Chapter 138: The Water Rat's Wrath [Extra Chapter Added for the Alliance Leader]

The black panther looked at Sophia and smiled, as though she had said something amusing. Sophia was left utterly puzzled.

“I thought you knew the secrets of this world. But since you have come, I suppose it means we were destined to meet. In any case, Space-Time City won’t be able to repair all the bases in a short time, so we won’t be leaving here anytime soon.”

The black panther’s words were cryptic, but they revealed certain things. There was something in this world that had drawn them here in search of it, and it was not necessarily the spirit-stone vein belonging to the water rats.

Moreover, they evidently knew at least something about the attacks on all the bases.

From the broader perspective, Space-Time City had already brought the situation under control. As for repairing the various bases, it was merely a matter of time.

Zhou Yi glanced at Sophia. She had naturally thought of the same things. No one said anything more as they continued deeper into the mine.

Sophia had introduced the black panther as Aiwei Jin’s most capable aide. His abilities were naturally superior to Sophia’s. Anyone capable of working for a fourth-level lord was certainly no ordinary person.

Zhou Yi remained extremely cautious and did not dare use his mental power to probe the surroundings.

After more than half an hour, they reached a fork at the lowest level of the mine. The black panther looked left and right before asking, “Which way did you go when you came down?”

Sophia pointed toward the northern passage.

“They went that way to investigate. Zhou Yi and I explored the southern passage. The southern tunnel was completely flooded, so we waded through it for a while. The lower section had collapsed, so we didn’t go any farther.

“As for the northern passage, there were tools scattered everywhere. The people here must have evacuated in extreme haste. We found it very strange, so we withdrew immediately. We saw you the moment we came out.”

Her words were a mixture of truth and falsehood, but Sophia delivered them calmly. The black panther nodded.

“Let’s inspect the northern passage first. Then we’ll return and examine the flooded tunnel.”

With that, he was the first to head north.

Zhou Yi knew the man was deeply suspicious by nature. The more casually he appeared to take things, the more likely he was to suspect something.

Without wasting words, they all followed him north.

After walking for about a kilometer, the tunnel sloped upward. From there, they could see a mining face strewn with rubble. Machinery, tools, and mining carts lay scattered to one side, and even the power cables were still plugged in.

The black panther stepped onto the mining face and placed both hands against the rock, slowly closing his eyes.

The sight made Zhou Yi’s heart sink.

Damn it. Could this guy have mental power too?

As luck would have it, Sophia looked up at Zhou Yi and gave a slight shake of her head. Only then did he relax.

It seemed Sophia understood what he meant. Perhaps this was an ability gained after reaching the third level—a form of heightened perception.

After waiting for a while, the black panther opened his eyes, his face filled with confusion.

“This really is an emerald vein, but it’s far too deep. With the technology of this era, they’d be lucky to reach it within fifty years. Let’s go see the other side.”

Zhou Yi said nothing. At a time like this, the more he said, the more mistakes he would make. It was better to let the man inspect everything for himself.

They turned back and headed toward the southern passage. Zhou Yi deliberately fell a few steps behind. The oppressive feeling of being so close to the black panther was genuinely difficult to endure.

Not long after they passed the fork, traces of water began to appear on the ground.

Water was seeping even more heavily from both walls of the tunnel. What had once been a faint dripping had now become a steady rush. When they reached that point, Zhou Yi and the others all stopped.

The black panther glanced at Sophia, then at the people behind her.

“None of you have a water affinity?”

Zhou Yi knew the question was deliberate. Sophia had been able to identify his elemental affinity at a glance; how could this man fail to do the same? He quickly stepped forward.

“I do, but I only awakened it half a month ago. I’m still not very good at using it.”

The black panther waved his hand, then crooked a finger at Zhou Yi.

“They stay here. You come with me and take a look. You do know how to swim, right?”

“That I can do!”

Without another word, Zhou Yi followed the black panther forward. The water soon rose above their waists. The two began swimming, then dove beneath the surface.

There was far more water here than before, so naturally they had to swim a greater distance underwater.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, rubble lay scattered everywhere. The black panther once again reached out and touched the stone wall.

Zhou Yi’s heart leaped into his throat. He kept paddling to maintain his balance, all the while preparing to fend off an attack from the black panther at any moment.

