Chapter 1046 - 578: Are They Trying to Sneak In?

The sound from Xu Xin’s watch was audible, and Ma Hongwei and Zeng Tao could hear it.

Both of them were surprised, and turned to look at Xu Xin’s watch.

"Underground? Did they dig in from underground?" Zeng Tao exclaimed.

"Underground..." Ma Hongwei immediately frowned.

The sky and ground are manageable, but underground...

His abilities seemed unable to handle this situation.

Xu Xin thought quickly about many things.

Dug in from underground... This possibility should have been considered earlier!

Although there is a safety zone around the treehouse, with roots protecting the surrounding land from harm, but...

That might only be effective against those low-level wild mutated creatures and plants!

And at this time, the World Tree hasn’t fully grown, its roots are at their most vulnerable.

Could it be... they intend to destroy the roots of the World Tree?!

No... That shouldn’t be it.

The root system of the World Tree covers a very wide area, potentially spanning the entire Sector 188, they simply can’t destroy it all.

So, they must be aiming to destroy the body of the World Tree!

"That’s right, they’re coming in from underground!"

Qin Fu was breathing heavily, obviously running: "It’s in the east of Crystal City, where I discovered a tunnel dug underground, at a depth of about five meters. This tunnel has already penetrated approximately five to six hundred meters into Crystal City!"

A tunnel about five meters underground, stretching five to six hundred meters!

Just a tunnel?

"Is it just a tunnel?" Xu Xin immediately asked, "No beasts or mutated creatures?"

"When I discovered it, there was nothing." Qin Fu responded, "There’s only a tunnel with a diameter of less than a meter, very narrow, if someone wants to enter, they likely have to crawl. The creature that dug it is probably not very large."

"Where is the location?" Xu Xin asked further.

"Just a few meters outside Crystal City, but the entrance is flat, it’s been filled and shows no traces at all."

The entrance, right outside Crystal City...

The trees near Crystal City have disappeared, if not for this planting, Qin Fu might not have noticed it at all.

"Based on my observations, this tunnel was definitely just recently dug, from the traces in the soil, the creature digging it probably left not long ago."

"So... this means it was last night?"

"No, this morning!" Qin Fu asserted, "This tunnel was definitely newly dug this morning!"

"...But, who dug it, we don’t know." Xu Xin thought of something, his face turning slightly grim.

"Yes." Qin Fu seemed to stop, taking a few breaths and sighing, "Another one."

"Another tunnel discovered?" Xu Xin’s eyes narrowed, "Mutated creatures? Any mutated creatures digging?"

"No, only a long tunnel, and this one is even longer, about..."

Qin Fu began running again, then stopped after a few seconds, slightly out of breath, and said: "About seven or eight hundred meters!"

Seven or eight hundred meters...

The radius of Crystal City is only around 2.5 kilometers, seven or eight hundred meters is considered relatively deep into the city!

"Looking at it this way, there’s no need to worry too much." At this moment, Zeng Tao spoke up, "They only dug a few hundred meters and left, which shows they couldn’t handle it, right? If they could, wouldn’t they have continued digging all the way to the center to damage the World Tree?"

"No." Xu Xin directly denied her statement, "Seven or eight hundred meters is already very deep. If they were affected, it should have happened by now."

Reaching the depth of seven or eight hundred meters, they could definitely continue further, directly into the center of Crystal City, reaching the World Tree’s position.

"Oh? Then what do you think happened? Why did they turn back halfway?" Zeng Tao asked, puzzled, "Did they give up halfway?"

"Found another one." At this moment, Qin Fu’s voice came through the watch again, "This should be the last one, and this one is also about five or six hundred meters."

"See?" Zeng Tao said with a hint of pride, "They all stopped at this distance, doesn’t this mean they couldn’t go further? It must be like that."

Xu Xin glanced out the window.

What Zeng Tao said isn’t unreasonable, but...

At this time, Ma Hongwei, sitting at his test bench, put down his blueprint and said: "If there are only three tunnels, could it be just a probe?"

"A probe?" Zeng Tao turned to look at Ma Hongwei, "What do you mean?"

"I also have this thought." Xu Xin nodded slightly, "This is obviously a probe. If they were attacking the World Tree... what’s the use of merely a few narrow passageways?"

These passages might just be to test whether they can dig tunnels from underground to enter Crystal City and approach the World Tree."

"That’s what I think too."

Over the voice connection, Qin Fu spoke again.

"Why do you all think that?" Zeng Tao pouted.

"After digging several hundred meters, those scouts had already confirmed they could approach the World Tree from underground, so they left." Xu Xin explained while briefing the situation in the [Explorers] group.

As for why they turned back at a distance of seven or eight hundred meters, Xu Xin believed that the closer they get to the core of the World Tree, the more developed and dense the World Tree’s root system should be, making the excavation exponentially more difficult.