Superhumans of the Dome City-Chapter 41 - 25 Deep Underground

41: Chapter 25: Deep Underground

41 -25: Deep Underground

9:00 AM, Thorn District, Marin Benbu Park.

This park, built a few years ago, was located near the residential area where Gongsun Ce lived, named after the donor, Marin Benbu.

The interior of the park was lush with greenery, with spring flowers becoming even more vivid against the backdrop of green leaves, and the fresh air refreshed the two who had just come out from the sewage plant area.

At the center of the park stood a towering white spire, one of the several hundred “thorns” of the Thorn District.

The base of the white tower was extremely thick, which made Alice think of the branches of century-old trees, though even the ancient trees in her memory seemed delicate compared to the giant before her.

Alice couldn’t see what use such a “thorn” could have, but she recalled the conversation between Gongsun Ce and Mo Yuankai more than ten minutes ago and started to believe the theory proposed by the information dealer.

— “Thorns?

Officially, they’re called thorns, but why would the Dragon of the Vaulted Sky have thorns on its back?

Let me share an unconventional theory with you.

These so-called thorns are actually the flying auxiliary organs of the Dragon of the Vaulted Sky.”

— “It uses these to fly?!”

— “Just like large robots have numerous ports for easier maneuvering, the white towers of the Thorn District are probably a means for it to adjust its flight posture.

Because these are hollow, they directly connect to the dragon’s belly.”

Initially, Alice hadn’t found this to be particularly astonishing, but now, witnessing the gargantuan structure with her own eyes, her thoughts became uncontrollably vibrant.

She envisioned the scenario from the past, imagining a gray-blue giant dragon flapping its wings, expelling streams of air, energy, or smoke from its back.

Its mountainous body turned agilely, allowing it to soar freely above the sky.

From its eyes, it could almost see the entire world, seeing the mountains and rivers to their farthest ends in a glance.

However, the creatures on the ground couldn’t even notice the giant creature’s flight due to their vast difference; they could only see the shadows that blocked the sun, unable to comprehend the dragon’s movement.

Perhaps that was why it was named after the vaulted sky because, to humans, the dragon was like another sky.

“Miss Alice?”

The Superpower User by her side spoke up, and Alice, lost in her thoughts, replied, “It’s nothing…

I was just thinking about how powerful the Dragon of the Vaulted Sky must have been…

What a magnificent life it must have been.”

“However magnificent, it’s dead now.

Killed by the Empire, its body used to build the city for us ants to live in.”

The light-hearted voice of Gongsun Ce brought her back to reality.

The gray-haired Superpower User was squatting at the base of the thorn, manipulating a small gray box, which was the tool to open the thorn’s passage.

When the park’s caretaker handed it over to them, his hands trembled, saying this was an irregular operation and not according to regulations, but this was an exceptional case so go down quietly and try not to cause too much commotion.

From this, Alice knew that their ability to go down was not due to official leniency but because Mo Yuankai’s arrangements had taken effect.

This information dealer not only planned the shortest route back to the Thorn District but also the way to the dragon’s belly, his extensive capabilities making her seriously doubt his real identity.

Could he also be an official person?

Or perhaps he achieved all this through his superpower?

“If great size equates to magnificence, sumo wrestlers should be far mightier than us.”

Gongsun Ce continued to chatter nonsensibly, to which Alice rolled her eyes and said, “Can’t you have a bit of the romance and fantasy that young people should have?”

“No.

It’s best that the dragon is dead.

Honestly, I wish they were smaller so that when we kill them, we wouldn’t have to hack as much.” After adjusting, Gongsun Ce slapped the small gray box on the surface of the thorn, “Done.”

At that moment, man-made traces appeared on the smooth, seamless surface of the thorn’s base, and a perfectly square “door” opened from the inside, revealing the spacious interior of the giant tower.

“This is…!”

Alice exclaimed in surprise, seeing too many things today that she previously knew nothing about.

A steel circular platform replaced what should have been “the ground,” with a ring of alloy brackets protruding from the platform’s sides, appearing to be supporting fixtures.

“Don’t ask me, I’ve been here for ten years and this is the first time I knew that thorns are hollow.” Gongsun Ce stepped onto the platform first, “Who knows where we’ll end up…

Get ready, Miss Alice, we’re about to embark.”

Alice quickly jumped next to him.

After a brief darkness, the platform they stood on lit with a dim glow.

They both felt the sensation of weightlessness as the elevator descended rapidly, its speed so fast it felt like falling from the top of a skyscraper!

“This place never——hisss!”

Alice’s words were cut off by her own gasp as the rapidly descending platform made a large curve, and the white walls of the tower seemed about to hit her head.

“You’re distracted.” Gongsun Ce used telekinesis to pull his partner aside just as the tower wall nearly brushed her hair.

“Sorry, I was just very surprised.” Alice’s feelings were mixed.

Now, rather than riding an elevator, it was more like they were sliding along a sloping track using the platform as a surfboard.

Whether it was the psychological pressure of the confined space or not, Gongsun Ce couldn’t help feeling that the track was tilting even more.

If this continued, it was likely that the path inside the giant tower would eventually shift from a downward direction to almost horizontal, and if that were the case…

“Are we heading…

to the central region?”

