halted for less than a second, crawled back onto the grid, restoring it to an impregnable wall.
A violent tremor and the monster's furious roar came from behind them. There was no sensation of feet touching ground—it was indeed a bottomless pit. With no other choice, they closed their eyes tightly, letting their bodies fall...
...
Long Yixiang slowly opened his eyes, feeling the sunlight wash over him. It felt incredibly precious.
"Still alive..."
He knew if he died, he'd restart at the initial plaza. Waking up on grass meant he was still alive.
"So the newbie benefit is giving me unlimited restarts? And restarting from the very beginning, without even a save point? What kind of benefit is this..." Long Yixiang's expression was complex. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but even though she was a goddess, he couldn't help feeling she was a bit... punchable.
A gentle breeze brushed his cheeks, the fresh air in the atmosphere allowing his mood to relax slightly.
The warm sun spread evenly over the earth. Green grass swayed in the wind, leaves fluttered about—it was pleasantly refreshing.
It looked like a beautifully scenic and tranquil place.
"In February, grass grows and orioles fly; / Willows drunk with spring smoke brush the embankment. / Children returning early from school, / Make haste to fly kites in the east wind."
Lonely applause sounded from the side.
"...Not my original work... You're awake?"
"Mm." Lilith brushed aside her wind-tousled hair and looked around.
"Seems this is the main city." Long Yixiang pinched his chin, thoughtful. "The place we were before was just the tip of the iceberg. The real deal is here. This is the main city of this underground complex, probably at the bottom of the pit we jumped into. Looks like a considerable number of people lived here in ancient times. Of course, there probably aren't any survivors now."
"You mean we're still underground?" Lilith's brows furrowed slightly. "But I can see the sky!"
"That's not strange. Artificial sunlight can perfectly mimic the real sun. In reality, we're still underground; that sky is fake," Long Yixiang said.
Lilith's expression was complicated.
"I'm not crazy, girl. There's still a lot you don't understand."
Long Yixiang stood up, patted the dirt off his clothes, and looked around. It really was a nice place. Apparently, the ancient kingdom preferred building cities underground. They even had sky and grass; city facilities certainly wouldn't be lacking.
The two walked while using detection spells to search. Turning back was obviously impossible now—easy to come down, hard to go back up. Their mana was clearly insufficient to support flying back to the surface with wind magic.
The old Herbivorous Evil Dragon probably hadn't followed, blocked by the electric grid. For safety's sake, they should hide here for a while. Fortunately, it wasn't completely desolate. Even if uninhabited now, there were facilities left behind that were more than sufficient for the two of them to survive.
Good thing I brought the data from the database earlier... Long Yixiang touched the storage ring on his finger. This treasure hunt couldn't be called a complete success; the secret base's facilities were largely destroyed by that dragon, and it was unknown if they could still function normally. If he hadn't retrieved the data, even if he hadn't died, he might have considered restarting.
This underground city must have other exits to the outside world. Its original inhabitants likely wouldn't completely isolate themselves from the outside; there should be exits for ordinary people to use. Long Yixiang had no intention of staying here forever; he still had a mission.
Speaking of this "defeat the Demon King" mission, Long Yixiang was also utterly confused. At first, he thought it was like a typical hero's adventure story, but upon arriving in this world, he discovered... there was no Demon King. This was baffling. The goddess said she'd sent many transmigrators here to defeat the Demon King, but Long Yixiang had been in this world for so long and had asked many people, yet found no trace of this so-called Demon King. It was as if the Demon King had never existed in this world.
Occasionally, he felt he'd been tricked again. If there really was a Demon King, wouldn't the Truth Church do something about it?