Chapter 1710: Chapter 60: The Former Shepherd

What surprised Lei Yaz was that upon entering through the lift gate, the underground space was far larger than he had imagined.

The lift gate finally stopped, and the passage before him lit up as if it had just been powered on, illuminating the way.

Lei Yaz was the first to leap out of the gate, finding that the passage was not long, but the walls on either side were lined with many tools… of various kinds he couldn’t name, only feeling wonder.

“Who on earth created a place like this?” Lei Yaz asked, incredulously, “How vast is this land?”

“It seems to cover the entire land,” Boss Luo replied casually.

Covering the entire land… While above ground, Lei Yaz couldn’t see the end of this land—so beneath this vast land, there exists another space of equal area that is man-made!

This place is far larger than the Undersea City!

“But… but so far, we haven’t seen a single person?” Lei Yaz said instinctively.

“Who knows.” Luo Qiu smiled, “There is history everywhere, and if we were not part of it, we can never truly know what happened… Perhaps, ahead in our path, we’ll find fragments of answers, bit by bit discovering the fun of adventure.”

Lei Yaz paused, then smiled wryly, “I don’t feel up for this kind of adventure mood right now… Besides, if this underground space is as vast as it is above ground… regarding our destination, it’s clearly even harder to see where we’re headed to?”

Above ground, at the limit of vision, the presence of the metallic giant tower could be seen—yet here, directions are difficult to distinguish.

But soon, Lei Yaz was stunned by the discovery that followed!

There, at the end of the corridor before the lift gate—it was a track whose front and rear ends couldn’t be seen; then at the corridor’s exit, there was a train stopped, with an oval-shaped front and rear, wide and long in the middle!

Standing in front of this train, Lei Yaz opened his mouth… he instinctively looked at Luo Qiu, only to see the latter again giving an encouraging look.

Lei Yaz opened his mouth, then sighed… he simply approached the train door as if opening the lift gate.

A beam of light shot out again, then scanned Lei Yaz’s entire body from top to bottom—next, the train’s door began to slowly open.

Simultaneously, the interior of the train emitted a slight sound… it actually started directly at this moment!

“Why… why can I open things here?” Lei Yaz murmured to himself… initially confused, but by this point, no matter how dull, some things became clear.

Moreover, he was not really that dull.

“These things… seem to recognize me,” Lei Yaz was hit by a possibility, and his heart surged, “Elder Brother Luo, could it be that this place was built by His Majesty?!”

“What makes you think so?” Boss Luo asked curiously.

Lei Yaz frowned, “It’s the key given by Ke Duojin that opened the door… he said it’s His Majesty’s will. I’ve always been wondering, is His Majesty’s true purpose for coming to the Somna Trench today to let me enter the Stone Gate… you see, if this is a place built by the Emperor, it makes sense, right? The scans multiple times to verify my identity, then conveniently for me… it’s all arranged by His Majesty.”

But at this moment, inside the train, a mature woman with green long hair and a silver robe appeared suddenly.

“Hello, Shepherd, I’m Cang Xing, the conductor of this train. It’s a pleasure to serve you.”

This green-haired woman had a layer of hazy glow on her body… her demeanor was tranquil, and her smile felt like a gentle breeze… but she wasn’t an entity, instead a projected image.

Lei Yaz instinctively pointed to himself, “You… what did you just call me?”

“Shepherd,” spoke Cang Xing, the train conductor, with a smile, “Upon testing, your genetic fragments completely match the Shepherd in our database… May I ask where you intend to travel?”

“We want to head to the base of that giant metallic tower… but what exactly is a Shepherd?” Lei Yaz instinctively asked.

“Destination is ‘Hub’, right… planning route now, please wait.” Cang Xing didn’t answer Lei Yaz’s second question, instead, she seemed to enter a calculating state.

Before her, a virtual route map appeared… more complex than the circuit board used for guiding magical energy on Fietuo, it could dizzy the eyes of the observer.

But soon, a complete route began to light up, and Cang Xing spoke at this moment, “Route calculation complete, travel time for this journey will be 4908 seconds, please be seated, Shepherd.”

As Cang Xing spoke, the seats on both sides of the train carriage suddenly dropped down… Lei Yaz opened his mouth, “Wait, you haven’t told me what exactly a Shepherd is!”

“A Shepherd, naturally is someone performing the work of shepherding,” Cang Xing said slowly, “The main work of a Shepherd is to monitor, care for all test subjects’ daily life within the test field, and record all data for the test subjects.”

“This…” Lei Yaz thought of the terrifying creatures and plants outside, and with the vastness of this mysterious place, who knows how many creatures are here; he was stunned, “How many Shepherds are there in this place?”

“Currently, there’s only you, Shepherd.”

Lei Yaz hurriedly asked, “Only me? How is that possible… aren’t there other Shepherds here?”

“There were,” Cang Xing said slowly, “But they left a long time ago. You are the second Shepherd to return in such a long time.”

“Who was the first?” Lei Yaz’s breathing quickened slightly… he had thought of something.

Cang Xing pointed a finger, and a virtual image slowly appeared before Lei Yaz… a figure appeared, and Lei Yaz saw the Undersea City Emperor, Louis XXXIX.

“It really is… His Majesty!”

…

…

Gently jolted, Konghai gradually came back to his senses, and then found himself trapped in a huge cage.

Inside the cage were Master Karen and Longgang—this enormous cage was being transported in a very primitive manner.

Made of wood, a crude cart… the wheel hubs weren’t thoroughly rounded, causing shakes and bumps as it was pushed along.

“How did we get caught by these six-armed apes?” Konghai, upon mastering the current situation, directly questioned.

Master Karen sighed at this moment… he too wondered why he had ended up captured by these creatures—looking at these six-armed apes, Master Karen knew their level of enlightenment wasn’t high.

