Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 156: The Rope

The rope slipped into the well, breaking the silence with a soft splash.

Victor, being the closest, immediately heard the sound. He turned his head, just in time to see Ethan pulling a grappling hook from his bag, about to toss it down.

Victor opened his mouth to speak, but Ethan gave him a quick shake of the head.

Victor hesitated but said nothing. He turned away as if nothing had happened.

Ethan hesitated for a moment. The grappling hook was made of metal—dropping it would make too much noise.

Before he could rethink, Victor caught his gaze and gave him a slight nod.

Ethan understood. Victor was covering for him. Without hesitation, he tossed the hook into the well.

"Ryan, help me strap this on!" Victor suddenly shouted at the exact moment the hook hit the water.

His timing was perfect. The loud shout completely drowned out the splash, blending so naturally it felt rehearsed.

This was why he was the best sniper. Just by estimating the hook’s weight and gauging the well’s depth from earlier, he had calculated the precise moment it would hit the water.

Victor didn’t know why Ethan needed to do this, but he trusted that there was a reason.

Once everything was ready, Leo tied the rope securely to a sturdy tree. After a quick exchange of glances, the four of them jumped in.

The well water was murky. Even with their diving masks, visibility was low. They dove deeper. Strangely, the deeper they went, the clearer the water became.

Williams led the descent, reaching for the spring opening at the bottom. Ethan grabbed him by the shoulder and gestured for him to stop.

Victor and Leo also came to a halt.

Ethan pinched his nose with his fingers in a signal and then covered his breathing vent to prevent air bubbles from escaping.

The three exchanged glances, not entirely sure what he was doing—but they got the message. They all held their breath.

Ethan looked up. A faint silhouette stood at the mouth of the well, peering down.

Judging by the figure, it was Celeste.

Of course, if it wasn’t Celeste, that would be strange. If it were Doe, they wouldn’t even see a shadow.

Celeste remained at the edge, observing.

Just as Ethan was on the verge of running out of air, she finally stood up and left.

At the same moment, the group noticed something alarming—the rope they had used to descend was being pulled up, inch by inch.

Leo’s eyes widened. He pointed up, about to speak.

Fortunately, Victor knew him too well. He reached over and clamped a hand over Leo’s air tube before a single bubble could escape.

This was exactly why Leo was never assigned to reconnaissance. He was pure assault. His job was to stay hidden until the order to charge came.

Leo’s specialty had already been mentioned—raw speed. His record? A hundred meters in just 4.38 seconds. Five seconds faster than the world record.

If he wasn’t in the military, his name would be in the record books.

People once thought he had some kind of speed-based ability, but it turned out his lower leg muscles were simply different.

A normal person had two calf muscles at the back of their leg, Leo had three. Not to mention, the tendons in his feet were layered in triple strands.

That was why a reckless guy like him had managed to stay in special forces for so long.

Above them, the rope was steadily being pulled out of the well.

The group was seething, but Ethan’s expression was colder than ice.

A few more seconds passed before they couldn’t hold their breath any longer. They exhaled slightly, releasing a small stream of bubbles into the water.

Immediately, they held their breath again and waited. Explore more stories at novelbuddy

Ethan fumbled around the well’s edge underwater.

When he had tossed the grappling hook and rope earlier, he had aimed toward the side on purpose—he didn’t want them falling into the spring below.

His memory was spot on. Right where he expected, he retrieved both the rope and hook.

Leo and Williams looked at him in shock, but Victor gave him a silent thumbs-up.

After securing the grappling hook, the four surfaced.

They were about fifteen meters below the well’s opening. Even with the rope and hook, throwing it up would be no easy task.

Ethan stared at the distance, suddenly realizing a problem—he had been so focused on securing their escape that he hadn’t considered how hard it would be to get the hook to latch onto something.

Victor grinned. "Heh, I got this."

From his belt, he pulled out an underwater spear launcher.

Ethan’s eyes lit up. "Victor, you absolute genius."

Victor chuckled. "I didn’t bring it on purpose. You guys just didn’t have one in your bags. If you did, you would’ve brought it too."

Ethan nodded and handed the grappling hook to Victor. He secured it to the harpoon, lifted the launcher, and aimed at the well’s opening.

Thump!

With a muffled blast, the harpoon shot upward, carrying the hook with it.

The recoil was stronger than expected—Victor was sent plunging back into the water.

Ethan yanked the rope, feeling a sudden tension. The hook had caught onto something.

He pulled hard to test its grip. It held firm. That was all they needed.

Just as he was about to climb, Leo shoved past him and grabbed the rope. "Ethan, I’ll go first."

Ethan grinned and let go. He knew what Leo was thinking—if there was danger up there, he’d rather be the one to face it first.

Leo ascended the rope at an incredible speed. Ethan watched, a bit dazed. No surprise there. The guy was a soldier through and through, his technique was textbook perfect.

Williams followed next, then Victor gestured for Ethan to go up before him.

Ethan sighed to himself. These guys really treated him like some fragile rookie.

He tried mimicking their climbing but quickly realized he didn’t have the right technique to do so. In the end, he had to use his legs, squeezing the rope between them as he scrambled upward.

By the time he finally reached the top, Williams and Leo reached down and hauled him up.

Victor, of course, had it the easiest. The three of them simply yanked the rope and pulled him up in one go.

"What now? Why would Celeste do this to us?" Leo asked, frustrated.

Ethan patted his shoulder in reassurance. "I’m not sure it was her. Do you remember how Doe controlled you?"

Leo’s eyes darkened. A wave of fury washed over him as he clenched his teeth. "I knew that damn ghost was up to something from the start."

Victor tossed him a backpack. "Alright, enough of that. Get changed and quit complaining."

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on novelbuddy.cσ๓.

Once they were all geared up, they sprinted back toward the tree marking the entrance.

Ethan gave a final warning. "Try not to fire your guns. If Doe possessed Celeste, shooting her would only hurt her body. It won’t do much to Doe."

On the way here, he had noticed Leo had fully loaded his SMG and pistol, safety off, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

Hearing Ethan’s words, Leo nodded.

Then, without hesitation, he charged forward—straight into the tree.