Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

Supernatural phenomena exist in the underground ruins of Beidu. Gu Cheng and Jiang Xuewei do not plan to venture deep into the ruins rashly. According to their plan, their primary objective is to explore the environment and find the most suitable location for signal transmission.

"Does the enhancer really work?"

Gu Cheng stared at the black box in Jiang Xuewei's hand with a face full of doubt. They were 800 meters underground, where network signals were already difficult to penetrate the ground. In addition, there was black fog everywhere, so it was a miracle that the cell phone could still be used.

"We'll try anything, even if it's a dead end. If we can get in touch, our operation will be much more efficient."

Jiang Xuewei was not entirely confident either. Gu Cheng helped her visit several points in a row, but the signal strength remained at zero.

"The black fog is too thick. Continuing to approach the abyss will not only prevent us from getting a signal, but even our phones will malfunction..."

Without the aid of the mimicry ghosts, they were isolated and helpless underground. Jiang Xuewei glanced at the mechanical watch on her wrist, her expression somewhat helpless.

"Let's rest today, and we'll head into the ruins tomorrow."

Chapter 247, Section 252: Ouroboros

The underground world was devoid of sunlight and moonlight, causing the brain's perception of the passage of time to become faint and blurred. After an unknown amount of time, a low rumble came from the artificial tunnel.

Gu Cheng groggily peeked out of her sleeping bag, using her phone screen for light, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her fingertips. As her pupils adjusted to the light, Jiang Xuewei was also awakened by the noise.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked, turning her head.

Gu Cheng shook her head and explained softly, "It's nothing, I just went out to use the restroom."

At 3:28 a.m., the girl, who never used to get up at night, was probably not used to living in a cave for the first time and had drunk a lot of water before going to bed, so she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Don't go too far," Jiang Xuewei whispered, adjusting her sleeping position and closing her eyes again. As an infiltrator, Jiang Xuewei woke up and fell asleep quickly, entering a light sleep in about two or three minutes.

Uncovering the plastic film at the exit, Gu Cheng climbed out of the cave with a flashlight. Their sleeping place was an arched stone cave that Gu Chengyan had hollowed out using his abilities. It was small but safe, with deliberately left small gaps to ensure smooth breathing and prevent underground creatures such as bats and leeches from invading.

"Don't let your guard down, even when you're using the restroom."

Hearing Gu Chengyan speak, Gu Cheng was somewhat surprised: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Not sleepy for now," the woman replied coldly.

Most of the time, it was Gu Cheng who was the one outputting to the outside world, so Gu Chengyan had plenty of opportunities to rest so that he could take over the body at any time.

Activating her bio-electric radar to ensure there was no danger nearby, Gu Cheng quickly resolved her physiological needs. The cold, damp air sent shivers down her spine.

After quickly washing her hands and pulling up her underwear and socks, Gu Cheng's last bit of sleepiness vanished. She casually found a rock to sit on, and thin wisps of white mist escaped from the corners of her lips with each breath.

It was a bit cold, but her mind was unusually clear. The girl drank some boiled water and then popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth.

About ten meters from the camp, a massive, unfathomable rift tore through the earth. Gu Cheng knew very little about the detailed information about the underground ruins of Beidu. Jiang Xuewei's plan only told her what to do in the next few days, without mentioning the origin of these ruins.

Supernatural power... Using spiritual vision to look down into the abyss, the black mist and golden gauze are intertwined, with the former firmly in control, squeezing the golden light particles into thin, flossy strands, as if a gust of wind could tear them apart.

Compared to Lanjiang, the density of the golden gauze in Beidu is much higher, making it easier to release abilities. Gu Cheng doesn't understand the reason, but she has vaguely figured out some patterns: it is easiest to control abilities within the cracks, followed by places where the black mist or golden gauze is dense. If both are faint, not only will mental energy be consumed very quickly, but the actual effect of the ability will also be unsatisfactory.

Jiang Xuewei told her not to stray too far from the camp, so Gu Cheng slowly walked along the route she had explored that afternoon, keeping her distance no more than twenty meters in any direction.

It's so deep... After marking the spot, the girl pointed her flashlight at the cliff. Below her was a bottomless abyss, and she could easily fall to her death if she wasn't careful.

