Juno hadn't expected John to intervene at such a crucial moment.
Just as the cave entrance collapsed, she felt like everything was over. How much strength did it take to use an entrenching tool to pry up and support the collapsing cave?
Holly stared in a daze for a long time before saying, "I take back my previous comment; you are a true man."
Sam felt a bit annoyed with Holly, thinking it wasn't up to her to evaluate whether John was a man.
John didn't care about their evaluations; he broke free from Beth's embrace and said,
"Beth, you and Sarah need to calm down. The most important thing now is how we get out. The path ahead is already blocked."
He knew Beth's emotions were too agitated.
Sarah still looked shaken.
It wasn't until John brought up the problem that everyone realized the seriousness of the situation. The collapsed and blocked cave entrance meant they were completely trapped inside.
Rebecca spoke up at this moment, "Everyone, calm down first. According to the guide manual, this rock formation should have three other exits. We still have hope."
Her intention was to comfort everyone; the hope of finding an exit through three cave entrances was still quite high.
At this point, Juno, seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, revealed the truth.
"Rebecca, the guide manual and strategy are useless."
Rebecca felt a bad premonition upon hearing this. She questioned, "Juno, are you joking?"
Juno's face was pale: "I'm not joking. Actually, this isn't Borlehan Cave; it's an unknown underground cave."
At these words, everyone else's expressions turned anxious.
Rebecca couldn't help but question Juno why she would do such a thing?
"I'm sorry, I just thought a cave system with a pre-planned strategy wouldn't be challenging enough, so..."
Rebecca finally couldn't help but curse.
Only as a professional athlete did she know how dangerous an unknown underground cave could be, not to mention that the exit was now blocked.
Looking at Sarah and Beth, both were clearly terrified.
Sam and John were both just beginners.
This meant that everyone might be trapped and die in this dark, sunless underground cave.
The only one present who might have been relatively excited was Holly; she enjoyed thrills, and the current situation suited her perfectly.
John took advantage of their struggle to observe the situation here.
He only had one feeling.
That was suffocation.
Rock walls gathered from all directions, further compressing the living space.
It was even darker and narrower here, with a foul smell mixed in, and a faint sound like that of a mouse.
After the argument.
They chose to face the immediate problem first.
That was to first choose a cave and explore it to see if there was a way out.
As the leader and feeling guilty, Juno naturally went first, while John was arranged in the second position, which was also a recognition of his ability.
Since the collapse, Sarah refused to be last.
Finally, Rebecca volunteered to bring up the rear.
So, the group once again squeezed into the narrow cave, constantly exploring. The further they went in, the smaller the space became, coupled with the enclosed nature of the space.
As newcomers, Sam and Beth had lost their initial enthusiasm and instead felt a sense of suffocation.
Fortunately, the predicament didn't last too long.
Everyone soon reached an open area, but there was no path ahead; the cliff below was bottomless, so they could only use ropes to cross the broken path.
This didn't stump them.
They still had rock climbing nuts in their backpacks, and with safety ropes interspersed, everyone could pass safely. Rebecca did this very easily.
While hanging the safety rope, she suddenly discovered an old rock climbing nut, which meant that an expedition team had once reached this point, but they had failed and not gotten out.
As John and the others passed one by one, Juno, who was last, decided to court disaster. When retrieving the rock climbing nut, an old one snapped, causing screams to echo through the cave.
Rebecca's hand was scraped bloody by the rapidly falling rope as she pulled it.
The screams and the sweet scent of blood gradually attracted certain monsters living in the underground cave.
John looked up and saw a black shadow flash past from a cave above. He could confirm it wasn't his imagination; there really was something that had been attracted.
He could have given a warning, but given that there were a few foolish women in the team, they would probably scream again before seeing it with their own eyes, so he didn't bother to mention it.
After the cliff, the path ahead was relatively stable and wide. The group arrived at a fork in the road.
Several black patterns were carved on the rock wall.
The information on them indicated that this cave system had two more exits.
This was the only good news so far.
John looked at the patterns; he always felt that they looked more like a nest than an exit.
Juno took out a lighter and tested both cave entrances. After finding oxygen and a draft, she was about to go ahead and scout, but Holly rushed in first.
As impulsive as ever, only at first it was excitement, now it was a hint of fear.
This rush, predictably, led to trouble.
Listening to the screams from inside, it sounded like a broken leg.
Juno and Sarah rushed in to rescue her. John's hand had quietly produced a phantom card.
Deformed Man Number Two.
Without hesitation, he chose to merge. His strength, senses, and vision all increased exponentially.
Only this feeling could give John a sense of security in this oppressive environment.
Juno and Sarah carried Holly out. Holly had a broken leg. Given the current situation, she wouldn't receive treatment, which meant this leg was ruined.
Sarah was still mumbling about seeing a monster, while Juno insisted it was just a hallucination.
Sarah was almost going crazy at her words.
"Believe me, that wasn't a hallucination! That thing looked very much like a person, it wasn't wearing clothes, its skin was bluish-black, and it seemed to have fangs in its mouth."
The already panicking team now had two injured, and one close to a breakdown.
Sam, who had the lowest tolerance, had already hidden in John's arms. She was genuinely crying; no one had expected a simple exploration trip to turn into this.
If Sarah continued to talk like this, even without a monster, it would become real. Just as Juno was about to stop Sarah, John spoke.
"I believe you."
Everyone looked at John.
Sarah looked as if she had found a lifesaver; that feeling of being affirmed was something others couldn't experience, because as the first person to discover the monster, no one wanted it to be a hallucination more than Sarah.
But it wasn't a hallucination, it was all real!
John's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Because I just saw it too."
The cave suddenly fell silent.
If this was true, then not only did they need to find a way out, but they also had to constantly guard against non-human creatures. What was most terrifying was that they currently didn't know what kind of creature this was.
Just as the team was on the verge of collapse.
John took off his backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out several cold firearms, infrared sights, and extended magazines.
Since he had come all this way, how could he not have made some preparations?