Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 296

With a squeak, the lid of the lead box flipped open quickly, followed by two clicks, and a delicate square crystal popped out from inside. In the center of the crystal were three irregularly shaped, glossy black crystals arranged in a triangle. Simultaneously, three miniature ray guns sprang up from three sides of the lead box, their muzzles pointing at the crystals.

“Now, the end of the world is coming, the game should end—” Guan Nan Goro grinned maliciously, ignoring the blood gushing from his abdomen, and raised his right thumb to press down hard on a red button in the middle of the lead box.

"Brother Feng!" Su Lun called out urgently, then turned around abruptly and buried her head in my arms.

My calculations were wrong. It turns out that activating the "weapon of mass destruction" detonation program is so simple, it doesn't even take a second. At this moment, launching the "Extreme Distance Blade" again would be useless, because the "weapon of mass destruction" is in the hands of the peerless master, Guan Nan Wulang.

"Fortunately, I'm with Suren. At least one of the two people I was worried about has been found." I instinctively hugged Suren tighter, but my gaze remained fixed on the lead box. The ray gun lit up, and three beams of red laser light shot out, striking three crystals.

"The fire of the universe, the flame of revenge, are in my hands alone. In fifteen seconds, Earth will cease to exist. Feng, Suren, we will be reduced to fragments and thrown into space. Everything will become fragments, fragments..." Guan Nan Wulang's sinister laughter grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared behind him. The young man, possessed by Tensho Jubei, leaped into the air, grabbed him by the neck, and they both fell into the well. I pulled Suren closer to the well and looked down. The two of them were still tightly entangled as they fell, landing at the bottom of the well.

In an instant, the intensity of the chill increased tenfold, and Suren shivered several times: "Brother Feng, I feel like something's wrong. The ice is expanding rapidly, and this world—" Before we knew it, all the gears that made up the mechanical body were covered by ice, including the metal steps behind us, which had become a bright, shiny ice slide.

We had no way out, because the passageway leading to the Epang Palace was also overflowing with large amounts of ice.

“We don’t actually need a way out anymore…” Suren looked at his watch; the second hand relentlessly ticked forward. Fifteen seconds was roughly the interval between twenty pulse beats. We watched helplessly as the ice on the well wall rapidly gathered, burying the bodies of Kanan Goro and Tensho Jubei.

In fact, with Guan Nan Wulang's lightness skill, it was absolutely impossible for him to leap over a height of thirty meters. The reason why they were able to appear at the edge of the well just now was because the ice at the bottom of the well rose by more than fifteen meters in a few seconds.

At first, Kanan Goro was able to muster his inner strength and desperately try to break the ice encasing his body. However, the ice closed in too quickly, burying his legs first, then his waist, and finally his arms, shoulders, and head. Tensho Jubei, on the other hand, had long since collapsed from exhaustion, resembling a strange spider frozen in amber.

"Surren, save—me—" These were the last four words Guan Nanwulang uttered. Then, they were encased in ice, suffering the same fate as the Illusion Demon.

"Brother Feng, see you in the next life." Suren raised her head, her pale lips pressed against mine, both our lips equally cold and lifeless. We didn't even have a means to save ourselves, let alone rescue Guan Nan Wulang. Moreover, in a few seconds, everything would be reduced to ashes in the explosion of the "ultimate weapon."

"Do people have an afterlife? In the next life, will we have a chance to meet again?" This was my last thought. Then a deafening roar resounded, and the seemingly impenetrable ice cave in front of me suddenly shattered into tens of thousands of pieces, which flew into the sky in a dazzling white display.

I felt as if I had entered a nightmare of a world covered in silver and white, and suddenly lost consciousness.

Part 5: The Source of Energy

— Chapter 9 — The Truth About the Second Epang Palace —

Even the longest nightmare eventually ends. When my senses returned, the first thing I grabbed was a soft, squishy girl's hand.

