Chapter 85: Underground World
In the early morning, Yuan Zhu got up very early.
It was another overcast day, with the entire city shrouded in mist—white fog and black smoke intertwining in the sky, stirred by the north wind, forming a scene like ink dripping into water, possessing a unique gloomy beauty.
After getting up and packing his personal items, he put the small glass bottle containing Evil Spirit Crystal Sand into his pocket, then casually ate the breakfast prepared by Little Brother. He took the bus to [Fire Fang], submitted yesterday’s Demon Extermination mission.
Seeing Yuan Zhu reporting so early, the boss asked with interest: “How was it? Did yesterday’s mission go smoothly? First time doing Demon Exorcism independently—what are your thoughts?”
Yuan Zhu wanted to vent harshly at the other, demanding the boss give him a raise and additional mental distress compensation. But thinking about how he still planned to conceal that Garden and hide the truth of the Haunted House, he had to feign ease: “Felt so-so, that little Evil Spirit was a piece of cake.”
Smack!
He slapped a small glass bottle containing a bit of Evil Spirit Crystal Sand onto the office desk, then continued: “It’s already been purified to slag by my Holy Light.”
The boss picked up the small bottle, shone it under the light and turned it, sighing: “Holy Light is indeed useful, especially against this kind of Evil Spirit—it’s a counter. Shame it burns vitality, turning people into candles, just a flash of brilliance. You, a mere Newcomer, managed to shine Holy Light to death an Evil Spirit; looks like it really was weak. But remember to restrain yourself—don’t indulge in the happiness of burning weak lives, or you’ll get the Fall Seal.”
Yuan Zhu felt his fists harden, too lazy to deal with the other, and continued: “Right, Boss, to force out the Evil Spirit back then, I lit some Buddhist incense. Afterward, just in case, I opened three cans of Chlorine Gas to suffocate and disinfect. It’s still sealed with Seals. Will you reimburse me? Also, how to handle that Haunted House. I inquired—nobody lives there. How does the client verify our Demon Exorcism results? Do we need to re-enter that Villa to check?”
The last two sentences were what he really wanted to ask.
The boss thought for a moment and shook his head: “No reimbursement, but you can go to the company’s warehouse to replenish your Supplies consumption—just don’t overdo it. As for verification… the Residential Area’s Property Management has already paid the Deposit. Next, observe for a week; if no more nightmares at night for the residents, the Final Payment will be settled in batches over three months. Don’t worry about details—we have a long-term commission agreement with that Property Management, cooperating for years.”
Yuan Zhu curiously followed up: “Does this Residential Area have problems often?”
“How could it? Main business is cleaning Garbage, pest control, and Demonic Creatures Expulsion prevention. Twice a year, professional Insect Extermination requires Professionals and Equipment for large-scale Poisonous Gas infusion into the Residential Area’s mouse holes. If ordinary people mishandle it, they might poison themselves to death.”
Yuan Zhu nodded thoughtfully. He hadn’t been with [Fire Fang] long, but he’d heard of other colleagues’ brutal wild operations—like WWII gas drops: wearing Gas Masks, isolation suits, setting up barriers, then madly pumping Poisonous Gas into every hole in the ground, slaughtering everywhere.
Sometimes, mixing other flammable and explosive gases into the Poisonous Gas. At the end of the poisoning, ignite and explode it all, poisoning, roasting, and blasting the animals inside to death… The Poisonous Gas also decomposes and transforms via combustion, becoming safe and harmless.
Such reckless actions indeed require certain professional skills. Even inside [Fire Fang], explosions often occur, blasting Employees to the afterlife. After all, who knows if those holes connect to Methane pools?
“If that Villa needs a follow-up visit, the company can assign me—no charge. After all, my first job, very memorable—see it through to the end.” Yuan Zhu said lightly.
The boss looked indifferent: “Sure. If trouble later, it’s yours. No big jobs lately—if you’re idle, drive to the fixed spots to recycle Garbage, or clean up corpses and Bloodstains on the roads. Last night, 6 Hunting incidents; enthusiastic citizens teamed up at night to hunt Wild Animals that popped up from who-knows-where, including a 4-meter-long big Shark. They took the meat, chopped off the Head, and left, dumping Organs and Entrails everywhere. City Hall just sent a cleaning commission.”
Yuan Zhu shook his head—he was just part-time, no interest in dirty work.
Rather, local citizens Hunting large Wild Animals at night—he now understood the reason. Running’s Spatial Structure was extremely active, randomly temporarily connecting to Du Ling’s other lands, oceans, even [Spirit Layers].
Once connected to the wilderness, Wild Animals get pulled in, panicked and rampaging on the Streets for a bit. If not dead, they’re kicked back when time’s up. If dead, the Physical Body stays to nourish Running’s people.
Thus, more and more poor folks crave nighttime Hunting to get rich, selling exotic beasts’ Fur and Heads.
Plus Goblins also go out at night to Hunt and steal; Misty Mountains’ Wild Animals enter the Suburbs en masse at night to rummage Garbage. Add hidden Demonic Creatures, random Spatial connections for bidirectional teleportation, local gangs’ nighttime Fighting and Transactions…
Running’s nightlife was quite rich, Cleaning Company business plentiful. Just hadn’t thought even big Sharks could teleport over?
