Chapter 282: The Earth Trembles
As the crisp “crack” echoed in his ears, Tom’s heart skipped a beat. He waited, expecting the earth-shattering collapse he had imagined—but nothing happened. No cave-ins, no death traps sprang. This puzzled Tom.
Blinking in confusion, he looked down at his feet.
Nothing. Just the sound. No deadly mechanism had been triggered when he lifted his foot. What was going on?
He considered calling Taotie back to check. Where was the deadly trap they were expecting?
Meanwhile, on the other side, Fang Xiaocao and her companions exchanged confused glances. The signal had been sent ages ago, yet Tom hadn’t moved.
Was there an issue with the grappling hook?
That didn’t make sense. They had seen him fire it and hook onto the beam. Could the beam be unreliable?
Maybe Tom had tested the rope and found that the beam couldn’t hold his weight?
Fang Xiaocao couldn’t stay still any longer.
“Taotie, should we go back and check?” she asked anxiously.
“Not yet, we should use the terminal—”
Before Taotie could finish his sentence, a deafening rumble erupted from the front. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently.
It felt like…an earthquake.
The shaking intensified.
Fang Xiaocao lost her balance. With a startled cry, she fell onto her backside.
Taotie and Hummingbird, on the other hand, instinctively steadied themselves in a firm stance.
“Your Highness, stay down! Don’t move!” Taotie shouted. “The mechanism has been triggered! The floor under Tom is collapsing!”
“Okay…” Fang Xiaocao replied shakily, immediately spreading her limbs like a starfish to stabilize herself against the trembling ground.
Tom was startled by the sudden turn of events.
His grip slipped.
He fell.
Fortunately, the rope attached to his tactical belt held firm, preventing him from plummeting into the abyss.
Even so, he swung wildly in midair, flipping upside down.
And that’s when he saw it.
Right beneath him, vast sections of the floor crumbled away, revealing a pit filled with countless jet-black spears.
“Cough, cough…”
The dust choked him, and his body broke out in a cold sweat.
He swallowed hard.
Thousands of sharpened spears, waiting for him below.
If he fell…
The image was too gruesome to fully imagine.
One thing was certain: his body would be riddled with more holes than a honeycomb.
The cold gleam of the spears, even after centuries, sent chills down his spine.
This was terrifying.
For a weaker person, just seeing this might cause instant panic, even a mental breakdown.
Dangling upside down, Tom took a moment to take it all in.
The pit was at least ten meters wide and six or seven meters deep. The bottom was packed with densely arranged spears, each over two meters long.
And if that wasn’t enough, between the spears, iron thorns filled the gaps.
The message was clear: even if someone miraculously avoided getting impaled, there would be nowhere to land safely.
Tom exhaled deeply.
The ancient designers of this tomb had been truly ruthless.
But he wasn’t about to give up.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, he focused. His princess and his brothers were still waiting for him ahead.
His first observation: the spears were incredibly sturdy.
Even when chunks of stone from the collapsed floor smashed into them, they did not bend or break.
And the sharpness…
One fallen stone had landed directly onto a spear’s tip.
The result?
The spear had stabbed clean through it.
Terrifying.
Normally, the impact from a falling stone would break a weapon like this. But here, it pierced straight through.
That meant the material was incredibly strong.
Tom had no doubt that even with his high-tech bulletproof suit, if he fell, he’d be skewered instantly.
The spears wouldn’t care if he were bulletproof. They’d pierce him anyway.
“Looks like I have no choice but to climb down and see if I can break off a few spears,” Tom muttered.
He tensed his core.
With a burst of strength, he flipped his body back upright.
Then, adjusting the rope length with his grappling hook’s control, he slowly lowered himself.
Carefully, he descended.
Closer.
Thirty centimeters from the spears.
He locked the buckle on his belt to stop his descent.
Too much lower, and he’d risk injury.
From this position, his arms could just barely reach the spears.
Tom pulled out his black tactical knife, clenched it between his teeth, then flipped upside down once again.
The spears might have sharp heads, but their shafts were wooden.
Though they were coated and preserved, Tom’s high-tech knife should be able to cut through them.
If not?
Then he’d just have to saw through them slowly.
Even if it took time, as long as he was alive, he had a chance.
“Taotie, should we check on Tom now?” Fang Xiaocao asked worriedly.
She was really starting to panic.
Taotie hesitated.
He was concerned about Tom as well.
But bringing Fang Xiaocao back into potential danger?
He wasn’t willing to take that risk.
After thinking it over, he said, “Your Highness, you and Hummingbird stay here. I’ll go check on Tom myself. It’ll be faster and safer that way.”
Fang Xiaocao pouted slightly but relented. “Fine… But be quick…”
