Chapter 519: The Peculiar Tunnel |
Initially, the footage appeared normal, continuously showing a tunnel. However, after a while, Lily suddenly noticed the image of a woman up ahead!
At this sight, she was taken aback, but the next moment, she realized that the woman looked like herself?
She glanced up and realized that at some point, the robots had moved from the front towards her. She had been instructing them to move forward all along, so how did they end up back here?
At this moment, she remembered what Qiao Tie had said: the robots really did keep moving in a straight line back.
Lily decided not to use the robots again; if they encountered the same issue, it might continue to happen. Since the robots hadn't faced any attacks in the tunnel, she chose to venture in herself.
Entering the tunnel, she immediately felt as if it was somehow separated from the outside world. She even sensed the presence of air. What was happening here?
She proceeded with caution, slowly making her way forward. Just like the scenes she had seen earlier, there was nothing different around her. But as she continued, she suddenly spotted the robots that had remained where she left them.
Turning her head, she saw nothing behind her. Something was definitely wrong with this tunnel.
She had been walking straight all along, so how could this situation occur?
When it came to matters of space, it was no longer something she could solve on her own. So she immediately reported the situation to Su Chen.
Upon hearing Lily's words, Su Chen stood up from his chair. He guessed one possibility from Lily's words.
That tunnel might have been left behind by the Qiluo Civilization!
Based on what he knew, the Qiluo Civilization had nearly become one of the highest-ranking members of humanity. Given the proximity of Yan Yun Star to Earth, only 0.5 light-years away, it should have posed no significant challenge to the Qiluo Civilization's technology.
"You wait here; I'll be right over," Su Chen said.
With Yun Ru, he quickly teleported to the base on the satellite and arrived at Lily's location.
"Is this it?" Su Chen looked at the tunnel in front of him. It appeared entirely ordinary, just as Lily had described. There was no indication that it was left behind by the Qiluo Civilization.
This raised a question: Why would the Qiluo Civilization leave a tunnel here?
Su Chen didn't believe that the Qiluo Civilization did this on a whim. If they left something behind, it might be related to their destruction.
The shelters left on Earth were devoid of any survivors. Could there be survivors from the Qiluo Civilization here?
The thought of this possibility made Su Chen eager to unravel the mystery of the tunnel immediately and explore the Qiluo Civilization's secrets.
As soon as Yun Ru arrived, she pulled out some instruments and began monitoring the tunnel. Tanya and Ju Ling assisted her enthusiastically, working fervently.
Su Chen wasn't in a hurry. He watched them work and occasionally nibbled on some jerky.
As for how he ate, he naturally used his teleportation ability!
After about half an hour, Yun Ru approached Su Chen with an excited expression. "Commander, based on my analysis, I've discovered that there's air inside the tunnel, and its composition is quite similar to Earth's. This place seems to have been specially designed for human survival."
"Good. Did you find any answers to the issues Lily mentioned?" Su Chen nodded.
"The spatial interplay here is somewhat different from what I imagined, it's like..." Yun Ru carefully thought about the right words to describe it and finally came up with an analogy, "It's like Earth's shelter, but not as advanced. With a certain amount of energy impact, the spatial dimensions inside this tunnel should be able to return to normal within a short time."
Energy impact? That was no problem at all for Su Chen; after all, he had four Ninth-level Peak Super Soldiers by his side!
Boom!
Without hesitation, Ju Ling took out her Sniper Rifle Soul Slayer and fired a scorching bullet that vanished from their sight and exploded with a thunderous roar.
However, under Ju Ling's control, the shockwave was contained within a small range to prevent damaging the tunnel.
In that instant, Su Chen saw a slight ripple in the tunnel's space, but it quickly returned to normal.
"Commander, the space has returned to normal," Tanya, who possessed teleportation abilities, declared authoritatively.
"Let's go in and see if there are any surviving Qiluo Civilization individuals inside," Su Chen said, a faint smile on his lips. He didn't venture in immediately because he knew his four Super Soldiers would never agree to let him take such a risk.
Sure enough, just as he said that, Ju Ling stepped forward first. "Commander, we can go in; there's no need for Commander to take the risk."
The other three shared the same view: they would never compromise on Commander's safety.
"Alright, but it's best if all of you go inside just in case," Su Chen shrugged.
"No, someone must stay behind to protect Commander's safety. Lily and I will go in," Ju Ling said.
Su Chen didn't refuse, and so Ju Ling and Lily entered the tunnel. A significant amount of time passed, but they didn't return, indicating that the tunnel had returned to normal.
On the other side, Ju Ling and Lily walked quite a distance along the tunnel until they saw a bright light at the end, marking the tunnel's exit.
Ju Ling held her Sniper Rifle, and Lily's psychic powers were ready to be unleashed. If they sensed any danger at the exit, they didn't mind causing a ruckus.
However, when they emerged from the tunnel, they found themselves in a place full of life but devoid of any living creatures.
If Ju Ling were to describe a place resembling a paradise, it would undoubtedly be this one. Mist lingered in the air, vibrant flowers bloomed around them, dewdrops glistened on the grass, a small stream meandered by—the scene was like an idyllic paradise.
Yet, in this picturesque place, there was not a single living being in sight, which was somewhat strange.
The two women noticed that the tunnel's exit was halfway up a small mountain. Surprisingly, there was a sun and clouds in the sky, making it look exactly like Earth.
Ju Ling remembered the scenes she had seen in the shelter and knew that all of this was an illusion created by the Qiluo Civilization's advanced technology; they were still underground.
"It looks like there's a cluster of buildings over there. Let's go take a look." (To be continued)
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