Chapter 6: Warning—Gamma Radiation Exceeds Safe Limits

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Time slipped by bit by bit. The setting sun gradually softened, casting a warm, rosy glow.

“I found it! I found it!” The bear-headed man scrambled down a vine with urgency, his face flushed with excitement as he tumbled and rushed toward Chu Zhu’s direction.

“What did you find?” The dog-headed man, hungry and preparing a fire beside Chu Zhu for a hot meal, brightened at the news.

“…Big brother, why didn’t you invite me to eat?” The bear-headed man blinked, eyeing the bamboo lunchbox in Chu Zhu’s hand, then glanced at the skewered meat held by the dog-headed man, beginning to feel a bit wronged.

“Eat, eat, eat, all you think about is food!” The dog-headed man pulled out a wrapped rice ball from his pocket. “Eat it cold! It won’t kill you… Now hurry up and lead the way.”

“...Okay!” Swallowing the rice ball in one bite, the bear-headed man started climbing.

Chu Zhu climbed while lost in thought. Could it really be that they were supposed to go on top? Good heavens, dreams were getting more illogical by the minute… Hopefully, it wouldn’t end with the realization that the key was useless.

Then…

At the peak of the central mountain among the three peaks.

“...Are you serious?” Chu Zhu’s expression stiffened as he surveyed the scene.

“You’re kidding me!” The dog-headed man smacked the bear-headed man’s head hard. “This thing looks more and more like a volcanic vent, even though there’s no ash or heat—just a sinkhole at the mountain’s summit…”

“So, if the mountain we’re standing on is really a structure, then this shape, this position, isn’t it just a chimney? From what I learned about architectural frameworks, it shouldn’t be far off… In the countryside, houses are built like this!” The bear-headed man shrank his neck, feeling aggrieved. “You can enter a house through the chimney, right?”

“...Hmm?!” The dog-headed man was surprised and, upon closer consideration, found the logic sound.

“Then quick, weave a rope from the vines and slide down!” The dog-headed man rubbed his hands excitedly.

Chu Zhu remained silent, only frowning tighter as he fiddled with the key. Something felt off… If there really was such a big loophole allowing entry through the chimney… did the key even matter? It wasn’t impossible, but the odds were low.

Besides, this way in was too easy… absurdly so.

Most importantly…

“Based on last time’s estimate, the time should be about right!”

“...What do you mean?” The dog-headed man looked at Chu Zhu, puzzled.

“They’re here.” Chu Zhu stared into the distance.

Leaves rustled, and amidst the wind came the rapid sound of footsteps.

Following Chu Zhu’s gaze, the dog-headed man saw figures emerging from the shadows—dressed in Rayfish suits and holding pendulum devices, their faces identical to those glimpsed earlier through the car’s rear window.

However, unlike before when they wore Zhongshan suits, now they wore Rayfish suits.

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“C-Captain!” The dog-headed man’s scalp tingled, his face pale, legs weak, and in fear he leapt straight into the chimney-like sinkhole.

“B-Brother!” The bear-headed man was stunned. “Why… why would you kill yourself? What happened? Wait, Captain… why is it the Captain? The Captain is a transcendent being, right?”

At that moment, the bear-headed man was deeply shaken and stood dazed.

The Captain and his team were led by a tall man, about 1.9 meters, with a square jaw and muscular, powerful build.

Chu Zhu clicked his tongue in admiration. In the real world, only hard work and technology could produce such a superhuman physique… Of course, in reality, achieving this might not take long before ascending to the steroid planet!

“...Chu, Chu Zhu, how could it be you?!” The leader was stunned. Even standing at the mountain’s base, he could still see Chu Zhu’s face atop the peak—or rather, the chimney—thanks to his superhuman eyesight.

This young man, he knew him!

“Bye-bye!” Chu Zhu smiled and waved. “See you next time.”

Then, without haste, Chu Zhu jumped down.

Since he’d been caught this time… it was time for a fresh start!

Chu Zhu wasn’t afraid of death; he feared dying at the wrong time. The twenty-four-hour random reset had limits.

If the reset came too late and he got stuck… it would require an unknown amount of extra effort to fill the gap.

Chu Zhu had suffered greatly from this before.

For example, if the Captains knocked him out, he’d be unconscious for twenty-four… no, given that it had already been over ten hours since he robbed the bank, exceeding five hours would be very troublesome.

“...Why!” The leader, Li Kang, moved like lightning, appearing almost instantly at the sinkhole’s rim. He tried to grasp Chu Zhu but couldn’t. Unless he dove in now...

“Captain, calm down!”

“This is already a dangerous restricted zone…”

“Damn it, the danger level is off the charts! We cannot stay here more than an hour… No, this strange opening might directly connect inside… It could be even more dangerous.”

“...But if that’s the case, how do I explain this to her?!” Li Kang’s face twisted with pain. He grabbed the bear-headed man beside him, refusing to look at the sinkhole as he painfully leapt down.

The others hovering midair quickly followed. If not for their deep respect for Li Kang, they wouldn’t have dared come so close to this marked high-risk area.

…

Chu Zhu thought he would die cleanly and swiftly, like another bungee jump.

But…

“One, two… six, no!”

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Chu Zhu had calculated before that the mountain’s height was no more than two hundred meters. From his past experience, a jump from two hundred meters would take just over six seconds to hit the ground. But here… the fall seemed endless!

“Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…”

“Still not at the bottom?”

The count was approaching eight hundred meters underground! Damn, this was no ordinary building on land. Its main structure was underground!

Suddenly, Chu Zhu’s eyelids twitched. He felt his body shudder as if crossing some forbidden boundary.

Then, he saw something strange. The walls of the sinkhole were covered in barnacle-like crystalline growths that glowed with an eerie, ghostly green light under the illumination of glowing cloud-like formations.

The luminous mist was like a fairy tale, dreamy and surreal, as if stepping into an enchanted realm… yet it also evoked a chilling unease.

But if there was light below… why was it pitch black when looking down from above?

Suddenly, Chu Zhu’s throat filled with the metallic taste of rust. Was he coughing up blood? Why? He hadn’t hit the ground yet… why was he bleeding?

No!

His groggy mind jolted awake. Chu Zhu stared at his arm in disbelief. His muscles were swelling, veins bulging with a powerful texture…

Not just his arms, but his entire body… every part was wildly expanding.

It was as if he had embarked on the steroid ascension path, his body undergoing irreversible evolution… but was this truly evolution?

Along with the surge of power came pain in his brain and body, like a thousand needles piercing him.

*Splash!*

Chu Zhu fell into water.

Was it water?

Probably…

The pain in his body grew more intense. His consciousness was already fading…

Faintly, Chu Zhu seemed to hear a perfectly enunciated Chinese alarm…

“Warning! Humanoid life form detected falling. Warning, gamma radiation levels exceeding limits! Gamma radiation levels exceeding limits…”