The Dawn of the New World

The very first attack from Xue Meng had collapsed the majority of the tunnel around Hao Xuan. He had to sprint at full speed for a fair few seconds to outrun the destruction and reach an area that was solid enough to withstand it.

Hao Xuan was so busy with dodging the falling debris in fact that he didn't even notice the tunnel splitting into two halfway. He had taken the smaller pathway that turned towards the right side while most of the footprints from everyone else that had entered before were going left.

"Damn it!" he tried to move a few boulders out of the way but there was only more debris and even more dirt and rocks. Even with his strength he would need tens of hours to dig his way back up without burying himself alive.

"Fuck," he cursed one last time before turning around and continuing down the tunnel.

It was inclining at an angle of 30* degrees but just like the other one, it did not look man-made at all. It had a diameter of around eight meters, more than spacious enough for tens of people to walk through shoulder to shoulder.

If examined closely, a star-shaped pattern could be seen that was embedded all around the tunnel with irregular spaces between each one.

Hao Xuan kept quiet for the most part other than the silent grumbling under his breath, walking through the darkness with the help of the night vision that was provided by the nanites.

About twenty or so minutes passed like this until the ground started to become uneven and the tunnel started to turn in various directions. It was still going down for the most part but it was taking much longer. It also started to become smaller the further in he went.

Hao Xuan didn't think it would take a long time to get to the prison's main structure but after five hours of constant walking with intermittent bouts of sprinting sprinkled in between, there was still nothing in sight.

"How much distance did I cover so far?" Hao Xuan mumbled to himself.

*Beep*

"147 kilometers," Baracus replied instantly.

*Brrrr*

The ground started shaking, stopping soon after within a few seconds. Hao Xuan looked up, slapping away the few loose pebbles that were about to fall on his head.

"Another one. Do you think it's a volcano?" Hao Xuan asked weakly.

"Not enough data to give an accurate answer," Baracus replied in his usual emotionless voice.

These 'mini-earthquakes had become much more frequent in the last hour and a half. Every few minutes there would be one and Hao Xuan would have to stop and take cover because more often than not, the tunnel would once again collapse around him.

"Why...why can't anything just be simple?" Hao Xuan cried, standing up with gritted teeth. He was covered in dust from the top to bottom and it had started to get into places that made it too uncomfortable to even walk.

"Just go to the place, get the shit and go home. How hard is that?" he whined and complained while trudging along the now barely 2-3 meter wide pathway.

The tunnel had become so small that Hao Xuan even had to bend down and walk on all fours a few times to get through. For a claustrophobic, this would be nothing short of hell itself.

A part of the tunnel had collapsed in on itself in front of him, forcing Hao Xuan to walk sideways. he took a deep breath and entered the space.

*Brrrrrr*

Another earthquake, this one much bigger than any of the ones that had come before it.

Hao Xuan's eyes widened from shock. He could feel the earth pushing against his chest, applying more and more pressure. Hao Xuan held his breath and used his elbows to push back. More and more soil poured down from the above, threatening to bury him alive.

"YOU FUCKERS!" Hao Xuan cursed when he couldn't even move his head anymore.

"FULL POWER TO OFFENSE!" he gave the order and the nanites jumped into action. His muscles bulged, rows of blue lights becoming visible under his clothes.

Using the little bit of space that was available to him, Hao Xuan punched upwards. The ceiling completely collapsed on him but it freed him for just an instant during which time he head-butted the area in front of him. Using even a hammer would have been less effective in this situation.

The rocks exploded to smithereens. Hao Xuan punched and kicked everything that was in front of him with eyes closed, slowly moving forward step by step until he suddenly heard a popping sound and felt a strange sensation, one that should not have been possible here.

It was air, brushing past his face. Hao Xuan opened his eyes and saw and took a quick step back. The ground had completely crumbled away in front of him, or rather, it would be more appropriate to say there wasn't any more ground to left.

He was standing at the very edge, looking down at a space so big that he couldn't even see its other end. There were white clouds right in front of his face.

"What...is this??" Hao Xuan mumbled with an open mouth. He reached out and touched the misty white fluff.

*Sssssss*

But then quickly pulled back his hand and examined it. The first few layers of skin and flesh were completely gone from the part that came in contact with the clouds.

"Warning! Hazardous materials detected!"