"Suren!" I rolled to the side, my vision still blurry, but I held her tightly. Beneath me were cold stones, radiating a faint chill. My mind was still hazy, not quite clear yet. The last scene of the ice cave exploding violently flashed through my mind, and I immediately shivered, my eyes snapping open.

The person in her arms was indeed Suren, but her eyes were tightly closed and her body was limp and motionless.

"Explosion? Weapon of mass destruction? Guan Nan Goro? Tensho Jubei? Where am I now?" His gaze shifted, and he found himself lying on a bare cliff. A dozen steps ahead lay a deep abyss, from which wisps of mist were slowly rising.

Suren groaned, broke free from my hand, and clutched her head tightly, looking like she had a splitting headache.

"Brother Feng, is that you?" She closed her eyes and struggled to sit up, resting her chin on her knees.

"Of course it was me." My heart was filled with mixed feelings, and I couldn't even figure out if what I had experienced was real or not. To be able to survive such a violent explosion, especially since the "weapon of mass destruction" was a top-level radioactive material, the excessive radiation alone would be enough to send a hot person to the deepest hell—this really is inexplicable.

I stood up, my mind gradually clearing, and immediately saw a narrow crevice on the opposite side of the cliff, winding its way into the distance. All the stones here emitted a faint white light, precisely where the Heavenly Ladder, the round stone house, and the golden egg were located, but now there was only a bare cliff, without even a trace of the stone house or the golden egg.

"Where...where is this?" Suren opened his eyes, his brows furrowed in exhaustion.

I hesitated for a moment before slowly replying, "It should be at the entrance to the world of the Epang Palace, which is the Heavenly Ladder you've been searching for. Opposite it is the 'Orchid Valley' filled with flying snakes." Thinking of the strange poisonous insects in the five-pointed star array, I immediately reached out to touch the "Azure Blood Night-Shining Toad," but I had nothing on me, and all my pockets were empty.

At that moment, I was completely sober, and my mood plummeted to its lowest point: "Without the glowing toad, I'm afraid it won't be so easy for the two of us to get through the crevice with our bare hands."

Suren touched the gunshot hole in his pocket, his brows furrowing even more.

At this moment, Guan Nan Goro and Tensho Jubei must have already been reduced to millions of fragments in the explosion of the "weapon of mass destruction," flying into the sky mixed with ice. Then, wouldn't the mechanical body of the "Asian Gear" also be pulverized? If so, what about the world outside the mountain? Will it become a powerless ruin?

Suren has always been connected to me, and when I thought of this, her face turned pale.

"We've made a mess of things," she sighed softly.

"It's not us, it's Guan Nan Wulang. With such a hypocritical scholar swaggering around, he could cause a major incident at any moment. We'd better be alert and leave this place." Right now, I feel my physical condition is recovering, and I can't feel the damage from the radiation for the time being. It's just that there's still a long way to go from here to the tunnel exit, and there might even be flying snakes blocking the way. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

As long as we're alive, that's the greatest victory. Looking back now, in the instant the ice exploded, someone rushed over and grabbed Suren and me by the collar. After that, I remember nothing; my mind is a complete blank.

"Who saved us? Was it Alpha?" I was becoming increasingly confused.

There is an iron chain bridge connecting the two cliffs. I still remember the scene when I first arrived here with Gu Qingcheng, Tiger, Uncle Wei, Little Red Ghost and others. But now Gu Qingcheng has disappeared, the other three have died violently, and huge changes have occurred one after another in just a few days. Every event is unpredictable.

As I stood once more on the cliff's edge, gazing down at the misty landscape below, I vaguely remembered hearing Su Lun's song echoing from there. Life is always about making choices. What would have happened if the little devil hadn't triggered the mechanism to open the golden egg, and I had instead fallen off the cliff?

Suren stood beside me, and smiled in surprise: "Brother Feng, is this where you heard my singing?"

I nodded seriously: "Yes, the rescue rope was already down. If the golden egg had opened a few minutes later, I might have fallen to the bottom of the valley. You know, at that time, I was convinced that you were down there, and I was convinced that as long as I fell, I could definitely save you. Now that I think about it, who knows how many dangers were lurking down there, maybe even venomous snakes and centipedes crawling all over it..."

