Absolute Gate

Chapter 78 Even the best swimmers drown
Yang Chunsha was completely dumbfounded when she heard that Wu Zhong wanted to use a tortoise shell to test the sugar daddy.

"Huh? Didn't you say tortoise shells were useless?" She was taken aback.

Wu Zhong rolled his eyes: "Finding the statue is useless, but at least I can confirm whether the person who deliberately pushed the statue down exists."

Yang Chunsha frowned: "Hmm? Wait a minute, the tortoise shell divination won't care whether your ideas are correct or not, right? It can find you even if it's a Master, but that doesn't prove that you are a Master."

Wu Zhong shrugged and said, "That's right, but that's because the rumors are directed at me. No matter what they say, even if they say I'm destroying the world, that's just the ghosts and gods 'making up stories about me.' The tortoise shell knows who it's looking for, and it will find me, but it won't find a me who destroys the world."

"But now I'm talking about something that shouldn't have happened, and I'm not targeting anyone."

"The sponsor said that the statue had been buried in the lake for too long and then collapsed into a sinkhole. In other words, the person I'm looking for who pushed the statue down doesn't actually exist."

"Jordan said that there was no one I was looking for, and Tortoise Shell would just tell me directly that there wasn't."

Yang Chunsha's eyes lit up: "That's it, you're using this to deliberately test 'people who shouldn't exist'."

"If the test results are positive, it means the sponsor is lying!"

That's true, who knows if the sugar daddy is a swindler?

If someone deliberately pushed the golden statue into the cave, then the situation for this mission becomes complicated.

Wu nodded and said, "Whether it will work out or not is still uncertain. Jordan has never tried to deliberately seek out someone he didn't even think existed."

"But I think this method is acceptable."

"If the person you believe to exist also objectively exists, then the information from the tortoise shell cannot be verified."

"But if you think something doesn't exist, but it does objectively exist, then you can use it to verify whether your perception is wrong."

Yang Chunsha tilting her head makes no logical difference.

After discussing it for a while, the two left the room, where McGur had brought food, equipment, and past diving records.

McGurry smiled and asked, "Is there anything else you gentlemen need?"

Wu raised an eyebrow and seized the opportunity to say, "I like to eat beef."

"Please bring over two live cows."

Everyone was stunned: "Dude, you're eating it alive?"

Wu Zhong smiled and said, "My sister and I both love to eat fresh beef, and we usually eat it right after it's slaughtered."

Yang Chunsha echoed, but she put it more cleverly: "I only eat food made by Jianglongmu himself. I don't eat food that has been prepared by anyone else."

This made everyone realize the implication: they were afraid someone might poison them. They might even be somewhat wary of the Javier family's food.

The blond-haired Perrin immediately looked like he'd learned something: "As expected of Senior Shirogane, that's a good habit."

“Megal, me too. Just send us some live animals. We’ll cook for ourselves when we’re hungry. There’s no need to be so particular.”

McGurt pondered, "Live animals are a bit troublesome, especially cattle. They need to be transported from a distant pasture and may not arrive until tomorrow morning."

Wu Zhong shrugged: "Let's hurry."

McGonagall smiled and placed a large stack of diving data on the table: "You can study the data collected by the cave divers beforehand."

The investors had already sent two groups of professionals to search before them, but they found nothing.

The underground cave was too complicated. Wu Zhong picked up the map he had roughly drawn during his previous explorations. He saw that fifty meters below the vertical sinkhole was a huge cavity, followed by a network of passages of varying thicknesses, like a jumble of lines.

“I got here earlier, but it was too dark, so I came back… I didn’t realize there were so many passages nearby.” Wu Zhong pointed to a spot at the top of the map, below which was a large area.

McGonagall said from the side, "This is the first open area of ​​the cave, which we call the 'Dark Hall.' It has countless connecting passages, and there are branches in almost every direction."

“We used underwater drones to discover seventeen channels, and sent cave divers to explore the two channels with the highest probability of the statue falling. However, the divers could only reach a depth of 200 meters before they could not go any further, and some of them had accidents and died underwater.”

Wu Zhong frowned: "Why not just use underwater drones?"

Perrin looked at Wu Zhong with surprise: "It seems you don't understand at all. Although unmanned probes can solve the problems of water pressure and oxygen, they can easily get stuck in complex channels."

