Chapter Sixteen: Dark Space

  The winding stairs, like a snake's trail, spiralled upwards in a dizzying cycle. Two figures walked in tandem, one ahead of the other, as the darkness seemed to mock them from behind, casting long, ominous shadows all around.

  "Jom, you know, don't you think this staircase is a bit strange?" Fat Dong suddenly stopped in his tracks, reached out and put his hand on Jom's shoulder, asking uncertainly. Jom turned around, a hint of hesitation on his face. He twisted his head, looked around cautiously, and finally nodded slightly.

  Pang Dong furrowed his brow and walked to the edge, stretching out his hand to feel under the steps. As soon as he touched it, his face changed color.

  "What did you find, Dong?" Looking at Dong's face turning deathly pale, Qiao Mu's eyebrows jumped up, and a sense of unease rose in his heart. Indeed, Dong struggled to turn his head, his face twisted in grief, and said: "Qiao, this can't be!"

  "What's impossible?! You say it clearly." Chom's face changed, could it be that under the stone steps was hiding a monster? Something even more terrifying than an iron-plated mummy?

  However, Pong seemed to have not heard Jorm's words and muttered to himself at the edge of the stone steps: "Impossible, impossible..." He muttered to himself while pounding his fist on the ground, looking extremely disheartened.

  "What is it?! Dong, what exactly is 'impossible'?!"" Zhao Mosheng yelled in a suppressed voice, he almost wanted to strangle Fat Dong to death.

  Startled by the shout, Fat Dong suddenly came to his senses. He looked at Joem with a hint of anger and sighed: "Jo, do you know? Under the stone steps, there's nothing! No pillars, no iron frames, nothing! These black stones we're standing on are all human heads, skulls formed after death!!"

  Fat Dong grasped his face with both hands, looking very painful.

  Jormungandr jumped in fright, his hand shook, and Fang Ke almost fell off. "Dong, are you...are you sure?" Jormungandr's voice was trembling, if Fat Dong said were all true, then what he stepped on now was a living human sacrifice! A suspended staircase made of human skulls!!!

  Fat Dong nodded vigorously, his face very bitter. He thought that in those years, he had executed tasks and seen all sorts of great winds and waves? However, a road made up of human skulls, this was the first time he had seen it, and he did not want to see it a second time.

  Qiao Mu was stunned for a moment, his lips slightly open, and he couldn't say anything. Finally, he shook his head hard and said to Pang Dong urgently: "Don't worry about it for now, let's keep moving forward. Even if there are many strange things ahead, we have no choice." He patted Pang Dong on the shoulder, and the two walked side by side down the path.

  But unlike before, the road ahead was heavy in both of their hearts. Obviously, they still couldn't fully accept this cruel fact.

  The two of them walked and walked, walking for a long time. Along the way, Fang Kai was taken turns to be carried by the two, which was also a way to conserve energy. In silence, the two of them reached the last stone step.

  The surroundings were still quiet, a pitch black, and Dong adjusted the range of the illuminating lamp to its maximum. "Qiao, look quickly!" Suddenly, Dong seemed to have discovered something, and he hastily patted Qiao Mu Si. The latter hesitated for a moment before moving his line of sight to where Dong was pointing.

  "What the hell!" At this glance, Qiao Mu Si couldn't help but burst out in anger. It turned out that below the last level of stone steps, there was a long "beach" connected to it. This "beach" had no sand, but instead had row after row of pale white skeletons. They lay on their backs and lined up, forming a "white beach".

  The strangest thing is that there is a dark green lake near "White Beach".

  Logically, the internal environment of the golden pyramid is relatively dry, and some corners may be relatively humid, but not to the extent of producing lakes. Moreover, judging from the color of the water, Jorms instantly judged that the viscosity of the lake had reached a certain level.

  "Joe, shall we go down and take a look?" Fat Dong swallowed hard and elbowed Joe. The latter hesitated, weighing the pros and cons between the "White Desert" and the lake for a long time before finally sighing: "Alright, let's get Kay settled first, then scout out the surroundings."

  After finishing, Jorms gently put Fang Kai down, knelt on the inner side of the stone steps, and leaned against the upper step. Jorms was still worried, took out a metal ring from the multi-dimensional bag, released a pink protective cover, and tightly wrapped Fang Kai's entire body. The metal ring is a defensive tool often used by Star War special soldiers. With its protection, Jorms finally felt at ease.

