The Green Arrow hunters searched around for a while but found nothing. Even when Claus and Star Art appeared in the warehouse, the group of people were still pointing at the map and discussing animatedly.
What Claus and Star Art saw and heard was completely within Ding Meng's expectations. They did not find anything at all, so they had no choice but to approach this area.
"What kind of place are you looking for?" Ding Meng quietly came to Sileman's side and asked without batting an eyelid.
It was taboo to inquire about a hunter's mission in private, but Sileman's progress was not going well at the moment, and his mind was in a mess. If they could not find the place, they would not be able to complete the mission. If they could not complete the mission, then they would not be able to get the bounty. If they could not get the money, then everyone's trip would be for nothing.
Sileman turned on his wristwatch, and a three-dimensional image of an ancient money bag popped up on the screen. This was the bounty hunter logo of the Dark Net branch of the International Space Network. The Dark Net mainly targeted outer space black markets, bounties, items, and other illegal trading activities.
After clicking on the image, a large number of densely packed data instantly appeared on the screen. These were the active bounty missions on the Dark Net. Sileman then clicked on the locked column, and the image quickly appeared.
First was the interstellar map, and it indicated that the mission location was on the Dead Silent Planet of the K8 Galaxy. The coordinates were the location of the sinkhole. Then, the image changed, and a circular room appeared. This room did not have any special features, and it was completely empty. However, right in the middle was an altar that looked like an ancient cauldron, and a jade green gem was floating above it.
Finally, there was the mission description: The room is underground. What are the coordinates? Find the specific location of the room, record a video, and send the specific coordinates. The Dark Net system will automatically notify the employer, and the reward will be 50,000 Star Coins.
This reward was actually not high among the various large and small bounty missions, but the employer's goal was obvious. It was definitely not for the location of the room, but for the gem in the image.
"But this thing doesn't look like a Daemon Core Crystal." Claus came over.
His judgment was reasonable. A Daemon Core Crystal would not be so flat and smooth, and it did not look small either. This thing looked like a miniature version of Songqing's spaceship.
Ding Meng could not help but ask, "Little Rascal, what is this?"
"I can't tell either."
Little Rascal's tone was helpless. "What he provided was a virtual composite image, and there's too little information about it. There are thousands of these stones in my database, and most of them are ores. There's nothing special about them."
Sileman turned to look at Ding Meng. "Is this the material you're looking for?"
Ding Meng shook his head. "No."
Whether it was or not was not important. Sileman was looking for the place, while Ding Meng and the others were looking for the object. The two did not conflict at all.
"Little Brother Ding, if you help us find it, we will reward you."
Sileman was a little frustrated. Based on his past experience, this fifty thousand Star Coins mission could be completed within a day apart from interstellar flight. But now, it seemed like it was impossible to complete within a day. To a bounty hunter, a delay in time was equivalent to a loss.
A team of nine people wasn't considered small. The most important thing was that everyone had to earn money. Even if they completed the mission, each person would only receive 5,000 Star Coins. If they were delayed further, they wouldn't be able to earn much.
"Reward?"
Randy also came over. "Captain Sileman, if we find this place, can you share some of that healing mist with me?"
"That's not a problem."
Sileman glanced at him indifferently, but his heart was filled with disdain. That's all there is to it. You're even interested in the special medicine. But this is normal. Seeing that these people are all obedient children, they probably followed this company's exploration ship to outer space to experience life.
However, his disdain turned into surprise in the next moment because Randy muttered, "If your employer is sure that the information provided is correct, then according to my current calculations, there is a possibility."
"What possibility?" Sileman was interested.
Randy pointed at the central pool and said, "There's at least a 27.87% chance that the way out to other unknown areas is underwater."
What kind of judgment was that?
Sileman was a little confused. You guys are indeed obedient children who haven't seen the world. You really dare to speak without thinking and pretend to be experts.
Ding Meng secretly asked, "Is there a problem with Randy's judgment?"
This question wasn't directed at Little Rascal, but at Xin Jie. Xin Jie's voice quickly sounded from the communicator, "What Randy said is correct. He has practiced the Linear Calculation Mental Cultivation Method. This kind of cultivation method allows a statistician to simulate a scene based on the current environment in their mind. Randy's origin ability index is over 2000 points, so he can simulate at least 30 types of terrain. In theory, every type of terrain is possible, but since he gave you the specific probability, then this type of terrain is the most likely."
"Understood!"
Ding Meng turned off the communicator and turned to Qu Xiaoqing. "I'll go down and take a look. You guys better wait for me here."
Qu Xiaoqing hurriedly said, "Let's go together."
Ding Meng waved his hand. "It's best if you guys wait for me to check it out before coming down."
It really wasn't convenient for him to say it out loud. If there were monsters underwater, then there was poison. The poison would spread easily in the water, and although the Jade Light Armor could isolate it, it was hard to say what kind of monsters they would encounter.
In fact, as soon as Ding Meng jumped into the water, the screen representing his first-person perspective on the main control panel began to show all kinds of colorful streaks, and the image became completely blurry.
Ji Ming couldn't help but ask, "Did something malfunction again?"
Xin Jie's expression sank. "No, it seems like there's signal interference."
Ji Ming was surprised. "What kind of signal can interfere with the short-range ion transmission?"