Gu Cheng came out wearing only a knitted sweater that covered her thighs, and flesh-colored cotton tights underneath. Touching her waist, she found nothing but fluffy fabric. The weapon belt with the climbing grappling hook was still at the camp.

Alone and unarmed, Gu Cheng took a few steps back, her boots creaking on the ground.

As the beam of light moved upward, she saw several red-eyed bats hanging on the stone wall. Reason told her she should go back, but her legs were frozen in place and she couldn't move.

"Gu Chengyan?" The girl swallowed hard, her brows furrowing slightly.

No, it wasn't her... In an instant, he regained consciousness, and an indescribable feeling of palpitation lingered in his mind.

Gu Cheng heard a faint murmur in her ear, which sounded very close to her, like a man and a woman. She looked around but couldn't find it anywhere.

"Gu Cheng, there's something alive down there..."

Gu Chengyan suddenly spoke, barely managing to bring Gu Cheng back to her senses.

"I know...I know," the girl quickly replied, then rubbed her forehead and walked back the way she came.

After scanning with bio-electric radar, many targets were indeed found near the cliff, which, according to the feedback images, were snakes, bats, and some small insects.

After turning off her flashlight and entering the camp, Gu Cheng immediately crawled into her sleeping bag.

What exactly happened? As she carefully recalled the situation, the girl's pink lips turned pale.

Not only small snakes or leeches, but the radar also detected a giant creature, roughly estimated to be at least twenty meters long, and the sound was coming from its mouth.

"Did you find anything?" Jiang Xuewei asked her.

Gu Cheng took a deep breath and truthfully relayed her survey results.

"A giant creature resembling a long snake...it should have made quite a commotion..."

Gu Cheng's scanning range was insufficient to cover the entire ruins; the creatures she discovered were likely just the tip of the iceberg. Jiang Xuewei thought to herself as she urged her to rest.

......

The next morning, the tunnel was still damp. Gu Cheng and Jiang Xuewei woke up one after the other, dressed and washed up on the spot, and left the camp with their belongings.

Before the operation began, Gu Chengyan made a point of destroying all traces of their life in the cave.

Otherwise, when later generations investigate again, they might be surprised to find that this centuries-old underground ruin actually contains a bag of compressed biscuits produced just last year.

After another unsuccessful attempt to connect to the signal, Jiang Xuewei spat lightly and casually tossed the amplifier into the shadows.

"We can only rely on ourselves now."

With the hook and lock secured, Jiang Xuewei told Gu Cheng to wait up there while she slid down the wall little by little.

"careful!"

Gu Cheng lay prone on the ground, his pupils closely watching the area around Jiang Xuewei.

Everything was safe. After descending about thirty meters, the woman stepped onto the pier, signaling for her to come down as well. Gu Cheng packed up her weapons and followed suit, sliding down the cliff.

Reaching out to catch the other person, Jiang Xuewei unfolded the hook lock on both sides. The black plastic film pressed against the wall, and as long as a lamp was placed at her feet, large areas of shadow would be created for the latter to walk through.

The underlying principle is somewhat similar to... a water elevator?

Gu Cheng drew her pistol and followed Jiang Xuewei with extreme caution. After that fleeting glimpse last night, her nerves were on edge, to the point that she felt everything nearby could potentially attack them.

The pier has a small slope of about 40 or 50 degrees, leading all the way to the abyss. Jiang Xuewei slowed her pace and crouched down from time to time to check her position.

My fingertips lightly brushed the ground, leaving a sticky, light green liquid on my tactical glove. Looking ahead, there were many more similar liquids, likely from the same reptile.

"It seems your feeling last night was correct."

The toxicity of the target bodily fluids was unknown, but it was confirmed that they were not corrosive. Jiang Xuewei took off her gloves and rinsed them with water.

P.S. This instance mainly reveals the world-building and gives the protagonist a power-up.

Chapter 248, Section 253: The Tail Eater

The underground ruins of Beidu are an ancient architectural complex consisting of multiple stone buildings and city walls. After walking along the boardwalk for about forty minutes, a section of spire emerges from the dark abyss.

