Chapter 986: 306. Black Pupa_3
Ti passed tediously as the tunneling progressed.
Noland Lee’s cautious planning before taking action had paid off.
In the process of tunneling straight downward, he encountered no resistance.
But when the depth approached 2000 ters, an unexpected encounter forced him to hit the pause button.
“Sssss…”
“Click, clack…”
...
In the dark, confined space, Noland Lee and the Rock Spirit entered a state of complete stillness.
A barely perceptible noise lingered in Noland Lee’s ears.
It was sowhat like the rustling of leaves in the evening breeze, and a bit like the sound of fingernails scraping across a blackboard.
The noise echoed in the cramped underground space, making it hard for Noland Lee to determine its exact direction.
He cast “Earth Shield,” using the Pangula Family’s secret codes to enhance the shield’s defensive power.
He called up the Personal Panel in his mind and looked at the status bar.
There were no negative effects displayed.
“So, this is just noise and not so kind of magic spell?”
Noland Lee speculated silently, considering whether to throw out a “Detect Geomancy Energy” spell to see what was ssing around.
Due to the spell fluctuations of “Detect Geomancy Energy,” which could trigger alerts from magic instrunts, Noland Lee had refrained from using this spell the entire way.
Now, the noise in his ears and the darkness before his eyes gave Noland Lee a creeping sensation.
For safety’s sake, he might have to risk being discovered by magic instrunts and throw out a “Detect Geomancy Energy” spell.
While Noland Lee hesitated, a very faint vibration ca from the ground beneath his feet.
“Sssss… Click, clack…”
The noise grew louder and much clearer.
Noland Lee looked down towards the source of the noise; it was indeed coming from directly below him.
“It seems like soone is doing the sa thing as .”
Noland Lee’s face took on a peculiar expression.
He recognized it; this was the noise of tunneling through the ground…
“Could it be that I’ve encountered a Mole Man underground?”
Noland Lee stroked his chin, contemplating the information he had about these extraordinary creatures.
It was said that about six years ago, the area of Barren Stone Quarry was a mountainous region covered with jungles.
An extraterrestrial space pollution incident erupted here six years ago, followed by the ergence of the Barren Stone vein and the Mole n that fed on Barren Stone.
In a certain sense, Human Wizards were competing with Mole n for sustenance.
Mole n consud Barren Stone to reproduce and strengthen themselves.
To strengthen themselves was easy to understand; the more Barren Stone the Mole n ate, the more protective hardened nodules they developed on their bodies, and the more hits they could withstand.
As for reproduction…
That was quite peculiar.
The Wizard Advancent Association discovered:
Within the Mole Man community, those with powerful spell casting abilities and an extraordinary resilience were all male.
After extensive research and dissection, the Wizard Research Association finally concluded:
Mole n were born “female.”
Mole n that ate a considerable amount of Barren Stone could develop a special physiological structure, evolving into “male,” thereby earning the right to seek a mate.
Noland Lee wasn’t particularly interested in the so-called “special physiological structure.”
All he wanted to know was whether the creature digging upwards beneath him was indeed a Mole Man.
Noland Lee activated “Life and Death Tracking,” staring intently downward.
Everything remained pitch black, with no blood-red outlines appearing in his field of view.
The dark yellow color that symbolized corpses and the blue lines that symbolized Undead also did not appear in his Magic Vision.
Noland Lee’s heart sank slightly, realizing he might have encountered an extraordinary creature that was neither a living being nor an Undead.
It was likely a Magic Servant or a magic puppet, a magical creation.
If that was the case, it ant that he wasn’t the only Wizard tunneling through this oppressive underground area.
This Wizard was probably hidden in a far distant place, controlling their magic puppet through a Magic Circle, remotely excavating a cave.
After analyzing the situation, it was likely that the person was a mber of the Quarry, probably engaging in preliminary reconnaissance for the construction of a mining path.
This was one of the scenarios Noland Lee least wanted to encounter.
