Ultra: Heroes Don't Ask Where They Come From

"Would you like to see the Nongmalts?" he began hoarsely.

"Interested." Xia Long.

The air in September has nothing to do with the air one thousand five hundred meters underground.

The Derinkuyu underground city in Turkey is only about 40 meters below the ground, and the Sala Silvermine Hotel in Switzerland is only about 150 meters underground with the help of silver mines. The Jinping underground laboratory was built at a depth of 2,400 meters, the Mponeng gold mine in South Africa is 4,000 meters deep, and the former Soviet Union drilled a super-deep borehole of 12,000 meters. The deepest point on Earth is 6,371 meters.

1,500 meters is not considered deep in this world, nor is it considered deep for the Earth Defense Force, but no one can build such a huge building at 1,500 meters. And no one knows at what depth the Nongmalt people live.

The man did not use any lighting items, he seemed to have adapted to this level of darkness. Compared with Xia Long's breathing and footsteps, he was almost silent, as if he was breathing through his pores, and the footsteps were made by wearing noise-reducing shoes, the sound blended into the air the moment it appeared, and was completely sucked into nothingness.

They walked in the dark for three or four minutes, and everything was quiet. But they were getting closer and closer to their target, and Xia Long could confirm this based on the super beast's sensing.

Arriving at a large space that didn't look anything special, it seemed like the center of the ruins, as empty as the other rooms.

The man walked to the corner and looked back at me. After that, he stepped on a brick. A dazzling light gushed out from the ground, a soft and tiny white light like a firefly. Two seconds later, the white light disappeared, and there was no one there.

Xia Long stood there for a while before moving forward. The ruins were shaking, and on top of the ruins filled with water, the God of Destruction broke off his tentacles, stood up, and frantically dug into the space, digging out a space above that was large enough for him to stretch his arms and legs.

The sea water flowed back and forth under his movements, and white foam appeared under the trajectory of his arm like the route drawn by an airplane. He lowered his head and stared at the ruins, as if he was going to destroy it.

Xia Long ignored him. The God of Destruction was worried about whether Xia Long's life was in danger, but Xia Long didn't care. The vibration of the ruins stopped soon, and he stretched out his foot and stepped on the place where the man had stepped before.

The light also enveloped him and took him deep underground.

How deep is it?

Fifty thousand meters, one hundred thousand meters, one million meters, or near the earth's core which is enough to melt steel and scald the human body?

The body seemed to be decomposed as if its prototype was broken down, and it rushed through the underground water tunnel, the narrow underground, the rushing water, the sliding self, and the darkness that flashed from time to time.

Xia Long did not close his eyes. He only felt that only a few seconds had passed, and there was a very empty space in front of him.

There was a sky in the sky, not a warm light at all, but blue as if it had been washed by water, dotted with motionless white clouds.

"Surprised?" the man asked him.

"what is that?"

"The sky. Everyone wants the sky. We who are forced underground certainly want it too. But ours is just a fake sky."

"There are no rivers or seas - no, there are rivers, but there are no rivers to wander in in a place like this."

"How deep is this place?"

"The end of the earth."

Xia Long nodded slowly. He looked at the underground. There were high-rise buildings with a futuristic sci-fi atmosphere, bamboo-like supports, disc-like houses, a big light coming from nowhere, cement-like ground, from cold blue to warm orange, and people walking like small dots.

Of course there is green, too, in the city. The air is so refreshing that it makes people feel that this place is just a spring island with a climate completely opposite to that of Finland, but beautifully close to the earth's nature, let alone the underground.

In the conspicuous middle of the city, there is a building that looks very new, very new, just like the Burj Khalifa and the Sky Tower. It has a microwave-like blue paint color, close to the sky but more agile, and its streamlines can even be said to be agile.

There is no other building taller than it. In the tower from top to bottom, with the top of the tower pointing down a little, like Big Ben, there is a blue energy ball, a cloud-like energy that emits an infinitely close to dreamy blue. It moves, but it seems to have never moved. This Big Ben, like the sun of the city, stands in the most conspicuous place in the city, in the center.

It is as tall as the Tower of Babel. If you stand at the foot of the tower, you can't see the end even if you look up. But even from a distance, you can fully see its greatness. Unlike nature, the thing itself exudes a futuristic and grand beauty.

"The past is always good, although we are the older people according to the passage of time."

The man seemed to laugh at himself.

“Things always seem to be better the newer they are, and once they become complicated, everything just feels unrealistic—not beautiful.”

"What do you mean?" Xia Long felt that his voice should be hoarse, like the sound of a stretched string, long and trembling.

Far away from the city, there is a plain with no end. You have no way to tell whether the scenery in the distance is the proof of the hard work of these underground people, and it is the comfort painted with a brush. Several huge monsters walked and moved. Xia Long saw the two-tailed monster, Gomora, Muruch, Zabangi... in those green lands and endless forests.

"Let me take you to see it!"

Xia Long finally turned around and looked at him, and only then did he feel something was wrong.

Different from his inexplicable sadness and complex throbbing that made him want to cry, the Yabo in his body was making an uncontrollable, sharp and thin low laugh. With every breath he took, the ground was churning out black air that suffocated him.

They walked into the city. The flow of people was a little sparse, and everyone walked very fast. It seemed that they all had their own precise purpose, and in order to achieve that goal they had to hold their heads high and not look back even if they hit a wall.

It was as if the city was just a tomb, just a newer tomb than the ruins.

"For life, the foundation of life is necessary. Without this foundation, we have no way to survive. But this does not mean that we are happy. The energy accumulated over thousands of years has made it easy for us to live to this level, but this rarity is gradually disappearing."

