The plan went smoothly.
Because the Originium crystal clusters on their backs had suddenly developed minds of their own—yearning for poetry and distant horizons—the bewildered swarm of Originium bugs was forced to temporarily leave the canyon.
So what was the price?
"Burp—"
He'd eaten too much rock.
Hao Fan clutched his stomach, looking miserable, but for some reason his head felt oddly hollow.
Like Wu Zetian left widowed—she'd lost Li Zhi (sanity).
"…Probably just my imagination. Ahem—this place also has a cave, but it's blocked too."
Following the remaining footprints, Hao Fan finally arrived at a suspicious rock wall. He was convinced there was space behind it.
"Looks like a stash spot… good thing I brought two industrial explosives. I can blow it open and take a look."
He worried the explosion might attract the Originium bug swarm that had only just left, but there didn't seem to be any other option.
So—with a thunderous blast—
The frighteningly powerful industrial explosive blew the rocks blocking the cave into a field of rubble.
And inside really was something else entirely: a temporary campsite where people had once lived, and—
"Yep. The supplies are here."
Seeing the supply crates stacked along the wall, Hao Fan knew he hadn't come to the wrong place.
As for whoever left those footprints… were they the Groundsplitters?
The style of the campsite looked very similar to what he'd seen before in the Construction Zone.
"There are so many crates—my protocol Originium can't hold all this. I'll need to notify Eric… huh? There's a broken logistics robot here?"
Just as he was worrying about transport, he spotted a pitiful Delta-type multifunction robot in the corner, immobilized by a damaged Originium circuit.
"I see… I basically understand what happened."
Based on the clues so far, he could roughly reconstruct the incident:
When the logistics robot carrying supplies reached the Southern Meadowlands, it was spotted by several Groundsplitters lying in wait to rob passersby. They disabled the robot and hid both it and the crates inside this cave.
As for the scattered crates under the bridge—those were probably just filled with bread, so the robbers didn't bother taking them.
So then… where were the Groundsplitters?
Hao Fan looked at the dust on the chairs. The place felt abandoned.
But the stolen crates were still here—so something unexpected must have happened.
"…Anyway, first I'll try fixing the logistics robot. Then it can haul the supplies directly."
He decided to prioritize what was in front of him.
As for how to repair a broken Originium circuit?
How would he possibly know that?
But he could at least try, using the "I reckon" power.
"Do this, then that… feels kind of like solving a puzzle… ah, it's fixed."
The logistics robot—three metal boxes stacked together, complete with emoticon display—changed from (X ﹏ X) to (^▽^).
Hao Fan blinked, deadpan.
Honestly, he had no idea how he fixed it.
But it was fixed, and that was what mattered.
"These supply crates are your job now. Deliver them all to Workers' Home… as for me, I'm going further in."
He had no intention of leaving the cave yet.
Because he'd noticed a chiseled passage leading deeper inside.
If more crates had been hidden further in, it was worth checking.
Or at least, that's what he told himself.
He didn't notice that he'd become less cautious and more reckless—or, more precisely…
That he seemed to be losing some of his sanity.
So, while gnawing on another piece of ore, Hao Fan followed the wooden-plank path deeper into the cave.
At the end, the walkway opened into an abnormally huge underground space.
Originium crystal clusters covered the walls, yet it wasn't pitch-black—
Because light seeped in through the gaps between the crystals.
It reminded Hao Fan of the massive crystal clusters growing out of the canyon rock face.
So their roots connected to here.
Not only that—
On the far side of the cavern, he saw another walkway that seemed to connect to another cave exit.
"…Ah. So that's it."
He suddenly recalled the collapsed cave entrance he'd found earlier while harvesting Emberglow Buckwheat—it likely connected to this underground space as well.
This was a genuine discovery, something he needed to report back to the Hub District base.
"This underground space was probably naturally formed, then discovered by those Groundsplitters… huh? There are crates over there too?"
While thinking, he noticed something else.
"No—these look different. Like old storage boxes from a long time ago. Who left them? This feels like I've found treasure."
With his sanity reduced by the side effects of rock-eating, Hao Fan grinned stupidly and jogged toward the storage boxes, his footsteps echoing through the silent cavern.
He didn't notice the details hidden in the dark.
Didn't catch the unsettling clues.
For example: why had the Groundsplitters abandoned the supply crates? Why hadn't they taken these storage boxes?
Or perhaps…
They were already dead.
"BOOOOM!!!"
Without warning—
A terrifying monster burst out of the ground.
It looked like an earthworm, but grotesquely massive, its entire body covered in Originium crystal clusters—like something straight out of a horror film.
Hao Fan, standing almost within arm's reach, froze on the spot.
Staring blankly at the colossal thing, he recognized it instantly—
A Burrowing Quyu Beast.
A creature capable of spewing intensely corrosive liquid, spending most of its time underground.
It corrodes metal with acid and swallows it, so if you fight it you must protect your weapons.
And most importantly:
You absolutely had to avoid its toxic spray. Get splashed, and even a battle-hardened elite operator might drop dead on the spot.
"…Holy shit."
Hao Fan's brain snapped awake.
He realized he'd genuinely gotten stupider—before entering an unknown underground space, he hadn't even opened the game map.
This was bullshit! He was going to die!
Seeing the beast ready to attack, Hao Fan instinctively pulled out Howling Guard and fired several shots point-blank.
Now that he could properly use the hand cannon, the etched bullets pierced the air and did manage to injure it—
But not kill it.
Instead, it only enraged the monster further.
"Shit! Shit!"
As the Burrowing Quyu Beast prepared to spew its highly corrosive acid and turn the intruder into a puddle of blood—
Hao Fan shot it a wild glare and used a ridiculous belch to disrupt its attack timing.
Then he spun and bolted, trying to flee back along the plank path to the original cave, then sprint all the way back to the Hub District base.
But disaster struck again.
A second Burrowing Quyu Beast burst from the ground—directly blocking his escape route!
And before Hao Fan could react, it attacked: its enormous body whipped around like a giant flail.
BANG!!!
Hao Fan took the hit full-on.
He instinctively raised Tide to block, but that crystal-studded mass was like a hundred-ton truck slamming head-on—there was no resisting it.
He was sent flying, arcing through the air, then smashing heavily into the rock wall.
"I'm done… I'm gonna die…"
Hao Fan tried to push himself up, half-conscious—only to realize his arm was already broken.
The only reason he hadn't been one-shot was the temporary physical boost from eating ore—and the simple armor set Xie Miao had given him.
More HP. More defense.
Just enough to keep a frail human from paying the price of death on the first blow.
But only just.
Hao Fan couldn't stand.
He was clearly near death.
And now the two burrowing beasts had him in a perfect two-sided "cheese sandwich."
"Bastards."
The evil spirit of Babel raised his loaded hand cannon—he had no intention of dying quietly.
Even if he was about to become food in this underground cavern, he was going to make them pay first.
But then—
Unexpected hope appeared.
Sarkaz. Red hair. Fire. Sword…
That familiar red-haired girl stepped into his blurred vision, and the temperature of the entire underground space spiked sharply.
"…Surtr?"
Hao Fan said the name without thinking.
And as if finally reassured, he couldn't hold on any longer.
He blacked out on the spot.
His memories cut out. The only thing he seemed to hear before the darkness fully took him was a reply—confused, uncertain.
"…Doctor?"
....
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