The only thought in Shu Feizhang's mind on this journey was, "Don't cause any more trouble."
The mission deadline given to them was only two months. Over a month had passed, and they had only just reached the extreme southern region.
They still hadn't obtained the location and coordinates of the underground passage.
Besides anxiety, Shu Feizhang had no other recourse.
"This Mu Ye Xingchen, he looks like he's half-dead already..."
"Shen Jingming is capable, but he always keeps everyone at arm's length, spending his days playing games on his wristband."
"Gu Ya is relatively reliable, but he always likes to do things his own way!"
Shu Feizhang looked at the mechs in front of him, sighing inwardly.
He spread his right hand. A straight blood slit automatically opened in the center of his palm, revealing a small window beneath the synthetic muscle. The intricate mechanical structure within moved, finally presenting a small family photo.
"Xian Yuan Year 284..."
Shu Feizhang looked at the smiling faces of the family of three in the photo and let out a deep sigh.
"Over a hundred years..."
Just then, Gu Ya's voice came through, "Captain, we've reached the designated location. We can descend and begin operations."
"Alright."
A few minutes later, everyone emerged from their cockpits onto the thick ice layer.
Frozen for a thousand miles, snow drifting for ten thousand, the surroundings were a vast expanse of white. Even the distant ice mountains were hidden in the white, making them difficult to distinguish.
The external temperature was -121°C. Exposing skin for just a few minutes would cause permanent frostbite.
Bundled in thick anti-freeze suits, the group formed a circle.
Howling winds swept from all directions, and ice crystals and snowflakes pinged against their suits with a "pa pa" sound.
"At such low temperatures, will the instruments still work?" Shu Feizhang shouted.
His voice, when it reached everyone, had been reduced by several decibels.
Gu Ya waved his hand, and a sturdy, ice-resistant house appeared around them.
Immediately, a harsh "hua hua" sound came from where the house met the ice layer, making it feel as though it could be blown over by the strong wind at any moment.
Gu Ya arranged all the instruments, finally installing the screen-glass cosmic projection device onto the framed energy concentrating ring.
Hundreds, even thousands, of blue lights suddenly emerged, illuminating the dark ice house.
As the lights scattered against the walls, their colors deepened, eventually displaying patterns of the cosmic starry sky.
"And then what!?" Shu Feizhang asked. "Is it just some holographic starry sky projector for kids!"
The group spent a long time searching within the "starry sky."
Gu Ya suddenly spotted a star emitting a dark red glow, appearing in the southern sky.
"Could that be it?" Gu Ya asked doubtfully.
"Let's try it!" Shu Feizhang said. "We'll stop and test it every hundred kilometers south! Let's go!"
As they drew closer to the pole, everyone's heart beat with increasing unease.
Simultaneously, the dark red star in the south also seemed to get closer.
A day later, when the group arrived at a position less than seven hundred kilometers from the pole,
On the "starry sky" map, the dark red star finally appeared in the center.
Shu Feizhang stepped out of the anti-ice house and gazed around. The sky was filled with a blizzard that obscured his vision, making it impossible to see the surrounding landscape.
When Shu Feizhang returned to the ice house, he said grimly, "No good, the blizzard is too severe. The mech's detection systems are also unusable. Are there any other good methods?"
For this purely natural obstruction, Gu Ya searched the entire system store but found no viable solutions.
"We can't possibly spend all our remaining system coins on city walls..." Gu Ya said with some helplessness.
Seeing that everyone was at a loss, Shu Feizhang said, "I'll go scout around nearby. Gu Ya, prepare some equipment for me."
A few minutes later, Shu Feizhang, with three safety belts fastened around his waist and a pulley system connecting the safety belts to a steel cable, pulled a self-rescue snowmobile and slowly disappeared into the wind and snow.
As the steel cable slowly wound, he moved further and further away.
The three people sitting in the anti-ice house remained in silence.
Two hours later, as the third section of the steel cable was nearly used up, it stopped moving entirely.
Time ticked by second by second.
Gu Ya worriedly asked, "Could he have run into danger?"
"Or perhaps he found the entrance," Shen Jingming replied.
Another two hours passed, and Shu Feizhang still hadn't returned. The three inside the house grew restless.
"I'll go look for him!" Gu Ya said first.
Just then, a peculiar sound came from outside.
Amidst the "lie lie" whistling of the wind, the muffled roar of mechs could also be heard.
Gu Ya sensed something was amiss and rushed out of the ice house, only to be stunned by the sight before him.
There was no trace of wind or snow here; it was clearly a clear sky!
"No! This isn't right!" Gu Ya exclaimed in astonishment.
The sun in the sky seemed to hang in mid-air, and the light was also somewhat strange. The midday sun was actually orange-red.
Moreover, the surrounding environment was humid and hot. Gu Ya, wearing his thick anti-freeze suit, was soon drenched in sweat.
Just as he was about to take off his suit, a large hand from behind him pressed him down.