Suddenly, a rapid hissing sound reached my ears. The sound was all too familiar; it was the sound of hundreds of venomous snakes simultaneously raising their tongues and flicking their own. There was no mistake.

Suren reacted more quickly, looking up and pointing towards the crevice in the rock: "Brother Feng, you...look!" Due to her nervousness, her tone changed, and she dragged my arm and retreated rapidly until we were backed against the rock wall.

There must have been tens of millions of venomous snakes emerging from the crevices, forming a snake wall over five meters high, moving forward as a whole. All that could be seen were bright red tongues, flicking erratically. The snake at the very top was leaping about, its short, thick wings at its "seven-inch" point spread wide, appearing unusually excited.

"Will they climb over the suspension bridge?" The crystal sword was long gone, and in his haste, Suren couldn't find any other weapon.

I couldn't answer. The flying serpents are extremely aggressive; we already experienced that when we first entered the Pentagram Array. Now, without any protective measures or effective weapons, we're truly in despair. My "Transcendent Blade" is insufficient to protect the two of us in this situation where thousands of venomous serpents are attacking simultaneously.

The venomous snakes emerged from the crevice and immediately scattered haphazardly. Under our watchful eyes, they slithered towards the edge of the cliff, rushing down without hesitation. This turn of events was completely unexpected by Suren and me. We watched as the five-meter-high snake wall gradually descended until the last snake disappeared off the cliff.

"My God, what on earth is going on?" Suren exclaimed in horror.

"If someone were standing at the bottom of the cliff, they would probably feel this sudden rain of venomous snakes—but we're not so lucky." I think any Earthling with normal thinking would probably not like the feeling of venomous snakes falling from the sky, especially the extremely venomous Lan Valley Flying Serpent.

Following the snake formation, large swarms of centipedes, toads, spiders, and scorpions rushed in, all plunging into the cliff. This feast of venomous insects lasted for nearly an hour before ending. I could clearly see that all the spiders were about half a foot long, with black and white human-face patterns on their backs, their appearances were exceptionally terrifying.

Suren let out a long sigh: "Now, shouldn't we leave? I wonder what's happening outside the mountains that's caused all the poisonous insects to flee down the cliff. I'm really worried that the explosion of the Asian Gear will cause a cataclysmic change to the Earth—"

From the cliff to the tunnel, from the tunnel to the outside of the mountains, and after several days of bumpy rides by horse-drawn carriage and car, on the eighth night, Su Lun and I were fortunate enough to check into the best four-star hotel in Xianyang.

After soaking in the hot springs, taking a three-hour break, and enjoying a sumptuous local meal, we were finally able to sit before the roaring fireplace, each with a glass of red wine in hand. The aroma of 1930s French South wine filled the air, and as I sank into the soft embrace of the Italian designer sofa, I suddenly felt that everything I had experienced in the mountains seemed like someone else's legendary story, except for Su Lun and the "Knife of Exceeding Distance"—the real ones.

"Brother Feng, let's drink to our reunion after all the tribulations we've overcome." A huge peony flower shimmered on Suren's cotton bathrobe, and her smile looked even more radiant than the flower itself.

"What I mean is that this glass of wine is my apology to you. Suren, I will never leave you again, not in body or soul, not for the rest of my life, not even in life or death."

With a "clink," the two glasses clinked together, and the crimson wine rippled gently, much like the two blushes on Su Lun's cheeks.

Actually, we have many topics that we should bring up for discussion, but at this moment, the two of us just want to gaze at each other silently, accompanied by the crackling sound of burning firewood, as if we could look at each other like this for a lifetime without ever getting tired or satisfied.

Suddenly, Suren smiled and said, "Brother Feng, I think we should call General Tina. Time is of the essence. If we can start the excavation work in the Egyptian desert as soon as possible, we may find the whereabouts of Hero Yang Tian sooner. Some things should have ended long ago, and others should have started long ago."

