Chapter 403 345: Speedrunning the Maya Civilization Ruins

Shi Aimin crawled out of a tattered tent. He stared at the giant pit in the distance, where a pyramid was gradually being revealed by the excavation.

'I can't let this go on!' Shi Aimin said to himself. He was a crew leader for a state-owned construction company from the Divine Continent. After an incident, he and his construction crew were kidnapped by local drug dealers. They were then inexplicably brought here and ordered to excavate the ruins.

Although Shi Aimin didn't know why the drug dealers wanted them to dig this thing up, he had keenly sensed the importance those people placed on the ruins... Countless TV show plots flashed through his mind—

Considering the group's ruthless attitude, he had a feeling that the very moment they completed the project would be the moment they were all executed.

'But what can I do?' Shi Aimin felt helpless. He was a veteran who had transferred to a civilian job. The problem was, even back when he had just left the army at the peak of his military prowess, he would have been just as helpless in this environment—the enemy was also professionally trained, and they had guns.

He wasn't some one-man army from the movies...

"COO! COO!" Suddenly, a clear cooing sound rang out.

"?" Shi Aimin froze, confused. He turned his head toward the cooing sound, only to find it was coming from his own tent. 'What the...?'

'What the hell! Is there a pigeon in my tent?'

Wait... Shi Aimin ducked inside, and his expression froze. He saw only a small crow... What kind of crow coos? More importantly, was that a Golden Bracelet around the crow's neck? Or a necklace? It looked like it belonged to someone...

No, that wasn't even the most ridiculous part! The most ridiculous part was...

'...Guns?!' Shi Aimin was completely dumbfounded. Firearms practically covered the floor of his tent, along with brass-colored bullets. But he had just stepped out of the tent, and there had been nothing inside before! 'Magic? That makes no sense...' He instinctively grabbed a handful. Hearing the sharp clinking of the bullets, he knew it wasn't a hallucination.

...

Then, the crow, holding a slip of paper in its beak, hopped over to him.

Shi Aimin instinctively took it. After scanning it, his expression gradually grew serious.

"Arm yourselves. Counter-attack and break through... I've placed more weapons in other locations. The specific positions are..."

With a placid expression, Shi Aimin stuffed the note into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed. Then, he watched the crow hop away.

'Is it... someone from the organization? But that doesn't seem right, either!' Shi Aimin's mind was a mess. He finally shook his head. 'Whatever!'

Shi Aimin took a deep breath. Without a doubt, this was his chance to turn the tables.

He expertly assembled a pistol, tucked it into his waistband, and prepared to go find his men. The drug dealers guarded them strictly, but that strictness was focused on preventing them from getting out... They were in a canyon with only one exit from end to end!

The perimeter was fitted with numerous cameras, dogs, and drones... but as for security within the canyon itself, it was quite lax.

...

「Elsewhere.」

Inside a hastily constructed, simple room filled with an Indians-style decor.

A white-haired old man gripped his cane tightly, his eyes gloomy. "How much longer?"

"Soon!" a fully armed white man said, his back ramrod straight and his voice serious. "We estimate a successful excavation within five days... In fact, the spot you specifically emphasized has already been cleared... If you'd like..."

"No, no, no, let's just wait a little longer!" The old man was clearly tempted, but after a moment of thought, he still shook his head.

And then, shadows abruptly swept in.

"What?" The old man's expression flickered, but in the next instant, he lost consciousness.

Chu Bamboo calmly materialized. He glanced at the unconscious old man and the white man, smiled noncommittally, and then pulled the cane directly from the old man's hand. '...This is it!'

Chu Bamboo examined the gemstone at the top of the cane. 'Yes... It's not the cane! This gemstone is the key to the Maya Civilization.'

Suddenly, Chu Bamboo's ears twitched. He heard a barrage of gunfire and his expression was inscrutable. 'Looks like Shi Aimin and his men have made their move.'

