Chapter 222: Mysterious Cave

The person vanished before their eyes; as soon as Li Fei realized something was wrong, he immediately tore off his mask and shouted,

"Where is he? Zheng Tian! You brat, what kind of disappearing act are you playing? Did you fall down?"

The shout immediately drew inquiries from the people behind; the space was not large, everyone was walking forward one after another, and they were even tied to each other with safety ropes.

"Deputy Team Leader, what's going on?"

"He fell down, but there's no weight on the rope!"

"I, I don't know either," Li Fei pulled the safety rope at his waist at the first opportunity; the rope was still there, but there was no force of a fall, nor was it slack, yet he simply could not see the person.

"What the hell, or is it my eyes that can't see?"

As Li Fei spoke, he was about to go to the place where Zheng Tian had vanished, but he was grabbed by the person behind him, "Wait a moment, Deputy Team Leader, the rope is still there, so the person must still be there. Let me go down first. You keep watch; it'll be easier to report to the Boss if something happens."

Jia Guan, the thinnest person in the whole team, was third in line, and as he spoke, he squeezed to the very front. Originally, it should have been him, the scout, walking in the lead, but Zheng Tian, that brat, had 'argued' his way into the first position with his mouth; there was no telling what to say about him.

"Fine, then be careful," Li Fei not only had to report to Liu Mu, but as the Deputy Team Leader, he also had to be responsible for directing the team members' actions in the absence of the Captain; when the situation was completely uncertain, one really shouldn't act rashly.

Jia Guan stood at the front, first reaching out to probe ahead; there was nothing special in the air, so he took a deep breath and stepped out toward the nearest diagonally protruding ice spike.

At this moment, not only was Li Fei watching without daring to blink, but several team members behind also stretched their necks, wanting to see what was going on.

Yet, with so many pairs of eyes watching, Jia Guan... also vanished.

"This is truly hellish!"

It was hard to tell if it was the cold or genuine fear, but Li Fei's face turned somewhat pale; the problem was that the ropes they were tied to were still there, yet there was no tension or slack.

Whether a person fell, walked far away, or truly vanished, in any case, the rope should have shown some abnormality.

But, there was nothing.

The crowd, having witnessed this change with their own eyes, also fell silent; no one dared to speak first, and a solemnity more terrifying than the cold spread through the air.

"Don't any of you move," Li Fei naturally dared not let anyone else probe, and even if he were to go himself, he had to report first.

One minute later, the team members moved, and Liu Mu circled around the ice spikes like a swimming fish from above until she arrived above Li Fei.

"What's the situation?"

"It's right here," Li Fei's gesturing hand didn't dare to stretch too far; his face was pale and white, and his tongue was almost frozen, "Zheng Tian disappeared first, Jia Guan went to probe, and he disappeared too. But the rope is fine; when pulled, there's a heavy object, it's just that the people can't be seen... They don't seem to be joking on purpose."

If it were merely a joke, upon learning that Liu Mu had come down, Zheng Tian, that brat, would definitely have appeared immediately.

"Take my hand," in an instant, Liu Mu had already thought of many things and was sufficiently confident in her own physical strength, "I'll go take a look."

"Boss!" Li Fei felt that this operation was a test for him, but now that team members had vanished before his eyes, it should be his responsibility, "Let me go instead, you all hold onto me."

Liu Mu originally didn't want to explain, but seeing Li Fei's expression, she feared this brat had already imagined a scenario where he sacrificed himself to save the others.

"Your physical strength isn't enough. I've seen this kind of situation before; it should have something to do with space. Don't be afraid, even the rope hasn't snapped; this bit of force field can't hurt me."

Grabbing Li Fei's hand, Liu Mu didn't give him another chance to argue and slowly took a step forward.

And with this step, she also used her head; the distance she stepped was very short, and sure enough, she felt as if she had passed through something.

The next second, a scene that was both amazing and eerie to the team members appeared: Liu Mu... only half of her remained visible.

"This... are you alright, Boss?"

Li Fei subconsciously wanted to pull her back, but Liu Mu stopped him, "Wait a moment, let me see what the situation is inside."

There was indeed a transparent force field here, like a vortex, pulling her body toward the other side. Fortunately, this force was not strong, but it was difficult to leave; it felt like a person being stuck in a non-Newtonian fluid while in a static state.

Liu Mu moved her head over slowly, and upon seeing the situation inside, she was amused.

It was actually a Vigilant Crystal Cave, filled with ice-blue Beast Crystals everywhere, but what made her smile were those two oddly-positioned subordinates.

One was crawling on all fours, and the other was stretching his body at a forty-five-degree angle to brace himself.

Of course, it was Jia Guan and Zheng Tian; these two indeed hadn't gone far, and their bodies and ropes were all securely tied to them. It was just that the crystal cave below was of unknown depth, and they had to hold onto the blue Crystal Bamboo Shoot they had passed through for dear life, otherwise, they would have rolled straight down.

And the position where they had passed through was the upper part of the cave that went almost vertically downward.

Liu Mu glanced at the two and ignored them; she looked up and saw daylight falling from above. This cave should be inside an iceberg, but the top was also densely covered in Crystal, and she didn't see any cracks leading to the outside, though the air was circulating.

