CHAPTER 655: CHAPTER 652: TOWN

The environment around the underground ice lake grew colder and colder.

From the body’s physical sense, Ronald estimated that the temperature had dropped to a critically dangerous level that threatened life.

Fortunately, the members of the team were accustomed to operating within the Polar Circle.

With sufficient insulation on their bodies, the cold temperature had not caused any significant effect.

Bearing this environment in mind, although aware that he was undertaking a challenge within the original trial, Ronald couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander.

For instance,

How did a lake come to be hidden inside an underground glacier?

Ronald had seen lakes formed from the melting of Antarctic glaciers, but if situated underground, encased in solid ice all around, why should this place be any different?

Theoretically, there were many possibilities.

But without systematic research, it was really hard to come up with an immediate correct answer.

While Ronald was engrossed in thought,

Under Airen’s guidance, their team finally arrived at the previously mentioned location.

The actual situation here was equally astonishing!

Next to the ice lake, there was actually a town hidden in plain sight.

Buildings equally entombed in ice were sporadically distributed here. Previously, due to the distance, Ronald and his companions could only see the solid ice covering the exteriors of the houses, which prevented them from discerning what lay beneath the ice.

Upon closer observation of the surroundings,

Through some of the more obvious housing designs, Ronald could even vaguely make out the structure of the town – it was easy to identify commercial shops, business spaces, residential houses, and the like.

Drip—

At that moment, Airen operated the communication device hanging at his waist.

All team members wearing headsets immediately heard his voice through the communication system,

"Anger, Drat! You two, come out quickly, something isn’t right!"

...

There was silence on the comms for a moment.

It took a few seconds before a strange male voice came through.

"Airen? We’ve broken through the thin ice, and we’re now in a deeper place. What’s up, is there a problem at the base?"

The response from the mercenary was as terse as ever,

"We’ve run into some trouble, Lez even died just now. If you two want to keep your lives, get out here now!"

"Eh?"

Another voice, clearly surprised, resounded through the communication.

While reeling from the shock of Lez’s death, the previous speaker continued,

"There’s an ice hole we just broke through at the east wall corner of the A7 house, near the ice lake. If you need us to come up quickly, I suggest you come and help us, because getting up here fast isn’t easy."

Airen sent a message back in agreement and then led the team towards the specified location.

Actually, the housing changes and planning here were quite simple.

To take the A7 mentioned in the comms as an example, the preceding letter A is a character based on proximity to the ice lake – the buildings closest to the ice lake were designated as A, followed by B, then C, and so on.

The numerical order that follows represents the sequence of distance from this space’s entrance. The nearest is 1, and the numbers increase in concordance with the distance from the edge, a most basic numerical ordering method.

As for the A1 house mentioned by the teammate in the comms,

It’s practically the seventh building from the entry direction and also the one closest to the underground ice lake.

However, as they proceeded to the location,

Yani’s expression had almost completely collapsed, all one could see was repressed anger.

What they referred to as a broken hole was actually the damaged foundation of a house. In order to advance further, those two individuals had shattered the foundational ice, then continued to break through in order to progress.

——This was an act of severe destruction.

——A sentence wouldn’t be too much!

Not to mention, on this basis, the two explorers ventured deeper without any qualified structure for support. Should an earthquake or even a more direct disaster occur, resulting in the ice breaking apart, these two would have no chance of escaping.

"This pisses me off!"

Jani finally couldn’t restrain herself and cursed over the communication system.

"Drat, Anger, have you ever read the exploration guidelines manual?"

"If you think you’ve lived too long, you could always go ask the company for a vacation!"

The rest of the expedition team didn’t react to Jani’s emotional outburst.

On the other hand, even Gradie began to offer comfort in a practiced tone:

"Jani, this is, after all, the result of being far from modernized cities."

"Considering the difficulty of our current job, some unavoidable compromises are necessary."

"..."

No one responded to Gradie’s consoling words.

And being the person nearest to this girl, Ronald could clearly see her body shaking.

It was not due to the cold environment of the underground glacier!

But purely out of anger!

Everything they had seen and experienced since entering this unique relic had driven Jani’s emotions to a state beyond her control. Were it not for the basic legal education she had received since childhood, she would probably have already picked up the crossbow arrow to give these destructors a taste of their own medicine!

Ai Wei probably also noticed Jani’s current mood.

So, before they entered the ice cave, she took the initiative to suggest:

"Speaking of which, who knows if those animals might show up again!"

"So here’s my suggestion—let Jani keep watch above. While we go down, you can be responsible for observing the surroundings, ready to warn us of any approaching danger via radio."

"..."

"Okay."

Jani indicated her agreement with a brief gesture, then found a rock and sat down on it.

To be honest, she did indeed need a moment to calm down.

If she allowed herself to continue to be provoked by these foolish actions, Jani really couldn’t guarantee what she might do.

Meanwhile, Ronald and the others continued downward through the gap.

Steel stakes with fixed ropes had already been driven in near the entrance. Using the convenience of the pulley system, they easily descended—until they reached the layered glacier again.

From this point, mutual assistance was necessary.

Due to the twisted spatial structure, overcoming the obstacles swiftly was sure to demand quite an effort.

At the same time, Airen was briefing the two companions below on the situation.

Confirming that news of Laise’s death was not some sick joke, Drat and Anger below expressed their condolences and mourning.

Crack—

Suddenly, a subtle sound came through the headset.

Ronald’s eyebrows raised.

It sounded like the cracking of natural ice, but there was also something that sounded like the noise of something moving and colliding.

Was it an issue with Jani in the tunnel above,

Or was it the underground relic below...

In the moment that thought flashed through Ronald’s mind, the two on the communicator screamed with agonizing howls, indicating their predicament.

"What... what is this thing?"

"Fuck, help!"