Fortunately, Lei Zongchao still left behind scarlet afterimages.
They were like shining beacons in the endless night that guided the rescuers forward.
For the rest of the journey, the rescuers climbed very carefully.
They stared at the Battle G.o.d's vitality magnetic field as long as they could and drew a burning path in the darkness.
They didn't want to pry into the cracks that might absorb their souls.
They would stop every five minutes even if there were no abnormalities. All of them would conduct a self-examination and check each other's physiological parameters to see if there were any problems.
Just like that, they continued to climb down for about half an hour. They had already climbed to a depth of about four to five hundred meters from the exit of the rift.
If they were near the Earth's core, such a depth would be enough to produce a high temperature of nearly one hundred degrees and suffocating pressure.
However, the air here was still cool. The wind whistled in the darkness from time to time. It gently sc.r.a.ped and wetted the rescuers' skin, flesh, and bones. It made them feel like they were wearing diving suits and gradually sinking into the deepest trench on the planet.
At this moment, Wu Haibo, who had descended to the deepest part, stopped abruptly.
Before him, the scarlet shadow that represented the Battle G.o.d's movement trajectory crawled into a narrow crevice after a series of dazzling movements on the rock wall.
Everyone stopped in front of the crevice. The lights from their headlamps intersected as they watched the scarlet shadow be swallowed up by the darkness within the crevice.
Everyone looked at each other in shock and fear.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "What's going on? Has the mighty Battle G.o.d also been tempted by the Ancient Ruins' Summon and turned into a twisted monster?"
The terrifying thought was like a python covered in thorns. It coiled around everybody's hearts so tightly that their eyes bulged out, and they could hardly breathe.
Something else made them even more conflicted.
"If the Battle G.o.d has really crawled into the crevice and turned into a monster like Zhao Liwei, should we keep chasing after him and save him?
"Even if we manage to save the Battle G.o.d, he would be a monster. Could he still turn the tide and take charge of the situation?"
Thirty-two hearts thumped in the dead silence.
No one could make such a difficult decision.
"I sense that Master Lei's situation is different from Zhao Liwei's."
Meng Chao climbed up and down without giving up. He carefully observed Lei Zongchao's afterimages and the traces of his pa.s.sage on the rock wall. Then, he closed his eyes and constructed a three-dimensional model of Lei Zongchao's movements in his mind.
"Did you guys notice that Master Lei never stopped for even a moment after he jumped into the abyss? He sprinted into the depths of the darkness like he was on a hundred-meter dash," Meng Chao said.
"This is the first time Master Lei has stopped to observe and think. He even turned back a few times and left red afterimages on the rock walls within a hundred meters around him. What do you think this means?"
"This means Lei Zongchao isn't bewitched by the crevice. Rather, this crevice already bewitched him more than ten years ago before the ancient ruins were sealed," Lu Siya immediately replied.
"After more than ten years, he has returned to look for this crevice."
"That's right."
Meng Chao gazed at Lu Siya and continued. "I think that when Master Lei entered the crevice, he was clear-headed. He knew what he was doing, and he should have known the consequences of doing so. After thinking about it rationally, he believed that he could bear the consequences and it would be beneficial to Dragon City."
"So?" Shen Yupeng frowned and asked.
"Is this a different and harmless gap? Should we follow Lei Zongchao's footsteps and dive into the darkness, into the endless unknown?"
Meng Chao frowned slightly. He leaned against the edge of the crevice and subtly adjusted his posture until his body completely merged with Lei Zongchao's last scarlet afterimage at the entrance of the crevice.
Then, he stuck half of his body into the crevice to spy on the movements in its depths.
"This crevice seems to be wider than all the other crevices we've encountered."
" Also," Meng Chao said, "its inner walls are incredibly smooth, and there aren't many sharp edges protruding out. Maybe we can pa.s.s through without turning our bodies into deformed and twisted forms."
"The entrance is s.p.a.cious, but that doesn't mean there aren't any twists and turns inside.
"No." Shen Yupeng shook his head. "Just because we won't be scratched by the sharp rocks doesn't mean that the mysterious force within the crevice has no other way to modify our flesh and blood into weird substances such as rubber, crystal, and foam. It also doesn't mean that we won't be tempted by its ancient mysteries and completely forget our mission.
"But I'm afraid that we can't turn back now."
Meng Chao responded, "I know that the deeper we go into the ancient ruins, the easier it is for us to encounter all kinds of strange and unpredictable dangers. But if we think about it from another perspective, who can guarantee that we'll return to our starting point without incident if we turn back now?
"Who can guarantee that we'll still be 100% 'us' when we return and that we won't be corrupted by the mysterious power in the depths of the ruins?
"What I mean is, since all of us have probably been affected by the mysterious force, it's also quite risky to return to the surface. At least, if we continue moving forward, we'll know when it's time to die!"
"There's one more thing, and it's very important."
Lu Siya added, "I studied the information and logs of many pioneers who had explored the ancient ruins, and I discovered an interesting phenomenon. There were many occurrences where the ancient ruins seemed to have free will or a life of its own. It's best not to go against its will.
"Look, we have a total of thirty-three rescue team members. We've only lost one member after diving three to five hundred meters deep into the ruins.
"In previous explorations of the ancient ruins, half of the group or even the entire army would be killed. What we have is simply a stroke of good luck.
"One possibility is, we've been cautious and lucky enough.
"But could there be another possibility? We've been following Battle G.o.d Lei Zongchao in this exploration mission. Maybe, we obtained the recognition and approval of the ancient ruins. Is it possible that the ancient ruins opened the path for us and allowed us to charge here without any danger?
"If that's the case, won't we anger the ancient ruins if we turn around now and give up halfway? We would put our entire team in a situation where we would definitely die."
The possibility raised by Lu Siya made everyone shiver.
They seemed to sense an enormous eye slowly opening in the darkness beneath their feet.
It was unblinking as it stared at them and waited for them to make the decision to live or die.