Volume 5: Bottomless Sinkhole Chapter 281 Finding a Way Out
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The dry food Ke Lan and his companions brought with them, plus the supplies they looted from the mercenaries, together were enough for the seven of them to survive for about seven days. As for drinking water, after filtering and purifying the water from the saltwater lake, it could barely meet the minimum drinking standard - that is, after deducting the two days that had passed, they still had five days... If they couldn't find a way to leave the ruins within these five days, they would have to eat...
The hound turned his head to look at the pile of mercenary corpses in the distance, and tried his best to ignore the rotten smell in the air - to be honest, if it really came to the point of no choice, he would rather eat the giant octopus at the bottom of the lake.
I hope those piranhas haven't eaten that giant octopus clean yet...
Throwing the bodies of the exiles into the lake to feed the fish is to prevent some strange things from parasitizing their bodies. As for the bodies of these mercenaries, Hound didn't know why Ke Lan kept them... This guy couldn't really be planning to use the dead as emergency food reserves, right?
"Ke Lan...what are you planning to do with those corpses?" The Hound couldn't help but ask, "The smell is too . My nose really can't stand it."
"As bait," Ke Lan replied immediately, "to lure away those piranhas."
"Being a bait? Are you planning to go into the water again? You don't want to go to the cave that the mercenary mentioned, do you?" The Hound frowned. "I always feel that there is not much truth in that guy's mouth. God knows what is in that cave."
"But in the past two days, we have searched the area above the water and found no exit. The secret passage has been completely blocked. The cave is our last chance." Layton said, pointing at the corpses. "Even if that guy is lying, at least they have been to that place and walked out alive... Since they can get out, we should have no problem."
"Are you a one-track mind? Haven't you ever thought that after those bastards took out the jar, there is a high possibility that they would trigger the hidden mechanism of the ruins? Do you think that the cave will still look the same as before they entered?"
The Hound's words choked Layton. What he said was not wrong. When the ruins mechanism was activated, even the places that were originally judged to be safe areas would be instantly full of traps. The first and second groups of people who entered would enjoy completely different treatments - not to mention the distant ones, the nearby glacier ruins were like this: they came out of the core area alive, but the subsequent exploration teams were completely buried under the rubble and ice.
"How about this," Ke Lan said, "I, Asano Akira, and Layton are currently the three most capable members of the team. The three of us will go explore the cave, while the others will stay on shore and wait. That way, even if something unexpected happens, the entire team won't be wiped out."
"I don't agree. We should all go together. There's no reason for us to stand on the shore and watch you take risks." The Hound rejected it outright.
"Now is not the time to act rashly." Ke Lan said in a very calm tone, "Old dog, you are injured. If we take you with us, we will only be a burden. If something unexpected really happens, we will have to devote some of our energy to taking care of you... In other words, if we decide to retreat and you fall behind, do you think we should risk our entire team to save you?"
"But..." The Hound wanted to argue, but found that Ke Lan was not wrong. In the current situation, not only him, but also Ivan and Qin Zhao, could be regarded as "burdens". As for Zhuo Ligetu, he was barely on the passing line.
Their abilities are useless underwater, and bringing them along would only make the team extremely bloated.
"A team of three is the best choice. The smaller the size, the greater the flexibility in action. Even if we really encounter a monster, we can make the decision to fight or escape in the first place ." Ke Lan said.
"...Okay." The Hound finally nodded, "Be careful, don't try to be brave. If you really can't do it, run away. Saving your life is the most important thing."
"Don't worry, I will definitely die later than you!" Just as Leighton finished speaking, before the hound could make a move, Ke Lan kicked him on the butt.
"I've never seen anyone set a death flag for himself like this...you're the first one." Ke Lan complained.
"Oh, the old dog always says that I have a bad mouth, but isn't this just a double negative?" Layton rubbed his butt and said with a smile.