The latter point wasn't hard to understand; although the force field distorted space, it could allow human bodies to pass through, so it wasn't impossible for air to pass through as well.

Moreover, the bottom of the cave was unclear; there might even be an exit.

"Boss..." Jia Guan was lying on the Crystal, using all four limbs to hold on, afraid of sliding down.

"Boss, you've come?" Zheng Tian was also embarrassed; his position was slightly further than Jia Guan's.

After entering, he had actually tried to return, but when he followed the rope back, he discovered the rope was stuck into the Crystal, and there was no entrance to be found anywhere.

It wasn't that he hadn't tried pulling the rope or using tools to probe, but that was truly solid Crystal, and it couldn't be passed through at all.

Originally, there was a small piece of Crystal here where one person could stand, but when Jia Guan came in... he bumped into him, his footing became unstable, and his body leaned out diagonally. It became what it was now: both hands hugging a piece of Crystal, his feet barely stepping on the original piece, with no support point in the middle of his body, relying on both ends to brace himself; it had simply turned into a test of physical strength.

Before Liu Mu came in, the two were still trying to figure out how to notify the people outside to keep them from coming in.

For ordinary people, a place like this that you could enter but not exit was truly a bit terrifying.

If one were to dream of such a thing, one would likely wake up in a fright; if for no other reason, just the fact that the path they came by had vanished was enough to make a normal human panic.

"Boss, are you uncomfortable?"

Seeing that only half of Liu Mu's body had entered, and her whole person seemed to be embedded in the Crystal wall, her state was extremely dangerous.

Zheng Tian, whose arms were already somewhat sore and numb, continued to show concern, "Those stones have static electricity; why don't you try to see if you can get out? Don't worry about us, we'll find a way to save ourselves in a while."

He wanted to say, why don't you just come in completely, but he had been inside for ten minutes and hadn't found a single way out, so he didn't want to implicate Liu Mu in the risk. As a loyal supporter of the Boss, he could have an accident, but he absolutely could not let the Boss have an accident.

"What do you think?" Liu Mu finished surveying the internal situation and was a bit speechless at Zheng Tian, this chatterbox; should she find some poison one day to make him mute? His mouth was enough to delay things.

"You all be careful yourselves, don't disturb my thinking."

After saying this, she suddenly stopped moving.

That appearance of seemingly being swallowed by the Crystal made Zheng Tian's scalp tingle, so... he chose not to keep looking, but instead tried to find a way to stabilize his own body, only then would it be possible to help Liu Mu.

Liu Mu wasn't that she didn't want to move, but that she was communicating with Heitao A in her brain.

The system, which usually analyzed things very quickly, hadn't shown a result even after more than a minute had passed. There wasn't even a conclusion on the structure and size of this Crystal cave, let alone a 3D map.

【Are you malfunctioning?】

Heitao A: "No, Host, this is an indeterminate space; it cannot be mapped using human 3D maps. Simply put, there are many places here where space folds. One moment you are standing here, and with one step forward, you might have crossed several bends, or you might have left directly. Precisely because of this, its shape is not fixed, and for the time being, no pattern to its changes can be found; it is also possible there is no pattern at all."

Liu Mu thought for a moment and asked, "Are you saying that one can perform a Space Jump at any time here without needing physical strength? Forget it, then one can only rely on luck to get out!"

Heitao A: "Not necessarily. If you give me enough test data, I should be able to calculate where the timely exit is, and there is a high probability of calculating the pattern of the spatial changes."

"How about I just let these two silly boys try their luck inside? It's not like I absolutely have to save people." Liu Mu thought, but... Zheng Tian could be ignored, but Jia Guan was an old team member left behind by Tan Ziyan; she really couldn't just wash her hands of him.

Heitao A: "Host, there are other life forms below, and their vital signs are weakening."

Liu Mu's brows twitched, incredulous, "There are still people? How many?"

"Their appearance looks like humans, but their vital signs are different from humans. The quantity is also uncertain; those that can be scanned are no fewer than thirty. Because the space inside the cave is too complex, the radiation from the Blue Crystal itself interferes with the system, making it impossible to conduct a more detailed analysis."

These conversations seemed long, but they all took place in Liu Mu's mind; for the outside world, it was only a few dozen seconds.

Liu Mu could not risk the lives of the entire team, but the two who had already entered could try; they were already inside anyway.

"You two, go down and see if there are any living things? Don't get too close; if a spatial shift occurs again, shout loudly."

Zheng Tian's waist, which had already slumped, immediately straightened, wanting to escape the awkward situation, "I'll go right now! Boss, please take care of your safety."

Jia Guan, who was clinging to the Crystal Shisun, moved a little, "To tell you the truth, Boss, I actually have a little fear of heights, but it's not serious. Don't worry, I'll go down, I'll go down right now..."

Seeing his lean body trembling like a sieve, Liu Mu didn't want to put him through it, "You stay here and support us. I'll say a word to those outside."

Liu Mu's body being stuck between two spaces was not a long-term solution. Not to mention that she had tried and couldn't go back at all, just the thought that if the entrance here shifted, she might be pulled by an invisible Force Field.

