Chapter 1364: The Call of the Stars (Part 7)

The team exploring the building was led by Riley, with Scarlet Witch Wanda bringing up the rear. The two strongest members were positioned at the front and back to ensure the team's safety. After circling the building, they finally found a hole leading underground near the cliffside.

"It looks like a void formed when the spire collapsed and crushed the loose ground. We can't be sure if there's a door inside. I want to throw a flare in, but I'm not sure if it will trigger some kind of chain reaction."

Star-Lord Quill crouched down and peered into the hole, but there was only pitch darkness inside, so he sought some means of illumination.

Jarvis stepped forward. He lightly touched the area above his eyebrow, and a stream of light flashed through his brownish-red pupils. His terrain scanning device activated, and the terrain status appeared in his eyes as a blue grid.

He also walked to the side of the void and said to Star-Lord, "You're right, it is indeed a hole underneath, but there's no way to tell if there's a door inside. We'd better take a look after lighting it up."

"I'll do it." Scarlet Witch stepped forward, habitually wanting to use magic for illumination. She reached out, and red energy condensed into a point of light.

Star-Lord peered over curiously, stood up, walked a few steps, came before Scarlet Witch, and asked, "Are you a member of the God race?"

Apparently, most of the races he had seen in the universe that could use magical energy were God-kind. Wanda shook her head and said, "No, I am a mutant."

As she spoke, the point of light in her hand became brighter and brighter. Just as Wanda was about to send the magically lit point into the cave, it went out with a "poof."

"What's wrong?" Jarvis asked, looking at her with concern.

Wanda frowned and didn't speak, instead trying to condense magical energy again. But this time, the point of light didn't light up. Wanda sighed and said, "I don't know either, but I just feel like I can't concentrate."

"Is there a problem with Chthon, the source of Chaos Magic?" Jarvis asked again.

Wanda shook her head and said, "No, my connection with Chthon is very stable, and even without him, I can invoke Chaos power to cast magic. It's just that I feel my thinking is a bit chaotic... I should have listened carefully during meditation class at Xavier's School."

Wanda's complexion wasn't very good. She frowned slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned down. It seemed that failing at a critical moment made the young witch feel somewhat frustrated.

Jarvis hurriedly patted her shoulder and said, "It's okay, we can use a flare. Mr. Quill, my terrain scan just now told me there's nothing underneath. You can safely throw the lighting tool down."

Quill nodded without saying anything. He took a small square device out of his tool kit. Judging from the materials and craftsmanship, it should have originated from the Kree Empire or its subordinate civilizations.

Quill threw the palm-sized square down the hole. With a "swish," the cave was illuminated by blue light. It was a large void, and in the narrow gap between the stones and mud on the opposite side, a warm-colored light was revealed.

"That might be a window to this building. What is that? Glass shards? It looks like the window has been broken. I think we can go in from there." Jarvis's tone remained calm, which gave everyone a great sense of security.

No one blamed Wanda for her poor performance, because everyone except Jarvis felt somewhat uncomfortable. Riley exhaled and said, "My spider-sense has been ringing, but it's very faint. I've never experienced a feeling like this. I'm clearly not hurt, and there's no danger nearby, but it's just buzzing in the bottom of my heart."

"The Qi in my body has been a bit disordered." Xu Shangqi flipped his hands, seemingly not knowing how to describe his feelings in English. He reached out and touched his eyes, saying, "The mental cultivation method I learned at the S. H. I. E. L. D. Spear Bureau can't even complete a full cycle; it's always intermittent. But there's nothing blocking my power; I just can't concentrate."

His eyes darted left and right, looking somewhat agitated. Riley rubbed his arms, which were covered in goosebumps.

And Spider-Man's way of overcoming his panic was to keep moving. He immediately stood up, jumped on the spot, and said, "Alright, I'll go down first. I have spider-sense; if there's danger, I can dodge it in advance."

