They say I'm a world-destroying anomaly.

Chapter 19 Underground Mineral Veins

"How are you? Can you stand up?"

Cheng Xu grabbed Fields' hand and pulled him up forcefully.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Fields immediately cried out, feeling pain in every part of his body.

Cheng Xu helped him, leaning against the rock wall inside the cave, and took out a vial of medicine from the storage compartment of his combat suit.

Previously, during the treatment of the wounded, he had almost used up all the medicine stored in his combat uniform, leaving only a tube of the most basic temporary painkiller.

"Drink it."

Cheng Xu handed the medicine to Fields.

Although he himself had many bruises, he gritted his teeth and endured them.

Fields' condition is much worse. Without the medication, even normal movement is a problem.

"Thank you, Brother Cheng."

Fields didn't mince words, took the potion and drank it all in one gulp. A moment later, leaning against the stone wall, he had basically regained his mobility.

He looked around nervously.

"How did we end up in this godforsaken place?"

"We fell into a crevice."

Cheng Xu pointed to the top of his head. Under the glow of the crystal rock, a crevice more than a meter wide could be vaguely seen above.

"This place must be underground. We rolled down the crack and fell into this cave."

During that time, Cheng Xu carefully observed the surrounding environment and basically guessed the current situation of the two.

"...I'm so glad I'm still alive."

Fields imagined tumbling down the massive crevice, his face turning pale with fright, his words filled with relief.

Cheng Xu tapped his chest lightly with his finger: "Thank goodness for this combat suit. Without its protection, we would have been smashed to pieces long ago."

"Indeed. As expected of the Bureau's equipment."

Fields nodded in deep agreement, then muttered to himself:

"This is so unlucky! We were almost on the spaceship, and now..."

Cheng Xu interrupted him, "Don't panic. We'll wait here; someone will come to rescue us. I hope everyone else is safe and sound."

His words were full of confidence, and Fields, influenced by his tone, gradually calmed down.

After his mind raced, Fields immediately recalled the scene at the branch headquarters and couldn't help but ask:

"Brother Cheng, how did you manage to stop that stone giant?"

Cheng Xu scratched his head and gave a wry smile: "To be honest, I don't know either. I don't have that kind of ability. Perhaps new reinforcements arrived in time?"

"I see..." Fields said thoughtfully.

The cave was empty and desolate, so to pass the time, the two chatted idly. Most of the time, Fields talked and Cheng Xu listened.

Due to his family background, Fields was an avid adventurer from a young age, traveling to many places with his father and various elders in the association, gaining considerable experience.

When he told Cheng Xu about his adventures that spanned several galaxies, Cheng Xu was amazed and full of wonder.

When Fields asked him about daily life within the Administration Bureau, Cheng Xu would tell him some things that didn't violate confidentiality regulations.

"Brother Cheng, do you know that there's a planet in the Tyre system where a race is half male and half female? I really want to know how they reproduce..."

Fields was speaking enthusiastically when Cheng Xu, who had been listening attentively, twitched his ears and reached out to press down on his shoulder.

"Wait, be quiet."

Fields was puzzled, but he kept quiet and even consciously slowed his breathing.

sizzle-

An unusual sound emerged from the silent cave, seemingly the sound of something dissolving in acid.

Cheng Xu closed his eyes to determine the direction from which the sound was coming from.

"It's up there!"

He looked up sharply, staring at the crevice that had led him and Fields into it. The hissing sound was coming from there, and it was getting closer and closer...

After a few breaths, Cheng Xu finally understood the origin of the sound—

The viscous liquid, glowing with a dark red light and carrying heat, appeared on both sides of the crevice and was about to drip downwards.

magma!

Without thinking, Cheng Xu grabbed Fields' arm and led him to run wildly to the other side of the cave.

He guessed the source of the magma.

Cheng Xu pictured the crystal giant shattering into pieces. Besides the crystal that made up its enormous body, countless streams of magma flowed from its interior.

According to previous research, the crystal rock group contains a mixture of rock and metal liquid with an extremely low melting point, which is mainly used to transport minerals and energy throughout the body.

Given the size of the Crystal Giant, the magma inside its body could easily coalesce into a small magma lake.

After it collapsed, the lava flowed down the cracks created by the earth's fissures and poured into the cave where Cheng Xu and Fields were!

The sizzling sound I just heard was the sound of lava burning through the cracks in the rocks.

The first drop of lava landed where Cheng Xu and Fields had been sitting and chatting, followed by a second drop, a third drop...

The molten lava gathered into a thin stream and poured back into the crevice.

"We might not be able to stay put and wait for rescue. Fields, come with me."

