At this point, Zhou Ziwei finally had a little more confidence in this ugly Tyrannosaurus Rex. It seemed that the Tyrannosaurus Rex had played a crucial role in finding this place...
However, although Zhou Ziwei could easily use his soul power to see through and find the direction of the secret passage buried in the soil beneath the statue, he had no idea where the mechanism to open the passage was...
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei has always been the kind of person who doesn't follow the usual path. Now, as long as he goes directly into the secret passage below, finding those people should not be difficult, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
So Zhou Ziwei waved his hand again, and retrieved the leopard spider that was perched on his shoulder, tossing it into the lining of his alloy suit. Then, with a swift movement, he first lifted a thick stone slab on the ground, and then disappeared from sight.
I can't find the mechanism here, but... so what? If I can't find the mechanism, I won't look for it. I'll just crawl through the ground, right?
Zhou Ziwei chuckled coldly to himself as he sank into the mud. Like an incredibly agile eel, he darted here and there, slowly approaching the secret passage beneath the statue...
The width of the secret passage is almost the same as the natural waterway connecting the two pools, but this secret passage is paved with a thick layer of metal stone to resist pressure.
As the name suggests, this Five Metal Stone is a type of metal ore, but it is not an ore formed by mixing several metals together.
Even if this kind of ore is abundant, it's really not very meaningful. Refining it would be time-consuming and laborious, and it's really not worth it.
However, this ore is obviously much denser than ordinary stone, so it can't be used to refine metals, but it's perfect as decorative stone. For Zhou Ziwei, this stuff has only one advantage: "safety."
Although Zhou Ziwei controlled the earth's energy and could freely burrow and move through the soil, he was unable to pass through thick metal stones.
Sensing that he was now only a wall away from the secret passage, Zhou Ziwei's eyes widened, and then he let out a silent roar. He placed his hands on the solid, heavy metal stone and exerted a sudden burst of force...
With a "thud," the square metal slab, weighing at least three to five hundred pounds, was snapped in two by Zhou Ziwei's hand, producing a crisp cracking sound. Then, with a "boom," the metal fragments that had been broken off flew everywhere...
Zhou Ziwei flashed and entered the long underground passage that seemed to lead all the way to hell.
After carefully walking along the secret passage for several hundred meters, they finally arrived outside a sealed chamber... Under Zhou Ziwei's soul power scan, he unexpectedly discovered the traces of Zidan, Jiang Chunshui and others. What made Zhou Ziwei extremely happy was that not only were all of them there, but most importantly, none of them seemed to have been injured or killed.
Aside from this group of people, Zhou Ziwei didn't find anyone else inside, which puzzled him greatly. He wondered who had brought them here and where they were now.
The thick, solid metal door was kicked down by Zhou Ziwei without any suspense, and Zhou Ziwei then darted inside.
"child prodigy!"
“Little monster, you’re amazing! You’re really amazing! I knew you were much more responsible than that guy who wore his underwear inside out. You were definitely the first one to show up in this dangerous situation. Thank goodness…we’re saved.”
When Jiang Chunshui saw Zhou Ziwei enter, she immediately let out an excited scream, and then, without any hesitation, opened her arms and rushed straight into Zhou Ziwei's arms.
Zhou Ziwei shook his head and smiled bitterly. Seeing Jiang Chunshui's excitement, he couldn't refuse. However, just as he opened his arms to welcome Jiang Chunshui's embrace, he suddenly felt a flash of cold light, and a black dagger stabbed towards his vital heart with lightning speed.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 545: The Black-Robed Monster
If Zhou Ziwei had carefully scanned Jiang Chunshui's body when he first met her, he would have surely discovered the black dagger that had been hidden in her sleeve all along, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, while Zhou Ziwei wasn't exactly a good person, he wasn't so despicable as to use his superpowers to see through every beautiful woman he saw. Moreover, he had a certain degree of trust in these Dragon Group members, and he had risked everything to come and save them. He never expected to be assassinated by them, especially since... the person who assassinated him was one of the Dragon Group members he trusted the most.
The pitch-black dagger, like the fang of death, plunged into Zhou Ziwei's heart before he could react. It carried an eerie blue light and a sweet, intoxicating fragrance.
With a sickening "sizzle," the fabric of Zhou Ziwei's seemingly ordinary casual clothes instantly hardened as the dagger pierced through him. Jiang Chunshui's all-out stab didn't penetrate Zhou Ziwei's flesh at all; instead, it was met with a powerful rebound that deflected the dagger. At the same time, a flash of extremely hot, dark red light appeared.
With a "whoosh," the jet-black dagger melted into a pool of molten iron in less than a second under the cover of the dark red light, dripping onto the ground.
