"Frenzied Saber's captain, Nie Kuang, is famous in the hunter circle. He's been in Heaven Realm for a few years now, so he should have mastered the principles behind using maglev to fight."
Lin Chuan thought about it. "I also saw Li Xin, the famous lone gunslinger behind Shen Yulong. He's a ruthless person who can use a normal gun to kill superbeasts. Once he targets me, it's hard for me to escape. Fortunately, this is a dark underground, so his gun skills are limited.
"Also, Shen Yulong is a fighting-class superhuman. Two years ago, he reached the peak of Earth Realm. With his status as the outstanding member of the third generation in Universe Corporation, it's only natural that he has a lot of cultivation resources from his family. It's hard to say whether he reached Heaven Realm over the past two years." This guy has been very cunning since he was in school. Just now, he might have been putting on an act so that we would lower our guard and underestimate his fighting strength.
"We have to be broad-minded. If the other party also has three fighting-class Heaven Realm superhumans, this fight will be very difficult. There are too many variables, and I'm not confident."
"Even if it's difficult, we have to fight."
"Everyone, you understand the situation now. Right now, it's not a matter of whether we can get rich or not. It's a matter of whether we can leave the underground alive. Everyone, be prepared for battle. Once we're ambushed, immediately counterattack without hesitation. If someone dies, I'll take responsibility. Even if we kill Shen Yulong, as long as we're in the right, Sky Pillar Corporation will support us!"
Regardless of whether it was the hunters or the mine explorers, they seemed to be used to this sort of situation. They nodded and checked their equipment and distributed weapons with familiar ease.
Even Zhang Weiyan, the white-haired and experienced mine explorer, hid a dagger in his boots. He also took a gun from Scimitar and stuck it behind his back.
Only Meng Chao watched this scene dumbfounded.
Lin Chuan went forward and stuffed a large amount of gene medicine and high-calorie nutritional fluid into his arms. He whispered, "If we really end up fighting, don't worry about anything else. Just take care of your life and run if you can!"
Meng Chao could not believe it. "Big Brother Lin, what's going on? Are the mine exploration teams from Sky Pillar Corporation and Universe Corporation going to fight against each other?"
"It's hard to say."
Lin Chuan shrugged. "You saw it yourself. Do we look like we'll be able to move forward happily while holding hands?"
"But —"
Meng Chao stuttered. "We're all humans, and the northern offense is spreading like wildfire above our heads. We're fighting against monsters, so how can we kill each other at this critical moment?"
"There you go again. Didn't I tell you that there are no 'humans'?"
Lin Chuan lowered his voice. "So what if the war is raging like a raging fire? The monsters are also fighting against humans. That doesn't stop the Crystalline Nine-headed Dragon from eating dozens of Demonic Halberd Pigs every day!"
Meng Chao found himself speechless.
"Listen up, university student. If you want to survive in this cruel world, you need to put away your student mentality as soon as possible."
Lin Chuan slapped Meng Chao's shoulder and said earnestly, "I know what the university has taught you. You should work together, be united, and be united. It's as if all humans are close family and don't have any conflicts with each other. Even if there are conflicts, you can resolve them through sincere communication and compromise.
"That's right. When we're in Dragon City, we're under the spotlights, CCTVs, and everyone's gazes. When Lu Siya and Shen Yulong attend the charity banquet, they can talk and laugh together. They can even dance!
"But this is the wild.
"There are no spotlights, no CCTVs, and no countless eyes staring at us. No matter what happens, even if you kill another human and toss the corpse into a bottomless abyss, in less than twenty-four hours, the monsters and microorganisms will devour the corpse. Not even the bones will be left, and no one will ever know about it.
"Do you think that everyone can maintain the brightest side of humanity in this sort of situation?
"Let me tell you, behind the fog, in the depths of the wild, for the sake of crystal mines and high-grade superbeast materials, for the interests of mega corporations, or for the conflicts between superhuman families, it's not rare for superhumans to kill each other. The veteran mine explorers and hunters have more or less experienced it before. At the very least, they've heard about it. That's why everyone has to be prepared."
Meng Chao clenched his fists and said, "But —"
"But why haven't you heard about it before, right?"
Lin Chuan smiled. "Of course the Survival Committee can't tell all the citizens everything that happened in the wild. Otherwise, it would tarnish the glorious image of superhumans and make everyone realize that aside from the conflict between humans and monsters, there's actually another conflict between humans and monsters.
"Of course, don't worry. We're rational people. We won't take the initiative to ambush Universe Corporation's mine exploration team, but if they attack us, we'll defend ourselves. That won't go against your morals, right?"
Meng Chao thought about it. "Will they ambush us?"
"Who knows? Qin Hu from Frenzied Saber should have a grudge against you, right? I saw a fierce look in his eyes when he left, and he looked like he wanted to skin you alive. We can't be certain that he won't incite his employer to attack us," Lin Chuan said.
