142: Chapter 142 High-Pressure Lava Layer

Bronze gear patterns slowly lit up beneath their feet.

A dull grinding sound of chains echoed from deep within the elevator platform.

Lin Ye stood in the center of the platform, his right hand gripping the bone blade in a reverse hold, his left hand keeping the damaged axe low.

Zhao Mengmeng crouched at the edge, holding her crossbow level, her arrowhead locked onto the Blackwater Stone Forest.

"Brother Lin, this ride is about to start."

"Yeah."

"The bunch behind us haven't bought their tickets yet."

"They'll pay for them themselves."

No sooner had the words left his mouth.

The elevator platform suddenly shuddered.

The eight pillars at the edge of the bronze platform sank simultaneously.

The foul-smelling black water was forced into rings of stench-filled ripples by the blast of air.

The Challengers from various countries trapped in the stone forest hesitated no longer.

Ivan was the first to move.

Dragging a chipped Bone Pickaxe and stepping on the wet tracks left by the toxic rain, he sprinted toward the central elevator platform.

Pierre followed behind, dragging his mangled leg, and threw a rope to hook onto the beast-hide buckle at Ivan's waist.

"Bear, give me a hand!"

Without even turning his head, Ivan rasped, "Don't drag me down to die with you."

Pierre, his mouth full of bloody froth, barked, "Are your pants more important, or your life?"

Ivan spat out a Russian curse, tightened his grip on the rope with one arm, and dashed across the stone pillars, dragging the other man along.

On the other side.

Martin of the United Kingdom was being supported by a companion as they leaped forward.

Blood from the wound on his right leg dripped down through the gaps in his beast-sinew bindings.

The scent of blood seeped into the water.

The black water parted as a Blind Blade Lizard sprang up, lunging straight for Martin's dangling calf.

His companion cried out in alarm, hacking repeatedly with his blade.

The blade struck the lizard's bone armor, sending sparks flying without leaving even a white scratch.

Martin drew the dagger at his thigh and, without even looking at his wound, plunged it straight into the lizard's nostril.

Pain forced the lizard to release its grip.

However, its thrashing tail blade swept across Martin's ankle, tearing open a large chunk of flesh.

Half of Martin's body tilted toward the black water.

"Don't stop!" his companion yelled, dragging him forward with all his might.

The elevator platform was slowly rising.

The bronze edge was already half a foot above the water's surface.

Blake lunged out from a stone niche in the distance.

His palms were wrapped in beast sinew into bloody clumps, and the outer side of his right shoulder was riddled with pits burned by the toxic rain.

Unable to climb, he could only rely on the explosive power of his legs to charge forward.

He had to get onto the platform, even if he had to pave the way with his own blood.

Tucking a Bone Spear under his left arm, Blake stepped heavily onto the nearest high pillar.

Landing too heavily, the stone pillar sank three inches.

The black water surged over the top of the pillar.

Two Blind Blade Lizards lunged at him simultaneously.

Blake roared, sweeping his Bone Spear to knock the first one aside, but his left forearm was clamped hard by the second one's sharp teeth.

Bony teeth sliced into his flesh, and blood sprayed wildly.

He didn't pull his arm back.

Instead, he used his left arm to lock the lizard's head in place and slammed his right knee upward.

Crack.

The jawbone dislocated and fractured.

Dragging the half-dead lizard, Blake stepped off the pillar and leaped toward the elevator platform.

Zhao Mengmeng's back broke out in a cold sweat as she watched, her crossbow sweeping back and forth.

"Brother Lin, should I shoot a couple of arrows at them?"

"Save your arrows."

"These guys are bound to turn on us once they get up."

"Even if they don't get up, they'll still play dirty tricks from below."

Lin Ye stared at the slowly rising bronze edge.

"It's easier to kill them if they climb up injured than if they watch us from the dark in perfect condition."

Zhao Mengmeng's mouth twitched.

The elevator platform rose to the height of a person.

