Chapter 154: Super [Giant Bear Transformation]

The tunnel was deep and dark. After the iron door closed behind him, there was no light at all.

Sun Fei let out a soft shout, and his body began to change strangely—

Colorful lights started to flash. A wolf skull helmet, a short staff, a red waist belt, heavy steel boots, a small shield with a skull face, yellow fur gloves… Almost instantly, Sun Fei switched to [Druid Mode], summoning the full set of armor for a level 21 Druid. A vast elemental power surged around him. Then, with a wave of his emerald-green short magic staff, three milky-white balls of elemental energy flowed out and landed on the ground, transforming into three white giant wolves, each over a meter tall and two meters long. They circled Sun Fei affectionately.

Druid Skill—[Summon Wolf Spirit].

Unlike the monsters Sun Fei summoned from the Dark World using his Divine Skill from [Rogue Encampment] and other lands, which he could not control, the giant wolves summoned by Druid skills could be controlled freely. They looked exactly like real wolves, possessed their own intelligence, and were living flesh and blood. They had a natural attachment to their master, Sun Fei, and were one of the unique combat assistants of the Druid class.

Sun Fei had his reasons for choosing the Druid class in this tunnel.

These summoned wolves could walk ahead and help him explore the depths of the tunnel. Even if something unexpected happened, he would know in advance and wouldn’t be caught off guard or put in a passive position.

The three giant wolves received Sun Fei’s commands. One walked about ten meters ahead, another lagged five or six meters behind, and the last one stayed by Sun Fei’s side. The man and three wolves moved at a steady pace into the deep, dark, seemingly endless tunnel.

Sun Fei remained alert at all times. Through the magical connection between the Druid and his summoned pets, the vision of the three giant wolves was clearly transmitted to his mind. He could see everything within twenty meters in all directions. It was no exaggeration to say that Sun Fei had eyes and ears everywhere.

After walking for about ten minutes, the darkness in the tunnel could almost be described as “thick.”

If not for the glowing magic armor on Sun Fei’s body and the night vision ability of the summoned white giant wolves, he would have been completely blind. Even so, they moved very slowly. With no clear landmarks, Sun Fei could only estimate that they had traveled about three thousand meters forward. The tunnel was not completely straight and flat; it had turned four times and gone up and down six times in the past ten minutes. For Sun Fei, who had always been bad with directions in his previous life, this was already testing his sense of direction.

After walking for more than ten minutes, twisting and turning, Sun Fei finally admitted he had completely lost his sense of direction.

Fortunately, there were no forks in the tunnel. Sun Fei had stopped earlier to carefully examine the stone walls and found that they were very simple and rough, almost unchanged from before [Hero City] was carved and repaired. There were no murals or other special carved symbols. If not for the obvious signs of human work, Sun Fei would have thought it was a natural underground passage.

What was surprising was that no matter how far they went, the air in the tunnel remained as fresh as it was at the beginning. There was none of the suffocating, oppressive feeling usually found in deep underground passages. Sun Fei even found dust on the stone walls on both sides of the tunnel, which at least indicated that the airflow here was very smooth.

Just then, suddenly—

“Owooo—!!”

The white giant wolf walking ahead let out a low growl. Sun Fei’s mind immediately pictured what the wolf saw—a black short rod about fifty centimeters long. Sun Fei felt a surge of joy; he had finally found something. He rushed forward, affectionately rubbing the white wolf’s head as a reward, then crouched down to carefully examine the short rod.

Sun Fei quickly recognized that the short rod was actually a discarded black iron torch. The fuel inside had completely dried up, which was clearly why it had been abandoned. He soon guessed the identity of the original owner of this torch—it must have been left by a brave explorer sent by the kings of Shampoo City in the past to uncover the tunnel’s secrets. According to detailed records in the royal sealed texts, several generations of Shampoo City kings had sent over a hundred explorers into the tunnel, but they all disappeared inside. These lost explorers had certainly used torches and other tools for lighting. This torch had obviously been abandoned here after the fuel burned out.

As Sun Fei expected, after walking for another half hour, he gradually saw more equipment left by previous exploration teams.

There were torches, ropes, iron hooks, clothes, and even some black marks left by burning flames. However, due to the airflow in the tunnel and the passage of time, most of the iron tools had rusted, and the ropes and clothes had rotted away. Placed deep in the cracks of the ground, they turned to dust at the slightest touch.

