Chapter 228: Eyeball Monster's Weakness
Lin Ye channeled compressed spiritual energy into the eyeball monster's body, the violent energy completely tearing its form apart.
'Is that all it takes? Probably not.'
Lin Ye scanned his surroundings. The root systems overhead continued their slow descent, and those giant eyeballs showed no signs of fleeing or looking away.
"...How can you see me? Is it because of that strange mask? There's another consciousness attached to it, isn't there? Is it helping you locate me?"
The giant eyeball on the wall shattered, and the eyeball monster crawled out from within, dropping to the ground with a wet sound.
"You're correct... Are all these eyeballs your backup bodies? How many times do I need to kill you before I can leave through that portal?"
Lin Ye stared at the eyeball monster that had fallen to the ground, its form still dripping with viscous fluid.
"You can count for yourself. Every giant eyeball here serves as my spare body. And don't bother trying to attack the giant eyeballs directly—while they can only affect mental states and lack offensive capabilities, they're incredibly fast."
Even if Lin Ye could resist the giant eyeballs' influence, the eyeball monster showed no fear. This was its domain, and it considered itself immortal.
"So I have to kill you with my own hands, while you can only try to eliminate me. How many times must I end you before you'll flee?" Lin Ye had no intention of approaching the portal until he'd thoroughly dealt with the eyeball monster.
"I won't run, because I've already caught you!"
The eyeball monster suddenly materialized beside Lin Ye... only to be immediately impaled and exploded by his cross-shaped greatsword.
"How can you still see?! I clearly affected your mask!"
The newly hatched eyeball monster emitted sounds of utter disbelief.
"Because I can switch personalities. You affected the mask's consciousness—what does that have to do with me?"
Lin Ye stated this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"...Aren't you afraid I'll affect both sides simultaneously?"
The eyeball monster couldn't comprehend why Lin Ye would dare reveal the mask's secret.
"I don't think you're capable of that. Having numerous eyeballs means nothing if your brain doesn't function properly."
Lin Ye delivered the taunt with cold precision.
"...You know I can do it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to deal with so many explorers... You're provoking me. You want me to exert influence on both you and the mask simultaneously. Why?"
The eyeball monster saw through Lin Ye's intention.
"I was hoping to take the easy way out."
Lin Ye grabbed Number 43 and leaped down from the hanging ladder, thrusting his sword to explode the eyeball monster's body once more.
"You certainly could affect both me and the mask simultaneously. But if I keep switching personalities, I'll clearly feel the difference in influence between the two states. When that happens, your eyeballs become useless. You'll have only two choices: keep getting impaled by me, or have your eyeballs carry you away... Wait, you can't actually escape, can you?"
Lin Ye suddenly spotted the critical flaw. The eyeballs were indeed fast, but the eyeball monster itself moved at an ordinary pace. He had subconsciously assumed the giant eyeballs could carry the unhatched monster to safety, but another possibility existed—the eyeball monster might need to hatch immediately after death. When giant eyeballs shattered, it couldn't rely on them for escape. Moreover, this hatching process likely had distance limitations, preventing remote incubation.
"...You guessed correctly. I rarely appear within enemies' sightlines because it's dangerous. I can't escape."
The eyeball monster didn't deny its weakness, seeing no point in deception when Lin Ye wouldn't believe its lies anyway.
"Then you'd better make the most of your final opportunities to affect me. Because once you miss those chances, you won't be getting away."
Lin Ye shifted to the eyeball monster's side again, his sword piercing through and exploding its form once more.
"Unnecessary, because you're about to die. You're a respectable opponent. After your death, I'll make full use of your body."
The eyeball monster had abandoned random attempts to influence Lin Ye. As Lin Ye had pointed out, it needed to conserve its final opportunities for maximum effect.
"How do you plan to kill me? Using the root systems above?"
Lin Ye continuously demolished the eyeball monster's bodies, not pausing his attacks even while speaking.
"As a second-tier spiritual energy user, you're strong—absurdly so. But you have one weakness: you're only a second-tier spiritual energy user. Those root systems continuously drain the spiritual energy from this underground space. They'll keep descending until they reach the bottom. How long can you possibly last?"
The eyeball monster refused to believe it would lose a battle of attrition against a mere second-tier spiritual energy user.
"Then we'll just have to test that theory."
Lin Ye accelerated his elimination of the eyeball monsters. They weren't particularly weak, but their speed and strength fell slightly short of his own. Combined with the gap in weapons and technique, they stood no chance against him.
But Lin Ye wasn't having an easy time either. The spiritual energy concentration in the underground space gradually decreased, slowing his absorption rate. With consumption outpacing absorption, the spiritual energy stored within his body began to diminish steadily. Continuing like this, he would soon exhaust his available energy.
If he hadn't used the compressed spiritual energy bomb earlier, he might already need to drink nutrient solution to replenish his energy.
After demolishing another eyeball monster, Lin Ye suddenly noticed that the monster's body contained massive amounts of spiritual energy. This hadn't been obvious before, but now that the underground space's energy was depleted, he could clearly sense vast quantities of spiritual energy rapidly dispersing each time he destroyed a monster.
Most of this energy dissipated into the environment, with Lin Ye absorbing only a small fraction.
Discovering this, Lin Ye changed tactics. Instead of completely destroying the eyeball monsters, he attempted to preserve mostly intact corpses, then used them to absorb the residual spiritual energy within.
"How can you not even spare the corpses!"
The eyeball monster exclaimed indignantly.
"Can't help it. Your corpses are just too useful."
While absorbing the lingering spiritual energy from the corpses, Lin Ye noted that the giant eyeballs on the walls had significantly decreased in number. If he persisted a while longer, he could clear out all the eyeballs in this area.
He had previously tried ambushing the giant eyeballs directly, but their reaction speed proved incredibly fast. The moment Lin Ye approached, they would retreat deep into the walls.
And whenever Lin Ye switched targets, those giant eyeballs would immediately reemerge.
"I think perhaps we could negotiate. While I could eventually kill you if this continues, it would cost me many eyeballs. I'm willing to let you leave this place if you agree to a truce."
The eyeball monster suddenly proposed.
"Negotiate? What gives you the right to negotiate with me?"
Lin Ye impaled the newest eyeball monster—that was his answer.
"I didn't actually want to negotiate either!"
The eyeball monster abruptly materialized behind Lin Ye, raising sharp root-like appendages to stab toward his head.
A slanted spiritual energy barrier spun into existence, deflecting the roots. The eyeball monster's attack method fell within Lin Ye's expectations—even the location matched his predictions. So even without knowing the monster's exact position, Lin Ye could still block the ambush.