Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 294: Chapter 138: Sudden Change

The convoy left the bustling Giant City and entered the vast wilderness.

”Just leaving like that?”

From the passenger seat, a female Ye Boshou teased Cheese, ”According to the original plan, you’re going to be away from him for a long time. When parting, just a hug and no words? No actions? You are still too young. If it were me, I’d at least make him need to lean on the wall to walk.”

As someone who had been through it all, she seemed to detect that Cheese had the impulse to express certain emotions during the hug. But in the end, she chose silence.

”I’m leaving already, and the outcome is uncertain. Why should I hold him back? So, rather than that...” Cheese’s eyes wandered as she softly responded, ”I’m looking forward to our next meeting...”

”Yes, meeting again means you both are still alive.” The female Ye Boshou sighed lightly. ”Actually, you could have stayed within the walls of Giant City. This task could have been handled by us old-timers. You’re too young to be involved in such risky operations.”

”You’re talking nonsense again.” Cheese calmly replied, ”This is our shared sorrowful wish. How could I always let you bear the burden alone?”

...

On the other side, Li Yelai watched the departing convoy until they completely disappeared from sight.

In the cold wind, the warmth of the recent hug felt like a fleeting dream.

He gently rubbed his still somewhat warm cheeks and turned to leave.

As a Spiritual Ability User whom Li Yelai had first met, Cheese’s relationship with him had evolved from work colleagues to close friends and neighbors.

Her departure stirred a faint melancholy in Li Yelai’s heart.

But he was not prone to sentimentality; instead, he blessed and supported her in achieving her goal.

Afterwards, Li Yelai hurried to the underground research facility.

His Spiritual Ability Equipment had been repaired, and it was time to receive the Mountain King Avatar.

Two hours later, after several turns and much difficulty—he couldn’t publicly use his abilities under the light of day, nor could he drive—reaching the destination had been somewhat troublesome.

A colleague suggested that Li Yelai should learn to drive and get himself a vehicle for ease of traveling.

However, Li Yelai was a bit scared; although becoming a Spiritual Ability User had allowed him to save some money, his knack for destroying vehicles was terrible.

One careless moment, and a vehicle could be scrapped. Oh, the poor old thing...

Again, he worried about the Thunder Stepping Dragon Colt.

Thinking to himself, Li Yelai walked to a factory located on the outskirts of the Old City District.

After presenting his identification and verifying his identity, he was granted access.

He then took an elevator descending fifty meters underground.

This place had once been a sub-branch of the Ember Church but was turned into an official underground shelter during the Disaster Fog era.

After the Disaster Fog ended, it had become a research area for studying the characteristics of Extraordinary Creatures and the Insect Swarm.

The Nightfall Mountain Lord was confined therein.

As the elevator doors opened, a huge research hall came into view, the air filled with a faint scent of formaldehyde.

At the center of the hall, there was a massive transparent glass container filled with a blue liquid, which housed the corpse of a Forbidden Army Insect.

Around the walls of the hall were many laboratories, where, through semi-transparent glass windows, researchers could be observed conducting various experiments, some dissecting and observing the characteristics of Extraordinary Creatures, others analyzing the genetic structure of creatures.

Here, it seemed as if research and exploration of the unknown were endless.

Li Yelai did not disturb them, but instead passed through the hall and laboratories, taking the elevator deeper underground.

The upper levels were dedicated to studying corpses of Extraordinary Creatures.

The deeper underground levels housed several live Extraordinary Creatures.

Their abilities were unique or valuable and required further research and observation.

Led by the person in charge, Li Yelai passed through a highly secured area and came to a vast room in this underground layer.

After checking his identity information once more, he successfully entered the room.

The Nightfall Mountain Lord, bound by chains, was located here.

It still looked as majestic and ferocious as ever, sprawling in the room like a small mountain. Compared to before, its body seemed thinner.

During the Disaster Fog period, it had also encountered the Insect Swarm and was forced to fight them.

With the shortage of food provided by the officials, it had to resort to eating insects, resulting in poisoning...

Once rescued, it became more cooperative with humans. Of course, it might just be pretending.

The Nightfall Mountain Lord sniffed the air and opened its four tiger eyes to look at Li Yelai.

After a brief moment of surprise, it let out a low tiger’s roar.

’You’re still alive? When I sensed that my avatar had died in battle, I thought you had perished too.’

”Only by luck,” Li Yelai responded in Virtual Realm Beast Language, ”We eventually quelled the Insect Swarm and triumphed over the Disaster Fog.”

’I know,’ the Nightfall Mountain Lord responded, ’Otherwise, you wouldn’t even see a hair of mine; the Insect Swarm would have devoured you. Now, are you here to receive an avatar? What strength do you need?’

”Four Awakenings,” Li Yelai replied. His combat strength had grown stronger than before, and he was no longer far from Four Awakenings, so he intended to acquire a Four Awakenings Mountain King Avatar.

’Arrogant human, while you, as a Second Awakening, might suppress a Third Awakening’s avatar, a Third Awakening you cannot contain a Four Awakenings’ avatar! You should know the strength of Four Awakenings!’

The four eyes of the Nightfall Mountain Lord squinted, ’Even though you humans can erase the avatar’s self-awareness and memory, reducing many of its offensive methods, its instincts remain. When it realizes that its controller is much weaker than itself, it will inevitably retaliate! Can you suppress a Four Awakenings avatar?’