A soldier from the Iron Guard beside Wolf lunged forward, drawing the short sword at his waist.
A wave of heat surged.
The deep crimson of half-extinguished quenching covered the entire blade.
Sizzle.
When the short sword struck the crawler, it actually failed to cut in immediately.
The extreme temperature instantly left a charred mark on the crawler's body.
But the crawler did not die.
It let out a hiss and scrambled backward.
The other crawlers were clearly frightened by the scene as well; instinct drove them to retreat a few steps, widening the distance from the team.
“Captain, it’s no good. They really are hard to kill.”
The man sheathed his short sword, his brow furrowed as he spoke to Wolf.
“Since they aren’t a threat for now, should we ignore them and keep moving?” Wolf asked Lu Yuan.
“Yes. Light two more lamps.”
As the team passed through the crawler area, the figures on the ceiling followed them to the edge of the zone. They stopped there, clinging to the ceiling, and watched the team depart.
Continuing downward.
The passage began to slope toward the catchment basin. The sweetness in the air grew thicker, so intense that it could be clearly smelled even through their scarves.
【Environmental Perception: Strong pollution source detected... advice: stay away...】
Lu Yuan tightened his mask.
It was coming.
By now, the walls on both sides were completely covered in a thick layer of greyish-green hyphae.
Clearing the way at the front of the Iron Guard was becoming increasingly difficult.
The dark red patterns on the short swords began to fade after continuous consumption. The range of carbonization for each strike shrank from the initial half-meter to twenty or thirty centimeters.
The density of the hyphae was growing exponentially.
Wolf checked the status of the four men in the front row.
“Rotate.”
The four men from the rear row stepped forward to take over the lead, and a new round of dark red patterns lit up on their short swords.
The cutting continued, but the speed had noticeably slowed.
The hyphae layer was so thick that things could be seen slowly writhing inside. Pulses of matter surged rhythmically from the depths to the surface and then back again, like blood circulating through veins.
Bolen stared at the walls of flesh for a long time before suddenly stopping. He took a copper probe from his toolbox and pressed it against the surface.
A faint blue-white light flickered along the probe for an instant.
The old man’s face changed drastically.
“These hyphae are a living conduction structure,” he said, his voice tight.
“What do you mean?” Bo Er asked.
“It’s mimicking the function of the copper conduction pathways,” Bolen said, withdrawing his hand, his fingertips trembling slightly.
“Conduction, transmission, distribution... it’s exactly the same function as the copper pipe network, but the medium has changed from copper to hyphae.”
“It’s building its own network.”
Kail crouched beside him, his pen flying across his notebook as he sketched the direction and distribution density of the hyphae on the wall.
【Detection target: ?】
【An odd fungal layer that has transcended biological limits and borders on the eerie. It seems to have undergone another evolution?】
【Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: +0.4... 14.8/100】
Lu Yuan watched the rhythmically writhing hyphae on the walls.
The hyphae weren't just parasitizing and spreading; they were actually learning?
Learning the structure of the copper pipe network and using their own tissue to replicate a conduction system.
If it were allowed to complete this, it could completely replace the copper pipe network and become the city’s ‘new veins’ underground.
If that happened, what would be the point of sealing off a single catchment basin?
Lu Yuan suppressed the thought.
“Speed up!”
The team increased their pace.
After walking for another ten minutes, the passage ahead suddenly widened.
It was the catchment basin.
The second Iron Guard group clearing the way stopped at the entrance.
The density of the hyphae surged here. When the dark red patterns of the short swords cut in, they could only carbonize the surface to a depth of less than ten centimeters; the hyphae beneath began to regenerate almost simultaneously, filling the carbonized sections.
Clearly, this was no longer something that could be easily cut through by a few short swords, and the team didn't have much time to waste.
Wolf stopped at the entrance, and the Iron Guard soldiers behind him followed suit.
Heinrich walked to the edge of the entrance and peered inside.
The holy light inscriptions on his silver-white plate armor flickered once and then dimmed.
He turned to Lu Yuan, his lips pressed into a thin line, but said nothing.
Lu Yuan walked to the entrance.
The catchment basin was completely different from his last visit.
Last time, the deep green vines had only spread from the right passage entrance, mostly blocked by the copper frame.
Now, the entire catchment basin was completely covered by layers of vines and hyphae.
Ceiling, floor, walls—none were spared.
The greyish-green hyphae formed the base layer, with deep green vines climbing and weaving over them. The two were so entangled that it was impossible to tell where the hyphae ended and the vines began.
The copper frame was still there, but it was so heavily entwined that only fragments of its copper silhouette were visible, like a skeleton mostly consumed by vines.
Bolen stared at the exposed section of the frame for a few seconds.
“The frame structure is still there,” he said in a low voice. “Clear the vines on the surface, and I can perform the inscription.”
