Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 666 "The Relics of the Chooser" (Part 2)
"Why does it have to be at the bottom of the mountain? If there's a cave there, it only proves that the 'Relic of the Chosen One' was placed there by someone, rather than by the gods." Dark looked at Wright with a puzzled expression and asked.

“The will of the gods must be fulfilled by humankind,” Wright said in a low voice. Although his voice was not loud or impassioned, it was exceptionally deep and powerful, like a seasoned general explaining a complex and difficult battle situation to his subordinates.

"If the 'Relic of the Chosen One,' or the entrance to the 'Relic,' is located on the mountaintop, near the 'Spirit-Suppressing Tree,' then the successive mayors of Torii Town would have already excavated it and claimed it for themselves. The temple on top and that giant tree have been used to hold numerous festivals; if they were going to discover it, they would have found it long ago."

"Therefore, the 'Relic of the Chosen One' must be at the foot of the mountain, which corresponds to the divination of Hefengyeva yesterday. Moreover, I have reason to suspect that Mayor Artyom and Ms. Hefengyeva actually knew the location of the 'Relic of the Chosen One' all along, but for some reason, they had to entrust us with the so-called 'search' mission."

"Phew." Hearing this, "Red Bundle" suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to look at Wright behind him, suppressing the fear and discomfort that naturally arose when facing the "Touch of Darkness," and explained:
“That’s true. Mayor Artyom gave instructions that if the two officers have guessed some of the inside story, then ‘White Bundle’ and I are obligated to answer your questions. But the two officers can only ask, not answer.”

"Indeed, Lady Hefeng Yiwa had long ago determined the location of the 'Relic of the Chosen One' through divination using the 'Eight Trigrams' and the Sequence Cards. However, due to the lack of more precise detection devices and humans who were more skilled in controlling dark magic power, she abandoned this plan."

"Has anyone tried to enter that cave before?" Darke pressed further.

“Yes.” “Red Bundle” nodded with difficulty, and explained further in the most concise language possible:

"In the years 309, 401, 403, and 421 of the New Era, Torii Town organized four expeditions to search for the 'relics' in the cave, but none of them were found. Moreover, the first three expeditions were completely wiped out, with no one escaping. The last expedition managed to escape with three people, but all of them went completely insane within three days and committed suicide by jumping off a cliff a year later."

"It's like encountering something indescribable; there must be items related to the Creator there. Otherwise, if it were an item belonging to an ordinary deity, merely observing it without using it would at most cause discomfort," Dark analyzed, and then pressed further:

"In that case, do you have any more information about that cave?"

“Unfortunately, no.” “Red Bundle” mimicked the behavior of the Crusaders, making a very stiff hand gesture.

“Then take us there. Since I promised Mayor Artyom, I will do my best to find the ‘Relic of the Chosen One’ for him,” Dark said, half commanding and half pleading.

……

After about three to five minutes, the "Bird's-eye View" mechanical vehicle arrived at a lush area, which was about 500 to 600 meters away from the main road of the town and was within the "God's Edge Mountain" area.

Due to the extremely complex internal terrain, the "Bird's-eye View" mechanical combat vehicle is not suitable for off-road vehicles or tanks on complex terrains, and can only be parked around an open area with relatively sparse vegetation.

Then, the four of them got out of the car together. "White Bundle" and "Red Bundle" handed Dak and Wright a tan military backpack containing canned food, ammunition, emergency medicine and some simple grenades. They also gave Dak a shotgun for close combat and a rocket launcher that was extremely powerful when facing special "alien monsters" before heading towards the cave.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them arrived near the cave.

"It seems this cave is very well hidden; you can't see a trace of it from a distance. And the entrance is over ten meters high, but it's perfectly covered by vegetation, making it appear only three or four meters high. I can smell a strong 'sorrow' emanating from inside; it seems wild beasts, birds of prey, and even 'heartless people' wouldn't come here to forage," Wright analyzed, observing the cave and its surrounding terrain.