"I'll go down with you." Wanda followed behind Riley and said, "I can use magic to let us both land silently, so as not to disturb anything. I'm sure there's something inside."

Riley didn't dwell on it too much and nodded. Wanda stretched out her hands, and red light enveloped the two of them. They flew down the hole, not landing along the way, and went straight to the place where the warm-colored light appeared.

"It's so cold down here." Scarlet Witch shivered and said, "I feel like it's at least minus 20 degrees. If we didn't have a magic shield, we probably wouldn't be able to move an inch."

Landing on the ground, Riley first glanced at the glass shards on the floor, then walked two steps toward where the light was spreading, and then discovered, just as Jarvis had speculated, that this was a broken window.

But the light shining through the window didn't come from lamps or candlelight, but from a glowing mass in the darkness far away.

Riley swallowed subconsciously. He instinctively felt that going deeper wasn't a good idea. Just then, Xu Shangqi's shout came from behind: "How is it? Can we go down now?!"

"Yes! There's no danger here!" Riley shouted back, but soon added in a low voice: "But it might not be the case if we go any further."

Wanda suddenly became a bit irritable. She said, "Who cares what's there? Let's rush in. What can it do to us? Can't my magic deal with a few monsters?"

After speaking, she pulled Riley back, then used magic to bring the others down. Completely ignoring the previous formation, she took the lead and walked toward the window, saying, "Stop playing tricks and scaring yourselves. Even those ordinary S. H. I. E. L. D. agents can handle it, can't we? Let's go."

The others followed Wanda's pace, but Xu Shangqi looked around. He always felt that there were many pairs of eyes hidden in the dark environment of the cave. He took a deep breath, reached out, and pinched the jade pendant hanging around his neck.

That was given to him by Director Zheng Xian after he left S. H. I. E. L. D. Zheng Xian said that as long as he combined it with the Heart-Clearing Technique Xu Shangqi had learned before, it could help him calm his mind and better circulate his cultivation method.

Xu Shangqi began to recite the content of the Heart-Clearing Technique in his heart, then circulated his Qi to his eyes, improving his vision in the dark. After stabilizing his state of mind, those eyes that seemed to be everywhere gradually faded away, and the cave returned to its original appearance.

Xu Shangqi breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly someone patted him. Xu Shangqi was so scared he almost jumped off the ground. He turned his head and saw Star-Lord Quill's face.

Xu Shangqi breathed a sigh of relief. He still remembered those funny guys in the Guardians of the Galaxy, but he had had an upset stomach before and couldn't greet Star-Lord. Now that he felt better, he smiled and said, "Hello, you're Peter Quill, right?"

Quill nodded and said, "Asians aren't common in S. H. I. E. L. D. You must be quite capable, right?"

"I'm just an apprentice." Xu Shangqi shook his head and said, "Riley said he wanted to do missions to earn points, so I came with him. I don't have any skills; even my cultivation method was learned at the last minute."

"Kid, don't be so humble. Haven't you noticed that your footsteps are much lighter than everyone else's?" Rocket Raccoon jumped onto Xu Shangqi's shoulder along Quill's arm and waved his claws at him.

Xu Shangqi tilted his head to look at the raccoon on his shoulder, feeling it was quite fun, so he reached out to touch its head, but then withdrew his hand as if he had thought of something.

He remembered that Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy had a very irritable temper and didn't like being treated as a small animal. Moreover, he was an intelligent creature, and touching someone's head without permission was a bit impolite.

So, Xu Shangqi just scratched his head, showed an embarrassed smile, and said, "This is the footwork taught to me by my teacher at the S. H. I. E. L. D. Spear Bureau. As long as you circulate Qi to your legs, walking can be easier. After all, I'm quite lazy; I'm even used to taking the cable car when hiking."

But unexpectedly, the raccoon reached out its claws and touched Xu Shangqi's head, then said, "Looks like a very polite silly kid. I'll treat you to a meal when we get back."

