Absolute Gate

Chapter 87 Absolute Physique
"Alright, since Mr. McGurt has paid so readily."

"Then all we mercenaries are willing to do is risk our lives!"

This time, Yang Chunsha didn't make excuses. She readily took off her outer clothes and put on her diving suit and equipment.

She invited Yak to join her, and Yak did not hesitate at all.

This child had no idea what was going on with this mission, because he couldn't understand...

Aside from Ancient Egyptian, he only speaks Chinese; he's really just here to freeload.

He saw that Yang Chunsha had packed the leather book into a diving bag and was carrying it with him. Ya Ke also grabbed a few pieces of steak and beef leg, packed them up, and hung them on his waist.

The two men, fully dressed and with cables for the salvage equipment attached to them, jumped into the water with a splash.

Perrin was secretly pleased; if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up, and he was happy to avoid going into the water.

The winch of the cable kept rotating, gradually extending more than 400 meters.

Then there is no more then.

They waited on the shore for a long time, but the salvage equipment remained inactive.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The device remains in a red light state, indicating that the cable tip is not gripping any object.

"Let's wait a bit longer. She's a Silver-ranked expert. I've seen that her magical skills are quite high. Grabbing the statue from twenty meters away shouldn't be difficult for her."

"We're just being overly cautious, so it might be a bit slow."

Perrin spoke in a low voice, sweat already beading on his forehead.

If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up; but what if the tall ones also die?

He dared not imagine what the consequences would be if even the Yangchunsha Squad were wiped out, leaving only himself and his sister on this mission.

With Yang Chunsha around, McGonagall might still be wary of the three of them joining forces.

If Yang Chunsha successfully gets the statue up there, McGar might let them leave.

Even if they leaked information about this monstrous object, McGonagall would simply abandon his power here and leave with the statue.

Even though McGonagall was reluctant, he was determined to silence them... With Yang Chunsha around, they had a better chance of fighting back, and the three of them working together could also break through.

"No way? You're not dead too, are you?"

"No, no... Miss Yang Chunsha, my ancestor, you can't die! What will I do if you die?"

"It's okay if you can't be pulled out, but you absolutely have to come back alive."

Perrin was drenched in sweat, praying frantically in his heart.

McGur stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the lake; even his back view exuded immense pressure.

However, a full three hours had passed!
The equipment remained completely still, and there was no sign of Yang Chunsha returning.

At this point, not to mention the air cylinders on her body, even if you included all the spare air cylinders on the safety rope, they should all be used up by now.

"It seems this Silver Saint isn't as formidable as she pretends to be."

"As expected, it's not enough for one person to carry out a salvage mission alone. Perhaps this is something that cannot be done by one person alone."

McGurt sighed. Two generations of the Havel family had died in salvage operations, both of them going alone and never returning.

Therefore, he was somewhat prepared for the failure of Yangchunsha and was not surprised.

So what if he's dead? The loss of a Silver Mercenary will only solidify his control over the situation.

The key is intelligence; even if Yang Chunsha is dead, she must have recorded crucial information.

“Perrin, it seems I’ll have to trouble you two to go into the water again.” McGonagall smiled at the last two mercenaries.

Perrin's face turned pale, and she forced herself to calm down: "Miss Yang Chunsha is already the best choice. Even she failed, let alone me."

“I’m afraid I was already cursed, but I ran fast with Acorus calamus. The curse killed Onion first, and before it hit us, we were already out of the water.”

"Now that I'm on land, the curse is temporarily ineffective. But if I go back into the water, I might die immediately."

He used Yang Chunsha's previous speculation as an excuse and tried his best to stall.

But McGurt smiled and said, "These things can be verified, Perrin. You can test it yourself, go into the water and see if you get possessed."

"Don't worry, if you really lose your mind and drown, I'll save you right away. If you're not sure, you can tie a rope around your body."

Perrin froze for a moment. Damn it, this guy was determined to send him down to risk his life.

But he dared not refuse. His brief encounter with Shi Changpu had convinced him that he was no match for her.

If he refuses, McGur will definitely kill him; that's a foregone conclusion.

Compared to that, actually trying to salvage the statue offers a glimmer of hope.

Because perhaps, he could grasp some strange characteristics and then turn the tables on McGonagall.

"Fake..."

Perrin cursed under his breath and looked at his sister with worry.

His sister held his hand firmly, standing by him through thick and thin.

Perrin jumped into the lake and, without noticing anything amiss, said in a deep voice, "Alright, I'll go down and find Yangchunsha now."

“But I may not be able to salvage the statue this time. I have my own pace. I think we should find the video of Yang Chunsha first and see if there is any key information.”

McGonagall smiled with satisfaction: "Of course, I don't want you to die either. Take your time, I'm not in a hurry."

The two quickly put on their equipment and plunged into the water with a splash.

……

Meanwhile, inside the dark hall's air chamber, Yang Chunsha successfully reunited with Wu Zhong and Yang Cong.

Yangchunsha had already used his magic to expand the small air chamber into a huge dry cave with connections in all directions.