"Asano, what about you? You just woke up. Is there anything wrong with your body?" Ke Lan looked at Asano Akira and asked.
"I'm fine." said Asano Akira.
The main reason why Ke Lan made this decision was because of the return of Asano Akira, a powerful fighter who was almost unreasonable. This taciturn guy could not be measured by ordinary human standards... Even Ke Lan, who had the external ability of "time stop", was definitely not Asano Akira's opponent.
Even if he could see the trajectory of Asano Akira's sword, he could not avoid the swift attack. What's more, Asano Akira also had an explosive move that could overdraft his own mental power. In the blink of an eye, he could kill the powerful "Anemone Head".
In the dark and deep underwater environment, Asano Akira's only disadvantage: blindness, can be almost ignored - even for people with normal vision, the field of vision is very limited with the help of lights. If the lights are lost, it will be pitch dark.
But Asano Akira is different. Apart from his eyesight, his other senses are much more sensitive than those of ordinary people. The sounds transmitted through the water, the subtle waves and undercurrents in the water... all of these can provide him with enough information. For him who has adapted to the darkness, the strength he can exert in this environment is far greater than that of people like Ke Lan who use their eyes as their main sensory organs.
As for Layton , the reason why Ke Lan chose him was even simpler: propeller thrusters that could move quickly underwater, miniature rockets that could be used as torpedoes, and electric saws and anchors that could be used as both tools and weapons... In summary, it could be accurately summarized in six words: the perfect tool man.
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The three of them put on the diving equipment brought by the mercenaries. In addition to diving suits and scuba, the mercenaries were also equipped with several harpoon guns. Although the harpoon guns were not as good as professional underwater weapons, they were cheaper. An alloy harpoon cost less than 100 credit points, which was about the same as a bullet from the "Shark Hunter" underwater machine gun. It would be really strange if all the mercenaries were equipped with "Shark Hunter" and "Vortex Torpedo".
Even for those top relic hunters, this kind of expensive cutting-edge equipment is still a huge burden. In order to get these things, in addition to enough credit points, connections and channels are also indispensable.
"A single-shot harpoon gun, a disposable consumable...it's quite powerful, but its accuracy is really pitiful." Layton commented. He himself didn't have a harpoon gun, as he already had enough equipment. Ke Lan, on the other hand, had six harpoons stuck behind him. From a distance, he looked like an old general on the stage of an old era.
"You just said that I was raising flags, but don't you have a lot of flags behind you?" Layton couldn't help but complain.
"If we shoot them all out later, won't that be the same as pulling down the flag?" Ke Lan said, then he picked up two submachine guns and a dozen magazines and stuffed them into his backpack.
Although the mercenary said that the cave was filled with sea water, he also said that the relative position of the cave was higher than the water surface of the saltwater lake - if the cave was not completely closed, then under the action of gravity, its water level would eventually fall back to the same height as the lake surface.
This is just like placing a cup full of water upside down on the water surface. Due to the atmospheric pressure, the water in the cup will not flow out. But if you poke a small hole at the bottom of the cup, the situation will be completely different.
Therefore, it is still necessary to carry some weapons for use on land.
The mercenaries also had two inflatable kayaks in their equipment. Ke Lan and the other two took one of them to the connection between the cave and the underground lake, while Hound and the others carried the corpses that were left behind to the other end of the underground lake.
They would throw the rotten corpses into the lake and try to lure the piranhas to the other end of the lake. Ke Lan and the others could take this opportunity to dive directly.
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Thirty minutes later.
Ke Lan sat on the edge of the kayak, glanced at his watch, and said, "Ten minutes have passed since the scheduled time for dropping the bait. The piranhas in the lake should have been attracted over. It's time for us to act."
"Understood." Leighton gave Ke Lan a thumbs up, jumped into the water first, and dived quickly.
Ke Lan and Asano Akira then put on their scuba gear, leaned back, and dived headfirst into the lake.