"Ah—" Jiang Chunshui exclaimed in surprise. Half of her delicate hand instantly turned into burning charcoal under the dark red light, emitting a foul smell.
This situation was only achieved under Zhou Ziwei's deliberate restraint. If Zhou Ziwei had not restrained the alloy armor's counterattack, Jiang Chunshui's reaction speed would probably have turned him into a human torch, instantly burning him into a charcoal stick.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't too upset or confused, because he knew very well that this was definitely not Jiang Chunshui's intention, or... the person in front of him who looked similar to Jiang Chunshui was not Jiang Chunshui at all.
However, Zhou Ziwei is still unable to determine, at least not, what kind of harm Jiang Chunshui suffered to become like this. Was she out of her mind, or was she coerced?
However, Zhou Ziwei did not rush to ask questions, nor did he have time to inquire one by one. Just after Jiang Chunshui lost his hand, he cried out in alarm and took two steps back. At the same time, the fifteen people standing or lying down next to him all seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. They all rushed towards Zhou Ziwei in a swarm. With a flick of their wrists, each of them suddenly had a black dagger that shimmered with a ghostly blue light in their hand.
Zhou Ziwei had no doubt that the black dagger was coated with a terrifying poison. If even a trace of the poison touched his skin, he would die instantly... or become like the people in front of him, a walking corpse, devoid of any consciousness.
Zhou Ziwei is now basically certain that these people are not imposters; they are genuine members of the Dragon Group, but for some reason, they have all lost their minds and are now being manipulated by some unseen force, becoming tools for others to kill.
Zhou Ziwei sighed inwardly. Faced with an assassination attempt by a fellow member of the Dragon Group, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to be cautious and alert.
Although these people all seemed to be his sworn enemies, determined to kill him, Zhou Ziwei knew that they might have long lost their own consciousness and become puppets of others. Therefore, he felt somewhat guilty for harming them under these circumstances.
The automatic counterattack of the alloy suit just now burned Jiang Chunshui's hand. That was not Zhou Ziwei's intention. After all, it happened suddenly, and Zhou Ziwei had no time to react. It was entirely the alloy suit's independent soul that made a defensive and counter-offensive reaction on its own.
At this moment... Zhou Ziwei was on guard, so he naturally wouldn't fall for the trap again, nor would he risk their lives due to a momentary, instinctive reaction.
Of course... this premise is mainly because Zhou Ziwei has the protection of an alloy suit. Even if Zhou Ziwei ignores everything and simply lies down and takes a nap, these people might not be able to break through the defense of Zhou Ziwei's alloy suit and harm him in the slightest.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei only considered the safety of his partners when his own life was absolutely guaranteed.
While carefully dealing with the relentless and frenzied attacks of these people, Zhou Ziwei tried to use his soul power to create a special wave effect and invade their consciousness. Sure enough, he found that their consciousness was in complete chaos, and each person's mind was filled with a strong killing intent. Anyone who did not belong to their camp was within their kill range.
As for how to identify which one is on their side, that's beyond Zhou Ziwei's knowledge. After all, although Zhou Ziwei's hypnosis can invade the other person's consciousness and guide their subconscious actions and reactions to a certain extent, hypnosis is still hypnosis. It's not mind reading. Even if he can successfully penetrate his own soul consciousness into the other person's sea of consciousness, Zhou Ziwei still won't be able to find out what the other person is thinking.
It was because the fifteen people in front of him were all displaying the same boundless and intense killing intent and consciousness that Zhou Ziwei was able to glean some understanding of them.
Faced with this situation, Zhou Ziwei was also somewhat helpless. He originally thought that these people must have been under some kind of mental attack, such as hypnosis or hallucination, which was why they were behaving abnormally.
However, when Zhou Ziwei tried to use his soul power to change the violent and ruthless aura in their minds, it had no effect whatsoever.
That boundless killing intent was like a deeply rooted seed, already planted in their souls. It would be far from easy to completely eradicate this irrational killing intent.
Then... you should all just go to sleep for now!
Zhou Ziwei had been relentlessly harassed by these people for quite some time. He vaguely sensed that another crisis was slowly descending upon him. Zhou Ziwei's heart tightened, and he naturally had no time to waste on these people. With a slight tremor of the soul power that had invaded the depths of their souls, he caused a powerful change within their souls, as if the heavens and earth were turning upside down. Their consciousness was greatly shaken, and they could no longer maintain their clarity and killing intent as before. Then, all fifteen people convulsed in unison, and one after another, like dominoes, they all fell down, without exception.
"Since you scoundrels have come, then prepare to die!"
Zhou Ziwei clearly detected a faint shadow approaching within a hundred meters of him. However, the person remained motionless and hidden. He couldn't help but snort coldly and suddenly flicked his finger, launching a butterfly dart.
