Genetic Awakening: My Genes Evolve Infinitely!

The dead ground trembled. Chunks of blackened-grey earth and fractured stone were hurled through the air one after another as dozens of Awakened dug like madmen around the perimeter of the Spike Beast lair.

What had started as a single half-crazed idea had turned into the only hope left for everyone trapped inside the gate. Nobody needed to be convinced anymore.

Not after the first few test pits dug out proved that the ground beneath the lair was far weaker than the lair itself. That discovery alone would have motivated the people to work hard for their salvation.

But better yet, when one of the many Awakened discovered that the outer wall of the layer started to become thinner once he reached about three metres deep into the ground, the excitement of everyone there reached a new high, boosting the work productivity indirectly.

Every group capable of fighting had split its efforts between excavation and guarding. Strength-type awakened took the front of the labour, smashing apart the compacted layers of dirt and rock with brute force. Those with bladed weapons carved through the loosened terrain and widened the tunnels.

Ranged Awakened and support fighters didn’t contribute to the mining efforts — since most of their time was actually spent transporting food, water and supplies to the Awakened working hard in the pits and debris that needed moving out of the tunnels, as Spike Beast sightings had already become a thing of the past before Rohan and the others even joined the gathering.

And above it all, the great spike-covered formation loomed over them in total silence.

The three entrances to the formation remained sealed tightly shut by the membrane, but nobody cared about that anymore.

"Move!"

Norm barked the order, and Rohan instantly shifted left as a broad slab of stone came crashing down where he had been digging moments earlier.

Like all the other Awakened at the very front of the efforts in the tunnels, Norm was a strength-based Awakened. As someone halfway to the peak of F rank, he could bring out quite a large amount of strength — Rohan estimated him to be at about 22 on the scale the Association used.

It was over double what he could muster without using his Firestone Skin, but that wasn’t too surprising. ’I’ll catch up to that level of strength in short time once we get out of here.’

A few months of cultivating his Origin Energy, nourishing his genome, would be enough for him to reach the half way point of F rank.

The tunnel they were working on had already reached several metres below the surface, sloping inward toward the underside of the lair. It was wide enough now for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder if they weren’t swinging around large weapons, though in practice everyone had to keep ducking and repositioning to avoid bringing the whole thing down on themselves.

Sweat dripped down the side of Rohan’s face.

Since the beginning of these mining efforts, he chose to use only his body’s strength rather than utilise his Firestone Skin. Although he could get through things quicker if he did so, having to explain why he wanted to dig a tunnel solo to the others didn’t make it worth it.

One extra tunnel wasn’t needed anyway, when they already had 10 going simultaneously. Rather than focus all their efforts into one wide, big tunnel, everyone had set out from the beginning with plans to focus in different areas — to widen their chances of finding a weaker spot in the lair, or a shallower area where they could go under the lair’s wall directly.

Due to choosing to not utilise his armour, Rohan had to rely on Norm’s timely warnings to dodge whenever a large stone was getting thrown behind so Elane could transport it out of the tunnel, along with the other debris.

"Hyap!"

His spear drove forward again at a knot of hardened underground roots and compacted stone that had slowed their progress. Norm couldn’t take care of the roots barehanded as they were far too tough to pull apart, than to simply slice them into smaller pieces like Rohan was doing.

Crack!

The Elite Horned Rabbit Spear tore through it with enough force to send fragments flying, causing both Rohan and Norm to cover their eyes.

Behind them, Elane had already disappeared off to the surface, while Liam and Gerty put in their own shift — no longer burdened by their injuries thanks to the assistance of the healer.

The whole operation had become a race against time and against exhaustion.

And perhaps, though nobody wanted to say it aloud, it was a race against whatever waited inside the lair, realising what they were doing.

Nobody had mentioned it yet — but whoever or whatever was behind everything that happened so far was likely inside the lair already.

Especially Rohan, he was even more certain of this. Knowing the membranes had been reinforced further than what the government had done told him that somebody really didn’t want anyone managing to enter.

"How much further?"

Elane called from behind once she returned to collect more debris.

Norm wiped a forearm across his brow and looked upward along the angle they were tunnelling.

"No one can know for certain, but at the pace these lair walls keep getting thinner the deeper we dig, not for long."

They’d been going for over six hours already, so exhaustion and fatigue were settling in. But nobody wanted to take a break until the job was done.

Rohan gritted his teeth and drove his spear down again.

’That’s the same answer we’ve been hearing for the past half hour. Every tunnel says the same thing. ’We’re nearly there.’ ’Only a few more metres.’ Like, come on, be realistic for once. This is at least going to take another six hours at this rate.’

But despite his internal wallows, Rohan knew that Norm was right in some ways.

They were getting closer. He could feel it in his bones.

It’s just that knowing the time it would take to dig back up to the surface after they cleared the bottom of the lair’s wall was quite disheartening.

Rumble!

’Hmm?’

Rohan was the first to notice it.

He thought he was imagining things, but the ground felt like it was starting to shake.

"Do you guys feel that?"

Then Elane’s voice echoed from behind.