Chapter 391: Beneath The Crust
Michael had wondered why they needed to dig hundreds of kilometers beneath Venus’s surface. Now he finally had his answer... they had discovered a subterranean civilization.
The place was outrageously colossal. The landscape stretched farther than anyone on the crew could perceive. Even Cyberfang’s scanners were unable to map the entire expanse, barely scratching the surface.
Jagged pillars were erected, partly supporting the integral structure of the place. They loomed like towers riddled with holes from which aliens were moving as if in the middle of a beehive. In some places the terrain mimicked mountain ranges and in others large plains, though it lacked the usual green vegetation... Even crevices were visible.
Deep underground, people who hadn’t enhanced their vision through cultivation would usually rely on artificial lights like torches or night vision to navigate the place. Yet here, there was no need.
Upon the ceiling, which extended over dozens of kilometers, numerous crystals were scattered throughout, embedded deep in its crust. Some were smaller than a man’s fist. Others were bigger than an average house. All of them illuminated the land below by casting a faint, vibrant light that mimicked mesmerizing stars.
"Did I overdose on mushrooms?" Richard murmured. "It feels like I’m in the middle of an acid trip... What the hell is this place?"
Considering that the crew rarely did anything outside the realm of combat, his confusion wasn’t surprising.
The first to recover her composure was Victoria. After clearing her throat, she answered.
"I believe these are spiritual crystals." She explained, still slightly in a daze.
Richard gave her a dumbfounded look, as if she were speaking another language.
Heaving a sigh, Victoria elaborated.
"Spiritual energy is all around us. It’s not some mystical force like most people believe. We know the planet’s pull affects it, keeping it in place. Gravity works on it, so in a way, we can conclude that it has some kind of physical property."
She paused briefly.
"Killing aliens cause their bodies to release a large portion of their spiritual energy, allowing us to cultivate with more efficacy. The same is true for humans, though our output of spiritual energy upon death is far lower... Even abysmal compared to that of slain aliens. It’s one of the reasons it’s rare for us to hunt one another for spiritual energy since the reward simply wouldn’t be worth it..."
It was a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, humans would have gone out of their way to kill each other if given the chance, all just to cultivate their power. That limitation was why, when Michael had killed Absolute Lord Nemesis, he didn’t bother making use of the corpse’s power... It simply wouldn’t have been worth it.
Regardless, while Victoria’s explanation was a helpful reminder of how spiritual energy was structured and worked, Richard was a man of few words. He groaned, silently wishing her tiresome lesson would end sooner.
Her brow twitched, slightly offended by his disinterest, as she finished.
"And since spiritual energy essentially has physical properties, it can be stored in places other than living bodies... like the golden tree or geysers, for instance. The same applies to rocks, which acquire special properties and become what we call spiritual crystals."
Naturally, spiritual crystals were an inferior way to increase the potency of spiritual energy in the surroundings, though that didn’t deter massive mining operations to be conducted across the whole solar system.
At higher levels, the crystals held little value for cultivators, but at the lower levels, they were a highly sought-after commodity. After all, they offered a way to gain strength without risking one’s life.
"Wait a minute..." Richard’s eyes widened. The gears in his head started turning while he observed the countless crystals of varying shapes and sizes above him.
"Doesn’t that mean that if we mine all of them, we’re going to be rich?!"
"No." Michael said calmly. "We were already rich to begin with."
In the same breath, he added.
"Excavating all the spiritual crystals here would yield enough profit to buy a planet."
Richard erupted into laughter. "That was a good joke, Boss!"
Michael tilted his head to the side, his expression betraying no hint of amusement.
"..."
"You were serious?" Richard blinked slowly. "Holy. Fucking. Shit."
They had just stumbled upon something far more precious than a diamond mine.
Michael glanced at his comm device.
He wasn’t surprised to find there was no signal from the world above. Their technology might have progressed tremendously, yet no signal could penetrate the kilometers of dense planetary layers to reach him.
Claire had done a masterful job of digging the long passageway. Sadly, it would take hours to reach the surface again, even going at top speed.
Time wasn’t on their side. With the plague still raging in the feline district, the longer they took, the more of Ruby’s kin were bound to be infected. The weaker they became, the easier it would be for the cultist members to pick them off.
Needless trips weren’t encouraged in the slightest.
After discussing among themselves, they mutually agreed that exploring the place was the wiser option. Carefully mapping it and learning more about its unfamiliar terrain could be postponed to the future, when there weren’t so many lives at stake.
Their primary goal was to find any signs of the cultists, learn what their involvement was with the aliens crawling within, and find a potential cure for the plague.
Given the foreign land they were about to explore, Michael wasn’t willing to hold back. He let go of his sword, allowing Devil to assume his true form.
They took great care to conceal the tunnel they had just created. If the aliens followed it, they would find themselves deep in the capital’s domain, creating a disaster.
Fully prepared, they marched forward.
Unfortunately, they had lost the mole’s tracking signal, meaning either their mammal friend had died or someone had disabled the tracking device.
Either way, they were truly blind. Even Michael was in the dark since he had never discovered the hollow subterranean civilization in his first life.
"Don’t forget to stay clear of their tentacles." Michael reminded.
Since a scratch was enough for the Hreh’tar to lay their offspring in their bodies, Claire piloting her mecha, Cyberfang, and Devil were to fight on the frontline since one way or the other they were immune to that particular danger.
"I wonder if this is how the ancient explorers felt when they were discovering Earth’s lands..." Michael mused aloud. The first alien threat already pounced on their group with killing intent.