Chapter 283

Chapter 283: El’s Amazing Adventure (Part One)

El descended steadily through the soil, sensing the surrounding medium shifting around him, as if it were transforming from ordinary dirt into a peculiar, gooey substance.

Even without direct contact, he felt the environment was sticky and damp, as though he had been swallowed into the belly of a Giant Beast.

Of course, El knew this was impossible; if such a massive extraordinary beast existed, the downfall of Hope City would be imminent.

As he descended further, he mentally recorded crucial details.

That faint, persistent sense of repulsion continued to weigh on his mind; the slightest distraction made him instinctively want to retreat.

By holding his breath and coordinating with his abilities, El managed to store a reserve of air within his body, enough to sustain him during his descent.

Even if that failed… His hand brushed lightly over the small gas canister at his waist, one of the few items he had claimed for himself from his spoils.

Fully focused, El observed his surroundings until he finally felt something beneath his feet that was distinct from stones and soil.

It seemed he had… reached the bottom.

How deep was he from his starting point?

El estimated it was within two hundred meters, based on his intuition.

After steeling himself mentally, El rotated his body in the warm, solid space, slowly descending headfirst.

This was a challenging maneuver only he could pull off. After all, he was infiltrating a mysterious area from above, and if his lower half emerged first, it might cause unnecessary complications.

As his body gradually sank, El felt like a master thief executing a flawless heist.

Finally, he passed through the thick outer shell made of unknown material, and in an unnoticed corner, a face appeared on the ceiling of the underground pastures.

—

Hot, unbearably hot!

That was El’s first sensation after half of his head slipped into the space.

Outside, it was already November, yet here it felt like the peak of summer.

In fact, it was even more oppressive than summer, for as he hung upside down from the ceiling, El not only felt the heat but also an overwhelming humidity.

It seemed he was in a… greenhouse.

Of course, El had no idea what a greenhouse was. Given his current level of education, simply being able to accurately use the words “temperature” and “humidity” was a stroke of luck.

But El had his strengths, such as his sharp memory.

In truth, Lin Qingliu wasn’t overly concerned about the memory issue, as he had already planned to use his abilities to delve into El’s dreams later and watch a first-person replay once El returned successfully.

Expecting a semi-literate boy to provide a precise description of what lay underground was nothing short of wishful thinking.

El’s gaze swept across the greenhouse.

After hanging from the ceiling for a while and confirming there was no surveillance in the area, El decided to dive in directly.

As a superpowered individual with spatial abilities, he wouldn’t leave a single trace behind—no hair, no dust, nothing.

Once he freed himself from the upside-down position, El took the time to carefully observe the design of the place.

Beyond the stifling heat, what first caught his attention were the warm yellow strip and panel lights suspended above.

These lighting structures, composed of clusters of bulbs, illuminated rows of plants soaking in transparent liquids below.

El assured himself that all the plants he had ever seen in his life, whether alive or dead, by the roadside or on a plate, combined, did not compare to the variety he had witnessed in just these five minutes.

Different kinds of plants grew their roots freely in the transparent liquid, while above them, vibrant green leaves mixed with other colors and fruits of various sizes hung down.

Every thirty seconds, the warm lights would illuminate the plant cultivation racks, causing them to rotate, flipping the layer of plants that could not receive light directly to the top, while the topmost layer would shift to the bottom, creating a continuous cycle within the massive room.

Everything occurred without any traces of human operation.

As El moved past one plant rack after another, he marveled at the variety of plants but saw no staff members.

The level of automation surpassed what the semi-literate boy could imagine; he even suspected that real people were hiding in the hollow spaces below the racks, operating the system.

As he progressed, El sensed the curvature of the walls.

Perhaps due to the immense radius, it took him a few minutes of walking before he realized he was in a huge ring.

Being an ordinary person who had never seen a central spire, El’s understanding of buildings was still at the stage of square shapes, and this discovery thrilled him.

While El carefully observed the curvature of the walls, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed. He effortlessly blended into the wall, waiting for the upcoming event.

“Beep~”

An electronic voice sounded as a frosted glass door slowly opened.

Two people dressed in white uniforms entered: one man and one woman, both appearing to be around thirty years old.

The man was quite tall, and as he stood on tiptoe to glance around, he found nothing unusual.

The female worker smiled and said,

“I told you there’s nothing to worry about! It’s all plants; what could be the issue?”

“That’s true, but there was definitely a fluctuation in the signal from the sensors earlier.”

The man remained puzzled. After checking back and forth twice, he confirmed that there was no problem here.

Then, he began to examine the numbers on each plant rack, eventually reaching one near the center.

“Ah, I knew it!”

The usually quiet woman suddenly became excited:

“I knew you had ulterior motives! I caught you red-handed!”

The man ignored her and bent down to find a plant that had been secretly marked.

This plant had green leaves with irregular wavy edges, and its slender branches drooped with several red fruits.

“These are the three most perfect little tomatoes grown in this batch.”

The man suddenly burst with inexplicable enthusiasm:

“Look at this curvature, look at this color, look at the smoothness of the surface!”

“Um.”

The woman suddenly fell into an awkward mood:

“I’ve heard you have a very unique hobby; it seems to be true…”

“What’s so special about this hobby?”

The man’s tone was odd, uncertain if he was annoyed or feeling wronged.

“I once saw our colleague who got reassigned talking to the plants late at night; I’m just quietly admiring their beauty—what’s wrong with that?”

“But… but that person is a superpowered individual who can promote plant growth!”

“I know he’s a superpowered individual, but I specifically asked him; his ability activates without him needing to talk, so that’s entirely a personal habit.”