36: Chapter 36 Cave Murals, The Secret of the Black Tide

Having made up his mind, Li Taiping no longer hesitated.

He bypassed the sea of pink flowers, which was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, and continued walking deeper into the cave.

The cave was vast and interconnected, like a giant labyrinth.

Fortunately, with those glowing blue ores and mushrooms as guides, he wouldn't get lost.

After walking for about ten minutes, a "splashing" sound of water came from ahead.

Li Taiping perked up and quickened his pace.

After passing through a narrow passage, a clear underground river appeared before him.

The water was not deep and was crystal clear; he could even see some completely transparent small fish swimming in it.

Li Taiping crouched down, scooped up a handful of water, and tasted it.

"Fresh water?"

He was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected this underground river to be such a valuable source of fresh water.

He followed the flow of the underground river and continued downstream.

Since there was a fresh water river in this cave, it meant that a complete ecosystem likely existed here.

Soon after, not far away, at a bend in the river, he discovered an entrance that had clearly been artificially carved out.

The opening was not large, only wide enough for one person to pass through.

Li Taiping did not rashly enter. Instead, he first took a pistol out of his inventory, gripped it in his hand, and then cautiously poked his head in to look inside.

Inside the cave was a not-too-long corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there seemed to be a more spacious area.

After confirming there was no danger, Li Taiping turned sideways and squeezed inside.

The walls of the corridor were covered in marks from knives and axes, appearing very rough.

But when Li Taiping reached the end of the corridor and saw the scene in the spacious area clearly, his pupils suddenly constricted.

This was a huge circular stone chamber. On the dome of the chamber were embedded countless fist-sized glowing crystals, illuminating the entire space as bright as day.

And on the walls of the stone chamber were carved five huge and ancient murals.

The lines of these murals were extremely rough, and the style was primitive, but the content they depicted dealt a huge shock to Li Taiping's mind.

He walked up to the first mural.

The image showed a boundless, pitch-black sea.

Thousands of small boats of various shapes, like ants fleeing a disaster, were densely packed, fleeing frantically in the same direction.

On the decks of those ships stood blurry figures, all of whom seemed to be looking back in terror at something.

Li Taiping frowned slightly.

This scene looked for all the world like a great escape that had engulfed the entire world.

He walked up to the second mural.

The content of this painting made him instantly understand what those figures were afraid of.

Behind those fleeing ships, a black tide that blotted out the sky was sweeping over.

That was no ordinary tide.

In that ink-black seawater, Li Taiping clearly saw countless twisted, hideous tentacles, as well as pairs of huge eyes emitting a scarlet light, filled with brutality and madness!

"black tide..."

Li Taiping muttered to himself subconsciously.

So, the so-called black tide was not just a "poison ring" set by the system to urge players to move forward.

Within that darkness that devoured everything, there were actually such terrifying living creatures hidden!

He immediately remembered the bloodthirsty black shark he had encountered in the Treasure Chest Sea before.

The system's evaluation of it was: [Status: Manic (seems to be driven by some more terrifying aura, in an attack state after extreme terror).]

Now it seemed that what drove that shark was, in all likelihood, the monsters in this black tide!

Li Taiping's mood instantly became somewhat heavy.

He suppressed the speculations in his heart and continued to look at the third mural.

On the painting appeared a titan standing between heaven and earth.

The titan held a massive battle axe and stood atop a giant ship larger than a mountain, fighting alone against the terrifying black tide filled with tentacles and red eyes that was sweeping over.

The titan's figure was so imposing, filled with the tragic sorrow and determination of "I shall proceed even if thousands of men stand against me."

The fourth mural.

The scene became tragic.

That mountain-like giant ship had become shattered, its wreckage floating on the black sea surface.

And that titan standing between heaven and earth had also been swallowed by the endless black tide, leaving only a blurry outline.

But at the very last moment before being completely swallowed, the titan's body seemed to undergo a violent explosion, turning into billions of brilliant points of light that scattered across the entire world.

Seeing this, a bold guess faintly formed in Li Taiping's heart.

Could it be...

He looked at the last, and also the most blurry, mural.

The carvings on this painting were already very blurry, and it was almost impossible to see the specific content clearly.

One could only vaguely make out that some of the points of light that had exploded from the titan's body seemed to have merged into those small boats that were fleeing.

"The murals in the novice dungeon... is this telling the origin story of this world?"

Li Taiping rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.

Titan, giant ship, black tide, great escape...

Connecting these pieces of information, a grand, tragic apocalyptic myth seemed to slowly unfold before his eyes.

If his guess was correct, that exploding titan was likely the source of all the Survivor' "Talent" and the "system" in this world.

And they, these Survivor who had been dropped into this sea, perhaps were not merely "players," but... "sparks" that had inherited the titan's power, the last hope of civilization?

"Tsk, why think so far ahead."

Li Taiping quickly shook his head, throwing these unrealistic speculations out of his mind.

Whatever the origin of the world, whatever the hope of humanity.

Considering these ethereal things now was completely useless.

For him, the most important thing was still to survive, and to live comfortably.

However, the fact that there were living things in that black tide did serve as a reminder to him.

In the future, he had to stay far away from that thing.

At the very least, before he had the strength to blow up a planet with one punch, he absolutely could not go courting death by provoking those tentacle monsters.

"Strength, the foundation of everything is still strength."

Li Taiping clenched his fist, his eyes becoming incomparably firm.

Whatever world secrets, whatever final BOSS, they could all go to hell.

As long as I am strong enough and roll the snowball big enough, then no matter if it's a god or a demon in front of me, one punch to smash it to pieces will be the end of it!

Having figured this out, Li Taiping's mood immediately lightened up quite a bit.

He no longer dwelled on the content of these murals, but turned around to leave the stone chamber and continue exploring deeper into the cave.

However, just at the moment he turned around, the corner of his eye seemed to catch a glimpse of some smaller, almost worn-away carvings in the corner of the fifth mural.

He curiously leaned in and carefully examined them for a long time.

That seemed to be... a few twisted characters?

No, it was more like a symbol.

A symbol composed of countless twisted lines and circles, filled with an evil and chaotic feeling.

Just by looking at it for a glance, Li Taiping felt a sharp pain in his head, as if countless needles were pricking it.

He hurriedly averted his gaze, feeling horrified in his heart.

This symbol is strange!

...