Chapter 1144: Section 1145 Underground Pipelines
Sanders watched with eyes wide open as Angel disappeared into the darkness.
In an instant, Sanders felt a fissure in his fingertips, and he violently raised his head, his face cold and stern as he looked up at the sky.
Holding back his rage, Sanders realized that the priority was not to vent but to ascertain Angel’s condition. With this in mind, he retracted his gaze, and his gloved hands began to gesture once more, with the previously perceived information merging into his thoughts.
Although he could see that the path Angel had chosen earlier was the safest at the moment, had it been him, he probably wouldn’t have had a better option either. But that was only the safest choice at that moment; what came afterward for Angel was uncertain.
After a long while, Sanders’s mood lightened slightly.
In such a crisis, he had even been prepared to forcefully break in and retrieve Angel’s soul. But now, with his vital essence still intact, it meant that Angel’s situation was relatively stable.
Only now, when he connected with the vital essence, it seemed to be obstructed by a membrane… He could sense its condition but found it difficult to establish contact.
This condition did not resemble the obstruction caused by Fafnir’s high power level affecting the transmission of information; instead, it seemed as if Angel had entered a place that naturally shielded against probing.
Silently observing the deep pit where Angel had fallen not far away, Sanders concluded that breaking in now wasn’t a good option. After pondering for a moment and expending some effort, he sent a thread of exploratory thought cloaked in magic, slowly venturing into the chaotic energy.
Sanders’s calculations were precise; when the magical thought reached the depth of the pit, the energy wrapping it dissipated just in time.
But in an instant, the probing thought was torn apart by the chaotic energy.
However, in that brief moment, Sanders saw what lay beneath the pit.
A pipe with an opening?
The material of the pipe made Sanders pause; he looked up towards the distant Void Tower obscured by dust. The slate-gray walls of the tower and the material of the pipe in the pit were almost identical.
He now had some understanding. It appeared that Angel had fallen into the underground passage of the Void Tower.
Even if the inscriptions at the heart of the Void Tower had been shut down, its material still possessed powerful defensive measures. That’s why he felt an obstruction while contacting the vital essence.
After a moment of contemplation, Sanders hadn’t expected that, while their puppets had been unable to probe the Void Tower, there would be a concealed entrance here.
Although he couldn’t determine the situation inside the underground passage, Sanders knew that his vital essence had not triggered any defensive thresholds nor showed any anomalies. From this, he inferred that Angel was relatively safe.
As Sanders breathed a sigh of relief, he also felt a sense of helplessness. Right now, with Fafnir and Komodo’s battle growing fiercer, sparking genuine hostility, to break into the chaotic energy field would mean facing the attacks of two half-step legends.
Therefore, Sanders couldn’t enter at this time.
Facing this feeling of powerlessness, Sanders could only temporarily shift his attention away from Angel and raised his head to look at the floating icebergs in the sky.
He hadn’t forgotten the root cause of all this trouble.
The strange energy that disrupted the note earlier, although wrapped in some fashion to mask its properties, Sanders was certain that it originated from the floating ice.
Above the floating ice, there were many who bore a grudge against him, but only a few were in such a rush to act.
Either it was Gravity Forest or those behind it… the Song of the Deep Sea!
With this thought, Sanders’s eyes flickered with a cold and chilling breath.
…
Meanwhile, Angel was curled up in a dark underground passage.
It was extremely quiet around him; none of the clamor from the outside world could penetrate here.
Angel felt completely drained. He could sense blood flowing from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, not from external injuries, but as an aftereffect of overusing his brain earlier.
Although he didn’t know where he was, he was relieved that after so long, his body had not disintegrated, which meant that he must have escaped the chaotic energy field outside.
Angel curled up for quite a while before he had the strength to take out a bottle of glowing fluff remedy from his bracelet to relieve some of the pain.
As the green light from the glowing fluff remedy entered his mouth, Angel felt the stabbing pain in his brain gradually fade away. After all, it was not a serious injury, and the recovery was relatively quick.
But after the pain dissipated, what came to Angel was profound exhaustion and a weariness he had not felt for a long time.
Despite wanting to sleep, the situation was still unclear, and he couldn’t just fall asleep yet.
Angel took out a bottle filled with a dark brown viscous liquid from his bracelet, his expression hesitant, as if considering whether to use it.