“Now we’ve got trouble. I can’t cast Deconstruction through the soil. Without seeing the true face of that thing below, I can’t launch Deconstruction on it, so I can’t know its origins…”
Noland Lee frowned in thought:
“Maybe, I can create an accident, cause a collapse, and trap that thing underground, then take the opportunity while it’s paralyzed to control the Rock Spirit to find another way…”
The more Noland Lee thought about it, the more viable he found this thod, which was both covert and convenient, without negating all the work he had done on the tunnel so far.
He crouched down, passed his hand over the Blood Gathering Array on the back of his left hand, and took out the Ground Drilling chanism.
After Nolin’s modifications, the Ground Drilling chanism’s drilling capability had been significantly enhanced, able to proceed underground at two ters per second.
Noland Lee placed it on the ground, its drill bit aid downward.
He perford “Mind Control,” directing the Ground Drilling chanism to bore into the hard rock.
“Shasha shasha… kaka kaka…”
Perhaps the noise of the Ground Drilling chanism was detected by sothing directly below it.
The noise coming from directly beneath grew markedly louder and was moving towards the location of the Ground Drilling chanism.
Noland Lee steeled his mind, ready to detonate the self-destruct Array within the Ground Drilling chanism at any mont to initiate the collapse.
“Shasha shasha… kaka kaka…”
The noise transmitted to Noland Lee’s ears through the Ground Drilling chanism’s Sound Collection Array.
The source of the noise was about to et the Ground Drilling chanism.
Although Noland Lee didn’t need to breathe, he still subconsciously held his breath.
He stared intently at the Magic Vision, focusing on what was directly in front of the Ground Drilling chanism.
“Huala~~”
The Ground Drilling chanism’s drill bit broke through a layer of wall and entered a relatively vast underground space, successfully eting the mysterious creature.
“Damn… what are these things?! Could these be the Underground Demons causing trouble in the quarry?”
Noland Lee’s brows twitched, and he inwardly exclaid.
In his Magic Vision, about a dozen strange, eerily shaped monsters appeared.
They were made neither of flesh and blood, nor of tal and Earth Magic creations.
A glowing black viscous substance, similar to oil, constituted their irregular bodies.
Every so often, several pale human faces would protrude from the surfaces of their bodies.
These faces had their mouths wide open, expressions of agony, as if they were enduring trendous tornt.
The noises that Noland Lee had heard before were coming from the faces opening their mouths wide.
And these creatures, which trapped the faces, were shaped like shadow pupa cocoons of the underground pupas.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the Ground Drilling chanism, their viscous black bodies twitched.
One of the creatures spat out a mouthful of dark mucus with a “pfft” sound, lunging at the Ground Drilling chanism.
The perspective of the Ground Drilling chanism was imdiately plunged into darkness.
Sizzling corrosion sounds ca from various parts of the Ground Drilling chanism, entering Noland Lee’s ears.
A sinister will, dark and maddening, passed through “Mind Control” from the Ground Drilling chanism to Noland Lee.
Layers of noise, like a high-pitched horn, cycled in Noland Lee’s mind.
[Warning!]
[You are under psychic attack from the “shadow pupa cocoon”!]
[Please disconnect your ntal link with the Ground Drilling chanism promptly to avoid substantial ntal damage!]
Noland Lee was equipped with a ntal Shield.
But faced with the System warning, he always played it safe.
Without a second thought, he terminated “Mind Control,” and abandoned the Ground Drilling chanism.
Of course, before stopping the spell, he didn’t forget to cast Deconstruction on the “shadow pupa cocoon.”
But before he could check the Deconstruction Results, a gust of black wind tinged with the stench of putrefaction blew out from the narrow Cave Entrance below.
“Hoo~~~”
The wind sent a chill through Noland Lee’s heart.
Those shadow pupa cocoons, lurking a hundred ters below, seed to be crawling up through the passage drilled by the Ground Drilling chanism.
Noland Lee imdiately issued an order to the Rock Spirit:
“Seal the passage mouth drilled by the Ground Drilling chanism, hurry!”
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