Book 11: Chapter 2: The Undersea Outlet

World Setting: Toril World

Time: Autumn of the Year 1355 DR

Location: Baldur’s Gate

Main Quest: None

Scene Introduction: The task plot is in team competition mode, and other apostle teams may exist in the same scene. Different apostle teams can share the task plot. Final rewards are distributed based on task contribution, or they can be actively allocated through Soul Contract. Killing apostles of other teams has a certain chance of dropping Bloody Cubes.

After ending the communication with Hill, Qin Lun thought for a bit and covered his right eye with his palm. His left eye, which was exposed, glowed slightly and revealed a Yin-Yang Fish Pattern intertwined with deep blue ice flames and dark green ancient vines.

This eye was formed by a fusion and mutation of the biological equipment “Ganitus Left Eye” and the hunter’s full-time skill “Detection Aura,” creating an Eye Technique called “Staring Aura.”

After activating Staring Aura, the view in Qin Lun’s left eye completely turned into a three-dimensional projection made of black and white lines. The perception beams surged out like waves in all directions. The thick stone walls of the sewer seemed like nothing to him, leaving only sketchy lines.

Deep in the sewer, the snakes, insects, rats, and ants cautiously stopped moving, as if listening for some noise. A moment later, these small creatures ran away wildly to the distance, as if whipped by a whip.

Qin Lun smiled slightly. When entering the world, he did not choose to conceal his Divine Domain. He also just released a little of his demon aura, so it wasn’t strange that these sensitive little animals fled.

“This place below is huge, with so many forks in the path!” After watching the direction the snakes, insects, rats, and ants fled, Qin Lun frowned again.

He drove away these small animals just now, of course not because he was idle. These little animals were the permanent residents here. When faced with danger, they escaped to their nests or routes to safety, avoiding blind groping.

Only these small creatures ran around without giving a specific direction, even after leaving Qin Lun’s perception range. If the concentration of perception was weakened, the exploration range of Staring Aura could reach hundreds of meters. This chaotic running of the little animals showed the tunnel network here was extremely large, possibly the entire sewer system of Baldur’s Gate.

“This is really troublesome!” Qin Lun rubbed his temples helplessly. Sewer systems usually had ground wells connecting to the surface, but he didn’t know the way. With bad luck, it could take days to find one. The stay time for the three of them in Toril World was very precious.

“Fine, I’ll use that thing to explore the path. What a waste!” Qin Lun sighed softly and raised his hand a little. A dark light flashed in front of him. A fierce-looking statue over a meter tall, with bat wings on its back, appeared out of nowhere and landed heavily on the right walkway of the sewer.

“Wake up!” With Qin Lun’s thought, the Gargoyle’s eyes made of obsidian flared with two violet lights. It slowly lifted its head and stared at the young man in front.

This Gargoyle was not from the Quest World but the work of an apostle who also practiced alchemy. It was not a one-time consumable, but each use required magic crystal stones, and the constructed parts needed regular replacement, making it easier to break compared to the original from the Quest World.

However, compared to the Gargoyle obtained from the Quest World, this replica made by an apostle had its own advantages. The Gargoyle from the Quest World was pure alchemical; it needed a control core activated by spells. The apostle item wasn’t so troublesome. It connected to apostles through thought, making operation more convenient.

The Gargoyle received Qin Lun’s thought, shook its bat wings, and with its strong hind limbs, leaped into the air, unfolded its wings, and glided deep into the sewer.

Gargoyles belong to medium-sized statue alchemicals. When standing upright, they were only slightly shorter than Qin Lun, with wings spread out about two meters. Fortunately, Baldur’s Gate’s sewer was very wide, and the Gargoyle was nimble, or else it wouldn’t have been usable here.

“Wait for news from those two!” After releasing the Gargoyle, Qin Lun sat cross-legged on the sewer walkway, connected his thoughts to the Gargoyle’s vision, and explored the nearby forks.

He did have another Gargoyle in his Storage Space, but connecting his thoughts to it also consumed Energy Points. Plus, without knowing if it was dangerous here, he couldn’t afford to expend too much.

After a while, Qin Lun’s patience slowly ebbed away. The underground here was too large. The Gargoyle had found over ten forks nearby but still hadn’t located a ground well connecting to the surface.