Feeling his mind grow increasingly clouded, Angel nevertheless unscrewed the bottle cap with a disgusted expression.
In an instant, an indescribable scent wafted from the bottle.
Extremely foul and extremely pungent.
Even just a small whiff, but that scent charged straight through the nostrils into the brain. Instantly, the previous weariness cleared, its refreshing effect more potent than that of specially made stimulants.
However, the aftermath was the reflux of stomach acid.
Angel suppressed the urge to vomit, capped the bottle, and threw it back into the bracelet with the speed of lightning.
Right after, he used the Cleansing Spell several times, yet despite this, he still felt that the pungent odor was enveloping him.
This stench might not be the most foul that Angel had ever smelled, but it was definitely the most nauseating.
“With such a foul smell, who would believe that this substance is actually a material for fragrances!” Angel sighed and couldn’t help but complain to himself.
This substance was called Black Boar Gland Fluid, actually a body fluid secreted by a certain deep-sea black boar during its mating season, which, due to the excretory ducts, was mixed with the excrement of this marine creature.
Black Boar Gland Fluid smelled atrocious, but when diluted countless times and combined with other materials, it could be made into very fine Shulomon Fragrance.
Foulness and fragrance are just a thin line apart.
Angel knew that many fragrance raw materials were foul-smelling, but he still couldn’t imagine how the wizards who first made fragrances discovered these ingredients. Moreover, the witches, knowing what the ingredients were, managed to spray them on themselves as if nothing was amiss.
A terrifying thought indeed.
Setting aside unnecessary thoughts, the experience with the Black Boar Gland Fluid, at least, made Angel think more clearly. He now had the leisure to ponder questions and inspect his surroundings.
What he first focused on was the Icebound Hex that sealed Toby, fortunately, because he had been safeguarding it with the Hand of Magic it exhibited no abnormalities.
Only then did Angel examine his surroundings.
The place where he was seemed to be a dim, narrow alley. The ground was dry; air was circulating, indicating that this wasn’t a dead end.
Angel lifted his head to look at the only source of light—the entrance above him.
It seemed that he had fallen from this very entrance earlier.
There was a strange energy at the entrance, forming a chaotic gray membrane. Angel tried observing this membrane and realized that it was this very membrane that isolated all external scents and even sounds from intruding.
Angel dared not recklessly reach out, aware that chaotic energy must be roaring outside, and to investigate at this moment would be inviting death.
Moreover, Angel couldn’t be sure that the gray membrane at the entrance was safe. Many similar energy membranes were easy to enter but dangerous to leave, perhaps this membrane was the same.
Although he didn’t know the situation outside, at least for now, it seemed relatively safe.
Angel attempted to take out Sanders’s essence blood to try contacting the outside, but there was no response at all; it seemed the gray membrane also blocked the transmission of this type of signal.
With a sigh, Angel put away the essence blood.
In the dim alley, Angel couldn’t leave for the time being; thus, his thoughts began to race.
He hadn’t considered the root cause of the peril due to the urgency of the situation, but now, after calming down, he recalled everything that led him into danger—the bizarre energy from beyond the heavens.
It was this strange energy that shattered the note from Sanders, resulting in his fall into peril.
Now, thinking back, he realized how unlikely such a coincidence was.
Just at the critical moment, a strange energy fell from the sky, hitting the note exactly…
Clearly, this energy was premeditated.
But who would want to kill him? It couldn’t be Fafnir, could it?
With Fafnir’s strength, there was no need for such plotting to kill him.
Angel was puzzled, but he cast aside the question, instead turning his thoughts to his current situation and what steps he should take next.
Meanwhile, Fafnir, whom Angel had just mentioned, had retreated a few steps after entangling with Komodo, gaining a moment’s respite.
In this brief interval, Fafnir felt as though he had forgotten something.
No sooner had Fafnir the chance to ponder this than Komodo launched another attack without rest.
Fafnir lifted his head to see Komodo’s eyes turn blood red, seemingly enraged.
But upon closer inspection, one could catch a glimpse of Urdixinos and Milotaurus in Komodo’s fierce expression.
Confronted with sprays of fire, Fafnir had no choice but to turn and deal with each attack.
And the doubts that had risen in his mind were once again cast to the back of his thoughts…