socalfunplaces Chapter 623 Level 3
Chapter 623 Level 3
The underwater atmosphere was eerily still, save for the occasional soft murmur of water flowing over crevices in the rocks and the muffled thuds of something moving in the distance. Han Zu floated in the water, surrounded by a faint aura of energy—a protective layer naturally emanating from the special energy within his body. To him, oxygen was merely a redundant substance that ordinary organisms relied on; even in a vacuum, he could survive on his own energy. The current oxygen-deprived state of this underwater space was no different from breathing fresh air on land.
Amidst his thick hair, a small, grayish-brown ball of fur clung tightly to a strand—the little mouse with the golden tail that had been hidden in his pocket earlier. The creature was even smaller than a typical house mouse, its chest heaving violently, its tiny nose twitching constantly, yet it could only inhale a small amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. Its round, black eyes were filled with anxiety, and its pink paws, white from the effort, gripped with a tug-of-war with an invisible force of death. Thanks to its slender frame and minimal surface area, it could conserve oxygen in a near-still state, like a curled-up nut, maintaining its life in the most economical way. But it knew this wouldn't last long—the last bit of air in its lungs would only sustain it for a minute at most, after which it would lose consciousness, and in this unknown underwater world, unconsciousness was tantamount to death.
The little mouse's intelligence far surpassed that of its kind, even comparable to the best human children, let alone those lethargic adults. It stared intently at Han Zu, who remained motionless not far away, its bright black eyes flashing with thoughtful light. Han Zu's demeanor was far too composed. He floated in the water, his gaze fixed on the dark shadow moving indistinctly in the darkness diagonally ahead, his breathing perfectly even, even the corners of his mouth carrying a scrutinizing calmness. This state could never be maintained by an ordinary human—the little mouse instantly realized the key: this tall human must possess some special ability to ignore oxygen-deprived environments; perhaps he didn't even need to breathe. It dared not make a sound, afraid of disturbing this powerful being who could remain unharmed underwater.
But it couldn't. The little mouse could clearly feel the burning pain in its lungs growing stronger, each breath feeling like swallowing tiny blades. It raised a paw, instinctively trying to reach towards the surface—above its head, through the murky water, it could vaguely see a faint glimmer of light, where the water met the air. Judging by its sense, the depth was at least a meter. For a human, this distance was easily reached by bending over, but for a creature less than ten centimeters long, it felt like an insurmountable chasm. It needed to struggle upwards, a process that would rapidly deplete its oxygen, potentially causing it to suffocate before even reaching the surface; but if it didn't reach the surface, it would slowly lose consciousness in the icy water.
A difficult choice weighed heavily on the little mouse's heart like a boulder. It huddled in the shadow of Han Zu's hair, stealing a glance at him, then at the light above, its mind a jumble of thoughts. Leave Han Zu? Perhaps it could temporarily escape the oxygen deprivation, but the cost of losing this "mobile shelter" could be far greater. Its understanding of Bastienburg far surpassed Han Zu's—this seemingly isolated underwater area, along with the eerie black forest outside, was actually the second layer of Bastienburg, enveloped by a special energy field. It had secretly infiltrated this area several times during gaps in the energy field's fluctuations, but the waters Han Zu was currently exploring were uncharted territory. It remembered the general route back to the first layer, but that path was teeming with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Those creatures possessed keen senses of smell and astonishing hearing; on its own, it probably couldn't even make it a hundred meters, at most surviving a few more minutes under the monsters' fangs before ultimately meeting its demise.
But following Han Zu? The risk seemed even greater. Han Zu's attention was completely drawn to the moving black shadow. The energy fluctuations around him carried a tense, poised-to-strike quality, clearly waiting for the perfect moment to attack. The little mouse could sense that if the shadow made the slightest movement, Han Zu would pounce immediately. But the shadow just swam around slowly, sometimes pausing, sometimes changing direction, completely unaware of the approaching danger. At this rate, Han Zu could probably stay suspended here for as long as he wanted, but its oxygen supply wouldn't last even a minute.
The burning pain in its lungs intensified, and tiny black dots began to appear before its eyes. The little mouse gradually loosened its grip; it knew it had to make a decision. Just as it was about to loosen its grip on the last few strands of hair and swim upwards with all its might, a soft "gurgling" sound rang in its ears.
That was the sound of a bubble bursting. A bubble the size of a fingernail drifted in from nowhere and struck its cheek directly. The bubble was ordinary, almost invisible, and it hit its face with barely any force. But in the instant it burst, a tiny wisp of extremely thin air dispersed, and the little mouse instinctively twitched its nose, inhaling that tiny bit of air into its lungs. This mere trace of oxygen, however insignificant, was like sweet rain nourishing parched land, instantly clearing its mind and easing the burning pain in its lungs somewhat.
The little mouse suddenly raised its head, a hint of alertness and curiosity flashing in its bright black eyes. It immediately abandoned the idea of swimming upstream and instead focused its attention on finding the source of the bubbles. It turned its little head, its eyes carefully searching the surrounding water, and soon discovered more tiny bubbles—they were continuously emanating from the energy aura surrounding Han Zu, like a group of mischievous little elves, slowly floating upwards.
It finally understood the reason. The energy temperature inside Han Zu's body was far higher than that of the surrounding seawater. When the energy halo came into contact with the cold seawater, a slight thermal reaction occurred, producing these tiny bubbles. These bubbles were useless to humans; the amount of oxygen contained in each bubble was not even enough to sustain a complete breath. But for its tiny body, they were a life-saving source of sustenance. It excitedly squeaked twice, the sound becoming muffled after being filtered by the water, but its joy was clearly written in its eyes.
