Beep beep beep — !!
The urgent, sharp, and ruthless electronic alarm shrieked like a metallic crow being strangled, suddenly shattering the heavy silence of the underground cavern.
The sound echoed from the loudspeakers, refracting and overlapping through the winding tunnels and hollow caves.
Inside a ventilation duct, Lin Mo, who was crawling along the cold, damp metal walls, jerked to a halt and froze.
‘Was I discovered?’
His mind raced as a chill surged up his spine.
It had been less than ten minutes!
Only a short time had passed since he used the Oracle power to destroy the cables and risked entering the ventilation system.
How could the dungeon’s security system react so quickly and precisely?
‘Did I leave behind some undeniable trace when I destroyed the fence earlier? Or are there motion or heat sensors inside these ducts that I didn’t notice?’
Thud, thud, thud…
The rhythmic, heavy, and rapid sound of combat boots echoed like intense drumbeats from a main cavern passage not far below.
The noise was fast approaching the area directly beneath the duct he was in.
Lin Mo immediately held his breath and pressed his body tight against the bottom of the pipe.
He peered through the small gaps in the ventilation grate meant for maintenance or airflow, listening intently to the floor below.
“Fast! Everyone, move faster! Search thoroughly! Don’t miss a single fork in the road, any corner where someone could hide, including the abandoned equipment rooms and ventilation shafts!”
A serious male voice filled with unquestionable authority rang out from below.
The voice was slightly hoarse but full of vigor, clearly belonging to an officer.
Following that were more chaotic and hurried footsteps, the clanking of weapons, and short verbal responses.
“We must find the Comm — cough!”
The officer’s voice suddenly hitched, followed by a quick cough to cover his slip, but his next words caused Lin Mo’s pupils to shrink.
“… We must find those two people as soon as possible! The Division Commander has given a death order: I want to see them alive, or see their corpses! I repeat, the Division Commander’s personal orders are to prioritize capturing them alive, but if you encounter fierce resistance… you know what to do!”
“Erdan! Take five men and check the D67 passage area immediately! Remember, without a clear order or permission, you are not to fire your weapons! However, if you find the targets, you are authorized to use non-lethal force to subdue them! Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!” a younger voice responded loudly.
“The rest of you, follow me! We start from passage D53 and sweep toward the D60 and D61 areas! Keep communication lines open and report any anomalies immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
The footsteps split into two groups and rushed in different directions.
The rapid thudding gradually faded, but the alarms echoing in the cavern and the sounds of coordinated running from other directions indicated that a full-scale search was underway.
Inside the ventilation duct, Lin Mo’s furrowed brow did not relax.
Instead, it twitched slightly, revealing deep confusion and a hint of surprise.
‘It’s not me?’
From the officer’s orders and the soldiers’ reactions, their target wasn’t him.
They were looking for two people Su Xiji had personally ordered to be captured.
The commander had even strictly forbidden firing without orders and emphasized keeping them alive.
Fortunately, the security system hadn’t been triggered because they found an intruder; it was because two vital, high-status individuals had escaped, triggering a high-level security protocol.
‘Two people… Comm…?’
Lin Mo keenly caught the word the officer almost blurted out.
‘Comm? Commissar?!’
‘Political Commissar Lu Sanshan of the 103rd Division?!’
The thought flashed through Lin Mo’s mind like lightning, causing his already heavy heart to sink.
If the person Su Xiji wanted to capture was Lu Sanshan, what did that mean?
First, Lu Sanshan was in this underground cavern, and he was clearly in a bad situation, attempting to escape Su Xiji’s control.
Second, Su Xiji’s order was to “capture them alive,” but he also implied “if you encounter fierce resistance.”
This showed that the relationship between the two had completely shattered, possibly to the point of a life-or-death struggle.
Most importantly, the fact that Su Xiji could mobilize so many elite soldiers to conduct such a large-scale manhunt for his own commissar…
It could only mean one thing: the remnants of the 103rd Division that Su Xiji had brought into this cavern were now under his total command and control.
He had reached a point where he could openly oppose and arrest a commissar who, nominally, held equal rank and even had supervisory authority over him!
What made these soldiers willing to follow such an order?
Was it Su Xiji’s immense personal prestige?
Or did he possess some means to coerce or control his subordinates?
Mental control?
Drugs?
Or was it an exchange for their families or some shared, extreme belief?
Lin Mo’s mind worked rapidly, considering many dark possibilities.
The depth and influence of Su Xiji’s “betrayal” or “transformation” likely far exceeded their previous estimates.
At the same time, another thought surfaced clearly: the officer had mentioned two people.
Someone else had escaped with Lu Sanshan.
Who could it be?
Lu Sanshan’s guard or adjutant? Or…
A powerful intuition struck Lin Mo — the other person was very likely one of his own!