Yuan Zhu suddenly asked: “Right, any Goblin capturing jobs lately?”
Hearing this, the boss suddenly looked displeased: “None! Don’t know where a bunch of Mercenaries popped up, specializing in Sewer dives—no dirt or fatigue complaints—capturing Goblins as lab samples for those Pharmaceutical Companies. Their quotes lower, efficiency higher; our company has no edge. Now considering shifting business focus to ‘Homicide Scene Cleaning’?”
Seeing no suitable part-time missions, Yuan Zhu went straight to the company warehouse, exchanged some Tools at internal prices, stuffed them into his shoulder bag, then left.
Passing the produce market, he found a pet Food store, bought a batch of cheap little Mice. Supposedly live Food for snakes, eagles, feline pets. Each fat-headed, big-eared, shifty-eyed, with strong Vitality—just the smell was off.
So he bought eight glass bottles from the boss, honeycomb-shaped mouths for ventilation, Mice unable to escape. He divided the batch of Meat Batteries into bottles, added some Food, and Yuan Zhu was prepared.
Finally, he went to the second-hand market, rented a beat-up Pickup Truck, started the engine. One foot on the accelerator, driving toward the ‘Memory’ Direction.
As a workaholic, his predecessor often delivered for the Lamp Factory, honing Truck Driving skills. Now inheriting lots of related Memories, combined with Earth’s Driving Experience, he quickly mastered the Pickup Truck.
Throttle, clutch, brakes all similar to Earth’s?! Truly, Traversers’ influence everywhere.
Only difference: the beat-up Pickup Truck didn’t guzzle fuel much; engine spot swapped for ‘Alchemy Element device’. But usage no different from gas cars.
Winding around, he drove the Pickup Truck to a remote abandoned Factory district.
This used to be a Factory; after a fire burned it to scorched earth, rumors of bad feng shui spread. Plus nearby Sewer system connecting to natural Underground Cave fissures, becoming a breeding ground for Goblins.
So no Enterprise wanted to renovate; over time, abandoned. Even two Goblin murder attacks happened—even homeless avoided overnighting here.
Yuan Zhu kicked open the ajar broken Iron Gate, startling a few stray cats and dogs. Donning gloves as he advanced, he pulled out a Gas Mask from the bag, then windproof Goggles with faint night vision, ready—lifted a slanted square Underground access Iron Gate, descended the Steps.
This was one of Fire Fang’s common entrances for clearing Goblins.
Entering the Underground passage, he lit a Lantern, illuminating red and green arrows on the Walls. Markers left by predecessors: red for entry Direction, green for exit Direction, aiding deep dives or escapes.
Many arrows now smeared with mud, Bloodstains, filth by Goblins, but still discernible. And folks occasionally re-added markers.
After twists and turns, Yuan Zhu entered the Sewer area; Air obviously murkier and fouler, temperature risen.
Too lazy for Holy Light effects in the gutters—no superiority in showing off, plus it’d attract moths and mosquitoes buzzing. Holy Light’s vitality-burning Supernatural Pollution was fatal temptation for phototactic moths.
Wonder if this phenomenon directly linked to one of the [Eight Holy Kings], [Great Moth]?
Shadow Uniform stirred, overriding fear of [Holy Mark], extending masses of Shadow Threads, weaving a Racing Suit to protect Yuan Zhu, stepping through ground sludge, striding forward.
With [Sanctuary (Holy Seal)] forged to four notches for comparison, he found this Shadow Uniform’s Power indeed weakened. Uniform’s Power alone gradually outpaced by Holy Light.
In his mind, a Shadow Uniform Upgrade plan: shove a [Ghost Companion] as Supernatural trait into the Clothes, further feed it, force another Upgrade, indirectly boosting Strength.
Shame, his four Ghost Companions all planted in the Haunted House, turned into Mountain Guarding Array. Lacking Resources, Upgrade plan paused.
“Squeak, squeak…”
As he delved deeper, Yuan Zhu drew local residents’ attention. He sensed the ‘gazes’ multiplying.
He’d entered here before, but with experienced veterans leading. Now solo, quite fresh—plenty time to observe Sewer environment.
Frogs occasionally startled by him, hopping into sewage to hide. Or ignoring him, flicking tongues to catch sludge and wall-crawling Bugs. Sometimes sturdy Mice kitten-sized, eyes glowing red, lurking in corners spying.
Walls, nurtured by damp sewage humidity, formed large colorful patches of fungal spots and Moss; some spots grew glowing Mushrooms.
Woodlice, Cockroaches, earthworms, mosquitoes, bats… everywhere, Ecosystem extremely rich. Even he, without germophobia, itched to unleash all-out Holy Light Purification on everything!
Game Sprite asked: “Boss, enter Boss mode now? Perfect spot for Tiger Demon to shine. Holy Light alone won’t easily catch Goblins.”
“No rush, go deeper.”
Deeper in, he found catfish-like creatures in sewage, 20cm-long centipedes crawling boldly across curved ceiling… Why were they getting bigger?
Running’s Underground Ecosystem grew more outrageous deeper in—mere few levels above Disease Garden, advantage in lower Air Pollution concentration. Even a Skaven Ratman teaching four Turtles karate wouldn’t surprise him.