Ivan made his final leap, the stone pillar beneath his feet sinking abruptly as the black water swallowed up to his boots.

He swung his Bone Pickaxe in a wide arc, slamming it into the bronze edge.

The tip of the pickaxe wedged into the gear patterns.

Ivan's body was forcibly dragged upward, leaving him hanging in midair.

Pierre swung over using the rope, his hands tightening hard around the beast-hide belt behind Ivan's waist.

The muscles on Ivan's back bulged. Exerting force with a single arm, he swung both of them onto the edge of the platform.

The two of them rolled several times across the bronze surface.

Zhao Mengmeng immediately pointed her crossbow down at them.

Ivan lay flat on his back, raising his empty hands to signal surrender.

Pierre's face was deathly pale, his mangled leg turned purple from the acidic mist of the Water Dungeon.

Martin's companion was half a step too late.

The wet pillar beneath his feet sank, and the black water flooded past his knees.

Three Blind Blade Lizards lunged at once, water splashing alongside bloodcurdling screams.

Martin, biting down on his dagger, clawed at the outer bronze edge with both hands.

He watched helplessly as his companion was dragged to the bottom of the water.

Pressing his forehead against the metal edge, he bit his lip until it bled. Without uttering a single sound, he forced his injured leg up.

Blake was the last to reach the platform.

The bronze edge had already risen more than two meters high.

With a violent swing of his left arm, he hurled the dead lizard he had choked to death toward the distant water.

The dull splash drew away several patrolling dark shadows.

Blake used the momentum to leap, but his ruined right hand couldn't grip the smooth metal.

His left elbow slammed against the platform, and the Bone Spear slipped from his grasp and fell.

His body fell backward at high speed.

Just as Zhao Mengmeng was about to pull the trigger, Lin Ye pressed down on her wrist.

"Let him up. His hand is ruined."

Before falling, Blake clamped his teeth onto an abandoned beast-sinew cord hanging from the outer side of the elevator platform.

His facial muscles contorted, and the veins on his neck looked ready to burst.

A few seconds later, he jammed his left elbow into the gear grooves and forced himself onto the platform.

His mouth full of bloody froth and his eyes bloodshot, Blake glared deathly at Lin Ye.

Zhao Mengmeng sneered.

Lin Ye didn't look back.

The elevator platform left the Water Dungeon.

The battered survivors lay scattered around the edges; none dared to take a single step toward the center.

The tower walls slowly slid past on all sides.

Mottled rust and thick black pipes crisscrossed each other.

Pungent black water remained in the gaps of the pipes.

Zhao Mengmeng's nostrils twitched. "The smell has changed."

Lin Ye suddenly looked up.

On the right side of the tower wall, a whole row of hidden small holes suddenly snapped open.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

Residual acid water mixed with grayish-green toxic mist sprayed out.

The outer edge was covered in toxic mist.

Ivan shoved Pierre down beneath him.

Martin picked up his companion's torn backpack to shield his head.

Blake had nowhere to hide. In the blink of an eye, dense blackish-red spots were corroded onto his cheeks and neck.

Suppressing a roar of pain in his throat, he grabbed a piece of torn hide to cover his nose and mouth.

Just as Zhao Mengmeng was about to retreat.

Lin Ye grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her behind him.

From the outside of his backpack, the half-ruined Dire Bear Pelt was pulled out.

Its edges were charred black, riddled with burn holes left by the toxic rain.

Lin Ye propped the bear pelt upward, and the Dark Weaver's Sub-Thread was accurately pinned into the pillars on both sides.

A slanted acid-shielding canopy was thus formed.

Acid water splashed against the bear pelt, crackling and kicking up a large cloud of pungent white smoke.

Zhao Mengmeng was tucked underneath, showing only a pair of eyes.

"What about you?!"

"I'm on the crosswind side."

"Your right shoulder is outside too!"

"It won't kill me."

Lin Ye took half a step forward, using the handle of his Fire Axe to prop up the depressed area of the bear pelt where the force was concentrated.