Of course, the Force Field here was still much smaller than when she performed a Space Jump, and it was not enough to cause serious consequences to her body, but the scary part was, what if the Force Field suddenly became several times stronger during a shift?

This was almost the same principle as being cut in two by a running elevator and the floor slab.

However, since her head was not left outside, she could only use her hands to gesture to the people outside, meaning for them to return the way they came and that today's mission was temporarily cancelled. As for the situation inside, she would watch and handle it.

After Li Fei understood, he wrote 'OK' in her palm, and then he saw Liu Mu's body slowly disappear before his eyes.

"Deputy Team Leader..."

The team members behind did not want to leave just like that; the Sea Soul Team did not have a tradition of abandoning team members to escape on their own; they couldn't afford to lose that face.

Moreover, this time it also included the Captain who had the heart to lead them to grow.

Without the need for teammates to say it, Li Fei naturally knew what they meant.

However, disobeying orders was also not their tradition.

Someone suggested, "How about we just wait here?"

Another echoed, "That's no different either. If you ask me, just follow them in. The Boss didn't say there was definitely danger inside, right? At least there is strength in numbers!"

Nobody believed this, but in the end, everyone just needed a reason to follow them in.

At this moment, Li Fei stated an immature idea he had been thinking about for half a minute, "Didn't the Boss just say the space is unstable? What if we are forced by circumstances?"

Everyone: "That's right! Deputy Team Leader, it still has to be you!"

The 'mental flexibility' of the Sea Soul Team members, under Liu Mu's development over the past few months, had long since ceased to be as simple and honest as before.

A reason? Wasn't it just handed to them on a silver platter?

"Line up, everyone tie your safety ropes tight for me. When you go in, act realistic; don't let the Boss see through the trick!"

With an order from Li Fei, he tightened the safety buckle on his waist and was the first to act as if he were drunk, accidentally 'falling' out.

Those behind followed suit; a few minutes later, on the dark blue Crystal Shisun, a group of soldiers were hanging like branches in the southeast.

"You bunch of brats!"

Liu Mu and Zheng Tian had already left to explore further down. As a veteran team member, as soon as Jia Guan tasted the posture of this group of people coming in, he knew they were doing it on purpose.

"You're not even acting anymore, are you?"

"What are you talking about, Brother Guan? We were clearly walking back. Where is this, and why are you here too?"

"That's right, I was clearly walking at the very front. Hey, hey, move over, I'm about to be squeezed off."

"Is this place against us? It's simply not letting us leave!"

"9494!"

Jia Guan looked up, stretching his neck like a little turtle looking at the sky at forty-five degrees, "I believe you bunch of grandsons. Didn't the Boss say you can't get out once you come in? And you're still rushing to join the fun. When the Boss comes back later, let's see if she doesn't peel your skin off."

"Don't! You can't just say things like that," a team member who had once participated in dealing with the Heaven Viper at the Yangjia Town Mine with Liu Mu turned pale, "The Boss really has that skill; don't bring it up. We are all brothers, right, Jia Guan? You wouldn't want us to 'take special care' of you every day in the future, right? And the Deputy Team Leader is still here!"

Jia Guan shut his mouth; he didn't want to, and he didn't dare to truly offend these brothers, "I didn't see anything; I just felt the stone wall move suddenly. How terrifying, this place is too scary."

Days of being given the cold shoulder were not good; he still wanted to stand on the same side as his comrades.

Thus, a tacit understanding was reached—they wanted to leave, but this damn Crystal cave had pulled them in.

Liu Mu, whose entire attention was on the investigation, had no idea what was happening above. After going down a section, she was forced to separate from Zheng Tian when she switched to a different ice Crystal Shisun midway.

Fortunately, she shouted twice at the time, and Zheng Tian poked his head out not far away, and the two confirmed each other's positions.

But what puzzled Liu Mu was that she considered herself to be standing normally, but Zheng Tian was horizontal, and his movements looked effortless, indicating that the direction of gravity at their respective positions was at a ninety-degree angle.

"Interesting!" Liu Mu waved at Zheng Tian, letting him continue his exploration, but she muttered to herself, "In such a small space, there are actually things that can change the direction of gravity. No, wait a minute, maybe there is no gravity here at all."

She thought that perhaps what made them not feel that their standing direction was a problem was that these Crystals themselves possessed sufficient gravitational pull.

Thinking of this, Liu Mu was eager to try, but was stopped in time by Heitao A, "Host, think about our next goal."

"Testing out enough data for you to analyze the correct conclusion, what's the problem?" Liu Mu was, of course, also thinking about the unidentified humanoid creatures.

But with such a rare opportunity for infinite Space Jumps, if she didn't try to jump, she would definitely regret it later.

Thus, she jumped, and she jumped continuously in different directions.

Each time she successfully landed back in the original spot, the landing point was exactly the same, as if a mysterious and paranoid giant hand was invisibly pulling you back to the original position every time.

"It's just like the tricks of capitalists," Liu Mu sneered, "You tell me, what do you want us humans to stay here for? You don't eat, drink, or keep us company."