The greyish-green eyes at the tips of the vines were all open. There were ten times more than last time, packed densely together and all facing the entrance.
But none of that was the most striking thing.
In the very center of the catchment basin.
Something that hadn't been there last time.
A spherical structure, about two meters in diameter, hung in the middle of the vine network between the ceiling and the floor, as if being held up from all sides by countless vines.
The surface of the sphere was covered in a dense mass of eyes and hyphae.
The eyes varied in size—the largest were as big as fists, while the smallest were no larger than a fingernail. All were open and rolling, as if observing every direction at once.
The sphere was throbbing.
Like a heart.
With every throb, the sphere expanded and then contracted, and the eyes on its surface blinked in unison. The vines and hyphae throughout the entire catchment basin rose and fell with its rhythm—the walls were moving, the floor was moving, and the ceiling was moving.
Lu Yuan could feel the pulsation rising through the soles of his feet.
Bolen stood behind Lu Yuan and saw the object. He thumped his cane on the ground.
“The source of the pulse,” Bolen said, his voice urgent. “That’s the rhythm!”
【Detection target: ? (Mycelium Sub-Core)... highly dangerous...】
【Warning: Advice: stay away... pollution concentration is extremely high...】
【You have witnessed a brand-new ?, Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: +1.0... 15.8/100】
A 1.0 increase at once?
Lu Yuan stared at the throbbing sphere.
Something that hadn't existed a few days ago had grown from nothing into a two-meter-diameter “heart” in just a few days.
And this was only a sub-core?
Wolf stood nearby, looking into the catchment basin. He was silent for a few seconds before turning to Lu Yuan.
Should they just start burning? He felt the thing in front of them was very dangerous.
“The plan remains the same,” Lu Yuan said. “Burn the vines and seal the passage entrance.”
He glanced at the sphere.
“Burn this thing along with them. Dangerous or not, it has to go.”
He took a canister of mithril from his waist. Seeing this, Bo Er took one out as well.
Wolf nodded and turned to face the Iron Guard.
This time, it wasn't just the front row.
All twelve men pressed their right hands to their chests simultaneously, and dark red light flared from their fingertips at the same time.
Everyone’s state underwent a drastic change in that moment.
Their pupils constricted slightly, their breathing slowed, and a wave of heat surged.
Dark red patterns of varying intensity appeared on the skin of all twelve men.
Short swords were drawn.
Heinrich’s Holy Armored Army formed a semi-circle, with Bolen and Kail protected inside the arc.
The holy light inscriptions were all activated, the silver-white light illuminating the entrance brilliantly.
The Iron Guard deployed on both flanks of the Holy Armored Army.
“Three,” Lu Yuan unscrewed the mithril cap.
“Two,” Bo Er unscrewed his canister.
“One.”
Two canisters of mithril were thrown into the catchment basin simultaneously.
Glass shattered.
Silver-white flames erupted violently within the catchment basin.
The two canisters of mithril shattered at the same time.
The silver-white alchemical fire exploded within the basin, burning from the floor to the ceiling, covering every corner.
The deep green vines withered and curled in the silver flames, and the greyish-green eyes burst one by one, their fluids hissing and smoking as they splashed against the walls. Large areas of the vine network were burned to ash within the first dozen seconds.
But the underlying hyphae still hadn't completely died.
The silver flames burned away the vines but only scorched the surface of the hyphae; the greyish-green tissue deeper inside was still slowly writhing.
However, it was much thinner now, and large areas of the copper structure were exposed. The copper frame was almost entirely intact.
Lu Yuan’s gaze landed on the sphere.
The moment the silver flames enveloped the sphere, the eyes on its surface all closed at once, rather than being destroyed by the fire.
They were actively retracting, clearly triggered by the thing's instincts.
The outer layers of hyphae and vines were stripped away by the silver flames, carbonizing and falling off, but the sphere itself only shrank by one layer.
Instead, the frequency of its throbbing increased, jumping faster and faster.
Then, the entire pipe network vibrated violently.
‘It’s calling for backup.’
Lu Yuan did not hesitate.
“Iron Guard, get in there! Clear the copper frame!”
“Holy Armored Army, establish a defensive line at the right passage entrance!”
Wolf led the Iron Guard into the catchment basin. Before the silver flames had even fully died out, they stepped inside over the embers.
The dark red patterns on the twelve short swords were fully active, clearing outward from the copper frame as the center. The Pure Fire carbonized the remaining hyphae, revealing the copper frame section by section.
The two canisters of mithril brought by the Iron Guard were also opened and splashed onto the thickest areas of hyphae on either side of the copper frame. The double burning of silver flames and Pure Fire caused the hyphae layers to peel off in sheets.
Heinrich led the Holy Armored Army to form a line at the catchment basin entrance and the right passage entrance. The holy light inscriptions on their silver-white plate armor were pushed to maximum brightness, forming a curtain of light.