It was a Search and Rescue Team member who had entered the Dead Realm and occupied an identity!
Gao Yuan? Du Qiang? Or someone else?
This possibility made Lin Mo’s spirits soar.
If they really were his teammates, finding them would not only allow them to combine their strength but also allow him to get firsthand information about Su Xiji, the blocking action, and the core of the Dead Realm from someone with Lu Sanshan’s high-level access!
Rather than continuing to explore this complex, heavily guarded underground maze blindly like a headless fly, it would be better to… follow these searching soldiers!
They knew the terrain and had clear search routes and targets.
Following them gave him a much better chance of finding the fleeing Lu Sanshan and his unknown companion!
Even though the risk was massive, the potential reward was higher!
With that thought, Lin Mo made a decisive choice.
He no longer hesitated.
He carefully adjusted his body within the narrow pipe, avoiding making any loud metallic scraping noises.
He listened for the direction of the retreating footsteps and then sped up as much as possible, crawling through the duct.
Using the pipe’s acoustics and the general layout of the passages below, he followed from a distance.
The ventilation system was not a smooth path; there were frequent turns, branches, and narrow maintenance hatches to navigate.
Lin Mo had to be fully focused, both on staying on course and avoiding any sudden noises that might be detected by the sharp-eared soldiers below.
Sweat soaked his back again, and the wound on his left arm throbbed with pain under the constant friction and exertion.
In another remote, poorly lit branch of the underground cavern system, two figures were stumbling forward, supporting each other.
They moved with difficulty through the gloom.
One of them wore a slightly ill-fitting 103rd Division officer’s uniform with its shoulder straps torn off and covered in dust.
Her figure was tall for a woman, but she looked quite disheveled at the moment.
She panted slightly, her chest heaving with every breath, and the stray hairs on her forehead were wet with sweat, sticking to her pale skin.
The woman glanced down at the obvious curve on her chest that definitely did not belong to a man.
Her lips twitched uncontrollably, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, she cursed in a tone thick with awkwardness and a hint of a breakdown.
“… This is so… damn troublesome…”
The voice was crisp and female, but the tone and word choice were filled with Du Qiang’s characteristic roughness.
Beside her, holding her arm for support, was Gao Yuan, who occupied the body of Political Commissar Lu Sanshan.
Gao Yuan was also wearing his general’s uniform, though it was messy, and his face was etched with anxiety and vigilance.
Hearing Du Qiang’s complaint, he immediately lowered his voice and whispered a sharp reminder, “Old Du! Now isn’t the time to worry about that! Save your strength and focus… We need to find a way out, or at least a place to hide for a while where it’s not easy to be found!”
He looked around the dark, winding passage, his eyes full of worry.
“The trick of faking an illness to fool the guards only works once. They are searching with everything they’ve got now; we don’t have much time.”
“If we get caught again, forget about gathering information — we’ll probably be thrown into an even more secure isolation cell, or even…”
He didn’t finish, but the implication was clear.
At his words, Du Qiang nodded forcefully.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing, which was ragged from the intense exercise and tension, and to ignore the various discomforts brought by this strange body.
“You’re right… let’s go!”
The two didn’t dare linger.
Supporting each other, they chose passages with heavy shadows and many forks that looked seldom used.
The underground cavern system was vast and complex; part of it was naturally formed, intertwined like a spiderweb, while the other part had been manually excavated and expanded when the Fireseed Pilot Project was built.
It was more regular but equally labyrinthine.
However, the search net seemed to be closing in quickly and tightly.
Thud, thud, thud…
“Check over here!”
“Nothing in area D45!”
“Maintain formation, watch the corners!”
From all directions, near and far, came the sounds of messy footsteps, short shouts, and the fuzzy static of walkie-talkies, seemingly covering 360 degrees without any blind spots.
The sounds were amplified, distorted, and layered by the unique echoes of the cavern.
Sometimes it sounded like the pursuers were just around the next corner; other times, it sounded like they were on another level entirely, either above or below.
It was unsettling and made it difficult to judge their positions accurately.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang’s hearts were in their throats.
Even though the temperature deep in the cavern was steady and comfortable, both were drenched in sweat that poured down their temples and necks.
They were like startled birds, ears strained to distinguish the source of the sounds, avoiding the footsteps that seemed to be getting closer.
They did their best to suppress the sound of their own breathing and the rustle of their clothes.
Every turn was a gamble with their lives, fearing they would run head-first into a search squad.
“Over here! I think I heard something!” a shout suddenly rang out from the distance.
Their expressions changed instantly.
They ducked into a recess filled with abandoned construction materials and empty wooden crates, holding their breath and pressing themselves against the cold rock wall.
A team of soldiers hurried past the main passage, their flashlight beams sweeping around randomly, but they failed to notice the cluttered corner.