Underground Labyrinth

The instructors led them to their destination. These mining caves were nothing like the ones Xu Lingqu knew back on Earth. This one was built into a small hillside, and at a glance, she could count twenty entrances circling the slope. The cut surfaces were smooth and clean—clearly the work of interstellar high-tech machinery, not human hands.

The twenty groups of students were arranged to enter from different openings. Instructor Chen raised a loudspeaker and emphasized, "Once you go in, we'll announce the rules for which exit you can come out from later. If anything unexpected happens inside the mine—"

He waved his hand, and the instructors handed each student a small yellow ball.

"Just crush it to call for help, and we'll arrive promptly. Make sure to keep your yellow ball safe."

Xu Lingqu's group entered from the fifth opening to the right. They collected the emergency distress balls on their way in, and by the time they were walking, they'd already divided the team—randomly, based on how close people were standing to one another.

She was grouped with Lin Xiao, Liu Zheng, Wang Qihu, and one of his friends. Their task was to collect strontium silver and coral rice fluid.

As soon as they stepped into the cave, a wave of cold air rushed at them. This mine was nothing like the ones Xu Lingqu had known on Earth; it looked more like a karst cavern. Right at the entrance, three forks split off, and conveniently enough, there were exactly three groups. They went their separate ways, with Xu Lingqu's group taking the path on the right.

"These kinds of mines hollow out a large portion of the mountain, then dig down in different shafts to find raw stones deep inside. Some ores have to be specially processed right here before they can be taken out, which is why there's so much open space. So this kind of layout is totally normal." Lin Xiao swallowed nervously and kept talking to bolster her own courage. "Of course, I think the fact that it's designed like a maze in here is probably the instructors doing it on purpose..."

It was basically safe to confirm they'd done it on purpose.

Xu Lingqu walked at the back of the line, examining the structure as she went. She noticed the path kept leading them downward. With her guarding the rear, everyone else felt inexplicably at ease—though the same couldn't be said for Lin Xiao, who, as the analyst, had to take point and navigate.

She mustered her courage and led the group forward for a stretch until, at last, a faint yellow light glowed ahead. They emerged from the tunnel into a more open area, facing a large pit about three meters in diameter. This should be what Lin Xiao meant by a separate mining shaft.

Lin Xiao took a deep breath and crouched down to peer into the opening. "Based on the depth and width, this should be a rare gold mining shaft. Did we take the wrong turn?"

Their mission wasn't to collect rare gold.

As soon as she said that, the others seemed inclined to back out.

"Just because this is a rare gold shaft doesn't mean the material point here is rare gold. Let's go check it out first." Xu Lingqu, still standing at the back of the group, didn't budge. She pointed ahead, where a small path beside the pit led to another area.

"Oh, right, you're right." Lin Xiao wiped the sweat from her brow. She'd been too nervous, and her anxiety had dragged the others into foolishness with her. Good thing Xu Lingqu was there.

They followed the small path and walked for a while before a white light appeared. Inside a small room, there were over a dozen square boxes that looked like glass, each holding a green object. Up close, it resembled a metallic substance matching Natata's description of strontium silver. Xu Lingqu stepped forward and picked up a box. It was magnetically attached to the table, which was itself fixed in place, making it a bit hard to lift. She held it up and gave it a shake—the texture was indeed fairly soft.

Lin Xiao let out a long breath, a smile spreading across her face. "Thank goodness... we found what we need right off the bat. All that's left is the coral rice fluid."

The moment she finished speaking, the whole small room shuddered violently. Everyone inside clearly felt the room moving at high speed. Xu Lingqu, still holding the box, stumbled—it contained highly corrosive strontium silver, and Wang Qihu, standing closest to her, was so startled he instinctively reached out to steady her. But then he saw Xu Lingqu, who looked about to fall, somehow summon the balance and flexibility to adjust her own body and stand firm.

A dumbfounded Wang Qihu, meanwhile, took a hard spill himself.

He scrambled back up with his friend's help, dusted off the dirt from his mouth, and resolved to stop judging people by appearances. That habit would only cost him in the long run—especially when it came to Xu Lingqu.

With a final click like a mechanism locking into place, the room steadied, having apparently relocated to a different area.

Xu Lingqu glanced at Wang Qihu and, after a moment's thought, said, "Thanks."

She really had nearly lost her balance just now, holding a dangerous item. In that critical instant, she'd managed to steady herself through sheer physical coordination—but she'd also caught the sight of Wang Qihu moving toward her, trying to help.

Regardless of the outcome, a person who would think to protect a teammate in a moment like that was clearly someone of pure heart.

Hearing those two words, Wang Qihu, who had been wallowing in embarrassment, suddenly felt a strange spark of hope rekindle. Xu Lingqu had said thanks to him—this was Xu Lingqu!

"But next time, make sure you can take care of yourself before trying to save others."

The follow-up doused that flame of hope in ice water. Wang Qihu's mouth twitched. "R-right, got it."

Xu Lingqu checked that everyone was all right, then walked to the door first and opened it.

Outside was no longer the small path that ran alongside the rare gold shaft.

The others crowded around the doorway and saw the change in the path.

"What... what's going on? Did we run into a ghost? A dead end?" Wang Qihu's friend rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what had happened.

Lin Xiao, supported by Liu Zheng, walked out at that moment. She'd hit her leg on the table and injured it. With a grim expression, she stepped out, looked at the small room, and let out a sigh.

"The structure here now... it's exactly the same as a map that Sky Network once used in a military academy league." Her expression grew heavy. "I really hope I'm wrong. Thinking back, the terrain design since we entered has been similar, but I didn't catch it at first because I was too nervous. But now that this small room's mechanism has activated, I can basically say with certainty that the instructors have transformed this place into a simulation of that map."

"And that map's name is—Underground Labyrinth."