“The interior structure of the cave is extremely complex, full of unknowns and changes. Some places are particularly narrow, known as ‘bottlenecks,’ which may only allow one equipped diver to pass through with difficulty. Sometimes, it is even necessary to remove the air tank and push it forward.”

"The human body has unparalleled flexibility and deformability, which machines cannot do."

"Most importantly, drones also need to be 'tethered' – a guide rope needs to be laid in the cave. This is the lifeline. Without it, the drone won't be able to return."

"The process of laying cables requires winding and securing them among rocks like threading a needle, dealing with rope entanglements, and even simple digging and moving obstacles, which machines cannot do well."

Wu Zhong asked curiously, "Do drones also need guide ropes? Can't there be a cave submersible with a robotic arm?"

Perrin shook his head and laughed, "Sure, but if you're using a sophisticated underwater drone, it's already tethered."

"Because radio waves attenuate extremely quickly in water, especially in rocks, satellite positioning and wireless remote control are impossible."

"So drones used for complex operations need to be tethered to the shore by a cable, and the result is the same. This cable will be the biggest nightmare for cave diving. It is very easy for it to get caught and tangled on sharp rocks, causing the drone to get trapped."

Wu Zhong looked at him and said, "You're so professional. You seem to go diving all the time?"

Perrin chuckled: "I was an extreme sports enthusiast before I entered the industry."

Wu stopped, not caring that people treated him like a novice, and continued to ask about the situations he might encounter in the water, trying to learn from their experience.

Although he had looked up some information on certain things, he ultimately couldn't understand them as well as the truly experienced parties involved.

Perrin was happy to show off, talking eloquently and becoming the center of attention in the living room.

They talked for a long time, discussing solutions, and time passed by unnoticed.

It was getting late, and everyone else was getting ready to have dinner.

Suddenly, Onion, who had been waiting by the lake, pushed open the door and entered.

His obese body was soaking wet, and his eyes were filled with fear: "My brother... my brother might be in trouble!"

Everyone was taken aback, and Wu Zhong exclaimed in surprise, "He hasn't returned yet?"

Onion pursed his lips and shook his head, his face pale: "He said he'd be right back, it's impossible for him to be gone this long, something must have happened."

As he spoke, he grabbed the diving equipment piled up in the corner of the living room and began to put it on.

Clearly, he planned to go into the water to find his teammates.

Wu Zhong stopped him: "Don't worry, he has gills, right? He can breathe underwater, what's there to be afraid of? He's probably just temporarily lost, there's nothing serious about it."

Onion exclaimed anxiously, "It would be terrible if he got lost! His multi-dimensional time is at most four hours!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback and immediately checked the time.

"Oh no, three hours have already passed." Wu Zhong said gravely. He had completely forgotten about the multidimensional moment. If he remained trapped until the multidimensional moment was exhausted, then even the most powerful abilities would be useless.

Good grief, one of them died before the mission even started?
To say the other party lacks ability... well, they can breathe underwater, so how can that be considered a lack of ability?
Was the other party too reckless? Or is this cave really that terrifying?
Everyone's mood turned somber, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Who dares to say that their abilities are definitely more suited to diving than growing gills?

Even that guy got into trouble, and the rest of us suddenly felt immense pressure.

"I'm going to find him!" Onion struggled to put on his diving suit.

But after trying for ages, he couldn't get it on! He couldn't even fit into the diving backpack; he was too fat.

"No, why are they all so small?" Onion said urgently.

McGonagall frowned and said, "I'm sorry, these are all equipment left by previous divers for normal body sizes, while the equipment customized for you needs to be delivered first thing tomorrow morning."

Onion was stunned for a moment, then simply stopped wearing the equipment suit, grabbed his headlamp, and ran outside carrying six oxygen cylinders.

He clearly intended to dive with the equipment in his hand.

McGurry said loudly, "You'll get hypothermia if you don't wear a wetsuit."

Onion firmly declared, "I'm not afraid!"

McGill shouted again, "One gas cylinder for half an hour. You must be back within three hours."

Onion nodded and was about to jump when Wu Zhong suddenly grabbed him.

"Wait a moment, I'll go down with you. Cave diving without a buddy is extremely dangerous. If something happens, it will be difficult to cope alone."

Hearing this, Onion looked at him with surprise and gratitude.

Although they were on a cooperative mission, they were not partners; they were just temporarily brought together.