These discoveries meant that past exploration teams had safely reached this point. Beyond that, they held no significance for Sun Fei. He stopped to rest for a while, took out food and water from his [Belt Space] to fill his stomach, and then continued exploring forward.

Gradually, Sun Fei noticed a strange change—

At some point, a breeze began to blow in the tunnel. It was a very slight airflow, almost unnoticeable, like someone breathing softly beside you. But for an expert like Sun Fei, it was clearly perceptible. The further he went, the more obvious this airflow became. After an hour, the wind in the tunnel was strong enough to lift the fur lining under Sun Fei’s armor and rustle his long hair.

Sun Fei suddenly remembered what Prison Warden Oleg had once said—

“According to the records, from time to time, strange roars come from the tunnel, followed by a terrifying suction force that sucks living people inside. That’s why the current king had no choice but to order the construction of two large iron doors to seal the tunnel.”

Wind force? Suction force?

They were probably the same thing.

Thinking of this, Sun Fei became more alert. The idea that such a suction force could reach all the way to the iron doors and suck people away was terrifying. Just imagining it was shocking. So, he gradually slowed his pace, careful not to let the increasing wind throw off his steps or balance.

After walking for another thirty-plus minutes, the wind force in the tunnel exceeded what the three white giant wolves, with the strength of about One-Star Warriors, could withstand. With a series of mournful howls, they were lifted by the powerful wind, one after another, and flung into the distant darkness of the tunnel, swallowed by the endless black.

Sun Fei’s steps also became unsteady. The wind was now strong enough to lift a thousand-pound boulder.

“Roar—!!”

Sun Fei let out a furious roar, and a mass of earthy yellow elemental flames flickered around him.

The next moment, Sun Fei’s body underwent a drastic change. If anyone had seen this, they would have screamed in horror. Pitch-black, steel needle-like hairs sprouted wildly from Sun Fei’s face, neck, and all exposed skin. His body swelled like a balloon, quickly growing to more than twice his original height and girth. Sharp fangs grew from his mouth, and fierce claws gleaming with a cold light appeared on his hands.

These changes happened almost instantly.

When the chaotic elemental flames disappeared, Sun Fei had transformed from a human into a terrifyingly savage giant bear.

Druid Innate Skill—[Giant Bear Transformation], which allowed the Druid to transform into a powerful giant bear. Sun Fei had already upgraded this skill to level 4. After transforming, his Might and physical toughness doubled, and his vitality and resistance to blows also increased twofold. However, he still retained his human intelligence and some simple characteristics, avoiding the weakness of losing his mind after going berserk.

Roar—!

Sun Fei, in his bear form, let out a roar that seemed to shake the tunnel. He stomped his foot, leaving two huge footprints on the hard ground. With a swing of his bear paw, his sharp claws dug directly into the stone wall. The strong wind no longer posed a threat to him. Sun Fei began to walk step by step deeper into the tunnel.

The level 4 [Giant Bear Transformation] skill could last about half an hour. When the transformation was about to wear off, Sun Fei reached a corner of the tunnel where the wind was relatively weaker. He canceled the transformation and rested there briefly.

Fortunately, the skills from the various classes in [World of Diablo] did not have cooldown times. As long as he had enough magic power, he could activate them repeatedly. Sun Fei repeated this process, constantly transforming and slowly exploring forward. It wasn’t until four or five hours later that the wind finally began to weaken. After another hour, it miraculously disappeared.

The tunnel returned to its previous deathly silence.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Sun Fei returned to his human form and summoned three white giant wolves again. He quickened his pace to explore further.

Time passed slowly. Sun Fei had completely lost his sense of direction. This deep, bottomless tunnel seemed to lead nowhere. Sun Fei felt like he had been walking for almost an entire day, yet nothing had changed. The tunnel twisted and turned, rising and falling like a maze.

Finally, just as Sun Fei was about to stop and enter [World of Diablo] to rest and level up, the white giant wolf walking at the front let out a joyful howl. The image from the wolf’s vision instantly transmitted to Sun Fei’s mind. Ahead, there was an incredibly vast space. In the center of that space, white bones were piled up like a pyramid…