Chapter 29: Harmony of Light and Darkness, Section 4

“Doropuya!!”
The furious roar sounded so sudden in the silent corridor, startling all the Blood Wolf Pirates. Bright searchlights were immediately shone in that direction, but nothing could be seen. Deep within the corridor, it remained pitch black as ink. The light from the searchlights could only penetrate about a hundred meters before being swallowed by darkness.
“Boss, something’s odd,” Blood Pupil lowered the barrel of his gun and halted the mecha, then spoke in a low voice.
“The darkness here seems to absorb light. And that sound earlier—could you tell what it was? Could it also be an illusion left by this dead city?”
“Mm,” a voice with black hair came through the communicator, still calm. “It’s very likely. If there’s no echo from the walls, it can’t be real. But still, tell the guys ahead to be careful.”
“Understood,” Blood Pupil replied.
“Doropuya!!”
One furious roar after another followed, quickly forming a rhythmic pattern and creating a deafening noise. In an instant, the entire corridor was submerged in this roar-like tsunami. Even after being filtered by the mechas’ sound-dampening devices, the Blood Wolf Pirates could still clearly sense the intense anger in those sounds.
But they were no longer afraid.
The Rock People were also living beings—they weren’t ghosts or forces of nature beyond control. And when facing enemies who were also living beings, the word “fear” simply didn’t exist in the dictionary of the Blood Wolf Pirates! Besides… this was a dead city that had remained silent for countless years. If there were still numerous lively Rock Warriors here, the Blood Wolf Pirates would never believe it.
As for that sound earlier…
Everyone glanced at the smoking stone leg. Their faces twitched slightly. Could it be a mechanically enhanced guard that happened to survive?
Such an important tower—without any traps seemed unlikely.
But…
Traps…
So terrifying…
“Boom!!” A dull explosion echoed. Large amounts of rock fell from above. The two vanguards ahead were already prepared. Their large shields, ready for a long time, were immediately raised to block the heavy rocks. The terrifying force caused the two mechas to shrink by half in height, with sparks flying from their knee joints and a harsh grinding sound. The comrades behind stepped forward immediately, reaching out to help stabilize them. An engineering mech quickly arrived and temporarily held back those huge rocks.

This was already the fifteenth trap attack. Ever since Kurokami and the others turned that corner, there had been an increasing number of traps along the way—ranging from ambushes by guards to larger traps such as fires, smoke, spear thrusts, and ground-based traps. There was almost everything imaginable. There were even ice traps formed using natural elements!

Although these traps were primitive, they still caused Kurokami quite a bit of trouble. Of course, with the elite mechs they piloted, ordinary traps could be easily ignored. But traps like the giant rock traps just now couldn’t be underestimated. If one was accidentally crushed, even if the mech remained intact, the person inside would surely suffer from the sudden and violent impact.

The passage grew deeper. Kurokami roughly estimated they were now over ten kilometers below the surface. Yet they still found nothing. Aside from more and more traps, there were only those endless roars of “Doropuya!!” Those roars always seemed to be ahead of them, yet not a trace could be found—as if they truly were ghosts.

In such an environment, the Blood Wolf pirates didn’t show the slightest sign of impatience. Along the way, they strictly followed Kurokami’s orders, staying highly alert and protecting the entire team extremely well. After being underground for over an hour, aside from a few shields deformed by immense pressure, not a single hair on them had been damaged.

However, as time passed, Kurokami and Ketsume’s expressions grew serious. They realized they might have stepped into another trap. But unlike the previous ones, this one was a clue—present the moment they entered the tower.

A mirage!

“Not good!” Ketsume hissed. His expression changed instantly. “If it’s a mirage, we might walk to our deaths without ever seeing the true nature of this tower.”

“Mm,” Kurokami agreed. He turned to look at the Blood Wolf pirate responsible for scouting behind them. “Haven’t you found anything yet?”

“No, Captain!” The Blood Wolf pirate on the video call didn’t even lift his head, focusing intently on the instruments in his hands. “No biological reactions. No energy signatures. Captain, the scan shows that for hundreds of meters around us, the walls are solid rock. Nothing unusual.”

“No abnormalities means there’s an abnormality!” Kurokami raised his eyebrows. “We’ve gone ten kilometers underground, yet there’s no change in temperature. That’s the biggest anomaly of all.”

