32: Pipe Ghost

"Warning! Structural integrity below 15%!"

"Warning! Irreversible deformation occurring in multiple locations!"

In his personal terminal, the crude system prompts had turned into ear-piercing alarms.

Chen Feng was deaf to it all; the only thing he could hear now was the shrill screech of metal being squeezed and twisted around him, sounding like the wail of a dying behemoth.

He curled up in the pipe, which had already deformed into an irregular diamond shape, and crawled forward with great difficulty.

With every movement, the crushed and broken metal edges carved new gashes into his body, and blood quickly soaked his tattered miner's uniform. The pain was like fire, searing every inch of his skin, but he didn't even have the energy to feel it.

All of his will was concentrated on a single action: "forward."

The metal plates above his head were sinking at a visible rate, and the space left for him was getting narrower and narrower.

"Bang!"

Less than three meters ahead, a section of the pipe was completely crushed, letting out a dull, massive thud that totally blocked his path.

A dead end.

Chen Feng stopped abruptly, his breath hitching. Sweat and blood mixed together, flowing into his eyes and bringing a stinging pain.

At this critical moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a palm-sized, rust-stained square cover plate below and to the side; in the violent vibrations, its edges seemed to have loosened slightly.

An old maintenance hatch!

There was no time to think; the instinct for survival drove his body.

He flipped over and kicked the cover plate with all his might!

"Clang!"

The cover plate didn't budge, and the force of the recoil sent a sharp pain through his ankle.

"Again!"

From his waist, he fumbled for that uniquely shaped metal tool he had confiscated from Ma Liu—the Multi-functional Lockpick.

At this moment, it was no longer a tool for picking locks, but a life-saving crowbar!

Chen Feng jammed the hardest end of the lockpick firmly into the gap of the cover plate, braced his shoulder against the sinking pipe wall above, and pressed his entire body weight onto it!

"Open... for... me!"

A beast-like low growl squeezed out of his throat, and the veins on his arms bulged.

The "creak" of metal friction was almost enough to pierce his eardrums.

The lockpick in his hand bent into an alarming arc, liable to snap at any moment.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound—not the lockpick snapping, but the old latch finally succumbing to the pressure and completely breaking!

The moment the maintenance hatch cover was pried open, Chen Feng didn't even have time to see what was below before he unhesitatingly curled his body into a ball and tumbled inside.

The very next second after he entered.

"Boom—!!!"

Behind him, the entire ventilation duct where he had just been was completely crushed into a flat iron pancake.

A narrow escape from death.

However, he had no time to celebrate.

He had fallen into a vertical pipe; it was pitch black all around, and a slimy sensation enveloped him. A stench mixed with machine oil, rot, and chemical waste rushed into his nostrils, making him want to gag.

A trash disposal pipe.

He was sliding down at an incredible speed. The intense friction was nearly wearing through his clothes, and his exposed skin stung as if it were burning; he felt like he was about to be "polished" raw.

During the chaotic slide, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a faded nameplate, half-hidden by filth, flash by on the inner wall of the pipe.

"...Leading to... Paleo-ecological Observation Zone... Sample Processing..."

A few blurred words were branded into his mind like a hot iron.

The end of this path was an area he had never heard of.

"Splat!"

Before he could think further, he was flung out from the end of the pipe, landing heavily on something soft and elastic, which absorbed most of the impact.

He struggled to lift his head and found himself lying on a large patch of soft moss.

He looked around and was completely stunned.

This was an incredibly vast underground cave, the ceiling so high its end was invisible. The surroundings were covered with giant mushrooms emitting a faint blue glow and crystal-clear crystal clusters, illuminating the entire space like a fairyland from myth.

The air was exceptionally pure, with a hint of sweet fragrance, a world of difference from the foul air of the mining area.

He had survived and had unexpectedly stumbled into a hidden paradise.

Chen Feng struggled to stand steady, just wanting to take a deep breath of this long-awaited fresh air.

Suddenly—

An invisible but extremely powerful shockwave swept out from the depths of the cave without warning, like an invisible sledgehammer slamming into his mind!

"Buzz—!"

The world instantly lost sound and color, leaving only a soul-tearing pain and a blank void.