CH 136

"What kind of life forms did you find? How many of them are there?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Some sort of warm-blooded life form floating on the sea. It seems to be rather big, and there seems to be only one. It is not humanoid," said Lin Feixue.

Through the screen showing the images taken by our probes, I saw a similar figure.

"It seems to be an interstellar flying creature," I said.

"Yes. Seems like it. It seems to have lost the ability to fly due to the torrential rain," said Old Du.

"Captain, we're right above the underground palace. I already reduced our altitude to a height low enough to observe the surface with our naked eyes," Lin Feixue reported.

Seated in the captain's seat, I was able to get a clear look of the situation outside despite the heavy downpour. The so-called surface was basically a sea now. The palace's towering roof had turned into a tiny dot sticking out of the sea. I also saw an interstellar flying creature drifting about with the waves. There was a risk that it would be completely swallowed by a massive wave at any moment.

"Lin Feixue, start scanning for the underground palace. See if we can get any life signals down there," I ordered anxiously.

"Reporting to the captain, I have already performed multiple scans. No life signals have been discovered yet," said Lin Feixue.

"I remember that the prince once said that the underground palace is protected by Akko's unique gravitational power. That same gravitational power might also block out some signals. Additionally, they have a bubble gate that not even the Gandos can destroy. I believe the underground palace is strong enough to resist the sea currents," said Zhang Bao'er.

Suddenly, a mournful wail sounded from outside. When we looked out, we saw that the interstellar flying creature had come below Spacetime. It was continuously calling out at us, seemingly pleading for our help.

"Lin Feixue, drop our rescue equipment and help this creature," I ordered without any hesitation.

Lin Feixue did as told and carried out the rescue operation.

"Canyue, I plan to use Spacetime's life pod to investigate the seabed. If possible, I'll bring the captain back with the life pod," said Old Du.

"I plan to do the same. I intend to send two life pods down. That way, the two pods can watch out for each other," I said.

"Canyue, you're the captain. You shouldn't leave your post without permission," reminded Kelly.

"I'm only the acting captain. The real captain is down there. We must get her out," I explained. I then ordered, " Old Du, Zhang Bao'er, Wuzhou, Bulu, and I will be the members of the rescue operation. Kelly will temporarily take charge over Spacetime."

Kelly did not insist after I gave out orders.

"Captain, the interstellar flying creature has been saved. It is currently locked in the cargo bay," said Lin Feixue.

I nodded at him before telling him to assist Kelly, the acting captain. After everything was ready, I brought everyone to the life pods and prepared to set off immediately.

"Canyue, keep the image feed active. Spacetime will be on standby to provide assistance. Make sure to bring Xingxing back safely and return safely as well," said Kelly, displaying a level of concern we had never seen from her.

The two life pods set off immediately. Zhang Bao'er, Bulu, and I were in one while Old Du and Wuzhou were in the other. The life pods were designed to be used in outer space, but our level of technology was high enough that the pods could also be used underwater or on land.

The two pods started heading toward the underground entrance. The super rain had long transformed Akko into a massive sea. And under the sea, the irregular seabed caused by terrain and buildings had created powerful undercurrents.

The moment the pods reached the depths, the undercurrents started pulling at them, nearly causing a collision. Additionally, the powerful currents had destroyed many buildings. Thus, the palace had been ruined beyond recognition.

Five meters beneath the sea's level, our surroundings had turned pitch black. The two pods were forced to turn on their bright searchlights. We carefully moved along the rugged seabed tunnel. Constant communication was maintained with Spacetime. After dozens of minutes, we finally arrived at the familiar underground entrance.

Due to the massive flood caused by the superstorm, the red fog left behind by the Gando had long vanished completely. In fact, the entire place had been completely cleaned by the water, erasing all signs that there had previously been a cruel battle here.

We also discovered a pleasant surprise. The powerful undercurrents had pushed through the tiny crack in the gate, eventually pushing the gate open completely. That allowed us to enter the tunnel on our life pods. We entered all the way until we reached the narrower part of the tunnel.

This passage, which was only large enough for one person to pass at a time, had stopped our life pods. Furthermore, the moment we had gone through the underground entrance, our communication with Spacetime had been severed. Since the life pods couldn't go through the narrow tunnel, we had to swim through it.

