1589 Cage
The underwater clearance project was still ongoing. Nikai, as a specialist of the investigation team, was wearing a blue diving combat uniform and standing guard at her post.
The greatest source of fear for humans in the sea wasn’t the pressure of the water, but the silence.
The lights were dim, and the pressure of the water meant that all the humans moved slowly. All was quiet, as if one was in a sealed box. They were desperate to escape this accursed silence and oppression, but the icy sea water always surrounded them.
The seaweed was like the extended arms of ghosts and demons, and fish of various strange forms waved their fins and tails as they watched these land creatures who had intruded upon their world from the shadows.
!!
Nikai’s helmet had a glowing crystal embedded on the top of it. Wherever she moved her head, the light would follow, but the places that the light couldn’t touch remained dark, making one suspect that there was some aggressive and frightening creature lurking in that darkness.
“Curses. The sand siphon is stuck,” a companion’s voice came from the communication crystal.
“Don’t be nervous. I’m right behind you,” Nikai said.
The goddess had a very attractive voice, helping her comrade feel safe and secure. He twisted the siphon vigorously, wanting to raise the stuck siphon like he was pulling out a thick tree, showing his manly strength to the goddess.
Although everyone knew that the goddess would marry Dongfang He or Yun Jiatian, and that only the proud sons of Heaven deserved to be together with the perfect goddess, this comrade couldn’t help but cling to his delusions. There were no small number of people like him, living in their lewd fantasies while never being bold enough to say them out loud.
Nikai kicked her slender long legs, moving to the right of her comrade like an agile fish.
The sand siphon was caught between a few rocks. Nikai tried to pull out the flexible pipe, but the flexible metal pipe didn’t move one bit, like it was caught in the jaws of some monster.
“Nicky, are there any problems over there? Do you need me to come and help you?” the voice of her father, Nizeru, came from the communication crystal.
“There’s no need. It’s just that a flexible pipe is caught in the rocks. I can use the Divine Wings to push aside the surrounding rocks,” Nikai replied.
Support and protection were Nikai’s job. Her Ability excelled at helping her comrades, which was why her father had decided to add her to the investigation team.
The Ni Clan was a very famous clan, for their clan had inherited a Light special ability. Nikai was one of the few Ability mutants in her clan. Her Divine Wings had physical form, like the wings of a butterfly. They could take her up to the sky, and they could also wrap around her like a cocoon and protect her.
“Understood, but don’t force yourself,” her father said warmly. Nikai was the pride of the clan, and Nizeru didn’t want her to come to the slightest harm.
“Back up a little. I’m going to use the Divine Wings. If the impact is too strong, it might push you over,” Nikai said to her comrade.
“Okay, okay. Thank you for the help.” Her comrade quickly retreated fifty meters. For him, any request from Nikai was akin to a divine decree!
Nikai took a deep breath, and then she slowly raised her slender arms like an elegant swan.
As Nikai raised her arms, mystical rainbow wings appeared on her back, appearing straight out of a dream. All the warriors working in the area stopped to look.
“So beautiful…”
“Like the wings of a butterfly!”
“Even dying under those beautiful wings would be worth it!” the warriors muttered, entranced by the sight.
With a whoosh, the wings closed up, becoming like thin blades, and were easily inserted into the crevice.
Nikai waved her wrist, and the wings opened again. The earth trembled, and the stuck hose began to slowly shift. As the two giant rocks moved to the side, the pipe started working again, sand being sucked into it and sent kilometers away.
“Success! As expected of the Divine Wings! Like being assisted by the gods!” Nikai’s comrade shouted excitedly.
But he had barely spoken when the quiet underwater world suddenly shuddered, as if an earthquake was happening. The earth cracked open, and sea water poured into the fissure, instantly creating a whirlpool.
In a hundredth of a second, the whirlpool reached a height of one hundred meters above the sea floor, white bubbles spinning together into an underwater vortex. Everyone saw Nikai’s body being whisked away by the whirlpool.
“Oh no! The sea floor collapsed!” someone shouted.
Nikai felt her body sinking, and she instinctively used the Divine Wings to protect herself, turning them into a second layer of armor.
But while the Divine Wings could protect her, they couldn’t resist the bizarre pull. It was like some monster had seized her legs and was pulling her into the darkness.
The collapsing sea floor opened up into a completely pitch-black deep pit two meters wide. Her rainbow wings flashed in the water and then began to descend, together with the surrounding rocks, seaweed, and other humans.
There was a rumble as the inrush of rocks caused a secondary collapse around the pit. Countless rocks poured into the pit, just like a collapsing mountain, and in a few seconds, the pit was buried.
The warriors clambered up in fright and looked around. Countless grains of sand and rock had been stirred up in the darkness, and severed blades of seaweed slowly drifted up to the surface, but there was no sign of Nikai and her magical wings.
…
The frenzied rescue effort went from noon all the way to nightfall. All the warriors had seemingly gone crazy, using sand siphons and whatever other tools they had, even using their hands to dig.
Nikai wasn’t a goddess for only Dongfang He and Jia Yuntian. She was the idol that all the young warriors of Subduing Demon City admired and yearned for. When they learned that Nikai had been sucked underground, the warriors went mad, and not even nine bulls would have been able to hold them back as they threw themselves into the rescue effort.
She was a goddess that everyone knew they could never have, but they still felt blessed to just look at her. She clearly had no connection to any of them, but they would feel their eyes tear up when they learned that she was in danger!
——
A ship, the temporary command center of the investigation team…
A model, made by an engineering specialist on the spot, was placed on the table.
“We have to have the work team down below stop all large-scale excavation!” a fat and very experienced engineer spoke up.
Nizeru was like a frenzied lion as he roared, “Stop? Why!? Nikai is still imprisoned underground. Are you trying to hurt her!?”
“No, the exact opposite. We want to save Nikai, which is why we have to stop digging!” The engineer pointed at the model. “We’ve already confirmed it. A Demon Palace plus a vertical shaft corresponds to a hidden palace, a very special type of demon building!”
“Speak in a way I can understand,” Nizeru spoke as he grit his teeth.
“Ugh! To put it simply, this Demon Palace has a trap built into it! If its foundations are shaken or a mechanism is triggered by someone going in, the entire Demon Palace will self-destruct!” the engineer shouted even more loudly than Nizeru.
Everyone gasped as one. They had heard of self-destructing buildings before. The thirteen Demon Kings were avid builders, but they were also very cunning. There were real and fake Demon Palaces, safe Demon Palaces and ones that were full of traps. All of that was in case the humans invaded them.
The underwater Demon Palace was built on traditional human territory, so it made sense to add a self-destruct mechanism to a palace built on enemy lands, in case it fell to humans.
But if they stopped digging in order to prevent the palace from self-destructing, what about Nikai?
If they dug, the Demon Palace would self-destruct. If they didn’t dig, Nikai would be stuck there, her life in danger. This was truly a dilemma!
Nizeru’s face was already green. At that time, a middle-aged warrior pushed open the door to the command center. His face grim, he placed a communication crystal on the table.
“Chief, there’s a voice! It seems Nikai is calling for help!”