In his Apostle Soul Mark, an extra prompt showed he had obtained a map of Baldur’s Gate’s underground waterway. Of course, this map was only for the parts he explored, with other areas still dark.

Looking at the explored area in the middle of the map, which was just the size of a fingernail compared to the unexplored parts, Qin Lun felt a chill inside.

“Qin Lun, we’ve heard some information about the place you’re in!” Fortunately, Hill finally sent some good news.

The place he was in was indeed the sewer network of Baldur’s Gate, and the reason for its width was specific.

Before its rise, Baldur’s Gate belonged to the foothold of the Legendary Pirate Balduran. At that time, it gathered many pirates and bankrupt farmers. Because of the pirates’ stolen goods and spending, it attracted many merchants, causing distorted prosperity, and finally became a port city led by a council.

However, the pirates at that time suffered heavy losses in an orc raid because the merchant council was selfish and didn’t include the dock area when building the outer walls. This changed after Balduran returned. The Legendary Pirate killed almost the whole city council and built a bridge gate between the dock area and inner city, which was the origin of Baldur’s Gate.

Besides Baldur’s Gate, the pirates considered that Balduran often went to sea and couldn’t give them constant shelter. So, they pooled funds to build a huge sewer system under the city.

This sewer system wasn’t just for waste disposal. In wartime, its tunnel network in the dock area was a hidden undersea outlet. When invaded by enemies, the pirates would fill these tunnels with water to temporarily hide pirate ships.

The tunnel where Qin Lun was now was not even the widest. The undersea outlet for hiding pirate ships was almost several times larger than here.

“It is good news, but did you find out how to get out? I don’t think I can swim into the sea through the outlet!” Qin Lun vaguely had a bad feeling.

“This… according to the information we got, Balduran’s era was too long ago. In Baldur’s Gate’s development, not just pirates but all sorts of underworld groups in the city have treated the underground network as shelter. The sewer network later expanded several times.”

Hill said bitterly, “Rand also heard that even slave traders and smuggling gangs sometimes used it as a base. To guard against city guard searches, they built many fake well mouths and hidden doors. Now, no one knows the whole sewer network. You’re in an underground world fully separate from the city’s surface.”

“Qin Lun, instead of finding a ground well to the surface, you might as well swim directly into the sea from the outlet. That seems more reliable!” Hill added quietly in the Team Channel.

“No way!” Qin Lun covered his face in frustration.

“Haha, alright, Hill, stop teasing him.” Rand couldn’t help but laugh. “Qin Lun, we already thought of a way to get you out just now.”

“What way?” Qin Lun showed a small smile. While he was underground and lost direction, the two above ground wouldn’t be lost. They should have a way to help, or they’d all waste time.

“Since we entered this world as a team, our distance shouldn’t be too far apart. But for now, I can’t feel your presence. Next, Rand and I will try different directions until I connect with you through Telepathy.” Hill replied with a smile.

Hill had used the Illithid Brain before entering this world and had now advanced to Second Order Chaos Priest. Qin Lun had originally planned for him to advance after entering Toril to lower the quest difficulty.

But Hill said since the Quest World was certain and they were going for the Epic Plot, advancing earlier or later didn’t matter much. Also, in the Quest World, anything could happen, so it was safer to advance directly in Star Void.

After absorbing the Illithid Brain, Hill got all the talent abilities except the rarest Divine Domain, including the Mind Blast skill with only a 30% chance.

After gaining Mind Blast, Hill learned something they didn’t know before.

It turned out the 30% chance for Mind Blast can change. If an apostle had high enough Perception and mental attributes before absorbing the Illithid Brain, and had some mental skill feats, the chance would increase from 30%.

Since Hill had Class Changed to a priest-like profession, he had several mental skill feats. In the end, his chance for Mind Blast reached 45%, and he luckily gained this skill.

The method Hill came up with now was something Qin Lun had also considered. But Qin Lun wanted to forcefully use Staring Aura to find the two on the ground. Of course, compared to a passive skill like Telepathy, persistently using Staring Aura would lead to huge consumption.

“For this method to work, there’s one last problem.” Qin Lun pondered. “Even if you find my location with Telepathy, one of us is on the surface and the other underground, so we can’t meet quickly.”

“True, so we do need some people’s help!” Hill revealed a strange smile.