"This is a naturally formed cave, not something deliberately designed by our Torii Town. Last year, the former mayor borrowed a 'Radiation Detector-02' from the then-Novayask administrative head, Shaneva, to attempt a preliminary survey of the cave. The conclusion was that it was not only filled with a large amount of magical radiation, but also contained a high concentration of 'chain' radiation left behind after the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' explosion." "White Beam" took a half-step forward, gazing up at the red bricks on the inner wall of the cave entrance, and explained:
"Therefore, Angelica speculated that it was the high concentration of radiation inside that caused hallucinations in the several expeditions that entered it throughout history, ultimately leading to mission failure. That's why Mayor Artyom provided the two with gas masks and oxygen cylinders that could be used for an hour each, just in case."

“No need.” Wright stood tall and proud with great confidence, and even the “Dark Touch” on his back “casually” popped out from his cotton-padded clothes, showing the power of an “ancient god.” “I have existed in the ‘Crimson Illusion Ruins’ with the highest concentration of ‘Sorrow’ in the Crusad region for thirty years without having a mental breakdown. Dark has also entered and exited various ruins and extraordinary areas filled with ‘Sorrow’ many times, and has never been mentally polluted.”

"The meager 'scars' and radiation here can't possibly have any effect on us. 'White Beam' and 'Red Beam', just follow us in. I imagine you don't know the route inside either, but my 'Burning Black World' has already shown me part of the way."

The four of them did not linger at the entrance of the cave for long before walking inside along a relatively flat path.

Along the way, Dak noticed that the interior of the cave was filled with traces of human construction, which was by no means a product of nature or the gods.

The red bricks on the wall appear to be from the end of the Second Age, but the outer layer of cement, which still bears some traces and has fallen off, reveals the age of its construction.

As he ventured deeper, Dark noticed the winding traces of electrical wires remaining on the walls. Of course, from the moment he entered the cave and went deeper into the mountain, the concentration of "Sorrow" suddenly increased several times over. Ordinary humans or those with supernatural abilities would certainly experience various subtle hallucinations and cognitive differences at this point, making it difficult to notice the residual steam and industrial-era artifacts on the walls.

Sure enough, after walking through the relatively narrow passage and arriving near a wooden lock bridge, the "white bundle" and the "red bundle" suddenly stopped in their tracks.

They began to stare intently ahead, their brows furrowed, as if gazing upon some desolate, lifeless place.

When Dark and Wright walked up to the two men, they didn't even notice that their bodies were trembling violently.

"Why did you stop?" Dark asked, waving his hand in front of "White Bundle" before he snapped out of his brief, unconscious daze and looked at Dark.

"Commander Dark, there's a thick fog ahead. Our compass is probably being interfered with by the magnetic field; it's spinning erratically. The fog is so dense that we can't even see a vague outline of the interior, a blurry phantom, or a color other than extreme white," "White Bead" replied stiffly. Dark and Wright knew that the concentration of "Sorrow" was rapidly increasing. Because they possessed the strength of Order 3: Combat Level, coupled with abundant magical energy and extraordinary power within them, and the inherent "unyielding to mental breakdown" characteristic of their high-ranking professions, all they could see before them was an ordinary lock bridge and a faintly visible underground river.

However, in the eyes of the two "children" who were only slightly stronger than ordinary lost souls, all they could see was an extremely dense fog that had been processed by "Sorrow". Even more intense blood was seeping from the corners of their mouths and nostrils, and they were unaware that their bodies were contorting slightly.

It seems that previous expeditions, under the influence of this "tragedy" on their spirits, unknowingly exhausted their vitality and lost their lives before even venturing deep into the mountains.

“Then, Dark and I will go first…” Leitra pulled Dark towards the lock bridge, but before they had taken more than a few steps, they heard “White Bundle” and “Red Bundle” behind them collectively emit sharp, shrill laughter that was neither human, nor beast, nor normal.

