Chapter 103: Deep into the Hollow
Lin Ye didn't ask the two about information regarding the Great Hollow. If his guess was correct, the overseers would provide him with relevant intelligence soon—the organization's information was far more accurate than the random speculations of D-Class personnel.
Four overseers boarded the prison transport vehicle, which then started moving. This time there was no separate driver; one of the overseers operated the vehicle.
As spiritual energy continuously flowed into his body, Lin Ye began attempting to mutate his physical structure. While he couldn't create complex mutation organs like the little dog's heart, he could develop some simple yet effective bodily modifications.
This time, Lin Ye planned to experiment with carving runes inside his body to enhance its durability. As for the original body owner's opinions... survival took priority for now.
Just as Lin Ye was altering his physical structure, an overseer passed him a document through the isolation window. Zorn and Danny stared at Lin Ye in astonishment—this was the first time they'd seen overseers hand documentation to a D-Class personnel.
Lin Ye distractedly opened the document, which contained basic information about the Great Hollow and their mission objectives. The cause of the Great Hollow's formation remained unknown, having appeared without warning one day at the edge of a city.
The hollow measured several kilometers in diameter with unknown depth, and its interior was extremely dangerous. Their squad's mission was to reach specific coordinates at 147 meters depth, where one of the organization's outposts was located.
The outpost had lost communication one month ago. During that time, the organization had dispatched multiple squads to investigate, but all teams had subsequently lost contact. The document showed numerous editing marks between sentences, forcing Lin Ye to reconstruct the information through imagination.
However, this information wasn't actually crucial—after a month, anything could have happened to the outpost. 'What a pain. Did that fox trick me? The special skill can only be used once, and according to the notes it's quite dangerous.'
Lin Ye passed the document to the curious Zorn and continued absorbing spiritual energy to mutate his body structure. Zorn trembled as he read through the file before handing it to Danny. As the two exchanged despairing looks, the prison transport accelerated toward their predetermined destination. Thirty minutes later, the vehicle stopped at the hollow's edge, and everyone disembarked in sequence. The spiritual energy concentration near the hollow was remarkably high, prompting Lin Ye to accelerate his mutation process.
The Great Hollow resembled a massive mining pit with thin mist drifting within, limiting visibility. Standing at its edge, they appeared like insignificant ants.
"What do you need?" The Squad Leader asked with serious expression and sharp eyes—he appeared to be a dangerous man.
"Weapons. Preferably one for ranged and one for close combat." Lin Ye didn't stand on ceremony but also didn't make excessive demands.
"Give them to him." One overseer retrieved a longsword and pistol from the vehicle and approached Lin Ye. The overseer watched Lin Ye warily, clearly reluctant to hand over the weapons.
Lin Ye looked toward the Captain, who then reluctantly surrendered the weapons. Both the longsword and pistol were spiritual energy items. The pistol was a standard spiritual energy pistol with 15 rounds in the magazine, while the longsword looked familiar—apparently part of the same series as that experimental longsword.
"You, take point." The Captain said to Zorn.
"Can I get a weapon too?" Zorn tentatively asked.
"Give him a dagger." This time the overseer didn't hesitate, directly handing Zorn a dagger.
Zorn felt miserable but didn't dare complain further. He didn't actually believe weapons would be useful inside the hollow, but holding one provided some psychological comfort.
The hollow's edge featured winding paths leading downward, with gentle slopes spiraling into the depths. While possible to descend without following the paths, the steeper slopes and easy disorientation made route-following preferable—reportedly, sticking to paths reduced encounters with anomalous phenomena.
Zorn took the lead with Lin Ye and Danny following behind him. The Captain positioned himself in the middle while three overseers brought up the rear. The squad descended rapidly along the path, with Zorn moving quickly—he understood that prolonged stays here increased mortality rates. If they encountered anomalous phenomena, he would die here regardless of speed.
At regular intervals, the Captain would stop to manipulate a box-shaped instrument displaying numerous readings and rotate the point personnel. Danny's scouting pace wasn't as fast as Zorn's, but he seemed to possess some understanding of the hollow, sometimes accelerating while other times pausing before continuing forward.
During these pauses, Lin Ye didn't detect anything abnormal, but the Captain approved of this behavior and never urged him to hurry. Soon it was Lin Ye's turn to take point. He moved even faster than Zorn—if possible, he would have preferred descending alone in a fighter jet.
Longer distances meant more variables and greater simulation mission difficulty. Lin Ye had no intention of wasting too many simulation opportunities on the journey.
Bang! Gunfire suddenly erupted behind them. Lin Ye immediately stopped and drew his pistol while sensing his surroundings—the Captain could handle whatever happened behind them.
"Number 3, report situation." The Captain looked toward the overseer who had fired.
"Report—I saw a creature standing diagonally behind us, but it disappeared when I fired." Overseer Number 3 nervously looked around, searching for the creature.
"Describe the creature's appearance." The Captain hadn't detected the creature but didn't question Overseer Number 3's account.
"...It was a black humanoid creature with a large head and slender limbs. I only caught a glimpse through peripheral vision, so I didn't see it clearly." Overseer Number 3 breathed rapidly, visibly tense.
"Continue advancing. Report immediately if you see the creature again—don't fire. I'll handle it." The Captain spoke with steady, unfluctuating tone.
The squad continued forward, but after only a few steps, gunfire sounded from behind again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! "Number 3, report situation." Overseer Number 3 had fired again, but the Captain's expression remained unchanged, showing no emotional fluctuation.
"Ha... ha... The creature appeared again! Five meters diagonally behind me!" Overseer Number 3 breathed rapidly, extremely tense.
"Can I get a weapon too?" Zorn tentatively asked.
Lin Ye continued scouting ahead, but after only a few steps, gunfire erupted behind them once more.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! This time Overseer Number 3 emptied his entire magazine, all bullets striking the Captain's spiritual energy shield.
Even after exhausting his ammunition, Overseer Number 3 didn't stop. He continuously turned toward his diagonal rear, finger repeatedly pulling the trigger despite the empty weapon.
"Stop. Calm down." The Captain carefully sensed their surroundings but detected nothing abnormal.
"Die, die, die, die..." Under everyone's gaze, Overseer Number 3's head exploded into nothingness. The headless corpse maintained its turning and firing motion for another half-rotation before collapsing to the ground.