This time, it was Ling Lan who answered, "Under normal circumstances, it shouldn't be able to interfere, but they're currently six thousand meters underground. The degree of connectivity is low, and the internal structure of the battleship is complicated. The scanning eye's transmission thread is limited. If there are other energy fluctuations, then our communication will be affected …"
Ji Ming turned to look at Xin Jie. "Is that so?"
Xin Jie nodded. "There is indeed such a possibility."
Xin Jie and Ling Lan's judgment was completely accurate. As soon as Ding Meng dove into the water, Little Rascal spoke up. "Ding Meng, I detected a faint energy fluctuation."
Ding Meng actually felt it as well. In his telekinetic vision, he saw rings of light spreading out in front of him, but strangely enough, this wasn't Origin Energy.
Little Rascal's tone was also very surprised. "This fluctuation seems to be some kind of technological energy source, but I've never seen this kind of energy source before. Its composition is very strange, and I have a hard time analyzing its composition."
The source of the fluctuation was clearly underwater. The round hatch was embedded in the steel plate on the ground. It was one of those ancient mechanical turntables. Seeing that the metal handle was rusted beyond recognition, Ding Meng decided to just stomp on the hatch.
As soon as the hatch shattered, a large amount of green liquid gushed out from within. Just by looking at the dark green color, it was obvious that the concentration of the liquid wasn't low. However, Ding Meng didn't need to dodge because he was a pure first generation K virus. These mutated toxins posed no threat to him at all, not to mention he had the protection of the Jadelight Armor. However, the scene inside the hatch gave him a solid shock.
This was a vertical tunnel that led downwards. The tunnel was definitely soaked in poison, but there were all kinds of strange creatures clinging to the walls. The most typical of these creatures were the devil-faced monsters he had encountered before. As for the others, he couldn't name them at all. Let alone names, he couldn't even imagine what they were.
Countless ugly and terrifying black monsters were entrenched in blood vessels like gangrene, densely occupying the entire tunnel. If the entrance above ground was the Hell's Gate, then this was the true Hell's Path. If it weren't for Ding Meng's strong mental fortitude, anyone else would have vomited just by looking at this scene.
It was also at the moment when the hatch shattered that these creatures seemed to have been startled and opened their eyes one after another.
In the darkness, thousands of pairs of eyes were probably only the size of pinholes. Although Ding Meng couldn't see them with his naked eyes, he could sense with his telekinesis vision that these creatures were all staring at him. Although their hostility was obvious, none of them moved.
"What's going on?" Ding Meng was also shocked. It didn't feel good to be stared at by thousands of enemies.
Little Rascal said, "You're a pure K virus gene source. Even if you're not their kind, they won't treat you as an enemy."
Little Rascal's explanation confirmed Ding Meng's speculation when he first saw the 'Mountain of Corpses and Bones'. After the original creatures on this planet were infected with the K virus, they divided into two groups. One was the direct death that led to extinction, and the other was the dark underground creatures that mutated and became afraid of light.
Little Rascal pondered and said, "Not only are they afraid of light, but they're also afraid of high temperatures. I think these things can only survive in an environment below zero degrees Celsius. The current temperature is negative 20 degrees Celsius."
Ding Meng couldn't help but ask, "Negative 20 degrees Celsius?
But why isn't the water freezing? "
Little Rascal said, "That's because of the K virus. This isn't just water, but also poison. Poison can't freeze."
Ding Meng thought for a moment, then said, "Fine, even if that's the case, the problem is how we're going to get through. These creatures have already blocked off the tunnel."
Little Rascal said, "If they really are low-temperature creatures, Ding Meng, why don't you try circulating Origin Energy throughout your body?
It might be effective. "
This method was to accelerate the rotation of the origin, allowing Origin Energy to rapidly circulate throughout his body and emit heat. After all, Origin Energy cultivators couldn't release Origin Energy out of thin air.
Little Rascal's judgment was very accurate. As soon as Ding Meng activated his Origin Energy, the creatures in the tunnel shot up like birds startled by the twang of a bow. They quickly swam toward the other end of the tunnel, obviously sensing the heat.
"Three origin points aren't enough. You need to increase the circulation speed," Little Rascal warned. Her detection system showed that the water temperature had only risen to 10 degrees Celsius.
Ding Meng also saw that only a portion of the creatures had swam away, but many of the octopus-like creatures were still stuck to the walls. The Origin Energy emitted by three origin points was far from enough, so he had to try activating a fourth origin point.
However, the fourth origin point didn't cause a change in the tunnel, but in the warehouse.
White steam began to rise from the pool in the warehouse, and then the temperature in the hall began to rise. In less than five minutes, the entire pool began to boil from the high temperature. The surface of the water began to churn, and waves of dark green energy began to rise from the surface of the water.
Long Ming also felt the surge of Origin Energy. He stared blankly at the boiling water. "What exactly is Ding Meng doing down there?"
As soon as he said this, several of the young Hunters from the Green Arrow Corps collapsed on the stairs. Obviously, they didn't have the Jadelight Armor, so they had been poisoned.
"How could this be?" The young Hunter was also frightened by the scene in front of him.
The pool had already changed color. It was no longer a pool of lifeless black water, but a strange pool of poison that was spewing out green smoke.
Randy also stared at the churning pool in shock. As he stared, he felt dizzy, and his entire body became weak. He quickly collapsed as well.