The little mouse, its immediate crisis resolved, was completely relieved. It tightly wrapped its tail around a strand of Han Zu's hair, curling its body into a ball to hide itself in the shadow of the hair, avoiding Han Zu's detection. It cautiously hovered near the halo of light, patiently waiting for the bubbles to appear. Whenever a bubble floated by, it would tiptoe over, gently open its mouth, and hold it, allowing the oxygen inside to slowly seep into its lungs. This process was extremely careful, making no sound whatsoever. Its previously violently heaving chest gradually calmed down, and the anxiety in its dark eyes was replaced by tranquility.
Meanwhile, Han Zu had been observing for nearly twenty minutes. The movement of the dark figure seemed chaotic, but it actually followed a subtle pattern, as if guarding the area behind the archway. He frowned, thinking that continuing like this was not a solution. Each level of the Bastinburg Palace held hidden secrets, and the longer the delay, the more variables might arise. Without hesitation, the energy aura around him suddenly solidified, and with a light tap of his feet in the water, his body shot towards the dark figure like an arrow.
But the moment he moved, an unexpected event occurred. The previously faint suction suddenly amplified several times over, as if amplified. An irresistible force emanated from behind the archway, like an invisible giant hand gripping Han Zu's body tightly. He instinctively circulated his energy to resist, his feet carving deep streaks in the water, but he couldn't stop the pull on his body. The suction carried a strange power that distorted space, causing the surrounding water to become turbulent and forming small whirlpools.
The little mouse fared even worse. It felt a tremendous pull, instantly losing its balance, and its claws, gripping its hair, nearly slipped off. Terrified, it swallowed its scream and, relying on the reflexes honed over years of escaping danger, curled into a ball before being completely sucked away. It slid down Han Zu's neck, using the water's flow as cover, and precisely slipped into the back pocket of his trousers. It clung tightly to the inside of the pocket with its claws, burying its body in the folds, barely daring to breathe, lest Han Zu discover its presence.
The suction continued to intensify, and Han Zu's body, like a leaf caught in a whirlwind, flew straight towards the back of the archway. A few seconds later, he passed through the stone archway and entered a completely new space. But the scene before him made his pupils shrink—behind the archway was not the passage he had imagined, but a closed dead end. The surrounding walls were smooth black stone, covered with intricate patterns, like some kind of ancient runes, yet radiating a faint energy fluctuation. Even more bizarrely, when he looked back, the stone archway he had just passed through had vanished without a trace; where the archway had stood, only the stone walls remained, blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.
The suction force in the dead end not only didn't weaken, but became even more violent. Han Zu's body was being pulled, hurtling towards the stone wall at the end of the dead end, his speed increasing rapidly, the roar of rushing water filling his ears. He could clearly feel the distance between himself and the stone wall rapidly shrinking, and seeing that he was about to crash into it, he immediately adjusted his posture, concentrating his energy in his arms and chest, assuming a defensive stance to cope with the impact.
Just as his body was about to make contact with the stone wall, the expected violent impact did not occur. Instead, he experienced a familiar dizziness—the same feeling he had when he entered the second level of the Bastin Castle through the hidden door near the library. It was as if his body was passing through an invisible membrane, and the surrounding space was distorted. However, this time, after the dizziness dissipated, he did not plummet as rapidly as before. Instead, he felt a strong upward thrust, and his body rose rapidly in the darkness like a fish leaping out of the water. He could feel the surrounding environment constantly changing; the cold seawater gradually disappeared, replaced by a warm airflow, and the sound of flowing water in his ears turned into the whistling wind.
"Wow--"
A crisp splash pierced the sky as Han Zu's body was violently thrown from a body of water, soaring into the air like a cannonball. He quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air, his feet pointing downwards, circulating his internal energy to steadily counteract the impact of the fall. The instant his feet touched the ground, he clearly felt the rough texture beneath his feet—a texture mixed with sand and gravel, like a beach, but much harder than ordinary sand.
Han Zu steadied himself, slowly withdrawing his internal energy. He then raised his head and began to carefully observe his surroundings. The scene before him was far more bizarre than he had anticipated—he was standing on a wide beach. The sand was dark brown, mixed with many black pebbles and unidentified metal fragments. Stepping on it produced a "crunching" sound, the sound of pebbles rubbing against metal. Intuitively, Han Zu could tell that these so-called "gravel" were definitely not ordinary beach sand. They were extremely dense, and their surfaces seemed to be covered with a faint layer of residual energy.
Behind him stretched an endless ocean. But the color of this ocean was chilling—a pure black, as if it had been soaked in ink. Even when the waves surged, not a trace of white foam could be seen; only thick, black liquid rose and fell, emitting a faint fishy smell. This blackness was not caused by dim light, but was the color of the seawater itself. Sunlight shining on the surface of the sea could only reflect a dull luster, as if even the light itself had been swallowed up by the black water.
The scene in the sky was even more bizarre. The entire sky was covered by a layer of dim, dark red, which gradually deepened near the horizon, becoming almost black. The sky overhead was slightly brighter, but still exuded a sense of oppressive gloom. Strangely, although the sky was dark red, the surrounding environment was not dark at all; on the contrary, it was unusually bright, as if some invisible light source was illuminating everything. Everywhere the eye could see was veiled in a dark red filter: the beach was dark red, the pebbles were dark red, and even distant objects glowed with a faint red light. The whole world seemed to have been soaked in blood, exuding an indescribable eeriness and oppression.