“But… if it’s a mirage, there shouldn’t be such flaws.” The black-haired man lowered his head, a faint glow shifting in his eyes. It felt as though he had touched something, only for it to vanish in an instant. As he pondered, his fingers tapped lightly on the Killing Emperor’s control panel, producing a clear sound.
Sound? Right. Sound!!
That furious roar of “Doropuya!!”!!
The black-haired man immediately raised his hand to disable the mech’s sound filtering device. Instantly, those violent roars flooded the cockpit, as loud as thunder. Yet he didn’t even frown. After carefully analyzing them, a cold smirk appeared on his face.
“As expected, there’s something wrong with this sound.”
“Head, are you talking about this sound? Isn’t it an illusion?” Blood-Pupil’s voice interjected. After searching for so long with no results, he too felt uneasy.
This tower was a stronghold of the Rock People—maybe there were still advanced protective mechanisms after all these years. If another stone that could emit white and black light appeared… Blood-Pupil shuddered, too scared to think further.
“It’s an illusion. The problem I’m talking about isn’t here.” The black-haired man continued to smirk, pointing at the dark passage. “Haven’t you noticed that no matter how long we walk, this sound is always ahead?”
“Of course I have, but what does that mean?” Blood-Pupil was stunned. As a warrior, he obviously didn’t consider as many things as the black-haired man. In his view, since the sound was an illusion, it should be ignored—otherwise, it would only lead to further confusion.
So the black-haired man could only shake his head helplessly. “It’s luring us, trying to make us keep moving forward. Put it another way, it doesn’t want us to stop.”
“Doesn’t want us to stop?” Blood-Pupil was baffled. He looked around—nothing but walls.
“You mean our current location is the key?”
“That’s right. But not here. It started the moment we entered the bend and heard this sound.” The black-haired man narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of anger on his face. “The traps and turns ahead are all meant to keep us moving. They’re also arrangements to compensate for the mirage’s flaws.”
“That bend just now was the weakest point of the mirage’s influence! In other words…” The black-haired man gritted his teeth. “It’s a weakness!”
“Damn it! We’ve been tricked again.” Hearing the explanation, Blood-Pupil clenched his teeth in anger. “I’m going back right now to see what’s wrong there!”

But before he could act, Black Hair called out to him. “No need, Blood Pupil. It’s too late for you to go back now. The strength of the Mirage lies in its ability to change. Since we’ve already missed the chance, it’s no longer a weakness there.”
“How can that be? Do we have to keep walking on like this indefinitely?” Blood Pupil was stunned and asked urgently.
“No, what I mean is, the weakness is right here among us.” Black Hair tapped his fingers a few times. The Killing Emperor immediately turned and went to the wall, reaching out to feel it.
“Since the sound is still coming, it means the other side doesn’t want us to stop. In other words, we’re still within their weakness. And the scouts said there’s nothing abnormal in the surroundings—this is the biggest anomaly. If it were a complete Mirage, it would never give you such an obvious weakness.”
The Killing Emperor’s fingers tapped gently on the wall, collecting the echoes, which were sent directly to Black Hair’s cockpit. Under everyone’s gaze, Black Hair’s search area gradually expanded. Seeing his actions, more and more Blood Wolf pirates joined in, and soon, the sounds of steel hitting the wall filled the air.
After a long while, Black Hair finally noticed something unusual in the echoes.
“That’s it. Call in the engineering mech and open it!”
“Yes!” The Blood Wolf pirates immediately perked up. The group split to the sides, and a sophisticated engineering mech arrived promptly. Several bright lights were placed on the wall where Black Hair had made a mark, followed by a huge cylindrical impactor being placed on top.
The engineering mech’s impactor was specially designed—essentially a high-intensity pneumatic hammer. But it was far more powerful than any pneumatic hammer Black Hair had seen before. No matter how thick the wall, one strike would either break it or create a huge hole. Soon, that wall turned into a pile of rubble.
Behind the rubble, a dark hole came into view.
“Searchlights!” Black Hair ordered sharply, and the lights flared up, revealing everything behind the hole in sharp detail.
“Gurgle… gurgle… gurgle…”
The distant roars suddenly came closer before stopping abruptly. Everyone stared in shock at the small creature that kept howling in front of them.
Speechless…