The undercurrents around us were very dangerous. The seawater was constantly and quickly flowing down the tunnel, as though there was a bottomless chasm for the water to fill down below.

Underwater, the powerful pressure, the rapid undercurrents, and the low temperature could also threaten our lives. However, no difficulty could erase my determination to go deeper.

"I'm leaving the pod with Bulu. I'll try to dive down there," I said to Zhang Bao'er and Old Du.

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"I know what you're going to do. Old Du and I will go with you. We'll have Wuzhou stay with the pods," said Zhang Bao'er unhesitatingly.

I had to work in an extremely harsh environment, so I truly needed some help. Thus, I agreed with their request. Carrying Bulu in the bag in front of my chest, we quickly left the life pods.

The moment we exited, a powerful current exerted force to drag us deeper into the tunnel. To avoid being dragged to some unknown dark corner, we pressed our palms against the walls and activated our gecko gloves, allowing us to hang tightly onto the walls.

According to our suits, we had a pressure of 350 atmospheres around us, about one-third of the pressure in the Mariana Trench on Blue. Our morph-capable shields were able to easily withstand a pressure of this level. As for the temperature around us, it was roughly three degrees Celsius.

"Canyue, it looks like the only threats here are the undercurrents. We need to use the thrusters to resist the currents and slowly enter. I suggest we maintain a rope connection between the three of us," suggested Old Du.

Joining team members with ropes was a usual practice for underwater explorations, especially for underwater cave explorations. Zhang Bao'er tied one end of the rope to the life pod before tying the rope around all of us. When everything was ready, we moved out.

The undercurrents were strong enough that we could feel it even through our powerful shields. Of course, their power wasn't enough to overwhelm the power of technology.

We slowly advanced borrowing the force of the undercurrents. In less than 10 minutes, we reached the gate we had visited before. I noted with astonishment that only half the space before me was filled with water, giving me the impression that I was in a pool.

"This place is actually not fully filled with water," said Zhang Bao'er in astonishment.

"This means that the entry point for the water here is too small while there is a larger exit point for the water down inside. Because of this, the place is not fully filled with water," said Old Du.

Of course, we didn't have too much time to think about all that. With my searchlight, I found the bubble gate. It was half submerged in water.

"Found it! Zhang Xingxing is right inside. Let's go save them!" I grew excited and nervous at the same time.

Zhang Bao'er and Old Du were similarly excited. They had long heard about the bubble gate from me. And with the gate right ahead of us, we impatiently rushed toward it.

"Canyue, you said that this gate can't be opened with force, right?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Yes. I believe this bubble gate can be entered through the means of a genetic lock. When I came previously, Prince Toruse was the one to come out and show me in. It is very likely that the genetic lock is based on the Akkos," I said.

"A lock like this is definitely better than any other lock you can find," said Old Du.

We started shining our searchlights at the bubble, trying to attract some attention inside. But after more than 10 minutes, there was still no response.

"Weird. The last time I came, Prince Toruse noticed me immediately. Why are they taking so long this time?" I muttered in confusion.

"Is it possible that they had evacuated?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Or maybe it's already flooded inside," said Old Du.

"Old Du, don't say such ominous things," said Zhang Bao'er.

"If Zhang Xingxing is still inside, it doesn't make sense for them to take this long," I said.

"If we really have no choice, we can try bombing the gate. We can't keep waiting forever. It's better to try using explosives while the room still isn't fully submerged in water," suggested Zhang Bao'er.

It really did not seem like we would have a better way of opening the bubble gate. After a short discussion, we decided to use a limited cluster bomb to blast apart the bubble gate. Zhang Bao'er and I retreated, allowing Old Du to install the bomb. Suddenly, I discovered that Bulu, who was hidden in the bag in front of me, suddenly lit up with a red light.

"Canyue, look, Bulu is shining red again," exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

Old Du immediately stopped installing the bomb. I lifted Bulu and found that the nearer Bulu was to the red bubble, the brighter its red light. Zhang Bao'er nodded at me as I placed Bulu near the bubble gate. Shortly after, the bubble gate moved.