Li Yao was slightly surprised. He knew that he must be well below the sea level from the dull air, but he did not expect that it would be so ridiculously deep.

The habitable planets with a stable tectonic structure that was suitable for mankind generally boasted triple layers, namely the core, the mantle, and the crust. The capital planet of the Imperium was certainly not an exception.

Such habitable planets were like enormous eggs, where the core was the yolk, the mantle was the white, and the crust, which was thirty to fifty kilometers thick, was the thin “eggshell”.

While the crust was the thinnest layer, it was the most important area for residence and resource collection for human beings.

In the mantle below the crust, magmas of high temperatures and pressure were everywhere. Any random hole that was drilled might lead to an eruption and destroy everything. There could also be rocks that were denser than the superalloys. Even the most advanced drilling magical equipment could not dig very deep after the cost of astronomical spiritual energy. The seismic energy released in earthquakes were also hundreds of times more powerful than human beings’ best crystal bombs. The overwhelming squeezing and tearing forces in the tectonic movements were too much for any human expert to handle.

In short, the mantle was an area of death that was dangerous and not cost-effective. Even though the tentacles of the civilization of mankind had reached thousands of planets in the three thousand Sectors, they only stopped at the “eggshell” on the surface of those planets. They did not, nor was it necessary, to dig into the mantle yet.

On the capital planet of the Imperium of True Human Beings, according to the sea level and the development, all the towns were classified into six tiers.

The first tier was the cities on the ground that had names. For example, the central politics area where the Council of Elders was located and which was named after the founding emperor of the country, was known as “Blackstar City”.

There was also the “White Stone Municipality”, the heavy industry city where Li Yao and Long Yangjun had a fierce fight. All in all, the cities that had names were usually the metropolises inhabited mostly by Immortal Cultivators with a highly-developed civilization.

The underground towns, on the other hand, did not have a name, only a number. But according to the sizes and digits of the numbers, one could still see the difference.

The one-digit underground towns, numbered from “0” to “9”, had the most important underground fortresses and strongholds of the capital, with all kinds of magical equipment, supplies, and training facilities. The defense system here was even more flawless than the cities on the ground so that most of the Immortal Cultivators could evacuate to the towns and continue the resistance should the cities be conquered by powerful enemies.

The two-digit towns from the 10th district to the 99th district were generally the areas where the bankrupted Immortal Cultivators and the brainworkers among hominoids lived. There were also all kinds of large public facilities, such as hospitals, schools, and ventilation bases that delivered fresh air to the deeper parts nonstop.

Dongfang Renxin chose to set up his secret institute in a two-digit town because only two-digit towns could support such a massive hospital. For the fourth-tier areas from the 100th district to the 999th district, which were the places where the industrial workers among hominoids lived, they could not support large hospitals at all.

However, the three-digit areas where the industrial workers lived were not the most miserable and barren areas.

Below their feet, in the underground mines and rocks more than five thousand meters deep, there were four-digit and five-digit towns. Those towns, like forgotten corners, had been abandoned by the upper class of the Imperium completely. They did not even have the value to be exploited, and they were simply left to live and die on their own.

Li Yao had been quite interested in the four-digit and five-digit areas that were at least five thousand meters below the ground. He tried to gather materials about the places, but the only things he found were rumors. It was said that the lost people in the abysses had retrograded, their most fundamental intelligence gone. They were like the “wolf kids”, who were abandoned in the jungle as infants and raised up by animals. They had the appearances of human beings but the souls of beasts. Those ignorant, uncivilized creatures were also the best evidence to prove that “true human beings” and “hominoids” were not the same species, and that “hominoids” were essentially a beast that looked very much like a human, nothing more.

The forsaken people deep below the ground were to the Immortal Cultivators what ants deep inside the mud next to their feet were to elephants. The latter completely ignored the former and were not even interested in wasting some strength to stomp on them.

It never occurred to Li Yao that Long Yangjun had set up her nest in a five-digit town. What were the residents here who had been “abandoned by the civilization” like? What was Long Yangjun’s so-called “scheme”?

Li Yao’s head began to hurt again. Frowning, he tried to crawl out of the medical pool and cleaned his body with Li Jialing’s help. Putting on the mustard-seed combat suit and all the Cosmos Rings, ensuring that his crystal suit could be activated and put on at any moment, he was finally refreshed and asked, “What is this place? Where did Dongfang Mingyue go?”

“I don’t know how I should describe it. I used to live on the ground and in starships all the time. It has never occurred to me that there are such places in a civilized world, or humans living in such a way.”

