In the dark, claustrophobic mining tunnel, Jack held a smokeless torch in one hand and a handful of climbing spikes in the other, struggling to climb. He climbed upward while also hamring spikes into the compacted tunnel walls for others to step on.
The narrowness of this hellish place was beyond his imagination.
The tunnel was an irregular cylindrical shape, extending upward at an angle close to 50 degrees, surrounded by dirt and hard rock... The widest part was no more than 80 centiters in diater, and the narrowest part just slightly over 50 centiters, barely accommodating an adult's shoulders.
For the tall Jack, this was undoubtedly a significant challenge.
Many tis, he had to curl up his body tightly, unable to exert any strength with his arms and legs, relying only on squeezing with his joints and waist to gradually crawl forward...
Moreover, due to years of disrepair, the rock walls were piled with debris that pressed against skin and muscle, further compressing the living space, causing sharp pain in the abdon with every breath.
Seeing this, Jack didn't have any better solutions.
The tunnel's overall structure was sowhat unstable; using a pickaxe to widen it recklessly might cause a collapse.
So, in places too narrow to bear, the rcenary could only rely on his physical strength and "Vajra Bone" to squeeze, compressing the soil while making a small gap.
The predicant of Yun You and Frost Moon was slightly better.
The two had petite builds, with shoulder widths just over 30 centiters, allowing them to slip through even the narrowest parts with ease.
They naturally assud the task of scouting ahead.
Even though the tunnel was only 50 ters away from the outer mine shaft, that was just the straight-line distance.
Climbing for real, the group realized the place twisted and turned, with major bends every few ters, probably stretching over 20 kiloters in total length.
This was quite unbelievable.
"Doing alright there, Jack?"
As she climbed, Yun You turned her head, her gaze piercing through the darkness and dust to look at the rcenary below.
"This place is getting narrower! In so spots, it's even breaking the 50-centiter limit!"
"About 10 ters above you, there's a sharp Z-shaped bend that's really tight. Even Frost Moon took so ti to squeeze through; you might have to remove a few rock pieces to get through."
"Be careful."
"Mm!"
Jack loudly responded, then took out a pre-prepared laser cutter from his backpack, carefully slicing the rock without affecting the integrity of the rock structure.
"And, this tunnel is even longer than we thought."
Yun You wiped the sweat off her chin, looking up at the dark, drafty mine shaft above, quietly saying, "Frost Moon just calculated the airflow velocity, and we might have over ten kiloters left to go to reach the exit..."
"It's truly bizarre, to have a winding route exceeding 20 kiloters within a re 50-ter thick rock mass. That's a difference of 400 tis."
"Who knows how Xie Kang's experintal group managed it."
Hearing the young girl's complaint, Jack shook his head with a smile.
"Perhaps they employed technology from other companies, who knows."
He switched off the laser cutter, tossing the sawed-off rocks to the side, casually stating, "Biotechnology has several real estate companies under its wing, and with Xie Kang's clearance, applying so building technology wouldn't be strange at all."
"He must have done this deliberately to prevent laboratory personnel from escaping."
"But now that they're all dead, no matter how long this path is, it can't stop us."
With that, Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and grinned.
"I feel like I can already sll the air of Nest City... that mix of industrial exhaust and rotting flesh, quite nostalgic indeed."
"But speaking of which, this place is indeed too long, it feels like... like wriggling through an esophagus of sothing."
"An esophagus?"
Surprised by this peculiar analogy, Yun You paused.
"Yes, the most vivid comparison would probably be an esophagus."
Jack nodded and laughed, "Once during a mission, I was swallowed whole by a giant mutant worm and struggled in its esophagus."
"That suffocating feeling coming from all directions, bones and muscles confined in a small space unable to move, wanting to breathe but unable to expand the chest, even fingers couldn't move freely, feels almost identical to now... it's never pleasant regardless of ti."
"...Makes sense."
Yun You scratched her head.
She indeed hadn't experienced that kind of feeling, but Jack's description was indeed a bit scary, even hearing the words induced a sense of suffocation.
"Are the people behind keeping up?"
She changed the topic with a casual question.
"Aurora has been following behind , and there shouldn't be any major issues."
Jack answered softly: "As for the miners, they should be keeping up too... though I can only see a portion from here."
"But I think, Chica, we don't have to focus too much on them now; in a place like this, we can't spare hands to care for more people."
"We should get out first ourselves, then see if we can request professional rescue teams, that way, the rescue efficiency can be maximized."
That was indeed straightforward advice, so Yun You didn't argue.
Rescuing was always secondary.
The young girl still needed to get herself out first.
Moreover, this tunnel didn't seem dangerous, at most, a few scrapes, so blood, a broken skin, nothing too worriso.
Thus, Yun You stopped overthinking it, quickened her pace again, and exerted her utmost effort to climb upward.
However, within the civilian ranks they had overlooked...
A mutation was silently brewing.
...
Over a thousand residents of Yangshan Town voluntarily lined up, following Yun You and her team one by one into the dark mining tunnel.
To this day, their mories had not returned.
Take Shen Donglin at the end of the line as an example.
He not only failed to recall anything from his past as a mber of Hamr Vanguard, but even his mories of Yangshan Town Mayor Kong Xian started fading.
Shen Donglin didn't know why he listened to Yun You, nor did he grasp what he was doing, rely following his bodily instincts, joining others to follow Yun You.
At this mont, he stood at the back of the line, escorting several elderly individuals struggling with mobility.
These people were mostly the earliest workers duped into Yangshan Town by the experintal group, having lived there for over thirty years, now all aging, struggling with mobility.
Relying on remnants of his mories as mayor, Shen Donglin still took up the responsibility of leadership, declaring to escort all these elders out.
With his support, most of the elders managed to squeeze into the mine tunnel.
But there was a young man mixed in with the elderly group, clutching his stomach, trembling at the entrance of the cave... seemingly ill.
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