Zhou Ziwei sensed that the person was at least a hundred meters away from him, and there was thick mud and two solid metal walls between them. Zhou Ziwei knew that if the person wanted to ambush him, he would probably have some unimaginable methods, and if Zhou Ziwei wanted to kill him, it would take a long time.
By the time Zhou Ziwei sneaked up to that person, that person would probably have already disappeared somewhere.
Therefore, in this situation, using a butterfly dart is the most ideal. With the sharpness of a butterfly dart, penetrating a hundred-meter-deep layer of soil plus two layers of metal and stone is as simple as cutting a piece of bread or slicing through two thin sheets of paper.
With a "whoosh," the butterfly dart flew like the wind. Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the single butterfly dart broke through all obstacles within a hundred meters as if it had teleported, and arrived in front of the mysterious person in a flash.
Although Zhou Ziwei's soul power had long since perceived the existence of this mysterious figure, for some reason... this person seemed to possess an extremely strange magnetic field. Whenever Zhou Ziwei's soul power approached this person, it would be immediately repelled. Even if Zhou Ziwei changed the vibration frequency of his soul power, he could not penetrate the mysterious defensive ability of this person's body and see the person's face clearly.
The scan revealed that the person was wearing a long black robe that appeared to be made of leather. The robe was so long that it trailed on the ground and covered the person's feet. The robe also had a very large hat on it, which, when placed on the head, naturally obscured the person's face.
This concealment effect clearly not only blocked others' gaze, but even Zhou Ziwei's soul power, which could almost see through any object, could not see through the true face of the man in black robes.
Zhou Ziwei, however, didn't care what kind of trick this man was playing. The gleaming silver butterfly dart instantly shot through a hundred meters of soil like lightning, piercing with a "whoosh" and embedding itself deep into the man's black robe...
The butterfly dart is used in a completely different way than the ordinary new-style cross dart. The new-style cross dart is controlled by an independent soul, while Zhou Ziwei's soul can only control that independent soul to a certain extent through the connection between their souls. Therefore, it is equivalent to a soldier with independent consciousness under a marshal.
The butterfly dart is completely different. It has no independent soul. All its movements must be driven by Zhou Ziwei's soul power.
Therefore... this butterfly dart is essentially a tool in Zhou Ziwei's hands, or even an extension of a part of Zhou Ziwei's own body.
With the intervention of soul power, once the butterfly dart pierced under the black robe, the mysterious resistance that Zhou Ziwei's soul power had been unable to penetrate would no longer exist. Zhou Ziwei would then be able to immediately sense the mystery beneath the black robe.
However... things were clearly not that simple. When the butterfly dart pierced deep into the black robe, Zhou Ziwei's soul realized that it could indeed break through the black robe's cover through the transmission of soul power. Unfortunately... Zhou Ziwei only sensed a terrifying dark red, blood-like aura beneath the black robe before completely losing contact with his own soul, and was instantly and completely isolated.
A small hole appeared in the chest of the mysterious black-robed man, from which some dark red gas seemed to emerge. However, the gas quickly condensed into black patches, which then adhered to the spot where Zhou Ziwei's butterfly dart had just pierced the body. The black patches vanished in an instant, and the man's black robe was restored to its original state. Zhou Ziwei's soul power was once again isolated, lingering only beneath the black robe. As for the butterfly dart inside... it had completely lost all connection with him.
When the mysterious man in black robes was attacked, he swayed and took a few steps back, but then stood firmly on his feet. Clearly, even if he had been injured by the dart, it was certainly not a fatal wound.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback. His butterfly darts, which were almost always successful, failed to harm his opponent this time. If it were just that he couldn't harm his opponent, it wouldn't be so bad. But now... not only did he fail to harm his opponent, but his butterfly darts were also taken away by someone else. This was a big problem, and it was infuriating.
Since Zhou Ziwei obtained these three butterfly darts from Ono Yuko, he has cherished them like treasures, and these three butterfly darts have indeed performed far better than the new cross darts.
It can be said that it has now become one of Zhou Ziwei's main means of dealing with enemies, but... now it has been taken away by someone else.
Zhou Ziwei flew into a rage, temporarily disregarding the Dragon Group members who had been completely controlled by some unknown force and lost their minds. He immediately smashed through the thick metal stone on one side of the secret chamber with a palm strike, and then, with a swift movement, he transformed into a rapidly spinning drill, his body spinning rapidly as he pierced directly into the soil behind the metal stone...
Since the butterfly darts were useless against that person, Zhou Ziwei didn't want to use the other two butterfly darts, or even the eighteen black iron leaves he had just captured.
The black iron leaves were somewhat damaged by Zhou Ziwei's fierce attack with fireballs. Although they were still usable, they might not be able to exert much more power than the three butterfly darts. So even if Zhou Ziwei went all out and used all the magical artifacts he could control... it might not really be very effective. And if he was not careful and they all fell into the hands of the opponent, then Zhou Ziwei would have nowhere to cry.