Wolf glanced at the half-dead sphere and looked back at Lu Yuan.
“While it hasn't recovered?”
Lu Yuan nodded.
Wolf led two Iron Guard soldiers and charged toward the sphere, with two members of the Holy Armored Army following on the flanks, their holy light inscriptions illuminating the sphere’s grey-black surface.
The dark red patterns on Wolf’s short sword flared to their brightest as he plunged the blade into the sphere’s outer shell.
The moment the edge cut in, the sphere shuddered violently.
Then the sweetness came.
It wasn't the faint sweetness from before in the pipe network; it was an overwhelming, almost tangible sweetness.
It was as if someone had poured an entire barrel of syrup onto a red-hot iron plate—it was so sweet it was cloying and nauseating.
No blood or fluid flowed from where the sphere was pierced; instead, a stream of pale blue gas poured out.
As the gas emerged, the remaining vines around the sphere underwent a sudden change. The greyish-green eyes that had been burned to empty shells by the silver flames suddenly burst open from within.
Pale blue petals unfurled one by one from the eye casings like some kind of deformed flower, blooming silently atop the charred remains of the vines.
One flower.
Two flowers.
Dozens of them.
Within seconds, every remaining vine tip in the catchment basin had bloomed.
Then, the flowers bore fruit.
The speed was so fast it was as if a fast-forward button had been pressed.
Thumb-sized greyish-green fruits emerged from the centers of the flowers, clustered together densely like bunches of deformed grapes hanging from withered branches.
The sweetness reached its absolute peak at this moment.
It was so sweet it didn't feel like it was being smelled; it felt as if it were being poured directly into the brain.
【Environmental Perception: Extremely strong pollution source detected... get away! Get away immediately!】
【Sanity: -2... 118/120】
Lu Yuan backed away two steps; his scarf offered no protection against this.
But the five men standing by the sphere—Wolf, the two Iron Guard, and the two Holy Armored Army soldiers—were too close.
Lu Yuan saw Wolf’s hand stop.
His short sword was still embedded in the sphere, but Wolf’s body had frozen, his fingers trembling as if resisting something.
His dark red patterns were flickering violently, brightening and dimming as if the Pure Fire were locked in a tug-of-war with some other power.
The two Iron Guard soldiers were in even worse shape.
Their dark red patterns had extinguished completely, and their short swords slipped from their hands, clattering to the floor.
Their eyes had lost focus, their pupils were dilated, and their mouths hung slightly open.
On the armor of the two Holy Armored Army soldiers, the holy light inscriptions were flickering frantically. One was still holding on.
The other’s holy light suddenly went out.
It didn't fade gradually; it vanished in an instant, as if someone had pinched out a candle wick.
Holy light inscriptions were linked to one's will.
As long as the will remained, the holy light would not extinguish.
His will had been eroded.
The Holy Armored Army soldier who had lost his holy light stood there with a blank expression, then reached out and grabbed a cluster of the nearest fruit.
“Don’t touch it!” Heinrich shouted sternly from the rear.
But the hand had already gripped the fruit.
The skin of the fruit burst upon contact, and greyish-green juice seeped into the gaps of his gloves, spreading up his wrist.
Greyish-green patterns began to appear on the surface of the soldier’s silver-white plate armor, as if hyphae were spreading from the point of contact throughout his entire body.
His mouth opened wider, as if he were laughing, or perhaps screaming silently.
Lu Yuan did not hesitate.
His consciousness sank into his chest. Click.
【Timekeeper · Acceleration (Activated)】
【Sanity: -1... -1...】
The world slowed down. The sweetness was still there, but in the accelerated state, it became something bearable.
Lu Yuan drew the copper sword at his waist and charged in.
The first was the Holy Armored Army soldier who had grabbed the fruit.
The greyish-green patterns had already spread to his forearm and would reach his shoulder in a few seconds.
Lu Yuan flipped his copper sword and slammed the back of the blade heavily into the man’s neck.
The force was immense—so much so that a normal person would never use it against an ally.
But Lu Yuan knew that anything less wouldn't knock him out. If the hyphae completed the parasitism through the juice, the man who woke up wouldn't be one of their own anymore. He had to render him completely unconscious before the hyphae could spread to the brain.
The vibration of the cervical spine conducted to the brainstem; the soldier’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed instantly.
The second was the other Holy Armored Army soldier. His holy light was still flickering, and his will hadn't completely collapsed, but his body was no longer under his control; his hands were reaching for the fruit.
The back of the blade swept across his temple.
A dull thud, and he fell.
The third and fourth were the two Iron Guard soldiers. They were even closer to the fruit, their fingers almost touching them.
Lu Yuan kicked one over and slammed the back of his blade into the back of the other's head.
All four men lay on the ground.
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