The furthest point connects to the depths of the forest, with several vents appearing in the east, west, south, and north, creating an exchange of air currents.

Now, let alone lack of oxygen, they can even warm themselves by a fire in the cold, damp air chamber... grilling steaks.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted. We've reached our limit down here. The terrain down there is too complicated, with a dense network of waterways. No matter which way we dig, water will leak out."

Yang Chunsha plopped down on the ground, looking at the huge cavern in front of her that resembled a haphazard tree diagram, and realized she couldn't go any further.

Wu nodded, picked up a piece of beef shank and handed it to her: "If you can't go down, you can't go down. You've worked hard, Debiao. Here, have a piece of beef."

Yang Chunsha took two bites and then stopped eating, throwing the rest to Yake: "This beef leg is not very satisfying to eat. It would be better if it were used in hot pot."

Onion looked strange. Good heavens, during the mission, they encountered a shady client, and the situation was tense, yet they were here happily grilling meat.

Isn't that enough? You want to eat hot pot too?

"Haha, Yang-jie, you're really joking. There's almost a fight breaking out outside. Where are we going to get hot pot at a time like this?" Onion laughed.

Unexpectedly, Wu Zhong said, "Yes, the most enjoyable time was when we were being chased in the snowy mountains and we ate hot pot."

"This time, we can only eat beef shank. Oh well, we'll just have to make do with this."

"Huh?" Onion was taken aback. They were really having hot pot while being chased?
Yang Chunsha then said, "What do we do now? I can't go down into the tunnel, so we can't secretly move the statue away from underground."

Wu nodded, already holding a stone and carving a simple diagram of the cave structure on the wall.

The tree-like roots that seemed to spread out densely downwards were not located at the very bottom of the entire underground cave system.

It is only at the very bottom of the sinkhole that objects falling vertically will roll to.

He originally planned to have Yang Chunsha dig a tunnel to get under the skeletal remains area, then use the rock and soil to move the statue and secretly transport it away.

But this idea failed; they couldn't dig that far at all.

Yangchunsha has tried more than a dozen routes, but every time he digs, he ends up digging into an underground river, where the enormous water pressure forces the water in and forms a fountain.

The deepest part was only dug to a depth of one hundred meters.

“It’s alright, then we won’t transport it. Doesn’t McGill have professional underwater salvage equipment? His method is quite good, let’s use his method!” Wu Zhong said thoughtfully.

Yang Chunsha was taken aback: "You're really going to help him retrieve it?"

Now that Wu Zhong knew the origin of the statue, he said, "Why not? McGall is right. If this calamity cannot be salvaged, then it's just a useless object."

"But once it's retrieved, and you can take it with you, it becomes a mobile, unlimited rainmaking tool!"

"Perrin should be coming down soon, right? Only he can get credit for retrieving the statue." "Once the statue is pulled up, McGur will definitely kill him, but what he doesn't know is that there are four of us lurking in the shadows."

Yang Chunsha nodded, but it was nothing more than a case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

"Hmm, what if McGonagall retrieves the statue and then lets Perrin go? The Perrin duo definitely won't fight McGonagall; they'll just run away."

Wu Zhong shrugged and said, "If McGall really does that, we'll just show up and collect our commission. I don't necessarily need this broken statue."

"It would be too risky for the four of us to fight an unknown powerhouse like McGonagall."

"I got a silver-level mission and even made tens of millions. I didn't lose out at all."

Onion paused for a moment, then said calmly, "If that's the case, you can leave, and I'll stay and fight him to the death."

"..." Wu Zhong looked at Onion speechlessly.

That fat guy is really stubborn. He said he wanted to kill McGonagall to get revenge, and he's determined to do it, even if he might be the only one left.

Just then, Yak suddenly looked to the side: "The cable moved."

As everyone looked, they saw the salvage cable brought down by Yangchunsha being pulled back one section, and then another section.

Yang Chunsha certainly wouldn't actually take this cable to the 400-meter-deep area of ​​corpses.

She first pulled herself out of the water for 400 meters, then brought the top of the tube into the air chamber.

Therefore, the cable is 200 meters hanging down and 200 meters extending up into the air chamber, forming a U-shape.

It was being dragged at a slow speed, which meant someone was pulling it in the water.

"Haha, Perrin is down here. Let's go take a look."

The four men donned their gear and swam into the dark hall. None of them had headlights, so the darkness served as their best camouflage.

As long as they are not exposed to the beam of light, they can get two or three meters away from others without being detected.

Conversely, people with beams of light above their heads appear as bright as fireflies in the night sky to them.

It was indeed Pei Lan and Shi Changpu who came down. They hovered at a depth of fifty meters underwater, not daring to go any deeper.

Both of them had grim expressions, staring intently down below, completely unaware that someone was watching them...

In the darkness, they pulled hard on the cable, hoping that Yang Chunsha was still tied to the end of the cable.

This way, they could pull Yang Chunsha's body up without actually going to the bottom and obtain her video.

However, they were destined to be disappointed.

After working diligently and finally managing to pull up the entire 400-meter cable, they found nothing at the end—no statues, no corpses.

