99: The Kings of the Underground River

The morning sunlight pierced through the mist of the Rainforest, spilling onto a tributary of the Amazon River.

Lin Feng and Wang Dalong were laboriously pushing the Golden Escape Pod, which had run out of energy, toward the shallow shoals of the riverbank.

The thing didn't look large, but the density of the metal hull on its lower half was extremely high, making it incredibly heavy. It took the two of them over half an hour of struggling to barely push it onto a bank hidden by dense vegetation.

"Phew... I'm exhausted..." Wang Dalong slumped onto the ground, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Brother Feng, are we really just leaving this precious thing here? If the bottom half of this is pure gold, just think how much it'd be worth!"

Lin Feng glanced at the escape pod, which shimmered with a dull golden light in the sun, and shook his head. "We can't take it with us. It's too heavy and too conspicuous. Leaving it here is probably its best destination."

He knew in his heart that the value of this vessel far exceeded what gold could measure. It was one of the last pieces of evidence that the Zhuojin Star civilization had ever existed. But in their current state, trying to transport it out of this primordial Rainforest was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Forcing it out would only bring endless trouble and danger.

Wang Dalong understood this too. He just smacked his lips somewhat reluctantly and pulled out his camera to take a few final close-ups of the escape pod.

"Let's go. We need to find a way back." Lin Feng adjusted his backpack and identified the direction of the sun.

They began heading downstream along the riverbank, following the flow of the water.

Progress through the Rainforest was exceptionally difficult. Twisted tree roots, slippery moss, and omnipresent insects tested their already exhausted stamina.

After walking for about two hours, both were exhausted. They found a relatively open riverbank, sat down to rest, and replenished themselves with their last remaining energy bars.

"Brother Feng, where do you think we are now?" Wang Dalong looked at the unfamiliar river channel before them, feeling a bit lost. "How far are we from Eagle Head Rock?"

"I don't know." Lin Feng unscrewed his canteen and took a sip. "But if we follow the main current, we're bound to reach civilization eventually."

Just then, a massive splash suddenly erupted from the river's surface nearby.

"Splash!"

A colossal creature slowly rose from the water.

It was a hideous and ugly head, covered in a thick, armor-like plating. Two golden vertical pupils coldly scanned the surroundings.

Its size was a whole circle larger than the prehistoric crocodile they had encountered in the river bend! It was practically a moving hill!

It was the very same Emperor Crocodile that had hunted them!

Lin Feng and Wang Dalong's hair stood on end instantly. Almost simultaneously, the two leaped up from the ground and ducked behind a massive rock, even holding their breath.

The Emperor Crocodile didn't seem to notice them. It just lazily rolled over in the middle of the river, revealing a back as broad as a hill, then opened its bloody maw and let out a yawn.

Hiding behind the rock, the two didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Only now did they realize what terrifying killing intent was hidden within this seemingly peaceful river channel.

If they hadn't taken that escape pod and had instead chosen to dive in from the exit of this Underground River, they would likely have become a meal for these prehistoric behemoths long before seeing El Dorado.

That escape pod was not just an emergency tool; it was the only ticket to pass through this "King's Road."

After a long time, the Emperor Crocodile seemed to have had enough sun. It swung its massive tail and sank back into the water, vanishing without a trace.

Lin Feng and Wang Dalong finally breathed a sigh of relief, their backs already soaked with cold sweat.

"Good grief... that scared the life out of me..." Wang Dalong patted his chest. "I can't stay in this hellhole for another second!"

They didn't dare stay by the river any longer and immediately got up to continue their journey.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, as they passed through a dense palm forest, a sight appeared in the river ahead that made their hearts stop once more.

A giant python was coiled on a reef in the middle of the river.

Its body was as thick as an adult's waist, and its dark green scales shimmered with a metallic luster in the sunlight. Just by coiling there, it looked like a small mountain. And the part of it visible above the water was likely less than a third of its total body length.

It was the very Titanoboa that had swallowed a raft in one gulp beneath the waterfall!

At this moment, it seemed to have just finished feeding, its belly bulging high as it lazily digested its meal.

Lin Feng and Wang Dalong hid behind a tree, watching the behemoth that looked like it had stepped out of myth, a wave of lingering fear rising in their hearts.

They finally understood that the ecosystem surrounding El Dorado was an entirely different world. These kings, who had survived from prehistoric times to the present, were El Dorado's outermost and most powerful natural barriers.

The so-called "Guardians" weren't just the indigenous tribes; they also included these beyond-reason behemoths.

They were glad they had chosen the clue from the Archives and found the relatively safe "front door" route mentioned in Pedro's notes. They were also glad that, in the end, they had that indestructible escape pod.

If any single step had gone wrong, their bones would have been long gone.

The two took a wide detour, staying far away from the area where the giant python was, and continued downstream.

After these two scares, they became even more cautious, moving as if walking on thin ice.

Finally, as the sun was about to set, the faint "putt-putt-putt" sound of a motor reached their ears.

Their spirits lifted, and they glanced at each other, both seeing the wild joy in the other's eyes.

"It's a boat!"

"A human boat!"