Alice voiced his thoughts.

“I think so.

If the core of the giant dragon is located in the very center of its body—at the junction between the Central and Thorn Districts—then we’re undoubtedly heading to the most crucial area.”

Gongsun Ce looked at his companion from the corner of his eye, seeing both urgency and unease in her eyes, but also curiosity and delight at heading into an unknown environment.

Had it been experts from other powers, they probably wouldn’t have shown such a demeanor, right?

After all, being a Hunter and an Impermanence Law Enforcer was somewhat akin to working for the officials, making them appear less “professional.”

Gongsun Ce chuckled inwardly and said aloud, “Miss Alice seems very happy about going underground.”

The Hunter seemed a bit embarrassed, “Did it show that much, big sis?”

“Your eyes are shining.”

“That’s an exaggeration!”

“Clearly, the Hunter acts more like an adventurer.”

“It’s not my fault, is it?

Who wouldn’t be curious about what’s inside a giant dragon or what lies beneath flying cities?

While worrying about not catching up with the dragon fanatics, the thrill of this unexpected adventure excites me too—such is the contradictory nature of humans.”

That’s hard to say.

In traditional culture, a giant dragon was a symbol of disaster.

For most, the inside of a dragon would be more dreadful than hell itself.

Those who found curiosity in such a place were incredibly bold, and those who were happy about it were truly thinking outside the box.

But considering Alice had fantasized about the joy of flying with a dragon, it was hard to understand her using normal reasoning.

Gongsun Ce pushed his glasses up, “With your curiosity, perhaps you’d be better suited as a researcher than a Hunter.”

Alice shook her head in disgust, “No way, I hate those inhumane researchers the most.”

How could you equate all scientists with being inhumane?

Not everyone in a white lab coat is like the ones at our city’s university.

At that moment, the descent track had crossed the 45° threshold.

The platform slowing their descent emitted a flashing light as a signal and began to slow down.

The corridors on either side thinned, no longer as visibly robust as those they’d seen when they first started their descent.

Gongsun Ce guessed this might symbolize that they were nearing the bottom.

The trajectory subtly shifted to a horizontal path, and after a burst of speed, they arrived at a structure resembling a train platform.

The platform had completely stopped working, and as Gongsun Ce and Alice stepped onto the platform, they found the path forward blocked by heavy steel doors, like those of a vault. freewebnøvel.com

“Miss Alice, can Shadow Orchid teleport to places you can’t see?”

“No, I can’t sense any shadows behind the door; can you create a white barrier behind it?”

No shadows…

is there a strong light source behind the door?

Gongsun Ce wondered as he summoned his power.

“Just a moment.”

Gongsun Ce pictured in his mind, imagining a dome of white material like a snow shelter appearing on the other side of the door, which he couldn’t see.

Visual obstruction was a greater challenge than physical distance, but fortunately, Gongsun Ce was experienced, and this little trick was easy for him.

“About 6.5 meters ahead of me, there should be a circular shadow cast by the white dome.”

“Good, keep quiet…” Alice placed her hand on his shoulder, “Shadow Orchid.”

With the inherent stifling sensation of teleportation, they arrived on the other side of the door simultaneously.

Gongsun Ce removed the white barrier and immediately understood why there had been no shadow behind the door.

What met their eyes was a vast green sea.

A transparent, unknown material formed a path like an underwater tunnel, with massive amounts of green liquid flowing around it.

The green was vibrant and lively, reminiscent of fireflies gathering on a midsummer night, or corals dissolving in the ocean, bringing a palpable sense of life as if countless tiny lives were converging into a sea that danced before their eyes!

Vaguely, they could see large tree-root-like substances within this sea of green life.

Those gnarled roots seemed to extend from the pipes outside, their shapes reminiscent of blood vessels, nerves, or perhaps other, more complex, internal structures of organisms.

These structures, larger than buildings, swayed under the wash of green, splitting and melting, like tsunamis in the clouds or avalanches in the sea.

They were momentarily rendered speechless, awestruck by the scene before them, even forgetting their purpose for a moment.

A second later, Gongsun Ce remembered to move forward, but his common sense raised another question, even more worth considering than the scenery.

“Hey, Gongsun Ce,” Alice’s voice trembled slightly, “don’t you think this color…

looks familiar?”

“I don’t think so.” Gongsun Ce instinctively denied the ridiculous suggestion, even though he knew the Hunter could see through his lie.

Alice ignored his comment and continued with her own speculation, “This color, it’s exactly like…

the green patterns on biotech animals!”

The bodies of horses, beaks of pigeons, sides of fleshy walls…

all possessed this inexplicable green pattern produced by the biotech of the Vaulted Sky.

Past life details flashed through his mind, and Gongsun Ce suddenly remembered past discussions with friends about why the Vaulted Sky, with the world’s top scientists, didn’t focus on material or AI technology, but instead spent time and effort on this strange biotechnology, producing nothing but giant pigeons and decaying flesh.

Now, recalling his past disdain for official decisions, he found it hilariously absurd.

When the flesh of the Dragon of the Vaulted Sky was within reach, what reason would they have not to pursue biotechnology?