“Their intelligence isn’t very high, but they are strong and agile.” Master Karen pointed out some of the reasons.

He understood that, given Konghai’s level, these words were enough to explain why they were in a cage.

“In other words, you were caught by a bunch of apes, right.”

Master Karen sneered, clearing he intended for Konghai to understand without needing it voiced aloud.

“How are your injuries?” Master Karen switched topics abruptly.

“Not very good, but not too bad either. I need some time to feel better,” Konghai thought for a moment, then looked ahead, revealing a hint of peculiar expression, “It seems this tribe of apes is nearing.”

Master Karen followed Konghai’s gaze—there was a canyon ahead… The canyon had only one side opened as an entrance, and within the mountain there were numerous excavated caves.

This is probably where these apes dwell—because at this time they could see quite a few Six-Armed Ape Monkeys standing in front of those large and small cave openings, gazing out.

The cage, along with the cart, slowly entered the canyon… Suddenly, a large tribe resembling the Ape Monkey Kingdom appeared before Master Karen and Konghai.

More Six-Armed Ape Monkeys swarmed up, surrounding the cage and inspecting the three people inside—Master Karen, Konghai, and their companion. They seemed to have their own language, but due to the language barrier, Master and Konghai could not understand what these apes meant.

“Perhaps they see us as food?” Master Karen couldn’t help but frown—under the current circumstances, he could only speculate in this direction.

This guess was never verified.

Soon, Master Karen and the others were taken to a massive rock cave.

From here, the apes transporting them suddenly switched to a new batch.

And surprisingly, this new batch of apes emerged from the rock cave, surprising Master Karen and Konghai further, for although they also had six arms, they were wearing equipment that clearly appeared quite advanced.

An unmistakable feeling of incongruity arose… especially for Master Karen, who even felt as if he saw primitive people suddenly donning Undersea City magical energy equipment.

But after being sent into the rock cave, this incongruity became even stronger—before them, the scene had drastically changed.

Inside this rock cave was a vast space, and the walls around were made of metal—like a giant warehouse.

They even saw many huge pieces of equipment, neatly stacked in a corner of this warehouse—though these huge devices were covered with moss, and some even had two weeds growing on them.

It was a form of civilization different from that of the Undersea City’s magical energy… somewhat resembling the technology aboard the Sapphire, but clearly more advanced.

Inside the cage, Master Karen grew increasingly alarmed… until another batch of new Six-Armed Ape Monkeys appeared before them.

And at this moment.

Among them was a one-eyed ape monkey, taller than ordinary Six-Armed Ape Monkeys by nearly half, and holding weapons resembling spears and cannons in four of its arms, suddenly stepped forward, knocked on the cage, and opened its mouth: “I am the Kingdom’s General Batulu; from now on, you are my property.”

Master Karen and Konghai exchanged glances instantly.

Every word was heard clearly… and they understood the meaning of these words joined together—yet these syllables were clearly ones they had never learned.

“Is it strange that I can communicate with you?” The supposed Kingdom’s General Batulu pointed to a metal collar on his neck, “This! It’s the Divine Artifact given by our King, allowing me to communicate with any creature.”

“What exactly is this place!” Master Karen grasped the cage bars tightly at this moment… since they could communicate, they could at least ascertain their current situation!

“This is the territory of Giant Stone Kingdom’s mightiest General Batulu!” The giant Six-Armed Ape Monkey beat his chest, “Alright, hairless monkeys, from now on you are slaves of General Batulu! Lock these monkeys up with the others!”

“Hurulu lalala tsk tsk—!”

The rest of the apes without Batulu’s metal collar returned to normal demeanor… but Master Karen was eager to say something, vigorously patting the cage.

But suddenly, two ape warrior guards reached into the cage with two prongs, grabbing Master Karen—and these prongs even released a powerful electrical current, instantly knocking Master Karen unconscious.

…

This time it’s Master Karen slowly awakening.

He opened his eyes to see an iron net overhead… simultaneously, several Six-Armed Ape Monkeys stood armed atop the iron net, occasionally peering down.

At this moment, he was trapped underground… soon grasping his situation, Master Karen quickly climbed to his feet, observing his surroundings.

“How long was I unconscious?” Master Karen rubbed his dizzy head.

He knew Konghai was right by him, so he directly asked.

“Not long, probably less than half an hour.”

Master Karen didn’t feel his headache improving, so he asked again: “How much has your memory recovered… do you really come from here?”

Konghai fell silent at this moment and after a while, calmly stated: “I remember some things.”

“What do you remember!” Master felt his head wasn’t as dizzy anymore.

Konghai said: “In the past, there weren’t this many apes.”

“What’s the use of you?” Master Karen earnestly questioned.

Konghai replied: “Right now, you’re not much use to me either.”

Master Karen sighed, “I’m not in the mood to argue this with you here… then, who is that guy over there?”

Master Karen referred to several figures gathered in a corner of this dungeon, who he noticed upon awakening—due to the dim light, he couldn’t clearly see their features.

“An old acquaintance of yours, the Professor,” Konghai directly stated.

“Old acquaintance?” Master Karen instinctively hesitated, seeing the distant figures begin to move and slowly approach… soon, Master Karen clearly saw the appearance of the approaching people!

“Kaia!”

Leading the group was none other than Lady Kaia!

…

…

Before the trunk of a giant tree, Girl Liuge’s expression grew increasingly unsightly.

Previously, a beam had scanned back and forth from her head to her feet, then from her feet to her head again—but the gate before her was unresponsive.

“Enough!”

It seemed the girl had reached the limit of her endurance.

Without a word, she violently thrust her hands into the gate, then slowly tore it open…