  He snapped his fingers, and Fat Dong understood, taking out a laser shovel, pulse gun, and a thick rope from behind. Because the stone steps were far away from the "White Desert", the two had to use the rope.

  "Qiao, you take it, I'll go down first." Pang Dong threw the laser shovel to Qiao Mu Si, and with a flick of his buttocks, he slid down from the already fixed rope into the "White Desert". Seeing this, Qiao Mu Si shook his head and also went down, picking up the rope as he did.

  A silent staircase, a crawling darkness, as if there was a faint "heh heh" laughter, swirling in the empty space above. A pinkish light membrane, flickering in and out of sight.

  "Qiao, you said, how many innocent people were killed by this tyrant to build his mausoleum?" Pang Dong pointed at the skulls under his feet, muttering curses. It was clear that he was furious. In his eyes, every life had dignity, but now he saw countless people who had been deprived of their lives by the Pharaoh's tyranny.

  This way of slaughtering people is even more cruel than war.

  Chomsky sighed and fell silent. Although these skeletons did not have the breath of life, he seemed to feel their helplessness and sorrow.

  Two people walked cautiously in the white desert, unaware of a danger quietly approaching.

  Fat Dong carried the pulse gun, walking in front, looking around here and there. Suddenly, he stopped, turned his head to Qiao Mu Si and asked doubtfully: "Qiao, don't you feel that your feet are a bit uncomfortable?"

  Chomos was about to nod, but at the moment when Fat Dong finished speaking, a number of small black snakes emerged from the nasal cavity and skull sutures of the skeleton. They spat out red letters and swirled around the feet of Fat Dong and Chomos. Chomos looked around and found that there were many black snakes, densely distributed on the "white desert", like ants.

  Observing carefully, Jorms judged that these small snakes were not cobras but another famous venomous snake - the black viper. There weren't many black vipers, yet they had gathered here in such large numbers that it made the two special forces soldiers' scalps tingle with fear. Although these black vipers were still in their juvenile stage and relatively small in size, the venom they produced was still enough to be fatal to humans.

  "Back, quickly retreat back to the stone steps! If we are bitten and injected with venom, we will undoubtedly die." Pang Dong's tone was serious, such a "gift", really made him drink a pot.

  Without saying a word, Fat Dong adjusted the direction of the cannon and fired at the area where the black-bellied snakes were more densely populated, temporarily suppressing the snake group. However, after being suppressed, there was even greater resistance. The small black-bellied snakes opened their mouths wide, twisting and turning as they crawled towards Fat Dong with a speed that made one's hair stand on end.

  Seeing this, Qiao Mu Si hastily opened the laser in his shovel and swept it back and forth between his and Pang Dong's feet, piercing many venomous snakes. The splashed snake meat stuck to their clothes, leaving one blood stain after another.

  However, the little black snakes were like they had taken medicine, and no matter how hard they were beaten, they would not retreat. The companions in front sacrificed themselves, and those behind filled their places, like a group of stubbornly terrifying little Qiangs, insisting on surrounding the two humans. They were not afraid of laser beams, nor cannonballs, nor anything else.

  The scene suddenly entered a white-hot phase, with Pong Dong and Qiao Mu Si back to back, killing until their eyes were red. However, these poisonous snakes seemed endless, no matter how they killed, they couldn't kill them all off. Just as they finished off one group, another group came to supplement.

  "It's no good, we're surrounded and our retreat is cut off. If this keeps up, we'll all be dead even if we're late!" Chomms shouted as he knocked a black-bellied snake flying, turning to shout at Fat Dong.

  Actually, Fat Dong also realized this point. Just now, a bunch of venomous snakes crawled under his feet, and he could only hold up the pulse cannon and fire continuously. However, human strength is limited, even if Fat Dong had enormous strength, but after such a long time, he was getting a bit exhausted, and his movements were slowing down.

  The little black snake was a clever enemy, taking advantage of the two's declining physical strength to speed up its attack. The more they fought, the more exhausted they became, and their vision began to blur. Both of them were well aware that once they ran out of energy, they would become a delicious meal in the snake's belly. Just thinking about it made them want to vomit.

  Just at this moment, a turn for the better came!