The seconds dragged by, agonizingly slowly, driving Zhou Yi nearly mad.

Just as he was about to conjure an ice spike, the black panther withdrew his hand and waved to him. The two quickly swam back to the surface.

The moment Zhou Yi emerged, he began coughing violently. They had stayed underwater for quite a while. He immediately swam back in the opposite direction toward Sophia and the others, deliberately staggering twice once he reached them.

The Fatty reacted quickly and hurried over to support him, helping him sit down at the edge.

“Boss, are you all right?”

Zhou Yi waved a hand, indicating that he was fine.

The black panther sat down on the other side and wiped the water from his face. The confusion in his eyes had not diminished. He looked at Sophia and said, “You came down here like this?”

Sophia nodded and spread her hands.

“You know I’m not a strong swimmer. Even fifty meters leaves me exhausted. It was my greatest weakness during the examinations, and you all used to laugh at me for it. We didn’t go any farther down here either. What did you find? Did you locate the muskrats?”

The black panther shook the water from his hair and frowned.

“No. It seems they abandoned this place. But the flooding and the emergency evacuation appear to have been their doing. I can sense that spirit stones once existed here, but they were cleared out completely. It’s perfectly normal that you couldn’t sense them.”

Zhou Yi was so tense he could hardly breathe. The man could actually sense that much. The black panther was frighteningly capable. They had restored the mine tunnel to its original condition without leaving the slightest trace.

But Zhou Yi noticed the word the black panther had used: they.

He shuddered.

Could it be… could there really be an entire nest of them? If so, was the one he had captured their father or their son?

If it was the father, that would still be manageable. At least it could have fled with its offspring. But if it was the son…

Zhou Yi hunched his neck. The fear was overwhelming. One of them had already been difficult enough to deal with. If an entire nest came after them, then not only would Zhou Yi and the others be unable to handle it—even the black panther would have trouble making a move.

Otherwise, why would he have waited more than ten days and tracked them all the way here? He could simply have acted sooner and used threats to force them out.

Seeing Zhou Yi shudder, the black panther merely glanced at him without making fun of him.

“Deputy Commander Black Panther, when you say ‘they,’ do you mean there’s an entire nest?”

The black panther nodded.

“At first, I thought there was only one. After fighting it, I discovered that these muskrats live in groups. I could barely handle two of them working together, and I have no idea how many there are in total. That’s why I set this trap. I just didn’t expect them to escape so early.”

As he spoke, the water beneath their feet seemed to ripple.

The black panther sprang up. In his hands appeared a pair of double-edged blades shaped like opposing half-moons, and he fixed his gaze on the water.

Zhou Yi hurried to his feet. Sophia raised the fireball in her hand. The Fatty and Cheng Zhi had already been carrying baseball bats, and now they too stood on guard. The men brought by the black panther aimed their guns at the water.

The ripples grew larger, and the water level began rising rapidly.

At that moment, a shadow flickered at one corner of the tunnel. One of the black panther’s blades spun through the air toward it, scraping against the tunnel wall before arcing back amid a shower of sparks.

The shadow had already vanished.

Zhou Yi knew he had to do something. He quickly scooped up water and hurled it toward both sides of the tunnel, though he deliberately held back some of its speed.

The water rose more slowly, but several more shadows appeared, darting back and forth through the tunnel.

The black panther’s men were attacked from time to time. They screamed and fired wildly, forcing the Fatty and Cheng Zhi to press themselves against the walls. If that gunfire hit them, they would be finished.

The black panther seemed utterly unconcerned about his people being attacked. He kept his eyes fixed on the shadows and sent both blades flying.

With a shrill scream, one of the water rats was pinned to the tunnel wall.

Zhou Yi shuddered. That ability was extraordinary. The distance was too great for him to tell whether it was the same one they had captured before.

He casually seized more water and hurled it toward the shadows one after another.

He did not dare use ice arrows—he had to conceal his true strength. Water arrows slammed into the surrounding walls. This indiscriminate, wide-area assault was accompanied by a succession of shrill cries.

One wounded creature fell in front of the Fatty. He swung his baseball bat and brought it down again and again until the lower half of the water rat was smashed into a pulp.

That finally enraged the swarm.

As though driven mad, the water rats hurled themselves toward Zhou Yi and the black panther.