This final, futile effort unexpectedly alarmed Boluo, who spat out three mouthfuls of vintage 1982 blood, forced himself to activate his power, and doubled the range of the lava.

This desperate move trapped almost all of his teammates on the spot.

The ground beneath everyone's feet turned into lava, prompting a chorus of alarmed cries as they each deployed their life's ultimate skills—be it unleashing their powers or contorting their powerful core muscles—to forcibly leap to safety.

In any case, when everyone returned to the safety zone, they looked more bedraggled than the next. Only Qing Ruyan, the Second Energy Level master, stood out. Her strength was evidently head and shoulders above the rest; her form, unflustered by the chaos, was about to float away.

But, as bad luck would have it, Chen Gu suddenly reached out and grabbed her.

Qing Ruyan's body sank downward, almost falling into the lava.

She couldn't maintain her aloof persona any longer and nearly lost her composure. With no choice but to give it her all, she managed to drag this burdensome teammate out of there. Her clothes were disheveled, sweat was visible on her hairline, and she gave Chen Gu an extremely dissatisfied glare.

Chen Gu explained in a low voice, "I was trying to escape on my own, then I suddenly remembered I'm just a vase now..."

Forget it, I won't quibble with him—it's all for the mission. Qing Ruyan consoled herself with this thought.

After the Mechanized Eye creature fell back into the lava, it went utterly berserk, its previously cute appearance gone without a trace. From the center of its eye emerged a peculiar drill bit, densely covered in sparkling saw teeth, spinning rapidly with a loud WHIRR as it drilled chaotically everywhere.

Chen Gu looked at this thing, then turned to look at the heavy armored vehicle next to Huo Mei, and suddenly realized, "The elephant-fish monster was devoured by this thing!"

His previous speculation was wrong; it wasn't corroded by the Mutant's bodily fluids but drilled out by this thing.

Meanwhile, the Mechanized Eye creature in the lava was slowly being melted away.

At this moment, Boluo could no longer hold on. He spewed another mouthful of blood as his power dissipated. Without his power to sustain it, the lava cooled rapidly, solidifying into rock.

Glove was busy treating Hu Ling's injuries. Leder, troubled by the sight of mercenary corpses strewn about, was left with no usable men under his command.

Liu Shichan was quietly discussing something with her people.

Dora sighed and prepared to bury Locke and Ken.

Chen Gu walked up to the rock, where the Mechanized Eye creature had been mostly melted and fused with the stone. From the surface of the rock, Chen Gu plucked out a sparkling object.

It was one of the drill bit's saw teeth.

He examined it closely. Qing Ruyan approached. "Found something?"

"A special crystal. It's not metal, nor... diamond. Its hardness is comparable to diamond, capable of easily penetrating most metals, but it's much tougher than diamond."

Qing Ruyan didn't seem too concerned. "Take it back and have the material analyzed."

In this era, many synthetic substances could achieve such properties.

Chen Gu nodded and collected it, prying a few more from the rock's surface.

Leder let out a sigh nearby. "It's not the remnant of a super life form; we must continue the search."

He had been standing right there when—just before the most critical data was to be revealed—the Mechanized Eye creature attacked.

Chen Gu wasn't surprised. How could they be so lucky to find the remnants of a super life form at their first location?

This place was closest to the edge of the Yingudusi Devil's Pit. If there were any remnants here, earlier explorers would have taken them long ago.

"Our task must continue." Leder's expression was very grim. Clearly, the horrors of the Yingudusi Devil's Pit were far beyond his imagination, and he too hoped to complete the mission and leave as soon as possible.

It took the group more than half an hour to regroup and set off again. The convoy's personnel had been greatly reduced, now down to just over a dozen people.

Only four of the heavy armored combat vehicles were still operational.

Leder popped out the holographic map again and confirmed the route. "We'll follow this line to the second location and set up camp under this stretch of rock en route."

Night was approaching. The wilderness of the Yingudusi Devil's Pit was even more terrifying than during the day. Based on the experiences of past explorers, it was best to dig a hole and camp underground. They were well-prepared in advance, as the vehicles were equipped with specialized rapid excavation equipment.

Everyone was doubly cautious on the way. Thankfully, the group of Mechanical Eye species did not appear again. Hu Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "We should have left the territory of the Mechanical Eye species."

Around five-thirty in the afternoon, just before dark, they reached the designated camping spot.

Leder waved his hand. "Scout the surroundings."

Hu Ling, wearing gloves, quickly completed the patrol. "It's safe."

Leder led some people to begin digging under a huge rock with machinery. After the hole was made, they would perform further processing on the tunnel.

The presence of the Mechanical Eye species—creatures that could emerge from the ground at any moment—necessitated changes. Their usual procedure was to reinforce the tunnel walls with a ceramic-like strengthening. Now, however, Leder had his people insert hundreds of thin metal wires into the tunnel walls on top of that. If any vibrations were detected, an early warning system would activate immediately.

This was the best they could achieve under the current conditions.

Chen Gu also took a walk around the area. Halfway through, he turned back and called Qing Ruyan out.

"What's up?" Qing Ruyan asked curiously. Chen Gu pulled her to a secluded rock. Circling around it, they found on the other side a door-panel-shaped giant stone, over ten meters long, covering another large rock. On the inner side of this door-panel stone, a clear handprint was deeply embedded a few centimeters into the rock!

Qing Ruyan's face changed as she compared the handprint to her own. "The fingers are slim, and the palm is relatively elongated—it's a woman's hand!"

Chen Gu nodded. "Dilina's Hand of Annihilation!"

This item, designated 3-04, combined with the powers of Nuclear Explosion Nun, could easily accomplish this feat.

"Dilina has been here before, and there was likely a battle nearby."

The two immediately spread out in search of other traces, but despite searching until dark, aside from the handprint, they found nothing else.

The two returned to the tunnel, disheartened. The others had already imagined their entire "private mission" and didn't dare say or ask anything. They could only silently admire in their hearts. Second Energy Level experts are certainly formidable, to be in high spirits even in such a dangerous environment!

At night, the professionals took turns keeping watch. Neither Dora nor Hu Ling dared to put Qing Ruyan on the watch list. "Please focus on resting, to recuperate and gather strength."

"The journey ahead is even more treacherous and difficult; we need your power!"

As night fully fell, thunder and lightning raged in the Yingudusi Devil's Pit. Even five meters underground, they could feel that terrible power.

The continual dull roars always came with successive, massive tremors.

Even some unknown giant creatures were passing over the ground surface, and a few times nearly collapsed their dugout.

The professionals were terrified. After several changes of guard, it was finally Dora's turn in the early hours. She huddled with her weapon at the mouth of the tunnel, glanced at the sleeping Leder, and sighed to herself. This money really isn't easy to earn...

Chen Gu, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly opened his eyes as Mind Belief began to send a strong psychic warning.

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