The acid mist swept across his shoulder guards, burning out several wisps of pale smoke.

If the canopy collapsed, Zhao Mengmeng's face would undoubtedly be burned through.

Lin Ye stared at the rhythm of the spray holes.

"Three rounds, then a pause."

The first round of acid mist swept through.

The second round was diagonally pressurized.

The third round swept horizontally along the ground.

Screams echoed continuously from the outer ring.

Patches of blackish-red blood blisters bubbled up on Ivan's back.

Martin's shield was burned through, and the wound on his leg began to fester severely.

Blake's left arm was covered in blisters, and his bloodshot eyes stared at Lin Ye's protective canopy, almost dripping blood.

That half-ruined bear pelt of Lin Ye's was exactly the leftover scrap used to catch the acid rain earlier.

This Great Xia man squeezed the value of even a piece of scrap to the absolute limit.

Blake swallowed the bloody taste in his throat and clenched his left hand tightly.

The spraying sounds ceased.

Lin Ye didn't move.

He waited for a full ten seconds.

Only after confirming that the spray holes were locked did he pull back the sub-thread.

The Dire Bear Pelt had become paper-thin and brittle, shattering into several charred black fragments scattered at his feet.

Zhao Mengmeng reached out.

"Don't touch it," Lin Ye said, pressing down with the handle of his axe.

Bullet screen comments flooded the Great Xia Live Stream.

[Using the crappiest pelt to mount the hardest defense!]

[The bunch in the outer ring got sprayed into sieves. And they wanted to turn on us just now?]

[Brother Lin blocking the crosswind like that, I'm a fan for life!]

The elevator platform slowed down.

A massive shudder came from overhead.

Giant bronze floodgates slowly parted.

An exceptionally violent wave of high-temperature heat crashed down on them.

The stray hairs on Zhao Mengmeng's forehead were dried out instantly by the hot wind.

"Holy crap, are we moving on to teppanyaki after being boiled?"

Lin Ye raised his hand to block the hot wind.

The third level. We've arrived.

The ground was entirely composed of dark red iron plates pieced together, with dark lava flowing through the gaps.

From the distant ground, blinding pillars of high-temperature fire erupted from time to time.

High-heat red liquid flowed along the walls crisscrossed with black pipes.

A heavy, burnt metallic smell stuffed everyone's nostrils.

Directly ahead.

There was only a single iron-plated path leading into the depths, pointing straight at the entrance archway to the next level.

To Lin Ye's right, a pale blue light screen popped up.

[Environment: Lava High-Pressure Level]

He closed his right eye, and his Left Eye snapped open.

His retina shuddered violently.

In the seemingly empty air ahead, dense red linear trajectories interwoven into a net.

Horizontal cuts, diagonal presses, throat-slitting, and strangulation.

Beneath the iron plates on the ground, dotted red lights pulsed and throbbed like hearts.

A dead end.

There was almost no gap to step in the entire passage.

Lin Ye closed his Left Eye, his eyeball aching.

Zhao Mengmeng gripped her crossbow tightly. "Is it even dirtier than below?"

Lin Ye didn't answer.

He bent down and picked up a tiny scrap of waste metal from beside his foot.

"Watch the front."

With a flick of his wrist.

The scrap iron drew an arc, flying over the empty iron plates ahead.

In the next instant.

The fragment silently snapped into two pieces in midair.

The cut glowed bright red.

Molten iron dripped onto the dark red iron plates, sizzling and giving off white smoke.

The elevator platform fell dead silent.

Zhao Mengmeng's throat felt dry.

"Invisible?"

"High-Temperature Cutting Lines."

Lin Ye pulled out the Dark Weaver's Sub-Thread and clipped it onto Zhao Mengmeng's belt.

"From now on, synchronize with me."

"If I crouch, you crouch."

"If I lean, you lean."

"If your stride is off by half an inch, you'll be sliced to pieces."

Zhao Mengmeng nodded heavily.

"Understood."