Super Invincible Battleship
Chapter 440

Chapter 440: Chapter 216: The Great Gold Robbery Chapter 440: Chapter 216: The Great Gold Robbery This passage was an abandoned mine cave, surrounded by solid rock. As Yan Fei stepped inside, he found it damp yet not oppressive, as there was still air slowly circulating. It indicated that although the mine had been isolated from the outside world for many years, other passages must have connected it to the surface, otherwise there wouldn't be so many rats here.

Guided by the 3D map in his mind, Yan Fei continued on his way. Ahead of him was a downward slope, and as he moved forward, he shooed away the rats in his path. Gradually, he noticed water droplets beginning to seep from the stone walls ahead, becoming more numerous the further down he went. Eventually, the walls began to exude a continuous trickle of water which pooled into a stream on the ground, flowing towards the lower parts of the mine.

Yan Fei had a bad feeling about this, and sure enough, after descending thirty more meters, he heard the sound of waves crashing against the rocks ahead. He turned his flashlight and saw that the mine below was flooded, the water pitch-black and unfathomably deep. According to the intelligence on the Underground Pipeline Network collected by the Auxiliary Brain, there shouldn't have been a waterway here. The tunnel should have continued down for a bit before leveling out into a straight path, after which it would turn upwards. If Yan Fei kept going, he would soon be near the walls of the Underground Gold Vault.

However, what no one had foreseen was that the abandoned mine, neglected and unmanaged after its closure and situated in a low-lying area, had steadily collected water seeping from the rocks above. Over time this led to the formation of an extensive, unknown depth of a waterway that completely blocked the upward passage. Moreover, the water in the channel was filthy beyond measure, filled with a multitude of rats that had drowned and were decomposing. It was easy to imagine the number of lethal viruses and bacteria that might be present in that environment.

Upon encountering this, Yan Fei frowned, but such contingencies had already been factored into his calculations, and he had a contingency plan in place. He retrieved a fully enclosed diving suit from Universal Space and put it on, finding it expertly designed to completely isolate him from the exterior – even the eye area was sealed with glass, and the mouth had no opening. He bought this diving suit in a specialty New York store to prepare for the possibility of navigating through contaminated waters, and now it came in handy.

Yan Fei, suited up in his diving gear, clipped the waterproof flashlight to his suit's shoulder and entered the murky waterway below, fighting back his revulsion. To avoid the risk of inhaling dirty water and thereby ingesting deadly viruses and bacteria, he did not use an oxygen tank but instead held his breath the entire way.

At this point, Yan Fei's control over his body was at an extremely high level, so his speed under the water surface was very fast. Even so, by the time he emerged from the other side of the waterway, 20 minutes had passed. He climbed out, discarded the diving hood, and took deep breaths of fresh air – he had almost run out of breath. This gave an idea of the length of the underground waterway; another person would probably have died of oxygen deficiency before getting through.

After regaining his strength on the shore, Yan Fei was surprised to detect the scent of fresh air, albeit still tainted with decay. Enough oxygen was present to breathe normally, implying the section of the mine had not been completely cut off from the outside world and that there was still a way for air to enter this area.

Having traversed the long waterway, Yan Fei was very close to the Underground Gold Vault according to the 3D map. He gathered his belongings and continued to walk up the passage. Along the way, he encountered many rats, which scattered and shrieked at his approach.

When Yan Fei had walked more than a hundred meters further, he saw that the mine ahead was blocked by a large accumulation of sand and stones, completely obstructing the tunnel. By this point, according to the 3D map, Yan Fei's position nearly overlapped with that of the Underground Gold Vault. He examined the map and found the vault's wall just ten meters away behind a rock face, but that passage had been deliberately sealed. To get closer to the vault's wall, he would need to clear the ten-meter stretch in front of him.

Yan Fei, having anticipated this scenario, was unruffled by the situation. He took out a huge shovel from Universal Space and began to dig through the mine tunnel, quickly storing the excavated earth into Universal Space. Not having to deal with moving the spoil drastically increased his digging speed. Furthermore, Yan Fei's formidable strength and power in his hands meant he could dig rapidly.

While excavating, he also encountered several large rocks mixed within the soil, impossible to move with human strength alone. Luckily, with Universal Space at his disposal, Yan Fei could instantly resolve this problem that would have been insurmountable for an ordinary person.