Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

"Good mining equipment is definitely a must; this time the harvest is twice as much as last time!"

Erhu straightened his back. Even for an intermediate-level professional, this high-intensity mining was quite tiring. During his break, he looked around and sighed.

"When will the four of us be able to hollow out this cave?"

"We'll have to come down at least ten more times, and this is just the surface of the cave."

Wang Zhen was also a little tired, so he put down his pickaxe and sat down. Looking at the somewhat exhausted Wang Hu beside him, he quickly called out.

"Tiger, you have the least stamina, go and rest first, don't exhaust yourself."

"Okay~" Wang Hu nodded, looked at the backpack below, and went downstairs.

Although only Wang Hu is a physical enhancement professional among the four here, his physical strength is still far inferior to that of the three intermediate professionals.

Zhao Feng was also exhausted and called out to the erhu, "What time is it?"

"It's 3 o'clock, we have half an hour left to leave!"

"Okay, let's take a break then~"

Zhao Feng showed no restraint as a woman and plopped down on the uneven rocky ground.

"Tiger, throw me my water bottle!"

Wang Hu rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a black metal water bottle, which he then threw at Zhao Feng.

"Whoosh~"

The kettle disappeared suddenly while it was flying in mid-air!

That huge kettle suddenly disappeared right under everyone's noses.

Wang Hu, standing below, subconsciously raised his head slowly. In the dim cave, a huge shadow hung upside down above the cave, looking extremely eerie and ferocious under the reflection of the blue and white mineral light.

Wang Hu was so shocked that his eyes widened, and he pointed upwards with a trembling hand.

Where's my water bottle?

Zhao Feng turned to look at Wang Hu, a puzzled look on her face: "What's with that expression?"

Subconsciously following the direction Wang Hu pointed, Zhao Feng looked up at the sky and her expression changed immediately. From her position, she could see a huge and strange source beast clinging to the top of the cave, which no one else had noticed.

Zhao Feng didn't shout or yell, but spoke in a low voice.

"Erhu, Wang Zhen, there's a big guy on the ceiling~"

The two of them shuddered and slowly raised their heads, finally seeing its full appearance.

It was a huge gecko, about seven or eight meters long and one or two meters wide, not counting its long, curled-up tail.

Although it's hard to understand how someone with such a large size could hang upside down from the ceiling of the cave, just that size alone makes one feel like they shouldn't be messed with.

Zhao Feng's expression was grave, but she spoke softly, "Don't act rashly. Get to the vicinity of the weapons first!"

Because they had to be constantly on guard against any beasts emerging from the cave, everyone kept their weapons close together.

"Little Tiger, slowly approach the dimensional gate, don't worry about us yet!"

Wang Hu nodded and slowly retreated. It seemed that Wang Hu's approach to the dimensional gate attracted the attention of the giant gecko, whose huge head stretched downwards.

With this action, everyone finally understood why they hadn't noticed its presence at all. It was surrounded by a faint dark energy source, so even when it moved on the rock wall, it made no sound.

"What kind of source beast is this? It looks so much like a gecko. Could it be a mutated form of the Shadow Lizard?"

Erhu lowered his voice to a very low pitch, already gripping his silver longsword. Wang Zhen and Zhao Feng also each gripped their weapons.

Wang Zhen asked in a low voice, "Should we fight or retreat first?"

At that moment, Wang Hu had already stepped out of the dimensional gate with one foot. The instant he was completely out of the dimensional gate, the giant gecko above suddenly stretched out from the rock wall, followed the stalactites directly to the ground, and crashed headfirst into the giant dimensional gate.

"Thump!"

A tremendous crash resounded as the gecko's enormous head instantly passed through the dimensional portal, but its body was trapped inside, causing a loud thud.

"kill!"

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Feng leaped up from the distant slope, his saber gleaming with crimson flames, and slashed down.

Wang Zhen and Erhu seized the opportunity instantly, launching attacks with a knife and a spear.

Wang Hu retreated again and again. The enormous head that appeared before him nearly scared him to death, but when he realized it was blocking his body, he immediately felt relieved.

But the next second, his strange premonition reappeared. His scalp tingled and goosebumps rose all over his body. He instinctively rolled on the spot, and a slender tongue instantly pierced through the place where he had just been. Even the rock wall could not stop the seemingly soft tongue, which was pierced very deep.

Wang Hu got up, turned around, and ran, only daring to stop at the bend in the road.

Inside the cave, the three men's attacks had reached the giant gecko. Unlike the Shadow Lizard King, this gecko did not have a hard keratin layer on its back, but only seemingly smooth and soft gray skin.

But the moment their attacks hit, their expressions changed instantly. It was as if a dull knife had struck tough cowhide; no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't cut even an inch.

Even the sharpest metallic energy, combined with the spear, only managed to dent this piece of flesh.

"What the hell is this skin?!"

"It's not just skin, it also has source energy properties!" Wang Zhen saw it most clearly. The skin was so resilient that it was even unafraid of his piercing, which was supported by extremely powerful dark energy.

This source energy is definitely not provided by ordinary level 4 source beast energy.

"Retreat first, get to the ground!"

Zhao Feng and the other two immediately made a decision. This thing was clearly not something that three level 4 professionals could deal with. Wang Hu's voice also came through the crack in the door.

"Watch out, your tongue's got a long way to go!"

"You should get away from here!"

Zhao Feng's voice came from the underground cave and quickly disappeared.

The giant gecko struggled to pull its head out, but because it was stuck so tightly, it took more than ten breaths to get it out.

"Hiss~ Hiss~ Hiss~"

As soon as it left the dimensional gate, it let out a strange hiss and turned to chase after the three people playing the erhu.

Wang Hu waited for a long time but did not hear any sound from inside the door. He then mustered up his courage and looked into the dimensional portal, only to find that there was no one there.

"Tiger, Tiger, what's going on?!"

In a corner outside the dimensional gate, Sui An's anxious voice came through the communicator.

Wang Hu quickly picked up the communicator and replied, "We encountered a giant gecko with excellent camouflage. It cornered my mom and the other two on the surface of the secret realm. I escaped through the dimensional portal."

"What!" Sui An's expression changed. Wasn't it said that the Shadow Lizard King was guarding the entrance from the underground cave to the surface? How could such a big guy have entered the underground cave?

"Then you absolutely mustn't go in, and stay in touch at all times!"

Although Sui An was worried, he didn't have any good ideas at the moment. He could only try to calm Wang Hu down first, so as not to risk him going in.

Erhu and the other two are all intermediate-level professionals. Whether it's survival or escape, they are far superior to Wang Hu, and their chances of survival are much greater.

"Yes, I know!"

Wang Hu did not go in. He held the communicator and stood outside the dimensional gate, occasionally glancing at the situation inside the secret realm.