Since ranged attacks are ineffective... let's have a close-quarters melee!
With his burrowing technique combined with the properties of merging with the earth's energy, Zhou Ziwei's journey of traversing the hundred-meter distance was not difficult. After only a few seconds, he smashed another piece of metal stone with a bang and rushed into another, more spacious and empty underground stone chamber.
The mysterious man in black robes stood motionless about ten meters away from Zhou Ziwei. His dark robes blended seamlessly into the surrounding darkness, and Zhou Ziwei's astonishing hearing was completely oblivious to any sound emanating from him—no breathing, no heartbeat, not even the sound of blood flowing. Normally, Zhou Ziwei could hear these sounds clearly if he enhanced his hearing to a certain level; he could even clearly hear the sound of blood flowing in a human body a thousand meters away, thanks to the liquid soul power he had infused into his auditory nerve system.
But... right now, the two are less than ten meters apart, but even though Zhou Ziwei has used his best efforts and increased his hearing a thousand times over, he still can't hear even the slightest sound that a living being should make from the black-robed man.
If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Ziwei's soul power would be completely reflected back by the black robe on that person the moment it touched that spot, Zhou Ziwei probably wouldn't have known that there was actually a person standing there.
In Zhou Ziwei's perception, that person was like an impregnable black castle, making it impossible for him to uncover any of his secrets.
This strange feeling made Zhou Ziwei very uncomfortable, like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog but not knowing where to start.
Unconsciously, the pitch-black robe seemed to be a taboo, preventing Zhou Ziwei from making a move easily. However, if he couldn't act, he could still use his words... A ruthless glint flashed in Zhou Ziwei's eyes, and he suddenly opened his mouth and roared silently. Instantly, the long-dormant soul roar came out of his mouth again.
Moreover, to avoid being silently countered by that person, Zhou Ziwei made no attempt to hold back and directly used his liquid soul power. He was using his liquid soul power to unleash a soul roar. The soul roar that Zhou Ziwei had accidentally unleashed with his liquid soul power on the pilot plane had directly caused the terrifying water monster's soul to explode, and its power was naturally unimaginable.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 546: Rebirth from the Ashes
"Boom—" What was originally a pure attack of soul energy, when it struck the black-robed monster, felt as if a cannonball had hit a solid city wall, producing a thunderous sound.
The black-robed monster seemed startled and retreated more than ten steps in horror. Each time he took a step back, his body emitted a series of strange "crackling" sounds, as piercing as popping beans.
At the same time, the black-robed monster's body seemed to be inflated, rapidly expanding. The leathery black robe on his body was instantly swollen like a round balloon, making his retreat even faster, and he floated around as if he were about to fly.
However, although the black-robed monster appeared somewhat disheveled, after retreating a dozen or so steps, he actually managed to withstand Zhou Ziwei's soul roar attack.
Not only did he catch them all, but it was as if he had taken a tonic. His height, which was originally only about 1.9 meters, suddenly increased to about 2.2 or 2.3 meters.
The leather robe he was wearing seemed to have incredible resilience. It had swelled up to at least twice its original size after taking a soul roar attack from Zhou Ziwei, but it hadn't torn. Now, the robe had deflated, but it had stretched out a lot again, yet it still covered his feet as before, without revealing a single inch of his skin.
The mysterious figure in black robes remains as enigmatic as ever...
Zhou Ziwei's expression changed slightly. The soul roar he had just let out had consumed a great deal of his soul power, but it was still of no use against this person. On the contrary, it seemed to have increased the guy's strength.
What... what kind of monster is this guy in front of me? I attacked with a magical artifact, but he swallowed it.
Zhou Ziwei attacked with a Soul Roar, but his opponent swallowed all the liquid soul power he had used in that attack, causing his strength to surge... How can this fight continue if the opponent gets stronger and stronger?
When Zhou Ziwei saw that the other party could even swallow his soul power, his eyes narrowed.
Could it be... another spiritual warrior proficient in spiritual energy? But... I've never heard of spiritual warriors being able to change their body shape at will... In the blink of an eye, he's grown half a meter taller, good heavens... If I were to hit him a few more times, wouldn't this guy grow into a super giant in no time?
It seems that any attack involving soul power would be difficult to have any effect on him. In that case... let's try attacking with natural energy!
Thinking of this, Zhou Ziwei suddenly roared and pushed his hand out flat. Instantly, a fireball the size of a football appeared out of thin air in front of Zhou Ziwei.
Perhaps because the space here was limited, and the temperature emitted by the fireball was too astonishing, almost the instant the fireball appeared, the temperature in the entire underground passage immediately began to rise sharply.