"Test communication." Ke Lan said in the short-distance communication channel.
"We are thirteen meters away from you. The communication quality is good and there is no interference." Layton replied from below. "To be honest, these mercenaries really gave us a great gift. Without these equipment, I guess we can only stare blankly on the shore."
This sonic communication device was also found in the mercenaries' backpacks. They knew in advance that the mission would require diving, and their preparations were much more thorough than those of Ke Lan and the others.
"Well, continue diving and pay attention to the surrounding environment." Ke Lan said.
"The water flow is normal, and there is no abnormal sound source approaching. I only heard the sound of the propeller blades." Asano Akira said in the communication channel. Now he is like a humanoid living sonar. Every move within a range of dozens of meters cannot escape his ears. In order to improve the monitoring accuracy as much as possible, Asano Akira did not even wear a diving suit. His entire upper body is naked, and he only chose a half-covered style for the scuba diving suit.
Ke Lan stared at the mechanical depth gauge in her hand. The dial of the depth gauge was coated with a fluorescent coating, emitting a faint glow in the dark environment. The slender metal pointer was moving little by little, which meant that their diving depth was increasing...
Twenty meters... twenty-five meters...
Thirty meters...thirty-five meters...
Finally, when the pointer was about to point to thirty-nine meters, Layton's voice came from the headset: "Found it, the stone door that guy mentioned...but the stone door is open."
"Understood. You stay at the stone gate. Asano Akira and I will be there soon." After Ke Lan said this, he increased his diving speed. After a while, he was next to Layton.
A stone door more than three meters high suddenly appeared on the rock wall. The two doors opened inward, close to the two walls of the passage. On the inside of the passage, there were several extremely obvious scratches.
Ke Lan looked at the depth gauge again and it was exactly fifty meters.
"Ke Lan, there are words on this door... It seems to be Alpha language. Come over and take a look at what it says." Leighton put his hands on the door on the right and shouted in a low voice.
Ke Lan leaned over to take a look and saw that it was indeed a string of Alpha characters. Although the stone gate had been severely corroded due to being immersed in salt water for a long time, the shapes of the characters could still be barely discerned.
"What does this mean?" Leighton couldn't help but ask again.
"This is a serial number..." Ke Lan said, with a hint of doubt in his words, "Just like the numbers composed of numbers or letters in human language, it has no specific meaning. Its only function is to sort."
"Sort? Number?" Layton was stunned. "Does that mean there is more than one stone door or passage like this?"
"It's hard to say, but we don't have time to look for other stone gates now." Ke Lan took out a harpoon gun from behind and held it in his hand, nodded to Layton and Asano Akira, "Let's go, hurry up."
"Yeah." Leighton was still the vanguard. With a slight turn of the propeller, he floated into the passage.
Ke Lan and Asano Akira followed immediately.
The three of them walked less than twenty meters before Layton stopped again.
"There are also Alpha characters here," he said, "on the left side, on the right side... and on the top and bottom. The amount of characters is quite large. This time, it can't be just a string of numbers, right?"
Just as he said, from here on, a large number of Alpha characters began to appear in the passage, and even the floor under the feet was paved with stone slabs engraved with characters.
But after just one glance, Ke Lan still felt a strong sense of vigilance in his heart. He quickly turned his head away and said to Layton, "Don't look at those characters!"
"What do these words mean? Why can't I read them? Besides, I can't understand them even if I read them..." Leighton said in confusion, but no matter how puzzled he was, he still listened to Ke Lan's words and moved his eyes away from the words.
" It's difficult into human language, but I can tell you their function... Just now, I just tried to understand the meaning of these words, and an irresistible drowsiness arose in my brain... There is something wrong with these words! I suspect that the mercenary's trance must be related to them."
"They must be staring at these words out of curiosity." Ke Lan continued, "Whether they can understand these words or not, these words will have some effect on those who look at them-"
