Chapter 33: Abandoned Urban Area

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Abandoned Urban Area

The sewer was completely empty.

There was no reason to hesitate, then.

Xiang Yi plunged directly into the sewer. After crawling through about ten meters of the outermost pipe, he came to a somewhat long, narrow, and low-ceilinged square corridor.

He continued forward, rounded a corner in the corridor, and the ceiling suddenly shot up five meters. More space opened up to the side, and there was even a ladder ahead that he could climb.

Xiang Yi quickened his pace and scrambled up the ladder.

An empty space, roughly one hundred square meters and five meters high, appeared before him.

Using the beam of his Mining Gun, he began to get a sense of the area’s layout.

The long, narrow corridor he had just passed through was the sewer’s drainage channel.

The area to the side was likely meant for installing equipment, but something must have gone wrong with the sewer’s construction plan, causing it to be sealed off.

Besides the exit he’d used, there was another cylindrical sewer opening at the far end of this passage, which was also sealed.

This end was supposed to lead into the city proper.

Xiang Yi moved closer for a better look. The sewer opening leading into the city was sealed even more securely than the one outside; it was completely blocked off with concrete.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t open it; the Mining Gun’s output should be powerful enough to demolish the concrete.

But this concrete wall was certainly connected directly to the city’s sewer system. If he opened it rashly and all the water inside came rushing out, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Dying by jumping from a falling spaceship at least had some dignity to it. But to die in a godforsaken place like this... that would be truly...

Besides, if this place was damaged, a sealed sewer suddenly and inexplicably opened would definitely attract the attention of the city’s construction department.

Things were fine just the way they were.

He didn’t want to lose a temporary hiding spot that was spacious on the inside and hidden on the outside.

Xiang Yi raised his Mining Gun and continued to scan the sewer space, making sure the environment was safe.

He soon discovered a space on the opposite side of the channel, similar to where he was standing now, but smaller—only a few square meters.

Xiang Yi leaped across the central channel, landing on the other side.

In the corner of this small, few-square-meter space, he saw a hidden iron door.

Two chains were draped over the iron door, as if to say it shouldn’t be opened.

The more you’re told not to open something, the more curious you get.

Besides, Xiang Yi was also doing this to ensure his safety.

So, he quickly pressed his ear to the door, listening carefully for any sound from behind it.

Silence from the other side.

He knocked gently on the door.

Again, no sound came from behind it.

Although it was a bit strange for a door to be here, there were plausible explanations. For instance, the door might lead to some sewer equipment that was already installed, and it was locked to prevent theft.

With that thought, Xiang Yi raised his Mining Gun again and broke the two chains.

As the iron door swung open, a corridor wide enough for only a single person appeared behind it.

This corridor was even narrower than the sewer channel next to it. It was also extremely deep, its end lost to sight, the situation inside completely unknown.

Judging by the corridor’s direction, however, it seemed to lead out of the city.

Seeing this, Xiang Yi couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

’Why would a place like this be in the sewer?’

’If I can’t understand it, then I won’t worry about it for now.’

Xiang Yi decisively closed and latched the door.

He turned, leaped back to the wider space on the other side, and began to take off his clothes.

He had to strip off all his damp clothes and wring them out one by one to prevent the evaporating moisture from stealing his body heat.

He’d already noticed that the skin in many places on his body had become wrinkled. This was not good news.

He needed to find a way to start a fire as soon as possible—to warm himself, dry his skin, and dry out his damp clothes.

But he had no fire.

In this torrential rain, it was impossible to find dry firewood outside.

Even if he could endure the thick smoke from burning damp materials, there was only sparse grass near the city walls.

And even if there was dense aquatic vegetation by the lake, it would never sustain a long-lasting fire.

Without fire, he couldn’t completely dry the rainwater off his body, and his body temperature would plummet as the moisture evaporated.

It wouldn’t even take a whole night. In just a few hours, he would lose the ability to move due to hypothermia and freeze to death in this place.

Even if he was lucky enough not to freeze, to survive until dawn when the rain stopped, there were other problems.

Xiang Yi looked down at his calf.

The puncture wound on his leg hadn’t been treated properly before due to environmental constraints; he had only managed to clean it and stop the bleeding.

During the fall from a great height just now, his leg had been injured a second time. Afterward, he’d gotten rainwater on it while stopping the bleeding and changing the dressing, causing the wound to become red and swollen.

In this damp environment, the wound could get infected at any moment.

Right now, infection was no different from death.

He needed fire, medicine, and food.

Xiang Yi glanced at the sewer exit.

The city was, of course, the most likely place to get these things, but going inside and making contact with anyone right now was an incredibly dangerous option.

’So what other path can I choose?’

Xiang Yi’s gaze shifted to the other side of the channel, to the hidden iron door that perhaps led outside the city.

’Maybe in the direction leading out of the city, there’s some wood that can burn for a while. I’d even take it if it’s a little damp.’

’And this is a man-made structure. What if there’s food and medicine where the passage leads?’

Staying here was just waiting to die. His only hope of survival was to keep moving.

Whether toward the city or away from it.

Xiang Yi put his clothes back on—wrung out, but still very damp—and pulled on his protective suit. He leaped to the other side of the channel and opened the iron door again.

He raised the Mining Gun, ready to adjust its output mode at a moment’s notice, and walked inside.

Before fully entering the corridor, he used the broken chains to prop the door open, preventing it from suddenly shutting behind him.

’If this path leads nowhere, then I’ll have no choice but to turn back and risk the city.’

He walked onward for about twenty minutes.

The corridor still hadn’t ended, and darkness still lay ahead.

However, Xiang Yi could clearly feel that he was heading toward the city’s outskirts. In fact, the distance he had walked already exceeded the distance between him and the city wall.

The dampness clinging to his body never fully faded, and the pain in his leg was a constant reminder that an even bigger problem was brewing.

He glanced back. The way he came was also pitch black.

A chill ran through him as he continued down the corridor.

Another twenty minutes passed.

Xiang Yi could now feel an extreme discomfort in his left leg. If he kept moving like this, his leg was going to be in serious trouble.

Fortunately, the monotonous concrete corridor finally changed. A corner appeared at the far end.

Even though pain shot through him, Xiang Yi couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

Around the corner was another iron door, chained shut just like the one he had come through.

Xiang Yi decisively took out his Mining Gun, broke the two chains, and pushed open the door, arriving in a completely new place.

This appeared to be a basement.

To the side was a staircase leading to the upper level.

But the staircase was blocked by a pile of junk, making it almost impossible to see what was upstairs.

There were light bulbs on the basement ceiling, but after Xiang Yi found the switch and flicked it a few times, he realized the power was out.

He had to use his Mining Gun for light as he carefully cleared away some of the junk, then climbed up through the opening he had made.

The upper level of the basement was an abandoned office.

A few desks were placed haphazardly, conveniently blocking the way back to the basement.

Xiang Yi climbed over the desks and went to a window that had no glass.

The downpour hadn’t stopped, and it was still pitch black outside.

But he could faintly make out some buildings outside.

’It seems like... I’m in the city...’

’But I was clearly walking away from the city, and that corridor was a straight line until the very end. How could I be in the city?’

Something felt wrong. Xiang Yi placed a hand on the windowsill, vaulted out of the building, and looked in the direction he remembered the city to be.

He did indeed see the towering city wall in the distance, and the soft glow of the buildings even farther behind it. He could even see the skyscraper that was currently spitting fire and thick smoke.

He was indeed outside the city, but he was also inside a city.

He was in an abandoned urban area outside the main city walls.