Chapter 40: Deep Well

Taking advantage of the darkness before dawn, Leng Qiongling, Le Paxi, Ou Mi You, and I quietly slipped out of the city and headed toward the Saint Assembly’s stronghold we had discovered.

I had left Xi Si Te behind to assist with the city’s defense, while Hai Shi was still guarding the mansion to make sure none of those nobles escaped and caused even more trouble.

“Worried about those two children?”

“Of course…”

Leng Qiongling lowered her head, clenching her right hand into a fist.

“If it weren’t for me… they wouldn’t have been captured.”

“Don’t blame yourself.”

“I share the responsibility too. I underestimated our enemy and failed to prepare for unexpected situations.”

“But—”

“Alright, alright.”

I waved my hand.

“As long as we rescue them, everything will be fine. There’s no point arguing about it now.”

“…Okay.”

As we spoke, we arrived at the coordinates.

At first glance, the place looked completely ordinary, no different from the surrounding desert.

But beneath our feet lay the headquarters of the organization that had caused all of this.

I crouched down and grabbed a handful of sand.

It slipped easily through my fingers.

Soft.

“Yeah.”

“This is the place.”

I stood up and looked around.

“So…”

“How are we getting in?”

Leng Qiongling glanced at the empty ground.

“Should we dig?”

“Ou Mi You.”

“Got it.”

Ou Mi You pulled the Bone Spear from her back.

She aimed at the spot I pointed to, took a deep breath, and focused for a brief moment.

Then—

The spear shot forward.

The nearly three-meter-long weapon flew just above the ground like a hunting hawk, carving through the desert.

Sand exploded into the air, forming a massive wave.

A huge slash nearly a meter wide and over a hundred meters long was ripped through the earth.

Beneath the sand, a hidden steel hatch was exposed.

It had been cut cleanly in half.

“Perfect.”

“We can go down now.”

Feeling rather pleased with myself, I stepped forward and confidently placed one foot onto empty air.

Uh-oh.

There’s no staircase.

Fortunately, before I could fall headfirst into the endless darkness, Leng Qiongling grabbed the back of my clothes.

Otherwise, I’d probably have left a few body parts scattered at the bottom.

“Ahem.”

“I was trying to look cool.”

“I didn’t expect them not to build stairs.”

Leng Qiongling stared at me with a speechless expression.

“This place probably wasn’t meant for normal people to enter.”

“And… are we really okay making this much noise?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“…No.”

“Exactly.”

“Sometimes the simplest and fastest method is the best one.”

“But this is way too extreme!”

“As long as it works.”

I pointed into the darkness.

“Enough talking.”

“We’re going down.”

Leng Qiongling carefully leaned over the edge and looked below.

“I can’t even see the bottom.”

“Are we seriously just jumping?”

I gave her a thumbs-up.

“Believe in yourself.”

She looked at me for several seconds.

Then she simply chose to ignore me.

“…Forget it.”

“There isn’t any other option.”

Ou Mi You suddenly wrapped both arms around me.

“Come on, Captain.”

“We’ll go first.”

Before I could protest, she jumped.

“WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!”

Her voice echoed endlessly through the darkness.

Le Paxi smiled gently at Leng Qiongling.

“We’ll be waiting below.”

Then she stepped forward and disappeared into the abyss.

Only Leng Qiongling remained standing at the entrance.

She let out a long sigh.

“Honestly…”

“Why is everyone around me like this…”

After a few seconds, she shut her eyes tightly and jumped.

“Wooooooooooooooooooooow!!!”

“It’s sooooooooooooooooooooo deep!!!”

The wind roared around us.

It felt as though someone had shoved my entire body into a giant fan.

“Dooooooooooooooooooon’t streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch yoooooooooour voooooooooooice liiiiiiiiiiiiiike thaaaaaaaaaaat!!!”

Leng Qiongling’s voice drifted over.

“Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaptain is doooooooooooooooing the saaaaaaaaaaaaaame thiiiiiiiiiiiiing!”

As we plummeted through the seemingly bottomless shaft, the howling wind tore at our clothes and hair.

Honestly, it was kind of fun.

“Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaptain!”

“This is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!”

“No, no, no!”

I looked down.

The ground was finally becoming visible.

“We’re about to hit the ground!!!!”

Instinctively, I grabbed Ou Mi You.

“Oh?”

“So enthusiastic, Captain?”

“In that case, I’ll hug you too!”

She squeezed me so tightly I nearly stopped breathing.

“N-not now…”

“The ground…”

“Oh.”

“Oh!”

Ou Mi You finally reacted.

She pulled out her Bone Spear and drove it into the wall.

The spear pierced deeply into the metal.

Our tremendous momentum dragged it downward, carving a long scar dozens of meters across the wall before we finally came to a stop.

About ten seconds later—

BOOM!

A violent shockwave swept across the chamber.

Fortunately, Ou Mi You was still holding onto me, otherwise I probably would have been blown away.

I didn’t even need to look.

I already knew who had landed.

“Le Paxi…”

“You really don’t need to make such a dramatic entrance every time.”

Le Paxi calmly stepped out from the huge crater she had made and smoothed the wrinkles from her dress.

“I don’t have any other methods.”

Well…

That was true.

Among all the Madmen, Le Paxi possessed the greatest physical strength.

You could tell just by looking at the absurdly massive weapon she carried.

In every physical evaluation we had ever conducted, she had consistently ranked first.

“Hehe.”

Ou Mi You crossed her arms.

“Just because you’re stronger doesn’t mean you should bully people.”

Le Paxi looked at her quietly.

“Oh?”

“Would you like me to pin you against the wall again?”

“T-that’s bullying!”

“I protest!”

“Captain!”

I crossed my arms into a large X.

“Not my problem.”

“Captain! You can’t be like this!”

Suddenly, I looked upward.

“…Where’s Leng Qiongling?”

We all raised our heads.

Far above us, a tiny black dot was rapidly getting larger.

Soon, we could clearly make out Leng Qiongling.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!”

“Help!”

“Someone help meeeeeeeeee!!”

Apparently…

She hadn’t figured out a way to land.

Le Paxi lightly bent her knees.

The next instant, she shot upward nearly a hundred meters into the air.

She caught Leng Qiongling effortlessly.

Then, spinning gracefully through the darkness, the hem of her black dress spread out like the wings of a flock of black swans.

A moment later, her high heels touched the ground with a crisp sound.

Leng Qiongling was gently placed back onto her feet.

Le Paxi looked as though she had merely taken a short walk.

Meanwhile, Leng Qiongling stood there blankly, her brain clearly unable to process what had just happened.

“Alright.”

I clapped my hands.

“Stop daydreaming.”

“It’s time to move.”

A long passage stretched out before us.

Leng Qiongling looked at it uneasily.

“…It’s almost like someone prepared it for us.”

“A welcome path.”

Le Paxi quietly added.

“I really don’t want to walk through a path that’s welcoming us.”

Neither did I.

But we didn’t have a choice.

I looked into the darkness ahead.

Then I took the first step.

“Let’s go.”

“It’s time to put an end to all of this.”