Four notifications appeared back to back, informing Hao Xuan of the various elements within the space in front of him but he was far too engrossed with the visuals more than anything else to care about such things.
With wide eyes, much like a toddler looking at its first snow Hao Xuan tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. With his enhanced vision he was able to pick up a lot more detail than anyone else would have.
Two places stood out the most on the landmass. From where he was they looked like buildings created in a four-sided star-shaped pattern, the same one he had seen at the entrance of the tunnel.
"There are people here!" he mumbled.
"Affirmative. Multiple life signs detected, sapient and others," Baracus confirmed the fact that those buildings weren't uninhabited, "An entirely separate atmosphere is present within this enclosed space, completely independent to the surface area."
Hao Xuan absentmindedly sat down where he was, looking at the spectacular view. How many people could say they had seen something this? A world within a world!
"This is…just…" Hao Xuan was at a total loss for words, and understandable so. He sat there admiring the view for a good half an hour before Baracus disturbed his thought process again, bringing him back to reality.
"Subterranean scan completed!" while he was lazying around, Baracus had completed multiple scans of the area.
"The central mountain within the landmass goes all the way down to the planet's core, which is not that far from our current location. There is no other structure nearby. There is no entrance to the prison on this side of the space."
"Hmm," Hao Xuan nodded wordlessly before realizing what that actually meant. "Wait, so where is the prison?"
"It was probably the other pathway that went down to the left side…"
Baracus usually had his sensors turned on whenever Hao Xuan was in a pickle and he had indeed picked up the other side of the tunnel that Hao Xuan had passed without realizing. (CH 615, 2nd para).
He told Hao Xuan about it and what he thought of the current situation.
Hao Xuan sat cross-legged with a deep frown, repeating everything Baracus had just told him, "So what you're saying is, I should jump down there, cross all the way to the otherside and find a way up since the prison is probably in that direction?"
"Correct."
Hao Xuan leaned over the edge and took another look. His heart literally skipped a beat when he realized what he would have to do.
"And there is no other option?" he asked just in case.
"Negative. The only alternative to is try and dig around the entire space which would take months. This option is not only time-efficient but it will also prove beneficial to many of the projects that the Progenitor had started."
"Oh? Which projects?" Hao Xuan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Self-sufficient environments often harbor many unique and extremely rare lifeforms and other organic and inorganic materials. Studying their environments will allow me to-" Baracus started explaining enthusiastically but Hao Xuan stopped him mid-sentence.
"Okay okay forget I asked. I'll jump down if you just stop talking, how about that?" Hao Xuan said with an annoyed expression.
"….Deal."
It would be wrong to say that Baracus had no personal interest in this space. It truly was extraordinary in many ways and as an entity that was created by one of THE most curious and inquisitive creatures in existence, Baracus also took on a few of those traits for himself.
"The atmosphere within the space contains considerable amounts of sulfur and Indium atoms. Prolonged exposure could prove to be detrimental to your health. The nanites will have to clean out your lungs and separate any harmful substances around the clock, so they will not be available to provide any boosts to the offensive or defensive abilities," he warned Hao Xuan.
Hao Xuan nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"Should I just jump down then?" he asked looking at the more than seven kilometers drop.
"Not recommended," Baracus instantly replied.
"Then…? Oh!" Hao Xuan tried to think of another way down and soon recalled the matter of the traitorous dragon.
"Nidhora! You bitch!" he cursed while closing his eyes.
Hao Xuan's consciousness entered his first meridian that was covered in a neverending shadow.
"NIDHORA!" he shouted as loudly as he could.
"I trusted your words and you left me hanging when I needed you the most! Show yourself!"