After speaking, Rocket Raccoon hopped back onto Quill's hiking bag. As Quill passed him and walked forward, Xu Shangqi touched his stomach and frowned.

He felt that maybe he really had eaten too much at noon. As soon as he heard the word "meal," he actually started to feel nauseous again. Or perhaps it was because he was a bit far from Scarlet Witch, and he felt it getting colder and colder here.

Xu Shangqi couldn't help but shiver, looked around, and felt some rustling sounds in the darkness again. He reached out and pinched the jade pendant again, sighing in his heart that he really should have watched fewer horror movies when he was in college.

When Quill led Rocket Raccoon to the middle of the team, Rocket Raccoon jumped onto Jarvis again. However, the moment Rocket Raccoon's paws touched Jarvis's shoulder, he paused, then shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Buddy, is that red-haired girl in front your girlfriend?"

"We haven't officially confirmed our relationship yet," Jarvis answered matter-of-factly, but Rocket Raccoon immediately waved his claws and said, "Hey! That won't win a girl's heart. You should say, 'That's what I'm thinking, I just don't know how she feels about it.'"

"A witty yet polite answer," Jarvis evaluated, but he soon added, "But I prefer to state the facts."

"You're a raccoon and you're teaching a human how to pick up girls? Come back quickly, stop jumping around." Quill reached out and patted Jarvis on the shoulder, showing an apologetic smile.

But who knew, Rocket Raccoon used Quill's shoulder as a springboard again, grabbed Wanda's cloak, and jumped onto her shoulder. With one hand covering his mouth, he whispered to Wanda, "I bet you, it's not his first time being so unromantic, otherwise he wouldn't be able to state such facts. But your action of pricking up your ears is a bit too obvious; that's not very demure, Miss."

The next second, Rocket Raccoon nimbly dodged Wanda's grabbing hand. Wanda turned her head back, glaring at the raccoon that had jumped onto Riley's shoulder with shame and annoyance, but after feeling Jarvis's gaze, she pursed her lips, rolled her eyes slightly, and turned her head back.

"How long have they been like this?" Rocket Raccoon asked, resting his elbows on Riley's head. Riley shrugged and said, "It's been a long time, and it might be even longer."

"Ben Riley!" Wanda raised her tone and shouted with dissatisfaction.

It had to be admitted that the raccoon's manic behavior seemed a bit too noisy, but the sight of a furry little animal jumping around and cracking jokes also diluted the oppressive atmosphere in the dark environment.

But the side effect was that after Rocket Raccoon also quieted down, the darkness and silence merged into one, becoming even more unbearable.

In the dark space, even heartbeats became clearer, and after hearing the somewhat rapid heartbeats of their companions, everyone found it even harder to ignore the panic in their hearts.

The short distance from the cave entrance to the window became exceptionally long. That unspeakable fear suppressed in the heart seemed to be fuel condensed from liquid into solid, and it would trigger a violent explosion at any moment.

"When we stood before the window, staring at the distant point of light deep in the darkness, the silence was like a soundless wave, causing layer upon layer of fear to wash over the high walls in everyone's hearts.

Every one of us understood what this simultaneous hesitation came from. The only thing that can overcome humanity's yearning for light is the fear of darkness—or perhaps not darkness, but the unknown.

I could clearly hear their heartbeats getting faster and their breathing getting more rapid.

Perhaps it is precisely the instinct of the beast within the human body that teaches us how to fight our way out of the primitive and wild. When fear tries to break in and domesticate our bodies, the accelerated heartbeat and faster-flowing blood will make us cast off the depression, and physiological reactions will prompt us to become excited, to rise up and resist, and to struggle for survival.

Curiosity, prying, fear, struggle.

At this moment, I understood how we, these weak creatures, were swallowed like dregs by the vortex of the ocean and fell into the boundless, desperate dark hole." ===== CHAPTER 1365 =====