Now that his own people are in trouble, he went down without hesitation, while the others stood on the dry bank waiting, speechless. Wu Zhong's willingness to accompany him was out of kindness.

"Th...thank you." Onion was extremely grateful. Although he didn't know what Wu Zhong's abilities were, having one more person meant having more strength.

Wu waved his hand, quickly put on his diving suit and various equipment, and carried eight air cylinders in one go.

He also picked two cedar branches and handed them over: "We both brought plants, so it's easier to communicate."

Perrin crossed his arms and reminded her, "Although cedar branches are relatively hard, they will be crushed by the water pressure at depths of over 100 meters, and then they will be unusable."

Wu Zhong glanced at him sideways: "Let it rot first."

Late at night, he jumped into the water and dived down with Onion.

Because it was nighttime, and we hadn't even entered the cave yet, the underwater visibility was already terrifyingly low.

He decisively turned on his headlamp, the beam of light cleaving through the darkness like a spear.

Beyond the beam of light lay a darkness that seemed to be in the primordial chaos.

Of course, there was another ray of light, emanating from the top of the onion.

The two descended and arrived at the so-called Dark Hall.

With a light source this time, we were finally able to see the scene inside the cave, but it was only a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg.

You can only see where the beam of light shines.

The pale, broken rock walls are covered with all sorts of strangely shaped rocks, and the holes of all sizes are densely packed like a grid, covered with some mottled aquatic plants.

Wu Zhong's vision moved the beam of light, scanning through the cave passages, but he quickly became confused!

The caves were all different, yet very similar. The beams of light could only be seen clearly at a time. When Wu turned around, he couldn't tell if the previous cave was the same one he had just seen.

Onion was the same; Wu Zhong looked at him and could see the bewilderment on his face, which was not covered by a mask.

The dark hall was probably over a hundred meters in diameter, and the two of them looked like two sesame seeds at the top of the huge space!
What's even more terrifying is what's directly below.

At the bottom of the dark hall, about one-third of the way down, the rock plunges down like a cliff, forming a dark abyss that is bottomless.

The beam of light shone down and couldn't be seen to the end, and it grew darker and darker until the light was completely swallowed by darkness.

Below that dark, precipice lay a gaping maw, like a gaping abyss that would devour a person, making one's heart clench violently.

Fortunately, Wu did not have thalassophobia, but even so, fear permeated his heart like ink.

Wu forced himself to take a deep breath and checked the guide ropes. Both the red and blue ropes were vertically downwards, extending into the abyss below.

"Dragon-Subduing Wood, which line did my brother follow back then?" Onion asked in the plant communication.

Wu Zhong recalled: "These two guide ropes, red and blue, were left by ordinary divers before. They only explored two paths, both of which were caves where gold was most likely to roll down."

"I don't remember which line we grabbed at the time. We just grabbed a rope after we got into the water. There was no light source, so we didn't know if it was red or blue."

"By the way, besides breathing underwater, how well does your brother withstand water pressure?"

Onion replied, "Water pressure is no problem for him either. He can dive to the bottom of the sea thousands of meters deep like a fish-man. We have explored the ocean many times, and he is always in his element."

Wu finally understood: "Then underwater vision capability should also be available?"

Onion said somewhat awkwardly, "Uh... fishmen have very poor eyesight."

Wu Zhong asked curiously, "Then what was he investigating when there was no light source? When I came down and couldn't see anything, I went straight back."

Onion explained, "Well, he actually came down to look for fish. He can even communicate with the fish and help him find what he's looking for... That's what we do when we're in the sea..."

"So that's how it is," Wu Zhong suddenly realized. "This guy is really amazing; he's practically the expert for this mission."

It can breathe underwater, adapt to deep-sea pressure, and communicate with schools of fish. No wonder it was so eager to come down and acted so decisively.

For him, the deep sea is easy to swim in, so a small cave is nothing.
However, it was clear that the other party was careless; the conditions in a cave are different from those on the seabed.

The ocean floor only reaches a completely dark zone at a depth of 4,000 meters, while in caves... you might not see anything at 40 meters.

Furthermore, there might not be fish in the cave to help him find his way.

It's often said that those who have accidents in the water are usually good swimmers, and that's absolutely true.

People always stumble where they are most confident. Given the other person's abilities, if they had felt awe like Wu Zhong after coming down and had gone back to prepare thoroughly before coming back, they would have been fine.

……

(End of this chapter)