Immediately afterwards, blood began to gush from the eyes of the two boys, and their faces turned into terrifying, blood-covered ghostly figures.

Soon, "White Bundle" pulled a tear gas canister from his pocket and threw it in front of Dark and Wright.

“Commander Artyom said that seeing the fog means we can’t go any further. The rest of the journey will have to be explored by the two commanders on their own, but once we’ve entered the cave, there’s no turning back,” “White Bundle” said in a very mechanical voice.

Within seconds, the tear gas canisters emitted increasingly pungent smoke. This tangible physical attack was very effective against Dark and Wright. Their bodies had not yet evolved any defenses against chemical attacks, and the scorching smoke quickly filled their eyes with tears, making them unable to open them and causing them to cough incessantly.

"Cluck cluck cluck cluck, cluck cluck cluck cluck." The White Bundle and the Red Bundle made inappropriate rooster crowing sounds from their throats.

Having briefly lost their way, Dark and Wright had to cling to the lock bridge, trying their best to stabilize themselves, and walk back the way they came.

However, after a loud bang, the smoke dissipated simultaneously. When Dark opened his eyes, he found that a huge iron gate had already closed, blocking their way back. A grenade, already activated and emitting white smoke, had been thrown onto the lock bridge.

"Danger!" Dark grabbed Wright and pulled him back.

boom!
Just then, by sheer coincidence, the grenade exploded, instantly shattering the already dilapidated and crumbling lock bridge into two fragile iron chains and countless individual wooden planks.

……

About half an hour later, Dark and Wright finally awoke from their hangover-like hallucinations.

Fortunately, it seems that the bridge is not very high from the ground, or perhaps Dark and Wright's physical abilities have been greatly enhanced in a series of battles.

In short, since Wright did not use "Touch of Darkness" to mitigate the impact and Dark did not use "Hateful Muscles" to enhance their physical defenses, they only suffered minor superficial injuries when they fell from mid-air, without any broken bones or internal organ damage.

Even the minor cuts and abrasions are visibly growing new granulation tissue, accelerating their healing.

"Where...is this?" Dark wiped the blood from his head, pulled Wright up, and looked around.

When they first opened their eyes, the surrounding space was absolutely dark, but as the two gradually adapted to the dim environment, the darkness gradually dissipated, revealing the relatively bright underground space inside the mountain.

“It’s like an abandoned town,” Wright described based on his intuition.

“A town… a town within a town? Interesting, like a Crusaders nesting doll,” Dark muttered to himself, seemingly out of place.

However, the next second, they both heard the sound of the water receding and swirling. When Dak looked up again, he realized that the layer of water above was rapidly receding.

Soon, the water level rose to their necks, chests, waists, and thighs, eventually stopping at their ankles.

"We were in the water just now?" Dark looked around in surprise, then looked at Wright, as if hoping to get a negative answer from the other.

However, Wright nodded calmly and said:
"Just like 'otherworldly water,' although it has the physical form of water and can exert buoyancy on objects, it does not affect living beings such as humans. We can breathe freely in the water without worrying about suffocating. I think the underground suspended river I saw on the lock bridge just now is this peculiar water surface."

"Now, the 'white bundle' and 'red bundle' ambushed us, causing us to fall and disrupting the balance that had been maintaining the stability of the water surface. The water that was barely suspended quickly receded. It will probably flow northward through underground rivers and into the endless icy ocean."

Before Wright could finish speaking, Dark saw bright, golden orbs of magical energy rising from the depths of the ground around them. These orbs emitted intense heat, like high-heat light bulbs connected to electricity, completely dispelling the remaining twilight and darkness.

Immediately afterwards, various fish made of energy, along with rare jellyfish, lobsters, and even a variety of deep-sea monsters pieced together, as well as enormous whales, quickly "awakened" under the light, and began to wander aimlessly above the two people's heads, just like in the real ocean.