# Chapter 48: Why "Again"?
The wind whistled past his ears as Su Xiao was in a state of free fall, surrounded by pitch-black darkness. Based on his earlier judgment, this vertical shaft was at least several dozen meters deep.
The Slaughter Shortsword appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He flipped the blade, holding it in a reverse grip as he stabbed it into the metal wall, the blade pointing downward.
Zzzt~
The Slaughter Shortsword carved a vertical slash mark down the metal wall as Su Xiao braced one foot against it, significantly reducing his falling speed.
Due to Su Xiao's decreased speed, Bubu Wang, who was also free-falling from above, immediately crashed into Su Xiao. Su Xiao supported Bubu Wang with one arm as Bubu Wang turned his head and bit onto the hem of Su Xiao's windbreaker. Su Xiao released Bubu Wang, and the dog successfully hung onto Su Xiao's body.
Su Xiao's body grew heavier, and his falling speed noticeably increased. That fool Bubu Wang had gained a few more pounds recently.
Just after catching Bubu Wang, Amu fell from above. Su Xiao's left hand tightly gripped the sword handle while his right arm was bent in front of his chest. As Amu fell past Su Xiao, his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Amu's horn.
Zzzt!
The sparks flying from the Slaughter Shortsword became more pronounced. Amu was already very heavy, and on top of that, it was holding onto Alisa Herbert. Although Alisa Herbert only weighed a little over ninety pounds.
Earlier, Alisa Herbert had been screaming loudly, but now there was no sound. Su Xiao looked closely and saw that Alisa Herbert had already fainted from fright.
To be precise, Alisa Herbert was in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. She wasn't completely knocked out by the falling sensation. Sometimes she would suddenly wake up, but upon realizing she was still falling, her eyes would roll back and she'd faint again. This had happened several times back and forth, until finally Alisa Herbert suspected she was dreaming.
The honest bull Amu barely restrained the urge to throw Alisa Herbert away. In its view, the "little thing" in its hand was far too strange. It had to hold this "little thing" very carefully, otherwise it would crush her to death.
Actually, fainting couldn't be blamed entirely on Alisa. Half of it was from fear, and the other half was from being squeezed by Amu. For Alisa, who had spent her "entire life" holed up at home, today's events were far too stimulating. But she didn't know yet that the current situation was just the "opening act." Even more exciting things were waiting for her.
Su Xiao and the others' falling speed had noticeably decreased, but just then, a figure clad in silver armor fell from above. The figure grabbed onto Amu's horn.
"Moo!!"
Amu roared angrily. Although its horns were its weapons, they were also considered a vital point. If an enemy grabbed its horns, it would at least be severely injured even if it didn't die.
It was fine when Su Xiao grabbed its horns, but Amu couldn't tolerate Gauss grabbing them.
Cold air surged from Amu's horns. Gauss's hand went numb, and he quickly let go. As soon as he released his grip, he found a pair of furious bull eyes glaring at him.
Gauss continued falling downward, but his action of grabbing Amu's horn had slowed his descent momentum.
Because Su Xiao was using the Slaughter Shortsword to reduce his falling speed, Gauss soon disappeared from his sight, falling into the darkness below.
The descent continued. After falling for about five seconds, Su Xiao's brow furrowed. Earlier, he had tested the depth of the pit with a small stone. Under normal circumstances, he should have already reached the bottom.
Just as Su Xiao was feeling puzzled, a loud clang came from below. Gauss had reached the bottom.
Su Xiao raised his arm and pulled the Slaughter Shortsword out of the metal wall. His falling speed gradually increased.
Boom!
Amu landed first. Su Xiao and Bubu Wang sat on Amu's back, surrounded by pitch-black darkness.
In an area this deep, it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Su Xiao pulled a military-grade glow stick from his waist and snapped it. The "peroxide" and "ester compounds" inside reacted, transferring energy to the fluorescent dye and emitting a blue glow.
Using the not-very-strong blue light, Su Xiao began observing his surroundings. The pit he was in was similar to a vertical shaft, cylindrical in shape. The surrounding walls were entirely made of metal construction. He wondered how the Kingdom of Saint Sordin's technological level could have built such a metal shaft.
Beneath Su Xiao's feet was a large iron plate. The surrounding metal walls had no exits. It was like the bottom of a water cup.
"Dead end?"
Su Xiao began examining the surrounding metal walls. Aside from large patches of red rust, he found nothing. He tried knocking to search for mechanisms, but still had no success.
After about a dozen seconds, Su Xiao confirmed there were no mechanisms around. If not for the hidden side mission, he would have suspected this was a trap set by the old king.
"Princess, are you alright?"
Gauss was trying to "wake up" Alisa Herbert. Alisa was crouched on the ground, her eyes full of confusion. Her expression clearly said: "Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going? Do I have to keep squatting here?"
Clearly, Alisa Herbert was completely bewildered.
Su Xiao ignored the bewildered Alisa Herbert. He also crouched down, knocking on the metal floor beneath him.
Thump, thump, thump...
"It's hollow."
Su Xiao punched the metal floor beneath his feet. With a creak, the metal floor suddenly sank a few centimeters.
"I see."
Su Xiao understood what was happening. They hadn't entered a dead end; they were stuck. Based on his judgment, the metal shaft they were in should be an extremely deep elevator shaft. The metal plate beneath their feet was the elevator platform. Due to years of disrepair and the damp underground environment causing rust, this platform had gotten stuck halfway.
Moreover, Su Xiao hadn't entered beneath the throne through conventional means. He had destroyed the throne and jumped straight down, so the mechanism below hadn't been activated.
If following the normal procedure, first you'd activate the throne's mechanism, then the metal platform would rise up. After closing the throne, the metal platform would slowly descend.
"Amu, jump."
Su Xiao's words confused Amu, but it instinctively jumped.
Boom!
Amu's feet stomped onto the metal plate. With a creak, a harsh sound of metal twisting came as the entire metal plate sank about half a meter.
"Continue."
Amu leaped high into the air, then performed a heavy drop.
Crack!
The sound of metal breaking came from below, and the entire metal plate shuddered.
Zzz...
A piercing friction sound emerged from beneath the metal plate as it began slowly descending. The initial speed was manageable, but after descending for a while, the rust on the mechanism below must have been worn away, causing the metal plate's descent to accelerate rapidly.
If the metal plate were just free-falling, that would be fine, but there seemed to be bearings or something below it, causing the descent speed to continuously increase.
Now Su Xiao was like someone in a malfunctioning elevator, with the elevator accelerating downward.
"Good luck."
Su Xiao glanced at Gauss, then took a short rod from his storage space. Bubu Wang and Amu immediately understood. Bubu Wang wrapped all four legs around Su Xiao's left leg, while Amu grabbed Alisa Herbert with one hand and Su Xiao's right leg with the other.
Su Xiao squeezed the short rod in his hand. Several sections extended from both sides of the rod, with the tips forming cone shapes.
Ding.
The extended rod, like a horizontal bar, braced against the metal walls on both sides. The muscles in Su Xiao's arm holding the metal rod bulged as his feet went empty, and his falling speed sharply decreased.
Gauss, standing on the metal plate, twitched his mouth as he looked up at Su Xiao and the others. The distance between them was growing farther and farther. He felt that this scene before him looked very familiar.