"Shu Feizhang?" Gu Ya turned around, his voice filled with shock.
Shu Feizhang was also wearing an anti-freeze suit, his face beaded with sweat from the heat, indicating he had been here for even longer than Gu Ya.
"The situation is unclear..." Shu Feizhang said cautiously. "I was walking in the blizzard, and when I looked up, I was here."
Shu Feizhang spoke, showing Gu Ya the safety belts on his body.
The steel cable behind the safety belts was cleanly severed, as if it had been cut by an extremely sharp sword.
Just then, Shen Jingming and Mu Ye Xingchen also appeared behind them.
They too looked as if they had been instantly overcome by the heat.
Looking around again, it was a boundless grassland with rolling hills.
In the distance, several clear streams flowed down from the high mountains, merging into the main river and flowing towards the horizon.
Gu Ya looked at these streams and murmured, "This... this is too small."
It was only then that everyone realized it wasn't that these things were small, but rather that they themselves were disproportionately large in this place.
"Lilliput?" Gu Ya murmured to himself.
Everyone looked at Shen Jingming. This person came from underground, but his proportions and height were identical to those of surface dwellers.
Shen Jingming surveyed his surroundings and suddenly recalled an ancient, unfamiliar yet familiar term: "Cross-space energy matrix."
"We are already within the beacon zone. As long as we meet the conditions to trigger the beacon, we will be transported here."
Everyone was dumbfounded. Before they had even achieved anything, a new, serious problem arose: how were they to get out?
"If we entered without authorization, the underground people might very well consider us invaders," Mu Ye Xingchen said lightly. "For thousands of years, there have only been records of underground people ascending to the surface, but never any surface humans who entered the underground and managed to return alive."
Shu Feizhang frowned, looking at Mu Ye Xingchen with disbelief. "What did you say!? Say that again! Why didn't you tell me this earlier!!"
Gu Ya quickly stopped Shu Feizhang and asked calmly, "Captain, didn't you thoroughly check the history before we departed?"
Shu Feizhang angrily pushed Gu Ya away and was about to question Mu Ye Xingchen when he slumped down with a long sigh.
"The higher-ups only said the mission was urgent and assured me there would be dedicated personnel to meet us. But they never mentioned that no one had ever returned alive."
Gu Ya analyzed calmly, "The higher-ups wouldn't send us to our deaths. They must have their reasons."
"Heh heh..." Mu Ye Xingchen smiled faintly and said, "The higher-ups of Xian Xia are not benevolent either."
"Think about it carefully."
"Gu Ya, possesses powerful unknown technology capable of destroying a hundred thousand mechs in a single blow."
"Shen Jingming, possesses underground technology that Xian Xia cannot control."
"Myself, a damned war criminal."
"And you, Shu Feizhang, an old fossil who has lived for over a hundred years. Piloting an outdated Wei Long mech, yet still possessing formidable strength."
"As for that Jin Quan Ao Tian, it would be best if he went missing, saving Xian Xia and the Jin Quan nation from a diplomatic incident."
"Among us few, who is easily dealt with?"
"From another perspective. Xian Xia has just experienced the Black Star invasion, but in terms of military reports, financial statements, and overall national strength, it remains the world's strongest nation."
"Even the Black Star Empire, with its hundreds of colonies, cannot truly shake it."
"With time, Xian Xia will undoubtedly recover its vitality and become even stronger."
"Therefore, what use would the Xian Xia higher-ups have for people like us, who are 'skilled in various ways and beyond their control'? To add to their troubles?"
Shu Feizhang angrily lunged at Mu Ye Xingchen and threw a punch! Gu Ya firmly grabbed his wrist.
"Shut up!! You sinner of Xian Xia! Conspiracy theorist!!" Shu Feizhang shouted, suppressing his anger.
Mu Ye Xingchen cast a cold, sidelong glance at Shu Feizhang and said coldly, "As the captain, you only blindly obey superior orders, rashly leading the team on an expedition without thorough consideration, causing delays to the mission progress multiple times. Are you not also at fault?"
Shu Feizhang's anger flared up instantly. He pushed Gu Ya away and charged towards Mu Ye Xingchen.
"Enough!!" Gu Ya shouted, stopping the two of them. "This is the situation we're in! What's the use of infighting?"
"Although Mu Ye Xingchen's ideas are biased, it cannot be denied that the higher-ups might have such intentions."
"Everything depends on the reaction of the Xian Xia higher-ups once we get out."
Just as the three were entangled, Shen Jingming silently walked towards a small hill in the distance.
His physique was so large that the originally towering hill resembled a grass-covered grave mound in front of him.
"Too hot..." Shen Jingming could not tolerate the heat and unzipped his anti-freeze suit.
Immediately after, he felt an incredible force compressing around him.
Gu Ya and the other two sulked for a while. When they turned around, they found Shen Jingming missing!
As the three anxiously searched for Shen Jingming, a familiar roar suddenly echoed from the sky.