Li Jialing hesitated for a long time but did not know what to say. He simply said, “Now that you are awake, Brother Yao, you can take your time and see for yourself. That… Sister Dongfang reminded me when she left that Brother Yao was free to go wherever you wanted to go. Everything that you are interested in is open to you too. It doesn’t matter if you want to go to her either. All in all, everything is free.

“However, let’s leave that aside for now. Brother Yao, are you sure you are really alright? Should we scan you with medical magical equipment? Sister Dongfang informed me of the whole battle. I did not know Brother Yao was so strong that you could even blow Blackstar the Great away. That was really… really—”

Glancing at the medical magical equipment nearby that was rusted and dusted, Li Yao shook his head. “There’s no need for that. I should be fine. Even though my wounds are not healed yet, they won’t help much… Why are you staring at my head?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

The little lion shook his head hard and said in a hurry, “I’m just saying that Brother Yao can take your time to treat your wounds. Whenever you need to deduce or calculate anything with your brain, you can just ask me to help you instead. Do not savage your brain cells for the unimportant issues. However gifted and distinguished you are, you must pay attention to your health!”

Blinking, Li Yao stared at Li Jialing suspiciously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I’m just saying that you should take care of yourself.”

Choked for a long time, Li Jialing finally said, “If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you fight Blackstar the Great next time?”

“Right, speaking of which, I wonder if Dongfang Mingyue has told you yet—”

Li Yao said in a hurry, “But after the battle ten days ago, we were already certain that your mother had been haunted since decades ago—no, since more than a hundred years ago when she explored the Supreme Emperor’s mausoleum, except that it did not attack her until the recent decades. Therefore, it was not her own wish to kill you!”

Biting his lips, Li Jialing seemed both comforted and sad. He said in a low voice, “I know. If possible, I will certainly drive Blackstar the Great’s remaining soul out of the queen’s body!”

Li Yao shook his head. “Driving him out won’t be enough, because you are very likely to be a carrier that he has carefully prepared for himself. Should he escape from the queen’s body only to dash into yours later, the consequences will be even more severe.

“Thankfully, Blackstar the Great’s remaining soul must’ve suffered grave wounds in the battle too, which will probably slow down his schemes for a while and give us some time of rest. We can figure out what he is up to exactly and come up with a solution!

“But first of all, let’s sort out all the cards we have in our hands now. Since this place is Dongfang Mingyue’s nest, is there any workshop with advanced facilities that can repair the Colossi?”

Li Jialing shook his head quickly. “No, there is only a small refining workshop here, which can repair crystal suits at best but can do nothing about Colossi.”

“Fine.”

Li Yao thought for a moment and realized that it did make sense. The super workshops where the Colossi could be maintained required enormous space, a steady supply of spiritual energy, and the technical support of a whole team. It was indeed not something that could be found in Long Yangjun’s secret base.

“What do you have here, then?”

He asked helplessly.

Before Li Jialing replied, soft door knocks echoed outside.

It was a little girl in a gray cape who pushed the door and walked in. She had a face that had never seen any sunlight and was almost transparent. The veins that were vaguely blue were clear, and her pupils that were slightly red were immediately gathered into two red beans, suggesting that she was not used to the light. But there was no expression of discomfort on her face at all. She bowed at the two of them first and then left a giant tray before them, before she said, “Please help yourselves, honorable guests.”

Li Jialing thanked her. The little girl did not say anything else but simply walked backward until she was out of the room.

Having lived tens of thousands of meters below the ground for years, never been to the ground and never touched the real sunlight, she already looked slightly different from the people on the ground and in the shallower underground towns.

Her tone was filled with a hollow and monotonous air, like the water drops on the stalactites deep below the ground dripping on the rocks that were as smooth as jade. It was both pleasant and weird.

Li Yao studied the identity of the girl and the habit of underground humans with great interest. From her politeness, it could easily be told that she was not a “human-shaped beast” that the Immortal Cultivators slandered.

The big metal tray before him was supposed to be a smooth industrial product, but it must’ve been used for thousands of years because there were dents everywhere. However, the edge of the tray was polished so clearly that it could reflect the light.

On the metal tray, it was a large bowl of paste that was thicker than porridge and a roasted beast leg that smelled delicious. Roasting was certainly not a skill to be underestimated. In fact, the development level of a civilization could often be seen from the complexity of their culinary arts.

It was impossible for a primeval species who feasted on raw meat and blood to be adept at cooking. A civilization that was aware of dozens of cooking techniques and hundreds of condiments must be a highly-developed civilization.