Chu Bamboo wasn't worried about the state-owned company's workers. According to the diary's contents, as long as they had guns, they could guarantee their own safety... However, fighting their way out under these circumstances would still result in some casualties... But!

Chu Bamboo glanced thoughtfully at the two on the floor. One was the commander of the local drug dealers, and the other was the king of Mexico's underground black market. 'Putting Moderation aside for now,' he thought, 'if I toss this drug dealer's commander to Shi Aimin, I can guarantee they'll escape with the other surviving workers and those women, all without a single casualty—'

After breaking through to the Quasi-Third realm, Chu Bamboo felt his control over the Thousand Shadows and Ten Thousand Transformations Divine Techniques had become much more fluid. At this very moment, he was manipulating a Shadow Crow, using the Bracelet to place a large number of weapons in specific locations, while simultaneously controlling another shadow to rescue Huo Yuan. All the while, his main body was here dealing with Moderation and the mercenary leader... It was the definition of advancing on all fronts!

Closing his eyes, Chu Bamboo's vision linked with one of the crows. He saw that it had already brought Huo Yuan to rendezvous with Hodges. With a single thought, that crow instantly dissipated...

Then, Chu Bamboo opened his eyes again and split off a new crow. The crow shot out its talons, instantly grabbing the mercenary leader by the collar and dragging him out.

Next, Chu Bamboo expressionlessly shot Moderation. Moderation was one of those irredeemably evil types... Chu Bamboo had no intention of letting him go. 'As for using him? I have the complete guide right here in my hands... What use could he possibly be?'

Caressing the gemstone, Chu Bamboo recalled the specific process from the diary and took a deep breath. 'If I remember correctly... that location should be...'

「A moment later.」

Chu Bamboo arrived in the deep pit at the very base of the Maya Civilization's pyramid ruin. The area had originally been guarded, but clearly, because of the workers' riot... all the guards had been urgently redeployed!

He gazed at the pyramid, which resembled the Egyptian Pyramids, and mentally compared it over and over with the diary photos from his memory, confirming something.

He held out his hand. A crow with the Golden Bracelet around its neck instantly descended, and the bracelet reappeared in his palm.

Then, Chu Bamboo went directly through a crevice and entered... Before long, he found a doorway.

After a moment of thought, Chu Bamboo pressed the gemstone directly into a recess in the door—

The silence that followed was so long that Chu Bamboo began to wonder if something was wrong with the door. Then, a low hum filled the air... The stone door slowly swung open.

...

「Three hours later.」

Chu Bamboo stretched languidly as he walked out of the Pyramid. He toyed with the Golden Bracelet on his arm. 'Got it!'

'And now...' Chu Bamboo looked in a certain direction. It was the direction the state-owned company's workers and the girls they had rescued were fleeing, but he didn't go to rendezvous with them as the diary had described.

Chu Bamboo tapped his foot lightly, his figure instantly erupting into flames as he shot into the sky... He felt he had already done more than enough for them.

Only a few minutes later, Chu Bamboo descended from the sky, appearing before Hodges, who was still quietly comforting his daughter—

"!!!" Hodges was genuinely terrified.

As for Huo Yuan, her face was also filled with terror, but she didn't scream. She just tightly gripped the corner of her father's shirt.

"...You! I! Th... It's, it's, it's you?" Hodges opened his mouth, a thousand words ultimately turning into a single, stuttered sentence.

Even though he already knew Chu Bamboo possessed Extraordinary powers, seeing him turn to fire and descend from the sky still left him shocked beyond words—

"Old Huo," Chu Bamboo said, not bothering with explanations and getting straight to the point. "I'm going to disguise you two now... The plane tickets are already booked... We're not going back to Mexico City. We're going to the nearest place, Dax City! We'll catch a connecting flight from there. If there are no surprises... we should be able to set foot on the soil of Divine Land Jinling by tonight."