A tremendous force surged forth, instantly pinning Jill Young and Max Easton to the bottom of the Skullboat.
Some say that when a space shuttle launches, the sheer acceleration causes astronauts to experience intense discomfort. That's why astronauts are carefully selected—if your constitution doesn't make the cut, it could even be life-threatening. It wasn't until advancements in life-support technology that the requirements were relaxed a bit.
Jill Young had no idea just how much acceleration a space shuttle actually produced. But she did know one thing: even if a real astronaut were here, they wouldn't be having a good time!
Because right now, the force was just—too—much!
Jill felt her organs straining against the overwhelming pressure, even her blood was being forced toward her back. Forget about sitting up—just lifting an arm was a struggle. Gritting her teeth, she tensed every muscle, trying to boost her blood pressure.
Her heart kept pounding, making sure her frontal lobe didn’t run out of blood.
Up against the mighty forces of nature, personal strength felt pretty insignificant. Who knew what level you’d have to reach in the Titan Spirit Method to actually fight back against something this wild?
Jill glanced sideways at Max Easton and cheered up a bit. Sure, she was weak compared to nature, but next to Max, she was doing way better.
The poor guy had already rolled his eyes and passed out.
Can’t really blame him—the crushing force, plus all the raging, scorching steam and dangerously low oxygen levels, made for an extreme environment. Only Jill could still move at all.
The T-Rex Skullboat rocked beneath her, and Jill Young's heart sank—were they about to capsize? This boat wasn’t a kite, so how could it stay steady in the airflow? Still, having a boat under them was way better than nothing. No way she’d let it flip!
With great effort, Jill stretched out her leg and kicked Max Easton toward the rising end, pressing it back down. But then another side popped up, so she had to crawl over herself to keep the whole thing balanced. And so, they flew on, adjusting as they went. Before long, Jill was totally exhausted.
Thankfully, the crushing force seemed to be easing up.
"Our acceleration can't stay that high forever," Max Easton managed to say, clearly regaining his senses as the pressure dropped. "Two thousand kilometers is way too far—we're bound to slow down eventually. Otherwise, we'd get blasted right out of the atmosphere."
Jill asked, "How long are we flying for?" Two thousand kilometers—that’s like flying from Chengdu to Beijing, a two- or three-hour flight. If she had to keep the Skullboat balanced that whole time, she might as well give up now. Not being pessimistic, just realistic—it was impossible.
"Judging by that last acceleration, if it was enough to knock me out, it had to be at least 8 Gs. If I run the numbers based on the rate it’s dropping," Max Easton finally showed a spark of professor-level thinking, "we’ve got less than ten minutes left on this ride."
Ten minutes? That, she could handle!
Turns out, Jill didn’t even need to hang on that long. Soon, the pressure was dropping fast. Past a certain point, she actually started to feel like she was about to float right off the Skullboat.
"Looks like we’re in the deceleration phase!" Max Easton shouted over the roaring wind. "First half, the wind blows from below; second half, it’s coming from above! Ever tried bungee jumping? Welcome to weightless fun!"
"Hey, what if we slow down to zero before reaching the exit?" Jill blurted out her biggest worry.
"Then we'd just fall right back down the way we came!" Max Easton burst out laughing. "But don't worry, we won't break the sound barrier, and with all that steam, we'll hit some condensation on the way down. So we definitely won't die from the fall—if anything, we'll be boiled alive!"
He couldn’t stay serious for even a second—right away, he was back to his usual goofy self.
"If that happens, I’ll just ditch you and climb up the rock wall. At least I won’t have to climb two thousand kilometers!"
"Haha, relax, relax! Look, we’re almost at the surface!"
Above them, somewhere far away, a tiny light appeared. Sunlight—real light from the surface! It grew brighter and larger, until, with a whoosh, both of them felt as if they were fish leaping out of water, bursting into another world.
There was blue sky, white clouds, vast land and lush jungle. Endless fields, dazzling flowers and grasses. And a rising sun, blazing with infinite light!
This was the surface world—the place where humans belonged.
The two of them sat side by side on the T-Rex Skullboat, quietly watching the sun. For a moment, neither spoke.
After a while—
"Max, how high did we fly out?"
"About thirty meters—like a ten-story building. For a two-thousand-kilometer journey, that's precision! But for humans, that height is still deadly..."
The next second, with a long, miserable scream, the two of them and the Skullboat crashed down. Luckily, they landed on a steep volcano slope. The Skullboat slammed into the incline, bouncing and sliding, the slope gradually easing until they finally slid from gravelly hillside into the jungle.
Thanks to all the plants and rocks, the Skullboat tossed them around like rag dolls, and finally, after burning off all its momentum, came to a stop.
Jill Young struggled to climb out of the Skullboat, her platinum hair now a tangled mess. She tidied her hair and looked around—they’d reached the foot of the mountain. It looked like some European countryside, with farmhouses and vegetable patches not far away.
"We... made it back alive?" Max Easton mumbled like he was still dreaming, then suddenly sprang up, cheering and yelling, "I'm back! I survived!"
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page to read more!
After a quick tap dance, Max suddenly dropped to his knees, wailing, "But I didn’t bring anything valuable back! My gold—wait!" He perked up, slapping the Skullboat excitedly. "This giant skull is a treasure! A T-Rex head this big is a priceless relic!"
Just as he was talking, after all the bumps and abuse, the Skullboat finally shattered with a loud crack. Max toppled into the bone dust, scooping up a handful as the wind carried it away.
"Why am I always this unlucky? Does it have to be so dramatic..." Max muttered, sounding completely deflated.
"Alright, alright, quit looking so crushed," Jill said, a golden flash in her right hand. "I was going to sell this myself, but then I realized I’ve got no market for it. And you did help out a lot, even saved me once. So, I’ll let you have it."
Jill tossed something square toward Max Easton. He fumbled to catch it and looked down—it was a Sunspire Relief Brick, complete with ancient carvings, a genuine treasure from the lost pyramid!
"Hahaha, my Nobel Prize! Your Majesty, I love you!!"
"Whether you sell it or win a prize, I get half the profits."
"Ten percent!" "Half." "A quarter, that's my limit!" "Half." "A third, that's as far as I'll go!" "Keep talking and I'll beat you." "Fine, half..."
………………………………………………………………………………
The world spun, dreamlike and surreal.
Six a.m., sunrise. Beijing. In a luxury hotel room, a platinum-haired woman slowly opened her eyes.
She let out a long breath—the subterranean adventure now just a dream from last night. Today, as Jill Young living in the real world, she had things to do.
She glanced at the nightstand, where a business card still lay. For some reason—maybe a change in personality—the thing that had troubled Jack Young the night before now seemed completely different to Jill. Looking at it with fresh eyes, she drew a totally opposite conclusion—
Is this even a real problem? (End of Subterranean Arc. Of course, the second major arc is far from over. I tried writing the next part today, but nothing felt quite right, so I kept deleting and rewriting, barely got any words down all night. Maybe I'm just too much of a perfectionist? I'll try again tomorrow.)