This is Su Lun; even amidst tender, loving gazes, she remains mindful of important matters, always maintaining the calm and competence of a surgeon learning from the scalpel.

The phone was on the coffee table next to the sofa. She looked at me, and I looked at her. Neither of us picked up the receiver first.

“Actually, it’s perfectly normal for General Tina to admire you so much. You can treat her as a female friend, just like you would a tiger, right?” Suren said with a shrewd smile.

"Tiger? The Great Tang Hero Qiu Ran Ke?" I frowned and sighed. "Forget it, I'd better treat her as an international friend, to avoid her rambling on and on." I picked up the phone, ignoring Su Lun's snickering, and dialed Tina's mobile number.

In my heart, the tiger remains an unsolved mystery. He emerged from the ancient mirror of history, driven by the belief of "changing destiny," until his ultimate failure. Perhaps, even before plunging into the abyss, he was filled with the deepest resentment. In the end, history was not altered. Even with all the necessary conditions in place, a single, minor mishap at the final stage can destroy all the effort.

"Brother Feng, what are you thinking about?" Su Lun sipped his red wine, his smile deepening.

She probably misunderstood me, thinking I was pondering how to approach Tina, when in reality my mind was wandering far away. The phone rang three times before Tina's standard American English came through: "Who is this? Is this Mr. Wind, the invincible warrior of the desert?"

I stared in astonishment, wondering when this usually forthright and unrestrained female general had acquired the superpower of precognition: "It was indeed me. How did General Tina predict it?"

She burst into laughter, like a whirlwind suddenly sweeping across the desert: "I'm not a prophet, how could I have such special abilities? It's just that one of your friends has just passed away, and we happened to mention you, so I felt something and asked casually when I saw that the number came from beautiful China."

It was clear that she was in a great mood, and compared to my disheveled state and that of Suren, she was naturally extremely pleased with herself.

I continued her train of thought, "Friend? Which one?"

Aside from the scalpel and Suren, I had almost no friends in Egypt, and I couldn't think of anyone who could make Tina so happy.

She smiled again: "Tycoon."

I couldn't help but frown. The tycoon's schedule was busier than that of the President of the United States. How could he have time to visit Tina in Cairo? Unless there was a huge business deal there that could bring in millions of dollars a day, he probably wouldn't go even if the President of Egypt begged him to.

"What? Isn't the tycoon your friend? There's also a beautiful Miss Guan, who's said to be quite close to you as well. We had a very pleasant chat, especially when you were mentioned. The tycoon and Miss Guan treated you like a best friend, and the way they looked at you with such adoration made me green with envy. Feng, you have such friends, why have you never mentioned them to me? Are you afraid I'll feel ashamed?"

Her words gradually became sharper, and a hint of jealousy crept into them.

My brows furrowed even more. Guan Baoling was the last person I wanted to mention at that moment, but fate had other plans, and even a phone call to Tie Na brought up this topic.

Fortunately, Tina changed the subject: "Feng, it's been a long time since you called. Is there anything I can help you with this time?"

I sighed. "A favor? I'm sorry, I really don't have any topics that would interest your country. The 'Sea of Gold' I mentioned a few days ago has also been delayed due to some other issues. I have a personal matter to ask of you this time. I wonder if Your Excellency could help me?"

The topic of the "Sea of Gold" has been shelved since Yelan's tragic death, and it's unclear when any clues will resurface. In fact, such a vast fortune could certainly pique Tina's interest.

Upon hearing the words "personal issues," Tina immediately perked up: "Please go ahead, I'm all ears."

My prepared speech was interrupted by the sudden appearance of "The Tycoon, Guan Baoling," causing a slight confusion in my mind. After a few seconds of silence, I began my narration: "General Tina, I have received the latest news that a friend of mine, a very important friend, is buried underground along the line connecting the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Pyramid of Tsar. However, I do not know the exact depth or location. I hope you can dispatch manpower to launch a large-scale excavation operation to help me find him."

