A vibrant, spring-like atmosphere blossomed.
Such sudden brightness and lively activity in the normally dim, deathly silent Underground brought the expansive, uplifting feeling of a Qingming Festival spring outing.
Inspired by the shift, a clearly eager Fu Qian let out a sudden roar to vent the feelings in his chest, his feet remaining perfectly planted.
Gospel Shockwave!
Amid the rolling sound waves, a disturbance far more massive than before surged down the passage carved by the stone pillar and squarely struck the White Bone Centipede.
It spurred the creature into a frantic, flailing dance before rolling deeper into the distance, its echoes ringing out long after.
Of course, at that exact same moment, Fu Qian's body was also swallowed by a rushing torrent.
"...Are you alright?"
Standing off to the side, Professor Lisa couldn't help but be infected by the festive atmosphere. It wasn't until the torrent dispersed that she snapped back to reality and checked on Fu Qian, who had taken the brunt of the blast.
Although that previous strike had been massive in scale, it didn't seem to have the slightest effect on Demigod Fu, whose benevolent grace blessed all directions.
While that conclusion was terrifying to think about, it was at least a positive sort of terror. Well—it had actually produced some effect.
The very next moment, though he offered no verbal reply, Fu Qian slowly turned around, prompting Professor Lisa to slightly revise her assessment.
She saw that the clothes on his front were thoroughly riddled with holes. Through the tattered fabric, she caught glimpses of... black body hair?
A bizarre sight that Lisa had never expected to see filled her stiffening vision.
It was as fine as needle and thread, yet undeniably smooth and flowing.
The surface of that intensely muscular body was evenly coated with short black hair.
But rather than simply covering his skin like an animal's pelt, these fine hairs stretched and arranged themselves according to a distinct pattern. Ultimately, they wove together to form the appearance of an exquisite piece of Armor.
"What are you..."
For a fleeting moment, Professor Lisa completely forgot about the scientific objective of their expedition for the very first time.
...
"Heh... it's got some tricks up its sleeve. If I weren't always so cautious and hadn't deliberately worn my Soft Hedgehog Armor under my clothes, I almost would have fallen for that."
Finally responding to Professor Lisa's concern, Fu Qian waved a hand to signal that he was fine. In the next moment, he let out a cold laugh, granting their opponent a sliver of grudging acknowledgment.
'...Are you sure that's Armor?'
'Anyone who isn't blind can see it grew right out of your body, right?'
Unfortunately, his calm and collected reassurance only delivered a mind-blowing shock to his teammate.
Staring blankly at Fu Qian's body, Professor Lisa felt her sense of reason churning violently.
'Sure, the design isn't bad, and the breathability is excellent, but are you certain that thing offers even a shred of protection?'
'You obviously just morphed that on the spot to keep from exposing yourself, didn't you?'
"Professor Fu... your attachment to remaining human doesn't seem very strong."
In the end, of course, she swallowed back all of those overly emotional outbursts.
Lisa took a deep breath and offered that rather profound evaluation. Finally remembering what they had been doing just a moment ago, she leaned forward to peer into the depths of the breached hole—the creature was trembling.
The roar Professor Fu had unleashed was clearly far from simple. The White Bone Centipede, which visibly possessed no intellect, now gave off the distinct impression of being scared out of its mind.
Beyond its fine legs convulsing as if electrocuted, even the jade-green spectral light inside its body was churning into violent vortexes.
"Hmph. Do you know what happened to the last one who judged me like that?"
Just as she was taking in that pathetic sight, Professor Fu's cold sneer rang out again, his words sending a chill down her spine.
...
"What happened?"
Lisa, who had been debating whether she should rush in to finish the creature off, was clearly thrown by this unexpected statement. She cautiously asked the question.
"To this very day, it is still paying a brutal price!"
Unfortunately, Fu Qian clearly had no intention of satisfying her curiosity. Letting out a string of cold chuckles, he turned his gaze back to the hole, leaving her with an answer that left infinite room for imagination.
Of course, no matter how hard Professor Lisa racked her brain, she could never have guessed that this cruel price amounted to a staggering 30,000 points.
What Fu Qian had been referring to was, of course, the evaluation handed down by the Warehouse during his very first mission.
"Successive large disturbances might attract other things. Should we finish it off and head back?"
Sure enough, Lisa didn't seem to have the courage to press the issue. She shifted her attention back to the matter at hand.
"It looks like it's already recovering. If we wait, it might escape—"
Her voice came to an abrupt halt. Watching the figure suddenly break into a sprint in the opposite direction, Professor Lisa—whose casual remark had seemingly become words carrying absolute law—turned her head with a complicated expression. She sized up Fu Qian, who still showed no reaction.
"...Did you deliberately miss it just now? Why?"
However, she naturally wasn't naive enough to express any guilt. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, picking up on a suspicion she had harbored from the start.
"It's rare for us to come down here. I wanted to see the effects."
Surprisingly, Fu Qian didn't deny her guess in the slightest. He even pointed to the traces on his own body to explain.
"Didn't we mention earlier that the nature of these things' power seems somewhat similar to this place?"
"...So what's the conclusion?"
Lisa had a 'just as I thought' look on her face.
"There are definitely similarities. At the very least, they're close relatives."
With a casual tug, the shreds of cloth on his chest scattered like a chaotic swarm of butterflies. Fu Qian let out a soft sigh.
"It feels like the probability of them being the ones who destroyed this place is even lower now."
"Understood... And now?"
Deep in thought, Lisa gestured toward the depths of the shattered tunnel with her eyes.
"Now we follow it, of course, and see what it does next."
Saying that, Fu Qian finally stepped forward and walked inside.
'I knew it... This guy's actions just now definitely had more than one purpose.'
Bellowing internally, Professor Lisa once again deeply felt how impossible it was to fathom this guest's mind. Resigned to her fate, she followed him in.
...
"It runs fast."
A moment later, Professor Fu highly praised the target's displayed instinct to seek advantage and avoid danger.
He didn't even rush the pursuit, keeping an unhurried pace as if deliberately giving the creature time to catch its breath.
While Lisa critiqued his actions in her head, the two of them arrived at the shattered stone pillar. The Statue at the top was, without a doubt, smashed beyond recognition.
But if they kept chasing it down...
Following the path beneath their feet, Lisa narrowed her eyes and glanced to the side. Sure enough, she spotted more than one figure drifting away in the air, their target among them.
'Running away is actually contagious...'
But that wasn't the point. The crux was that at the end of this tunnel, there was an unmistakable, unusual glow. It made the fleeing entities look like they were abandoning the dark to seek the light.
"Not good! That's the direction of the giant pit. If we let it escape into there, it'll probably stir up a huge commotion."
Lisa instantly realized something, her words speeding up in alarm.
However, the utterly unchanging pace of the guest beside her made her instantly realize something else. Her words tumbled out even faster.
"You did this on purpose? After spinning in such a massive circle in here, you can actually still tell the direction?"
"Just a little bit."
Fu Qian nodded modestly.
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