On the other side of the cave, there is a deep entrance about four meters high, leading to who knows where.

Previously, Cheng Xu and Fields had avoided approaching the cave entrance for safety reasons. But given the current situation, they were forced to flee towards the other side of the cave.

The lava was dripping faster and faster, and it would soon fill the entire cave. Staying inside would be no different from waiting to die.

The temperature inside the cave rose rapidly, and a misty fog rose from the small pool, filling the entire space.

Cheng Xu and Fields had already reached the cave entrance. After a brief hesitation, the two plunged into the passage behind the cave.

The passage, which was over four meters high and nearly five meters wide, was quite spacious for them, and the light emitted from the crystal rocks on the cave walls was enough to keep them seeing.

After running for a distance and confirming that the lava flow could not catch up with them in a short time, the two slowed down.

"Fields, don't you think this passage wasn't formed naturally?"

During the run, Cheng Xu had a question in his mind.

This winding passage has no forks in the road, and the cross-sectional shape and size of each section are basically the same.

Is such a well-organized passage really naturally formed? Cheng Xu was skeptical.

But if it wasn't formed naturally, who carved out such a passage underground?

The answer is already obvious.

Upon hearing Cheng Xu's question, Fields stopped and began to carefully examine his surroundings.

He had been so focused on escaping that he hadn't paid much attention to anything else. Now, looking around, he quickly fell into deep thought and let out a soft "hmm."

"Brother Cheng, I think I've seen a similar description in the records of our Explorers' Association."

"Um?"

Fields placed his thumbs on either side of his forehead:

"If I remember correctly, I saw it when I was researching the information about the Crystal Rock Tomb in the association. Let me think..."

He walked closer to the stone wall beside the passage and reached out to tap and knock on it.

"That should be right. Brother Cheng, this passage was very likely opened up by the Crystal Rock people on this planet before the Crystal Rock Tomb was formed."

Fields explained:

"Brother Cheng, you should know that there are rich mineral veins within the Crystal Tomb area, and many explorers have found rare minerals before."

Cheng Xu nodded. The Bureau's database also contained this intelligence.

Fields leaned against the rock face: "The record I saw came from an explorer who came to Golun twenty years ago."

"During his search for rare minerals, he accidentally stumbled into an underground cave."

"Looking back now, the cave he described and the passage we are standing on now have many similarities."

"After leaving the cave, the adventurer reported the incident to the association. The association also dispatched a team, together with people from several research institutes, to conduct a scientific exploration."

"These cave passages may be part of an underground mineral vein, related to the ancient Crystal Rock Tribe."

Through Fields' explanation, Cheng Xu gradually understood the origin of this conclusion.

The Crystal Rock Race on the planet Golun was born underground; they are a silicon-based race whose intelligence arose from crystal rock.

After the emergence of the Crystal Rock race, this race lived and operated underground for a long period of time.

Just as Cheng Xu believed that ancient humans in Earth's history would live near water systems, the ancient Crystal Rock Tribe would also rely on various underground mineral veins for survival.

From these underground mineral veins, they are able to obtain various nutrients they need, gradually developing and expanding their entire species.

In order to better "feed", the ancient Crystal Rock Clan carved out many passages and caves around the mineral veins. These passages served a similar purpose to the mine tunnels that Cheng Xu was familiar with.

After countless years of evolution and development, the Crystal Rock Clan gradually moved from underground to the surface, but these ancient relics were preserved underground on the planet Golun.

"These underground mineral veins are basically abandoned. They may have scientific research value for those researchers, but they are not of much value to our Explorers Association."

Fields shrugged.

Cheng Xu pondered for a moment and asked:

"Did that document mention where you might end up if you kept walking straight along the passage?"

Fields answered without hesitation:

"It's most likely the settlement of the ancient Crystal Rock Clan, probably a spacious underground space."

As he spoke, an excited look appeared on his face: "Brother Cheng, this is a rare opportunity, why don't we continue onward?"

Cheng Xu considered it for a few seconds and decided that Fields' suggestion was worth considering.

Unlike Fields, who was driven by a spirit of adventure, Cheng Xu was considering their own situation.

As things stand, turning back is impossible; the path we came from is surely filled with lava.

Both of their combat suits had built-in positioning chips, but it was unknown whether the management bureau on the ground could receive the signals from the chips.

In other words, they were actually trapped underground.

Although the combat suit contained sufficient survival supplies, no one could say for sure what the situation was like on Golun Star and in the Crystal Rock Tomb, so they still had to find a way to get to the surface as soon as possible.

If we keep going forward, we might encounter a crack like the one we just saw, connecting to the surface.

Having made up their minds, Cheng Xu and Fields gradually disappeared into the dark passageway.