She immediately agreed: "Okay, no problem. Could you tell me the approximate depth? I'll notify the engineering department to prepare the necessary excavation tools."

I realized she was oversimplifying things, probably thinking it was as simple as digging an irrigation canal in the desert. In reality, the project was so difficult that even I was scratching my head.

Suren made a face at me, sensing my predicament.

“General Tina, the depth may exceed five hundred meters, and even in the worst-case scenario, it will be—” Before I could finish saying “one thousand meters,” she exclaimed in surprise on the phone, “What? Five hundred meters? Feng, is there anything wrong with your deep well? You’re digging five hundred meters without specific coordinates?”

I gave a wry smile and waited until she finished her exaggerated shouting before continuing, "Five hundred meters, maybe even a thousand meters. I know this is a massive excavation project, which is why I approached you. No one in Egypt can undertake such a project; only government departments or you personally ordering it can do it. So, how about it? Will you help me out?"

She remained silent for a few minutes before hesitantly replying, "Feng, I'll help you, but it will be an incredibly expensive project, not much easier than rebuilding a Great Pyramid in the desert."

I was just waiting for her to say those words when I immediately replied, "Ms. Tina, I will provide twice the total cost of the project. Don't worry, money is not a problem."

She replied with a wry smile, "Double the funding? Feng, I'll have the engineering department prepare a simple budget and get back to you. After hearing the figures you just mentioned, I've already calculated that even emptying the Egyptian treasury might not be enough to cover this cost. The inheritance you received from Mr. Scalpel will probably only cover a fraction of the project's expenses. Sigh, whatever, I'll do my best for anything you want to do. At worst, I'll just add another zero to the total deficit in the national treasury. Let's get in touch again."

After the call ended, I finally felt a little relieved, but I also knew that I had transferred this heavy burden to Tina. Since I didn't want to develop any feelings for her, I felt somewhat uneasy about troubling her like this.

Suren added three or four pieces of firewood to the fireplace, then suddenly seemed to ponder, "Brother Feng, the scale of that project is truly beyond our imagination. Could we borrow money from friends or auction off part of your treasure vault? At least we can get the work started. We'll always find a way to raise funds. I can raise some money; just from Xiao alone, I can borrow tens of millions of US dollars—"

The treasure trove left by the scalpel is indeed invaluable, but if we were to use it, I fear his spirit in heaven would be uneasy. As long as there are other options, I will never take this path.

Perhaps because my expression was too serious, Suren stopped joking with me about Tina and just sat by the fire, silently thinking about her own thoughts.

"I'll figure out the money; don't bother your friend." I said, gazing at the red wine in my glass.

If the required funds are astronomical, perhaps we can only ask a tycoon for help, but what reason would he have to give away such a huge sum of money for nothing? A series of headaches will follow, and my emotional entanglement with Guan Baoling will become another high wall between Su Lun and me. I want Su Lun, and I want to find my elder brother Yang Tian even more, but the financial conflict is insurmountable.

“But aren’t we family?” Suren smiled faintly.

I shook my head, for the first time in my life I was troubled by a lack of money.

The doorbell rang suddenly, playing a melodious electronic tune. I glanced instinctively at the digital quartz clock on the wall; the hour hand was just pointing to one in the morning. Who could be coming at this hour?

Suren cleverly slipped into the side restroom, leaving a tiny crack in the door. From that position, he could launch an attack from behind whoever entered. Guan Nan Wulang and his men died in the world of "Asian Gear," but that didn't mean he hadn't left reinforcements outside the mountains.

I looked out through the peephole and saw a robust man wearing wide-brimmed sunglasses standing in the corridor. He was dressed in a brand-new Italian suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he didn't seem to have any ill intentions.

"Who are you looking for?" I opened the door and stared at him coldly.

“I’m looking for a Mr. Feng and a Miss Suren.” He held his head high, his Ray-Ban sunglasses the latest trend, perfectly matching his calm and rugged demeanor. This was a completely unfamiliar man, at least one I had never seen before.