The man stomped hard on the ground.

"Is it hard?"

Xia Long also stepped on it and replied.

"hard."

The man walked to the side of the road and kicked the tree hard, making a very dull sound. The tree was very thick and not very tall, and the leaves fluttered slightly after being kicked. There was a very strong wind blowing, and the shadows were mottled with light and shadow. The man seemed to be in pain. If he were a human, it would probably be the kind of pain that would make him cry;

"Is it hard?"

Xia Long kicked, he didn't use much force, but he felt a kind of metallic hardness. The leaves moved slightly like when there was no wind. They stood under the towering green trees, and the light and shadow on the floor were divided into irregular black and white light and shadow blocks, which was very beautiful, just like nature.

"hard."

"That's right. There are no real plants in this underground. There used to be water and sunlight - a long time ago, but the equipment underground broke down and we couldn't fix it, so from now on there are only these plants. Those flowers, the flowers on the roadside, have no smell."

The overly gorgeous city broke Xia Long's perception of the Nonmalt people. He didn't know how to treat them with his new impression, so he nodded silently.

"Do you know how your ancestors a hundred thousand years ago viewed it?"

He then pointed to the Tower of Babel and asked in a relaxed manner. Xia Long shook his head and said;

"do not know."

"We don't know either."

He smiled. The tall, new tower just stood there motionless, high in the sky in the distance, emitting a blue light that was infinitely close to a dream, like a beacon.

The man led them into a school-like place. It was class time and the school was empty. They walked into the teaching building and watched from the back of the classroom as the students inside were concentrating on the blackboard, where a person was teaching knowledge and lecturing.

Xia Long could feel the youthful vigor from it.

“He was talking about very simple knowledge.”

The man leaned his shoulders against the wall and folded his arms.

"The reason why this city is so big and prosperous is that everything from other places is being shipped here. Whenever something important or unimportant in this city breaks down, other places will ship in things that haven't broken down yet. We can't fix them. We have even forgotten how they work. Only the energy source is still fully operational. It's the most solid one. It's the tower you see."

"Your civilization...is cut off?"

"It was cut off twice. Once was when we were invaded by humans, and once was when our ancestors collectively lost the will to survive and committed suicide."

They walked out of the teaching building, and the wind started to blow in the distance. The clouds in the sky were motionless, and although the temperature was suitable, the warmth of the sun could not be felt. Xia Long closed his eyes, and the light shone through his eyelids like a red light like blood, and he breathed in the air from the wind through his nose.

"We are improving ourselves. We only know how to use our own things, but we don't understand why we can use them in this way. To do this, we need to cultivate talents, connect the broken technology, and fill the huge gap in the middle... The generation before the break was closer than us, but..." He paused, looked at the sky and said, "A dangerous and turbulent generation may have many talents, but a dangerous and dead generation will not."

"Just keep walking."

They walked in silence.

They walked through half of the city and finally didn't meet any third person other than themselves.

"How is your life?"

Xia Long spoke as he walked, but his voice was very low.

"It's just because time has passed long enough. Anyone can do this after enduring long enough."

the man answered.

"What about those that don't last long enough?"

"Everything here is very old. It's even older than the new humans you have now."

Soon, he took the initiative to speak.

"Do you read?"

"read."

"How many books of your own do you have on your planet?"

"countless."

"I'll go with you to find one that can be counted."

The books in the library were counted, and there were 73,658 books in total.

"Including reference books and textbooks, we only have this many books in total. Is that too many?"

The man asked;

Xia Long did not answer;

"I don't know whether you are lucky or unlucky. How did you find this place? It shouldn't be easy to find a place under the flood of the Yangtze River."

"I spent a lot of effort looking for it in Xinjiang, but I didn't find it so I came to the Yangtze River."

"This is the only place where the energy device is still functioning properly. However, this may disappoint you."

"Have you the guts to look somewhere else?" the man said;

"Is your underground world connected?"

The man didn't say anything, he just took a step forward.

He walked to the other side of the city, passed the Tower of Babel from the side, and came to a deserted place. There were some low houses and tall houses, each house seemed to be an empty shell. In front of Xia Long, there was still resentment flowing here. These black airs permeated the earth, as if the ground below was hell, and their air flowed out from the cracks in the earth.

At the entrance to the park-like area, there are benches, two main paths, fake trees, fake flowers, and a fountain.

Walking to the side of the pool, the man stepped on a stone brick again amid the gurgling sound of water. The light enveloped him and took him deep into the ground.

Xia Long followed and repeated his actions. The light also enveloped him and took him to another deep underground.

This time, Xia Long still did not open his eyes. He was waiting for the light to rise again after the shuttle.

But this time there was no light.

The air was hot and dark, as hot and dark as hell.

......

Through the passage of the Nongmalt people, Xia Long once again stepped on Japanese soil.

It was already night, and the place they were in seemed to be some mountains. The leaves of the surrounding trees were swaying, and the bright moon was hanging high in the sky, casting uneven, mottled black shadows. There were no wolves howling or birds singing, and the cold night temperature climbed up to their skin, and the silence seemed like another world.

【what's on your mind? 】

The voice of the Yabo people appeared like a ghost.

"What do you think is most important?"

Xia Long lowered his head and half-knelt on the ground. He reached out and grabbed a handful of dirt on the ground. Then he stood up and held the dirt in front of his eyes to look at it.

He ignored the somewhat confused response of the Yabo people - it seems that people's sentimentality is always something that the devil cannot understand - but instead held the soil tightly, watching the soil flow through the gaps between his fingers, fall, and return to the earth.

"Now I understand why I came here."

A real wind was blowing through the forest, howling, but there was no one in the forest anymore.