Clown Game
Chapter 406 - 384 A Person

When it comes to archipelagos, as the name implies, it’s a large group of islands clustered together. and within the four characters of "Malay Archipelago," the number of islands included is... over twenty thousand.

Under such a vast foundational number, naming these islands became an exceedingly troublesome affair, beginning with proper names, later reduced to mere letters, and eventually, they resorted to algebraic representations such as m1, m2 to hastily cover them. And then... eventually, they didn’t even bother with codes.

Geographically speaking, the Malay Archipelago is one of the most chaotic places on Earth. As we all know, the Earth’s surface is made up of various tectonic plates, and the junctions between plates are often rife with disasters like volcanoes and earthquakes. So, the northwest part of the Malay Archipelago belongs to the South China—Southeast Asia Plate, which is part of the Eurasian Plate, while the southwest part is the Indian Ocean Plate, the southeast part is the Australian Plate, the eastern part is the Pacific Plate, and the northeast part is the Philippine Sea Plate. If we liken the Earth to a dartboard, it’s situated right in the bullseye, making this fragmented collection of lands a hotbed for frequent volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

Right in this place of constant trouble, among the over twenty thousand islands, there was an active volcano... Of course, not the kind that’s been quiet for decades, but a truly eruptive, raging volcano.

Hydrogen sulfide permeated the air, turning all light blue-green, and a mere breath of the airborne dust was enough to scorch anyone’s respiratory tract. Due to the extreme internal and external air pressure, these harmful gases would solidify into a gel-like substance that could corrode all the surface pores of the skin within seconds of contact.

In such an extreme environment, if you could still tread upon hot mud that could melt the soles of shoes in two seconds and endure heat waves that allowed fabric to "burn without oxygen," and you made it near the mouth of the volcano, then you’d behold a sight usually only seen in movies or science programs—that of continuously churning and solidifying lava... and a scene not even viewable on television.

For in that lava... there was a figure, walking.

Yes, within the lava, he submerged himself in the 1200-plus-degree black-red sludge as if it were nothing, effortlessly pushing away the muddy matter between solid and liquid, extracting one foot and plunging it back in, each movement stirring up violent flames that seemed to burst from thin air.

This person... was none other than the prince of the era, Ninetiel! His original name no longer mattered, for only "Prince Ninetiel" could properly represent what he truly was.

At this moment, His Highness was dressed in what seemed to be a very ordinary suit. Of course, since it showed no signs of damage even within molten lava, it was naturally no ordinary suit.

Due to Ninetiel’s special constitution, few materials could adhere to him; regular fabric would casually tear into shreds with his movement, and standard bullet-proof suits might sometimes get the steel mesh within them shattered by merely speaking loudly. As for actions like punching or jumping, they could virtually destroy all the equipment on his body in the instant he exerted force.

But the Foundation couldn’t very well leave the prince to wander around bare-bottomed. Luckily, not long after the legacy in his bloodline, an A-class anomaly was roped in and became the suit he was wearing at this moment.

The name and number of this creature are not important. Initially, it appeared to be a type of "snake," with anomalous properties that allowed it to instantly adapt and evolve in any extreme environment.

For instance, if thrown into fire, its skin would quickly form a high-temperature-resistant scab, and if thrown into water, it would immediately sprout gills. Under tremendous pressure, it would become harder than steel, and if stretched by a winch, its muscles would grow more resilient than the steel cables of an elevator. It was this creature that, after countless experiments, created a layer of skin impervious to nearly any environment or force.

Regrettably, the "Evolving Snake" hadn’t reached the point of "growing moss on itself to produce oxygen," so when the Foundation felt its skin was sufficient, they disposed of it in a vacuum. Three weeks later, the A-class entity suffocated to death. And soon after, it became the raw material for the suit Prince Ninetiel was currently donning.

It is also worth mentioning that the functionalities of this suit had already been fully defined upon the death of the "Evolving Snake," meaning there were no features like "temperature adjustment." In other words, this man of strikingly imposing stature was standing within the lava by the sheer resilience of his own flesh.

And what he was searching for was the fissure leading to the mantle.

Because... the readings showed that the base of the Splitters was nearby!

Just then, in front of him, a pool of lava suddenly churned, and a scorching "bubble" bulged and burst with a pop, sending forth a ball of flames.

Prince Ninetiel didn’t hesitate at all and walked expressionlessly toward the spot where the bubble had burst. Then, like diving, he plunged in with a dive!

Although lava could flow, its mass was still immense. His hands easily parted several tons of molten rock, and with a broad swinging motion, he pierced everything in front of him like a missile with a "boom," advancing into the volcano’s depths at a jaw-dropping speed. The recoil of that swing churned the entire volcano’s mouth, causing a tremendous roar as the lava soared into the sky, as if erupting once again.

At that very moment, inside the Splitter’s base, Arming sat dumbfounded on the ground looking at Eniak before him. It had been 5 hours since the system crashed, but he was still in shock.

And then, another shock came in succession—a huge rumble that originated from above shook the entire vast space of the base violently!

At the design phase, they had avoided all mantle fissures and embedded the base in the most solid part of the single continental shelf with a suspended design. This meant that neither volcanic eruptions nor minor earthquakes could typically cause such a degree of shaking. If the continental shelf were moving, it would have been detected years before.

Therefore... Arming discarded several impossible scenarios and subconsciously arrived at a rather absurd answer.

Could something be smashing the "ceiling" above his head?

As he pondered...

Another loud "thud" sent Arming tumbling to the ground once again!