This means they must venture deep into the area of ​​corpses and confront the monstrous creatures directly.

"Fake!"

Perrin, frustrated, threw a punch that exploded underwater.

"How exactly did they die?" He and Shi Changpu both floated in the water, lost in thought.

Skinny Man and Onion died, as did Dragonwood and Spring Sand. Now, it's their turn.

In the darkness, Yang Chunsha felt a little sorry for Pei Lan. The other party had been very calm before, largely because she, a Silver-ranked player, was still around.

But when she died too... Perrin was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

There were three teams in total. Two teams were wiped out, leaving only his team to deal with the client. He couldn't give up the mission. How much pressure must he be under?

Below are ruthless, monstrous creatures that kill without blinking an eye, and above them are sinister sorcerers who hide their daggers behind smiles. If it were her, she would have given up long ago.

"Tsk, what kind of punch is he throwing underwater? That punch might alert the water spiders..."

Wu Zhong frowned slightly: "Alright, his mentality is already unstable, stop playing around. Onion, go and pull him into the air chamber."

Onion nodded, climbed over to the two of them, and placed his hands on them.

"Gurgle..." Perrin was startled and turned around abruptly. He saw the already dead onion and was so frightened that he started spitting bubbles frantically.

What's even more terrifying is that when the beam of light shone down on his head, he also saw the Dragon-Subduing Wood and the Spring Sand.

What would it be like to suddenly find yourself surrounded by four dead people in the dark, watching you?
In particular, there are suspicions that they died from possession and may have been transformed into some kind of terrifying monster.

"what!"

Perrin was horrified. He pushed with both hands, and many black and white runes appeared on his body, twisting and turning like ghostly scribbles.

This seemed to be some kind of sealing technique. Onion immediately felt his fighting spirit being sealed inside his body, making it impossible to mobilize.

At the same time, an orange energy whip appeared in Shi Changpu's palm, which lashed out at the onion, tearing its skin and leaving it bloody and mangled, with its arm shattered.

Seeing this, Wu Zhong realized that the two were quite powerful, and he rushed forward in a flash.

"Brother Jianglong, be careful! He can seal my fighting spirit!" Onion hurriedly reminded them, as the four of them were plants.

Wu Zhong understood immediately and, without releasing his true energy, simply grabbed it with both arms.

His arms were as hard as iron, powerful and heavy, creating two torrents underwater. The water even heated up and evaporated due to the enormous kinetic energy, releasing dense bubbles.

"boom!"

The energy whip of the sweet flag was shattered by his right fist.

Both of them had their arms gripped tightly by Wu Zhong, his hand like an iron clamp.

"Wow!"

Then came a tremendous force pulling them, as if they were being dragged along by a speedboat, with the water rushing past them.

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" Perrin's eyes widened as she felt Wu Zhong's terrifying power and knew she was doomed.

He treated this as a life-or-death catastrophe and unleashed his strongest multi-dimensional magic.

In an instant, countless runes spread out, and the people underwater could even hear Perrin's roar, which was as loud as a lotus flower blooming from his mouth.

"The Curse of the Nibelungs!"

With a whoosh, numerous runes burst forth from his body, clinging to Wu Zhong's body, wrapping around and imprinting themselves upon him.

In an instant, Wu Zhong's head, face, and entire body were covered with strange and distorted characters.

This is to seal away his physical power!
A physique 21 times stronger than an average person was then sealed away... what a load of rubbish.

Wu Zhong felt nothing at all; his strength remained astonishing. With a swing of his arm, he could lift three tons, and with a kick of his legs, he could lift five tons.

Every gesture and movement possesses the strength of a dragon and an elephant.

"puff!"

Wu Zhong used his physical strength alone to subdue the two men and drag them into the air chamber.

He threw the two men aside, and the latter rolled on the ground like a gourd, coughing as he scrambled backward.

"Impossible! Why can't I seal his power? It doesn't make sense!"

"The Nibelungen Curse can be sealed even by gods!"

"Could it be... yes, it's a special power! The statue has endowed this corpse with some kind of absolute physical constitution!"

"Fuck, their corpses have all become byproducts."

"Sister, I'll hold them off, you run!"

Perrin realized that what the multi-faceted method couldn't seal must be a special constitution.

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhong suddenly understood.

"Brother Xia was absolutely right when he said that absolute characteristics are above all multi-dimensional laws."

He had initially disliked the power bestowed upon him by the Mad Blood Clan, because his body was still of normal human structure, and the power seemed to be added to him out of thin air, inexplicably and without any rational basis.

As a result, it can lead to excessive force and dizziness from jumping too fast, making it less effective and mindless than the 'transcendental' method of the multi-faceted approach.

In reality, the power of special characteristics is itself the strongest point, surpassing all natural laws in the world, whether in this universe or other universes.

An absolute characteristic can only be restrained by other absolute characteristics. Sealing his power with a multi-dimensional method means eliminating or altering the absolute effects of the Mad Blood Clan, which is bound to fail.

The universe doesn't even know why such a human body, with such components, possesses such great strength. What do they know about mere sealing spells?

……

(End of this chapter)