It is the tallest building in the entire ruins. The tower is engraved with strange symbols that resemble serpents. The top is split in two from the middle. The weathered and broken green bricks and tiles form two concave and independent rings, making it look ancient and dilapidated.

Gu Cheng was completely focused on her surroundings, and her boot heels made no sound as they hit the ground.

Cell phones, walkie-talkies, signal boosters... most electronic devices were rendered ineffective by the black fog. The only sources of illumination were the tactical flashlights hanging from their waists and the strange vegetation on both sides of the cliff that emitted a faint green glow.

"Based on the unearthed cultural relics, the building complex is about 800 years old and was probably built during the Southern Song Dynasty."

Jiang Xuewei took out a military dagger and crouched down slightly.

"To escape the war, some people moved their entire families to this city, but later, due to unknown reasons, a sinkhole occurred and they were stranded underground."

"The above are all official intelligence from the Chinese database. Many people who have participated in the study of paranormal phenomena also believe that the history of this site can be traced back to before the Xia Dynasty."

Theoretically speaking, a ruin that has existed for five thousand years should not have such a complete architectural complex, let alone the fact that the underground environment is spacious and humid, or even has regional air convection.

The researchers' conjecture is based on two main points. First, the site is not located in the strata commonly found in artifacts from that period. Although documents written in regular script were found in the stone building, the overall architectural style of the site is quite different from that of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Secondly, there is the black mist that lingers inside year-round. This supernatural force seems to preserve the building to some extent and reduce the corrosive effects of water immersion and weathering.

Gu Cheng activated her bio-electric radar, and the long snake coiled at the bottom of the pier convulsed and fell into the abyss before it could even react.

"Do you have a sense of déjà vu?" Jiang Xuewei turned around and asked her. In the hazy black mist, more and more stone buildings emerged from the eaves.

A sense of déjà vu... Gu Cheng frowned and looked in the direction of the other person's gaze, quickly understanding what they meant.

"You mean, the crack?"

Jiang Xuewei nodded, her lips slightly pursed.

The invasion of the mortal world by descending creatures requires a cocoon formed by cracks, and the space inside the cocoon is filled with black mist, flesh and blood, and the embers of a destroyed civilization, both of which are equally desolate and ruined.

Gu Cheng touched her neck, her clean and refreshing brown ponytail hanging naturally behind her.

"What's the connection between them? Are the ruins products of the rift?" the girl asked softly.

The woman pinched off a few leeches that fell from above, their slippery, sticky texture seemingly penetrating the leather sheath and reaching her palm. Disgusted, she shook her hand and casually replied, "Didn't you see the creatures that had completed their cocoon transformation? That was the second mission you took after joining the Hermit Bureau."

During the investigation of the Yu family villa, Su Wanxi was unable to use gravity-based pressure due to the ethereal ability of the Mirror Demon, so Gu Cheng, whose abilities were not very strong at the time, had to be the main attacker.

"The supernatural phenomena of the ruins should originate from a successfully invading organism that has survived from ancient times to the present day, and has transformed the underground environment into an extremely dangerous place."

Use a dagger to cut open the slippery leech carcass, revealing its deformed suckers, extremely developed jaw teeth, and rows of willow-leaf shaped tentacles.

Even though Gu Cheng had dealt with many cracks, she couldn't help but spit out a disgusted look the moment she saw this thing.

Before she finished speaking, the leech that should have died under Jiang Xuewei's knife stirred again. It wrapped its body up like a clump of viscous glue to the serrated back of the dagger.

Jiang Xuewei crushed it into pieces again with force and kicked it off the pier.

"But... how can it live for hundreds or thousands of years..." The Hermit Bureau has recorded a lot of information about monsters. Like humans, they have a lifespan. Even if they are well nourished, they generally do not live for more than two cycles of sixty years.

After washing the dagger and rubbing the soles of her boots against the wet ground a few times, Jiang Xuewei calmly said, "The underground ruins of Beidu are unique and special."

Jiang Xuewei did not elaborate on what was special about it. Gu Cheng glanced at the remains of the corpse a few times, pursed her lips, and followed.

......

Ouroboros exists in many religions and mythologies. In the Norse pantheon, it is the second son of Loki, the god of mischief, and the giantess Angleboda. In Christianity, it has evolved into the boundary and limit of the entire material world.