NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104 - Knee Height
Chapter 104: Knee Height
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Chapter 104: Knee Height
Zhu Xingguo was a smoker.
In his personal belongings, there was a large pile of lighters in addition to a large pile of cigarettes.
Wang Wen once inquired why he had brought so many lighters.
Zhu Xingguo just said wistfully, “You won’t understand.”
An all-around tower climber’s curiosity was shallow. Wang Wen did not press the issue further because the other party did not respond.
At the time, he and Mo Ran were fiddling with a pile of lighters at the bottom of the Dark Cave.
He noticed that the two of them were overjoyed.
A torch.
Wang Wen raised his eyebrows and asked the two of them, “You didn’t spend so much time just for a torch, right?”
“Just for a torch?” Mo Ran raised the torch as if he were holding the Olympic torch. He said, “Do you think this is just a torch? You’re dead wrong! This is light and hope!”
Wang Wen approached Zhu Xingguo and softly inquired, “Why were you following him if he’s sick? Is it okay for someone his age to be so stupid?”
Zhu Xingguo suppressed his rage. “Captain, I think he is right!” he retorted for the first time.
Wang Wen took three steps back and stared at him, stunned.
Mo Ran proudly displayed a torch fashioned from stool legs, alcohol blocks, kerosene, rags, and other materials. His voice had the tone of a storyteller. “What was the most crucial aspect of a cave exploration? Safety! So, what were the elements of safety? A torch with enough brightness and burning time can give you good visibility and a perfect field of vision!”
Click.
A beam of pure white light illuminated a distant corner the torch could not reach.
It cut Mo Ran’s affectionate speech short.
He looked down at the flashlight in Wang Wen’s hand and said expressionlessly, “Why didn’t you take it out earlier if you had that thing? Why did you even get a small lighter to look around? Were you deliberately playing with me?”
Wang Wen said, “Don’t misunderstand. The main purpose of using a lighter was to see if the oxygen content was enough. It would be too embarrassing if we, the tower climbers, died of suffocation here.”
“Was that f*cking embarrassing?” Mo Ran was angry when he thought about it. “No. What if there’s flammable and explosive gas? It won’t be dangerous with a flashlight!”
Wang Wen smiled. “As long as you ensure there’s enough oxygen, I’m not afraid of anything else.”
He then took the lead and walked in the direction where the drone had vanished.
The flashlight’s bright light illuminated the dark corners one by one.
He would light the lighter occasionally to check the air quality.
Mo Ran held the torch for a long time and thought, but he was still angry and wanted to argue.
Zhu Xingguo drew back and handed him a cigarette.
“What? I don’t smoke!” Mo Ran waved his hand and was about to move closer to Wang Wen.
Zhu Xingguo could only murmur, “Captain is a poison master.”
Mo Ran came to a halt.
It was as if he had finally remembered something from the intelligence reports.
The air was like a broken rubber ball the next second.
He took Zhu Xingguo’s cigarette and lit it with a torch.
He took a deep breath and could not stop choking.
Zhu Xingguo shook his head and quickened his pace to catch up with Wang Wen.
Before they entered the cave.
Nobody would have guessed there was another world beneath that gravel beach.
It was possibly once a sizable underground water basin.
The magnificent appearance of that underground river could still be seen from the wide riverbed, even though it had completely dried up.
They walked along the riverbed, a few of them. The uneven stone pit made progress even more difficult.
Fortunately, all three of them were physically passable.
Apart from Wang Wen, the other two were physical fighters.
Mo Ran was a combat master who had reached the 439th floor. He was said to have reached the brink of breaking through the mist.
That made Wang Wen very jealous.
An all-rounded tower climber was very impressive. Each skill had a master who was superior to the others. A single person was a team, and so was a single person forming an army.
Unfortunately, many people thought it was extremely difficult to master.
Other than his spiritual power, which was on the verge of reaching Broken Might master level, his previous life’s skills were only at the entry-level master level. It was sufficient for him as a filler brick. He was not very confident if he encountered a specialized, single technical problem.
Therefore, any expert who surpassed Meng’s level in a specialized field became the object of his envy and jealousy.
Mo Ran also had a cold and delicate expression.
The heavens were truly blind for such a person to be able to reach the Broken Might master level.
Wang Wen walked as he laughed in his heart.
He did not realize that the person he mocked was also mocking him in his heart. That type of person had the potential to become the top all-around tower climber. The heavens were utterly blind.
The two people who were mocking each other moved steadily forward, one after the other.
Zhu Xingguo, sandwiched in the middle, thought his situation was odd.
It was as painful as the layer of sugar hearts in the middle of the sandwich biscuit.
Alternatively, consider the cushion between the blanket and the mattress.
It was also like that.
Fortunately, that process was brief.
The three of them soon noticed a light coming from a branch hole at the river’s bend ahead.
Wang Wen received a notification from the drone at the same time.
[There’s one member who has not responded to the request to change the mode of reward distribution. That application has been rejected. If you need to make a change, please do so after clearing the checkpoint.]
They noticed the drone gliding back from the branch tunnel.
The three of them exchanged glances.
They knew that the target was right in front of them.
Of course.
They could not pretend they did not know.
A swarm of small, screaming creatures emerged from behind the drone.
They threw spears into the air from time to time.
The drone did not know whether it was intentional or not.
It flew above the three people and stopped for a while.
It flew away quickly along the path it had taken after attracting the attention of those small creatures.
Wang Wen and the other two people took their time looking at the small creatures.
Hundreds of spears and transparent needles hidden in the spears were shot toward the three of them amid the screams.
Wang Wen closed and opened his eyes, and a circle of transparent light surrounded him.
All the sharp weapons aimed at him were blocked.
Then he rushed out.
At some point in time, he put on a strange-shaped glove.
His fist smashed into the position of the little things with a bang.
Screams of pain replaced the shrieks.
The strange-looking glove’s fist actually created a deep pit in the ground.
All the little creatures were blooming and rolling in all directions, like bowling pins hit by a bowling ball.
One of the little things that looked like a leader screamed at the top of its lungs, ignoring its almost flattened lower body.
Instantly, responses poured in from every direction.
The three of them exchanged glances. “Saving people is more important!” Wang Wen said, raising his chin toward the cave.
So the three ignored the strange shapes that appeared everywhere and dashed into the cave where the drone flew out.
After a while of running, they noticed numerous small fires lit in the cave. They were about the size of a grown man’s palm.
Several small things were screaming around each small fire.
A massive fire was supported by several large logs in the center of the fire. It was roughly the height of a knee and was gradually burning.
A naked human body lay on the large stone slab next to it.
Who else could it be but Ren Ruoruo?
She appeared to have lost consciousness. Countless small creatures were kneading and pinching her naked body. They applied the charcoal ash that had been brought up to her skin.
No one knew what those things were doing.