“I never thought I’d get to eat rice again in this lifetime. I swear I’ll never be picky with food again!”
Sang Chu happened to arrive in time to hear that. “Then make sure you remember your words. I risked my life to get all of this. It wasn’t easy!”
“Mmph—mmh—mmh!!”
With her cheeks stuffed full, Lin Muxue could only nod vigorously. When Sang Chu walked over, Lu Minfeng took out the portion they had saved for her.
“I thought you would sleep a little longer, so we left these for you.”
“Thank you.”
Neither Sang Chu nor Lin Muxue had much cooking skill. Before the apocalypse, they always ordered takeout; after the apocalypse, they ate whatever they could find.
Sang Chu said, “Not bad at all, Chef Lu.”
Lin Muxue nodded repeatedly and even gave a thumbs up while chewing. “Very impressive!”
After eating and drinking their fill, the three got out of the hovercar. Sang Chu was about to help them store their vehicles in their smart-brains, but Lu Minfeng spoke up:
“I already did it.”
Lin Muxue stared at him, astonished. “You figured it out yourself?”
Seeing her expression, he couldn’t help but smile. “I was curious and couldn’t sleep, so I tested it until I got it right.”
Lin Muxue pouted. “Fine, I’m the only one who slept all the way through.”
They followed the glowing map projection until they reached a stone wall.
Lin Muxue put a hand on it and frowned. “The map shows this is the entrance, but it looks like a solid wall.”
Sang Chu pulled out a blue gun. “Step back.”
Once they backed away, she fired at the stone wall. Within moments, a clean opening was cut through.
Lin Muxue’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. “Oh my god! I’ve only seen this in movies!”
Lu Minfeng said, “Same here.”
Sang Chu explained, “Each laser gun I gave you has a different effect. The blue one has stable cutting power. It’s the best tool for opening paths. Let’s go down. Stay alert.”
Looking down from the opening, they saw nothing but complete darkness.
Sang Chu led the way, and Lu Minfeng stayed at the rear. The smart-brain operated in strong-light mode—draining energy quickly—but the dangers of the apocalypse made extra caution necessary.
They descended carefully along the winding rock formation. After a while, Sang Chu suddenly stopped.
Muxue whispered, “San San, what is it?”
Lu Minfeng asked, “Why are we stopping?”
“Come closer and look, but be very careful.”
They inched forward and saw that the ground ahead abruptly fell away into a vertical shaft, a deep dark pit.
Lin Muxue shivered. “S-so… do we go down there?”
Lu Minfeng checked the map. The red dot hadn’t moved—this was definitely the treasure location, but the unknown danger below was daunting.
He looked at Sang Chu. She didn’t hesitate. With a few motions, she released a hovercar and adjusted its exterior size to match the opening.
“We’ll ride down. No matter how the outside appearance changes, the interior space does not.”
Lin Muxue’s eyes lit up. “This is amazing! If we have this trick, why worry? Let’s go! I’ve never seen an undeveloped karst cave before!”
The three entered the hovercar. They activated transparent mode to observe the surroundings.
The hovercar descended. The narrow shaft was extremely deep—over 200 meters. Eventually, the passage became tighter.
Little A’s voice notified them:
“Warning: narrow space ahead. Danger level high. Enable safety mode?”
“Enable,” Sang Chu replied.
A cocoon-like protection deployed inside the hovercar.
Suddenly—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Something slammed into the hovercar repeatedly, shaking it violently. They tumbled around, but the airbags prevented injury.
After an unknown amount of time, Little A reported:
“Danger cleared. Returning to transparent mode.”
The airbags faded. The outer shell became clear again—and the three were stunned.
The shaft was gone.
They were now inside a breathtaking crystal cavern. Everything around them was translucent like ice palaces and snow sculptures—an ethereal world of shimmering crystal.
The path they descended through was nowhere to be seen. Only a hair-thin crack was visible above.
Lin Muxue gasped, “How did the hovercar even squeeze through that tiny gap?!”
Lu Minfeng didn’t answer. His attention was on the energy indicator—half depleted.
“Ah Chu, we’ve lost more than half of our energy.”
Sang Chu checked the status. The light was close to orange. She quickly inserted a power cell to recharge, but it wouldn’t refill quickly.
“This place is more dangerous than I expected.”
In the Monster Mutation World, she used the hovercar for a whole month without ever coming close to orange-level energy consumption. The fact that a single descent took over half the power made her uneasy.
While Sang Chu and Lu Minfeng were still considering what to do, Lin Muxue suddenly shouted:
“Waaaah! It’s so beautiful!!!”
She sprinted forward. Sang Chu and Lu Minfeng shared one look and hurried after her.
They froze as soon as they reached her side.
Tu You fluttered excitedly beside Muxue, staring wide-eyed at a magnificent, rainbow-tinted underground terrace landscape.
“Ah Chu! It’s beautiful!”
“Yes, it’s stunning!”
It took Muxue several seconds to realize something strange—she wasn’t talking to Sang Chu.
“Huh? Huh?!”
She spun around and found herself face-to-face with a tiny floating white rabbit. Her eyes went wide and she staggered back in fright.
“W-WHAT are you?!”
Tu You puffed up angrily. “You’re the ‘what’! I’m Ah Chu’s spirit companion! My name is Tu You!”
He hopped back onto Sang Chu’s shoulder, offended at losing his sense of mystery.
Muxue stared at him, then slowly extended one finger and poked him.
“You’re a… bunny?”
“I’m a spirit!! Not a bunny!”
(End of Chapter)