"We can't have the heart to harm others, but we can't not have the heart to guard against others. We have to prepare for the worst so that we can be prepared."
Meng Chao nodded with a solemn expression.
If they attacked first, he would definitely not just sit around and wait for his death.
Besides, based on his previous life's memories, the mine exploration might end in failure. Even Lin Chuan had died underground, and Dragon City would never hear of his name again.
If that was the case, the possibility of them fighting each other was high.
Even if he had a grudge against Qin Hu, Meng Chao did not want to walk down the path of death if they fought each other.
After all, not only was this related to the safety of the two mine exploration teams, it was also related to the success or failure of the northern offense. It was also related to whether there would be countless destructive fireworks exploding in the sky above Dragon City decades later.
When he thought of this, Meng Chao asked, "Can't we work together to explore the mine and split the mining rights of the Red Radiance Jade mine equally?"
Lin Chuan stared at him with a strange and pitiful gaze, as if he was looking at an innocent child. "Let's not talk about whether the corporations behind them are willing or not, and let's not talk about the grudge between Lu Siya and Shen Yulong. Let's just talk about how they were smiling just now and how they came to an agreement. How can you be sure that they aren't hiding a knife behind their smiles and only thinking about numbing the other party so that they can stab the other party in the heart at the most critical moment?
"After all, this is a place where monsters roam. The magnetic field interference is strong, and danger lurks everywhere. It's too easy to kill one or one hundred people here. It's also too easy to destroy the corpses and get rid of suspicion. Besides, the right to mine the Red Radiance Jade mine is related to an astronomical amount of profit. It's enough to make the eminent monks in the ancient temples greedy.
"Even if Lu Siya is willing to believe Shen Yulong, Shen Yulong won't believe Lu Siya.
"Lu Siya knows that Shen Yulong won't believe her, so there's no way she would believe Shen Yulong.
"Even if the leaders of both sides are willing to trust each other, what about the team members? There are dozens of them. As long as one of them harbors evil thoughts, such as Qin Hu seizing this rare chance to kill you underground, it'll be like a spark falling into a barrel of gunpowder. It'll stir up a chain reaction, and with a bang, everyone will be blown to pieces!
"Do you understand now? Once we're in a dead-end situation of mutual suspicion, we can only pray that both sides will stay far away from each other during the mine exploration and not run into each other again. And once one side discovers the Red Radiance Jade mine, the other side will be able to maintain absolute rationality and elegance. If they were willing to bet, they will be willing to admit defeat and leave on their own.
"Otherwise, only the heavens know what will happen."
Meng Chao was speechless.
Lin Chuan sighed. "I told you that I don't want you to accept Lu Siya's invitation and join this mission. You'll regret it."
"No, I don't regret it at all."
Meng Chao shook his head slowly and said firmly, "Perhaps I know better than you just how ugly humans can become, but no matter how ugly they become, they're still humans. We'll definitely think of a way to break out of the predicament in the dark!"
Lin Chuan cast him a deep glance.
Meng Chao did not back down. He stared into Lin Chuan's eyes.
In the end, Lin Chuan was the first to look away. Without a word, he turned away.
After something like this happened, it was only natural that they could not rest.
Many of them had just entered deep meditation, and it was the same as being forcefully woken up from a deep sleep. It was a form of torture to their minds and bodies.
But everyone knew just how serious the situation was. Their competitors were close by, and whoever discovered the Red Radiance Jade mine first would have the moral, legal, and initiative to fight.
They had already left behind a lot of their companions' corpses underground, and they could not accept returning empty-handed.
Soon, the group packed up their bags and held their weapons in reverse grip. Then, they carefully seized every second they had to carry out the next stage of the exploration.
Under the guidance of Lu Siya, who was a Spirit Sensor, they drew closer to their target.
Cracks that had only been torn apart over the past month or two gradually appeared around them.
The shattered underground folds were like the work of nature. It was a 3D maze that had been shattered and pieced together haphazardly.
There were some places where they had to use ropes and spiked shoes to climb over cracks and cliffs that had a drop of more than one hundred meters.
There were other places where they had to cross fast-flowing underground rivers.
The crystal mines of different natures released spirit energy at different frequencies, which made one cave as hot as a steel furnace. The next cave was covered in sharp icicles.
The alternating extreme cold and extreme heat had a great effect on a superhuman's vitality magnetic field.
The powerful spirit energy magnetic field interference also affected a human's visual nerves and spatial perception. Even experienced mine explorers would get lost in a small area, and they would spin around as if they had run into a wall.
Even if superhumans had strong bodies, they could not withstand this kind of high-intensity torture. Everyone was close to breaking down.
Compared to the dangerous environment and the difficulty of their work, what made them even more worried was the occasional shadows of Universe Corporation's mine exploration team.
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