Chapter 12 Chapter 12: The Sky Shrouded by Machinery
Chapter 12: The Sky Shrouded by Machinery
It didn't take long for Sampo to lead Kevin to the entrance of the secret passage he had mentioned—a door hidden in a remote corner.
"You know? Besides transporting necessary supplies each time, this is actually the first time I've brought someone else through my secret passage... Sigh, this deal really is a huge loss for me."
As he spoke, Sampo reached out and pulled open the rather old-looking iron door before them. As light spilled in, what finally came into view for the two was a staircase leading continuously downward, with no end in sight at a glance.
However, even though Sampo hid it well, Kevin still keenly detected a subtle spatial fluctuation the moment the other opened the door.
He had every reason to suspect that the space behind this door was originally something entirely different. It's just that this door had now been seamlessly linked to the passage they were currently seeing.
This was clearly no simple character. Should he try to confront him directly?
Since arriving in Belobog, aside from the 'Supreme Guardian' who had already been corrupted by the Stellaron to some extent, this was the first time Kevin had encountered someone else with special abilities. It was hard not to feel a certain level of alertness.
But just as Kevin was still hesitating, Sampo took the lead and stepped into the space he had just summoned, waving again at Kevin outside the door: "What are you standing there for? Let's go!"
"......"
Indeed, he wasn't here to insist on uncovering any secrets. He would deal with whatever came his way.
And so, with Sampo responsible for leading the way ahead, the two embarked on this long staircase—since the Underworld was a space developed underground beneath Belobog, to ensure both the upper and lower areas were sufficiently stable, the distance between the Underworld and the surface should be at least a hundred meters.
Sampo himself couldn't remember how many times he had originally walked this tunnel. He had never felt the downward path was so long... until this time.
The narrow passage couldn't support two people standing side by side, so Kevin naturally followed behind him. But over such a long distance, the footsteps behind Sampo hadn't even faltered once, and each step landed with a crisp sound, as if stepping directly on his heart.
It was precisely because Sampo had some special abilities that he understood better than others how terrifying the gentleman behind him was... What if his lordship suddenly found this tunnel long and annoying and decided to slap him on the forehead?
Fortunately, this lengthy journey finally reached its end after more than ten minutes. Sampo reached out and wiped the sweat on his forehead—sweat that might have been due to exhaustion or fear—then smiled and pushed open the door at the end of the path.
"We're here, we're here. Outside is the Underworld. You just need to look around a bit to know that not a single word I said earlier was a lie. I, Sampo, never deceive my friends."
Even though Sampo had once again opened the door leading outside, the world beyond this door was nothing like the bright and clear one before. In fact, it was barely any better than the dim tunnel they had just been in.
Anyone arriving in such an unfamiliar and dim environment would instinctively look up first, because whether they saw the sun or stars, that clear, boundless sky always gave people a subconscious sense of freedom and stability.
But since they were currently in an underground space, Kevin had already expected to see a cold rock wall. However, when he finally looked up at the 'sky' of the Underworld, he realized he had still been too conservative.
The 'sky' covering the entire Underworld hundreds of meters above was not some naturally formed rock wall, but a massive mechanical construct... one that almost covered their entire field of vision.
Yes, the horizontal area of this mechanical construct was almost as large as all of Belobog. It seemed more like an integral part of those surface structures. In comparison, this underground space seemed like an extra part.
"......."
Kevin fell silent. Had he been underestimating this city all along?
After all, this was the only fortress that survived amidst Catastrophes and alien invasions, the last crystallization of civilization on the entire planet... As a civilization that had once connected with the universe, when extinction loomed imminent, they would absolutely exhaust every effort to attempt anything with even a sliver of possibility.
The massive mechanical device presented before his eyes was clearly proof of that.
"That thing in the sky, what is it?" Kevin asked Sampo this question.
"Well now, it's said to be a greenhouse effect device to maintain Belobog's constant temperature. The central part is the [Furnace Core], which burns massive amounts of Geomarrow every day. The people in the Underworld who want to exchange for useful supplies can only keep mining Geomarrow from the mining areas and exchange it through the transport devices there."
Sampo spread his hands and spoke quite helplessly: "If you ask me, those guys in the Overworld don't treat the people in the Underworld as human at all. The meager supplies obtained by mining massive amounts of Geomarrow can't even support half of them for normal survival. And besides, Geomarrow isn't infinite."
"Now that people in the Overworld already have this attitude, maybe once the Geomarrow is completely depleted, they'll think the people in the Underworld are nothing but social dregs dragging them down, better off completely abandoned?"
"But in reality, it's precisely because people in the Underworld have been mining Geomarrow energy for them that their lives have basic guarantees. This is more than just killing the donkey after it's done grinding; it's completely confusing right and wrong, turning black into white!"
Judging from his words and expression at this moment, he seemed like a passionate young man with unextinguished ideals, making Kevin wonder if his previous impression of him had indeed been mistaken somewhere.
But it was also precisely at this moment that another voice rang out from not far above: "I never expected this, Sampo. I never thought I'd hear such words from your mouth."
"Originally I was thinking whether I should beat you up first before asking questions clearly. Now I'm somewhat reluctant to do so."
A lightly dressed purple-haired girl lightly jumped down from above and walked up to the two, carrying a scythe that clashed severely with her girlish image.
"Oh! Isn't this Miss Seele? What are you doing here? I was thinking of going to find you later—"
Click—!
Before he could finish speaking, that sharp scythe was expertly placed against Sampo's neck, followed by a series of questions: "Don't try to get chummy with me. Who knows what sneaky business you're up to here?"
"And who is this suspicious guy behind you? I don't think I've ever seen him before. And his outfit—could he be someone you brought down from the Overworld?"
Undoubtedly, this girl hated those Overworld folks.
She had been like that since childhood.
There is an illustration here; it can be viewed after updating to the latest version.
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