Chapter 17: The Underground Cave

""Just thinking about being able to eat rice again, I swear I’ll never be picky about food in the future!""

Sang Chumiao happened to walk by and overheard her: ""You’d better remember what you said! These things weren’t easy for me to get, you know—I risked my life out there!""

""Mhm! Mhm!""

Mu Xue stuffed her mouth full. When Sang Chumiao came over, Lu Minli also brought out the dishes she’d saved for her. ""You should rest a bit more, these are all for you.""

""Thank you so much!""

She and Lin Muxue were never picky eaters—before the apocalypse, they ate takeout, and after the apocalypse, they ate whatever they could find.

Sang Chu: ""Not bad, Lu the chef!""

Mu Xue, eating and nodding in agreement, managed to give a thumbs up between bites: ""Really, really good!""

After eating and drinking their fill, the three of them got up.

Sang Chu helped adjust her exosuit, while Lu Minli was already done with hers.

Mu Xue looked at Lu Minli curiously: ""You managed to put it on by yourself?""

Lu Minli saw her expression and couldn’t help but laugh: ""Yeah, I was too curious to sleep, so I figured it out myself.""

Mu Xue pouted, mumbling: ""Fine, I’m the only one who just went straight to bed…""

Relying on the light from their exosuits, the three followed the map to a stone wall.

Mu Xue touched the stone wall, frowning slightly: ""The map says this is the entrance, but no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t look like there’s an opening here.""

Sang Chu took out a dark-colored laser: ""Step back.""

With a flash, Sang Chu aimed the laser at the stone wall. With a sizzle, a hole was cut right through.

Mu Xue stared, dumbfounded: ""Whoa, I’ve only seen effects like that in movies!""

Lu Minli: ""Same here…""

Sang Chu: ""Every laser I gave you has a different function. This dark one is the most stable for opening caves. I’ll go first—everyone be careful.""

Looking down into the hole, it was pitch black.

Sang Chu led the way, Lu Minli following close behind.

The exosuits were set to light mode. Although it used up more energy, the dangers of the apocalypse were everywhere, and no one knew what was ahead—light mode was safer.

The winding mountain path led downward. Sang Chu walked carefully, afraid of making a mistake.

Suddenly, Sang Chu stopped.

Mu Xue: ""Sang Sang, what’s wrong?""

Lu Minli: ""Why did you stop?""

""Be careful and walk slowly,"" Sang Chu warned.

After taking a few more steps, they discovered a well in front of them—deep, dark, and mysterious.

Mu Xue looked at the well, feeling uneasy: ""So… do we go down?""

Lu Minli opened the map. The marker above seemed to indicate this was the place he was looking for, but what lay below was unknown.

He looked at Sang Chu, who, after a few operations, deployed her exosuit’s external module, adjusting its size to fit the well’s opening.

""I’ll go down first. No matter how you adjust the module, the space inside is unpredictable.""

Mu Xue’s eyes sparkled: ""Wow, you can do that? Then what are we waiting for, let’s go! I’ve never been to an unexplored cave before!""

She’d visited developed caves before the apocalypse—they were beautiful—but unexplored ones were full of unknowns. With the exosuit’s protection, what was there to be afraid of?

The three of them got in, issued the command, and stood inside the now-transparent exosuit module, looking out at the scenery.

The module was set to low-light mode, just enough to make out their surroundings.

The well was very, very deep. As they descended past layers of sand and rock, it only got darker.

AI Assistant: ""Master, I’ve detected a narrow gap ahead. It’s very dangerous. Should I switch to crawling mode?""

Sang Chu looked at the gap ahead: ""Do it!""

AI Assistant: ""Switching to penetration mode. Entering safety protocol.""

The rabbit spirit, who had been bouncing around, instantly leapt onto Sang Chu’s shoulder.

Thud, thud, thud—

Suddenly, something heavy began pounding wildly against the exosuit, rocking them back and forth.

Thankfully, the exosuit’s safety measures were excellent.

Once crawling mode was activated, the floor was cushioned, so even if they fell, it didn’t hurt.

The three of them quickly sat down.

No one knew how long it lasted before the AI Assistant reported, ""Danger averted. Exiting danger mode. Returning to normal navigation.""

The shaking slowly subsided, and the module’s walls became transparent again. Only then did the three see the scene outside—it was as if they’d entered another world.

The well was gone.

Now, the cave was crystal clear, exquisitely beautiful, like a world of ice and snow, with intricate patterns like frozen flowers. It felt as if they were standing in a winter wonderland.

The path behind them was no longer visible. Looking up, they saw only a tiny crack in the crystalline stone above.

Mu Xue: ""Oh my god, how did this module get through such a tiny gap?""

Lu Minli, meanwhile, noticed that the exosuit had used up more than half its energy. He frowned:

""Ah Chu, we’ve lost more than half our energy reserves.""

Sang Chu checked the display—sure enough, it was almost in the orange zone. She quickly arranged for recharging, but even so, there was no way to recharge here.

""This place is even more dangerous than I imagined.""

She’d used the exosuit for a month in the mutated world and had never seen the energy drop to orange. Before coming down, it was fully charged, but just descending this well had used up more than half the energy. She couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

Just as she was wondering what to do next, Mu Xue suddenly shouted, ""Wow! It’s so beautiful!""

She ran ahead, and Sang Chu and Lu Minli snapped out of their thoughts, exchanging a glance before hurrying after her. The rabbit spirit also hopped along.

Tu You, the rabbit spirit, perked up its big ears and gazed at the scene with Mu Xue—waves of color, dazzling and breathtaking.

Tu You: ""Ah Chu, this place is so beautiful!""

Mu Xue: ""Yeah, it’s gorgeous!""

It wasn’t until Mu Xue turned around that she realized she’d been talking to the rabbit spirit the whole time.

""Huh? Huh!?""

""What are you?!""

As soon as she turned, she saw a round little white rabbit. At first, she thought it was a mutant, and she jumped back in surprise. Lu Minli and Sang Chu rushed over to steady her.

Tu You: ""You’re the thing! I’m Ah Chu’s little sprite—my name’s Tu You!""

He hopped onto Sang Chu’s shoulder, and the awe of the beautiful scenery was instantly forgotten.

Mu Xue stared at the adorable little creature, then reached out a finger to poke the rabbit sitting on Sang Chu’s shoulder: ""You’re a rabbit!""

""I’m a sprite!!!"""