Chapter 400: In the ruins
Choosing the port had nothing to do with other factors;
Lin Ye simply wanted to see what a port looked like.
Due to a lack of necessary information, Lin Ye couldn't determine which path was the correct one either.
Ultimately, the information about the Pasture came from that monster disguised as Derrick. Whether that information was accurate was unknown, as the information the monster itself obtained might not have been reliable.
If the enemy considered that Lin Ye could solve the monster and extract information from its mind, then the information about the depth of 2475 meters and the Pasture might be a trap. Choosing one of the other two paths might be the correct option.
The branching path leading to the Port slanted downward to the left, with a gradient of about thirty degrees. Lin Ye walked forward along the branch. There were no living creatures on the road, only that noise occasionally ringing in his ears.
Lin Ye continuously calculated the descent depth in his mind. When the depth approached two thousand four hundred meters, he sensed a port appearing diagonally below.
'Depth 2475 meters, Pasture...'
An ancient port appeared within Lin Ye's perception. It was a port built on the sloping wall of the Bottomless Pit. Below the port was a body of seawater whose end he could not perceive. Lin Ye took out a high-power flashlight he had prepared in advance from his small pouch. Previously, to avoid attracting monsters, he had been moving in the dark relying on his perception. Now he wanted to get a more direct look at the port's appearance.
The beam of light swept across the area below. A small, antiquated port appeared in Lin Ye's field of vision. Below the port was a stretch of black seawater, and near the port floated a large number of shipwrecks.
Lin Ye walked to the edge of the coast. The beam of light swept across the dark seawater below. In the depths of the water, something seemed to be floating up. '... Damn it!'
Lin Ye turned off the flashlight and quickly retreated. He had no idea what the hell that deep-sea creature, completely beyond his visual range, down there was, because in his perception, there was nothing there at all.
After retreating for a while, Lin Ye suddenly stopped, because the direction of the noise was wrong.
Previously, that noise had been following behind him, but now it had moved to his front right. Since his spiritual perception couldn't confirm the correct surrounding environment, Lin Ye could only re-determine his own position based on the direction of the noise.
This method of positioning might not be accurate, but now Lin Ye had to make a choice immediately.
Running a distance towards the direction where the noise was coming from, Lin Ye did not fall into the sea.
Yet in his perception, he was running within the black seawater.
'What kind of hellish place is this?'
Relying on the noise, Lin Ye left the port area, and his chaotic perception slowly returned to normal.
However, Lin Ye quickly discovered something was off. He had not retreated back to the branch path leading to the port;
instead, he had run to another area. A stretch of ruins was less than a hundred meters away from him.
'... Could 2475 meters be some kind of depth limit? Once you exceed a depth of 2475 meters, you enter this hellish place?'
Lin Ye did not move away from the ruins. He was afraid of running back into the port area. If he entered the port again, he might not be able to get out.
Referencing the intermittent noise behind him, Lin Ye discovered this area did not have that perception deviation phenomenon.
That phenomenon was likely triggered by that terrifying sea creature.
Lin Ye walked towards that stretch of ruins. Before even entering the ruins, he perceived some humanoid figures moving within them.
"Hey, kid, don't go any further!"
An old man stood at the edge of the ruins, warning Lin Ye.
"I'm looking for a researcher from Carnot Heavy Industries. His name is Derrick. If you can tell me where he is, I can stop."
Lin Ye continued walking towards the ruins.
"Derrick? Oh, I know him. He's at the port. Go in the opposite direction and you'll find him."
The old man spoke very quickly. He completely failed to understand one principle: the more you talk, the more mistakes you'll make.
"So he's inside the ruins. Looks like I chose wrong. As usual, my luck isn't that great."
Lin Ye did not attack the old man, because the other party was a sixth-tier spiritual energy user, yet hadn't attacked him, nor did he intend to lure him in to kill him. Instead, he wanted Lin Ye to leave the ruins. This was very abnormal.
"I'm begging you, don't go any further!"
Seeing he couldn't bluff Lin Ye, the old man could only plead with Lin Ye not to enter the ruins.
"Sorry, I need to bring Derrick back."
Lin Ye entered the ruins. After crossing a certain boundary, the path behind him was sealed off.
"You bastard! The number has exceeded one hundred, the selection is about to start again!"
The old man paid no more attention to Lin Ye and instead quickly ran towards the depths of the ruins.
Lin Ye perceived the surrounding environment. This stretch of ruins seemed to be the remains of a certain city. Tall, destroyed buildings stood on both sides of the street, some of the structural debris reaching over a hundred meters high.
At that moment, a group of adventurers climbed out from a sewer. These people were clearly not a single group, maintaining a safe distance from each other.
"Hey, newcomer, want to join us?"
One of the adventurers spoke up to ask.
"I'm looking for Researcher Derrick. Do you know where he is?"
Lin Ye wasn't too keen on joining a squad that could turn on each other at any moment.
"I know. He was captured by those Carnot Heavy Industries people. But now's not the time to talk about that. The selection is about to start. If you don't find someone to team up with, you'll definitely be chosen, become the sacrifice."
Another adventurer said.
"I'm going to find Researcher Derrick now. You all go find somewhere to play by yourselves, don't come bother me."
These people clearly had ill intentions, but Lin Ye didn't want to take action here.
If this place needed to select a sacrificial offering, then these people's goal was definitely not mutual aid, but to push Lin Ye out as the offering.
Lin Ye walked straight towards the center of the ruins. Those adventurers did not follow him, instead returning underground.
The ruins were very quiet. Lin Ye walked down the middle of the road. A sixth-tier adventurer walked towards him from the opposite direction.
"Oh? Actually walking in the middle of the road. Didn't anyone warn you, kid?"
That adventurer said.
"Can you take action in the middle of the road?"
Lin Ye didn't act rashly;
he still didn't understand this place.
"No."
Boom!
The man suddenly drew the hand cannon at his waist and pulled the trigger, aiming at Lin Ye.
Lin Ye had already acted when the other party reached for the hand cannon. He used a compressed spiritual energy piercing blade sword to stab through the other's spiritual energy shield, then moved position, using his own spiritual energy shield to block the residual blast from the explosion.
The man passed through the residual blast, closing in right in front of Lin Ye, incidentally dodging the compressed spiritual energy piercing blade sword behind him.
Lin Ye very naturally pulled out the spiritual energy core from within the man's body.
"What did you do?!"
The man quickly retreated. He still hadn't figured out what exactly had just happened.
"It's nothing particularly special, just pulled out your spiritual energy core, that's all. You got too close. My strength and speed are both greater than yours. Add on various acceleration techniques, of course you couldn't react."
Lin Ye said casually.