Chapter 862: The Golden Door

862. The Golden Door

"Bro, can we really get a better one?"

Von asked excitedly.

"Of course, this is all small stuff. I could even add a fishing feature for you."

Lin Ye replied casually.

"Uh... never mind then. I'm not that into fishing, and I can just use a fishing rod."

Von liked fishing, but he didn't want some weird feature like that.

"This is exactly why you've hit the limit as a fishing enthusiast."

Lin Ye continued driving the bicycle upward, while Von and Rex climbed back onto the rear seat of the bicycle.

Occasionally, some obstacles appeared on the staircase, such as red puddles, rotting corpses, piles of gray powder...

These obstacles hindered the bicycle's movement, forcing Lin Ye to maneuver around them. Sometimes, he would steer the bicycle over the top of the obstacles.

It was dangerous. One wrong move and they would all plummet off the staircase.

Luckily, Lin Ye was a Veteran Driver with sufficiently reliable driving skills. After a while, the bicycle climbed up to the 10,000th step.

"...How is there still more? Is this really the exit?"

Von looked at the staircase that stretched endlessly into the distance above and spoke with a numb expression.

"This is the staircase for escaping the Abyss, so it being long is only natural."

Lin Ye turned his head to look at a shadow that had appeared on the right side of the staircase ahead. There stood a massive gray plant.

The giant gray plant was as large as a city, but just one second ago, there had been nothing there at all.

Lin Ye rode the bicycle closer to the giant plant. Von and Rex didn't seem to notice it, or perhaps they had seen it but didn't find anything strange about it.

"It's been a while, senior."

The gray-haired junior stood at the junction between the giant plant and the staircase, smiling as she met Lin Ye's gaze.

"Why are you here?"

Lin Ye stopped the bicycle on the step beside her.

"This is the passage to the Gray World. You can leave the Abyss from here. No one can stop you from leaving... not even a deity."

The junior extended her right hand toward Lin Ye.

"You're here to recruit employees too?"

Lin Ye looked at the junior with a slightly odd expression.

"Of course. Everyone wants good employees, and I can guarantee that the benefits on my side are the best."

The junior wore a somewhat serious expression.

"I'd love to go, but the hostage is still in their hands, so I can only say sorry."

Lin Ye wasn't going to abandon Little Guardian.

"I can help you snatch the hostage back."

The junior took a step forward, stepping onto the Golden Staircase.

The Golden Staircase began to vibrate slightly, and large amounts of gray-white mist appeared around the steps.

A vague figure appeared behind Lin Ye. The moment It appeared, the entire space began to slowly sink.

"That won't be necessary. I'll handle things here myself. As for the job issue, I need to understand the detailed situation before making a decision."

Lin Ye didn't want to suddenly get involved in a war he couldn't interfere with.

"...Alright then. I'll come find senior for a chat next time."

The junior stepped back off the staircase and faded away along with the giant plant, as if she had never existed.

The figure behind Lin Ye also disappeared, and the Golden Staircase returned to normal.

Von and Rex acted as if nothing had happened, still chatting on the rear seat of the bicycle.

Lin Ye mounted the bicycle and continued upward. Perhaps because of what had just happened, the staircase had become much quieter.

The bicycle made it unimpeded to the 19,999th step, where Lin Ye could only stop, because the Golden Staircase ahead was missing a section.

Those steps looked as if someone had stolen them, roughly several dozen steps.

"What do we do now? Can we fly across?"

Von looked at Lin Ye. He was now just an old geezer without a lower half.

"Of course not. I should have gone to check the price of an airplane earlier."

Lin Ye couldn't fly at this altitude either, and he didn't know what would happen if he left the Golden Staircase here.

"We'll have to use that card."

Lin Ye took out the card the boss had given him. He didn't want to use it either, after all, if the boss hadn't lied, then they would only be able to skip a section of the staircase.

"How about I jump out and give it a try?"

Von also understood the importance of that card.

"Forget it. Maybe the exit is just up ahead."

Lin Ye looked at the staircase above and tore the card apart. Spatial fluctuations appeared around them, and the three of them, along with the bicycle, were teleported onto the steps further up.

"Hopefully there are no other gaps up ahead."

Lin Ye drove the bicycle upward once more. About half an hour later, they finally saw the end of the Golden Staircase.

There stood a golden door. It seemed that as long as they opened it, they could escape from this place.

"Is this the exit?"

Von let out an excited voice.

"We can go back?"

Rex was also excited. If Lin Ye hadn't lied to him, then his family could be saved.

"How do you know that's the exit? What if it's some kind of monster disguised as a door?"

Lin Ye slowed the vehicle down. Little Red had told him to jump from the top, and the Abyssal Evil God had told him to open the door. Beyond the door was likely the deepest part of the Abyss.

"I can go open the door and check what's inside."

Von was ready to scout ahead.

"No need. Let me think about this first."

Lin Ye didn't approach the door. Instead, he stopped the bicycle ten steps away from it.

"I can go up there alone and try. You don't need to come close."

Perhaps worried about his family's situation, Rex impulsively jumped toward the next step.

"Hold on, I don't need you to scout."

Lin Ye reached out and grabbed one of Rex's spider legs.

"Sorry, I just want to get back quickly."

Rex looked at the golden door above and revealed an expression full of longing.

As long as he could leave this place, his family would be saved.

"It's fine. I want to leave here quickly too, but it's precisely at times like this that we can't afford to rush."

Lin Ye calmly stared at the golden door not far away. Just then, the Golden Staircase beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble faintly.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the step. In a few more seconds, this step would completely shatter.

No cracks appeared on the surfaces of the other steps. Now they only had two choices: go up toward the golden door, or go down and leave the Golden Staircase.

Lin Ye naturally wouldn't choose to go back. He mounted the bicycle and moved upward with the two of them, but when they stepped onto the next step, cracks also appeared on that step's surface.

"Damn! Can't you be less eager?!"

Lin Ye had no choice but to keep moving upward. All nine steps shattered and disappeared, leaving them standing on the very last step.