Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

138: Chapter 138: The Glimmer of the Underground and the Shadow of the LawThe words of the Rebel of the Edict girl, Liuli, fell like a heavy boulder into a deep pool, stirring ripples of turmoil in the hearts of Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue.

The truth of Tian Yuan City was far more brutal than what met the eye. That icy order was not naturally formed; it was built upon plunder, distortion, and suppression. The so-called ”great edict” was more akin to a cold monster that had stolen the power of the star key and corrupted its very essence.

”We need to know more,” Nangong Xuan broke the silence, his gaze sharp as he looked at Liuli. ”About the great edict, about the Central Hub Tower, about you all... and about your Elder.”

Meeting his deep, seemingly illusion-piercing gaze, Liuli instinctively shrank back, but then straightened her slender spine. ”The Elder... the Elder is in a deeper place. Follow me. But please restrain your power. The deeper we go, the weaker the Edict’s surveillance becomes, but its Perception of anomalous fluctuations grows more sensitive.”

She refastened her mask, walked to a corner of the stone chamber, and tapped on a seemingly ordinary section of wall in a specific sequence. The wall slid open silently, revealing another downward passage, even narrower and more concealed. Damp, chilly air, mixed with the smell of rust and dust, rushed out.

The three of them entered in single file. This passage was more winding and lengthy, sometimes requiring them to crawl, sometimes opening up to connect with larger abandoned underground spaces. Within these spaces, one could vaguely see remnants of ancient energy conduits and valves, like the long-forgotten ”blood vessels” and ”organs” of the entire Tian Yuan City.

Occasionally, they could see small groups of two or three, also wearing masks and dressed in tattered clothes, busy with something in the darkness. Seeing Liuli with two strangers, they cast wary and inquisitive glances, but at Liuli’s simple hand signal, they silently lowered their heads and returned to work. An oppressive yet tenacious atmosphere permeated this underground world.

Finally, after passing through a space filled with massive, abandoned gear assemblies, a relatively open area appeared ahead. It was bathed in a soft glow emanating from some kind of moss and Ore, dotted with several dozen crude shacks, forming a small underground village. At its center was a small ”farm” cultivating luminous mushrooms and strange tubers, and even a thin underground stream flowed through.

This was one of the larger hidden bases of the Rebels of the Edict.

Liuli led the two directly toward the largest building at the village’s center, constructed from scrap metal plates and piled stones. Two Rebels of the Edict, whose auras were noticeably more steady than Liuli’s, guarded the entrance. Seeing Liuli and the unfamiliar faces behind her, they immediately gripped their weapons warily.

”Uncle Ze, Aunt Lei, they... they can resonate with the ’source heart Fragment’! I brought them to see the Elder,” Liuli hurriedly explained.

The two guards scrutinized Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue carefully, their gazes lingering especially long on Nangong Xuan, as if they too sensed that aura of stillness incompatible with the Edict. They exchanged a look and slowly stepped aside, clearing the path.

Inside, the light was dim. An old man with white hair and beard, his face deeply wrinkled, one eye a mechanical prosthetic, sat at a crude stone table, fiddling with several ancient components that flickered with weak energy. His aura was restrained, yet he gave off a sense of weathered resilience.

”Elder, I have brought...” Liuli said respectfully.

The old man looked up. His mechanical eye emitted a faint whirring sound as it rotated, scanning Nangong Xuan and his companion with a pale blue light. His other, normal eye was cloudy yet profound, seeming to see through a person’s heart.

”Travelers from the outside world... bearing the power of ’Terminus’ and ’Grand Yin’... and also... the seed of ’Chaos’...” The old man’s voice was hoarse and slow, yet he accurately named the nature of their powers, even faintly sensing the presence of the chaos star core! ”The cihang origin heart rejoices because of you, yet also fears you... Are you hope, or an even greater destruction?”