Chapter 367: Abyssal Creatures
"Your master was devoured by us long ago."
"Unfortunately, his body became unusable, so we had to change bodies."
"Your young mistress was also birthed by us."
"That fool is still deceiving himself to this day."
"If his power wasn't so formidable, we would have killed him long ago."
"How amusing."
...
The flesh pillars chattered away, revealing all sorts of information. They had endured for too long, and at this critical moment, they absolutely had to say everything they wanted to say.
Lin Ye: Good news, that old fellow won't attack us for now. Bad news, it seems you guys have also been parasitized by that thing.
Anna: So disgusting. Lucas: That weakened state! It's a parasitic reaction!
Kumar: It's over, I can't sense anything wrong inside my body at all.
The Old Butler stood in place, silently listening to the voices emanating from the surrounding flesh pillars. He wasn't angry, nor did he show any other expression.
One ghost after another entered the ruins, lining up to lie down in the coffin. The contents inside had already accumulated to half the coffin's volume.
Cecilia was waiting for the coffin to fill up, and also waiting for the three Survivors behind Lin Ye to be fully eroded. So she just stayed there, staring at Lin Ye, without taking any further action.
Lin Ye was waiting for Little Silver, who had already transformed into a young girl, to grow up. So he wasn't in a hurry to act either.
The Masked Man didn't dare to move recklessly at all, and could only shrink into a corner of the ruins.
Only the Old Butler was slowly moving his mutilated body.
He knew all the secrets of this manor, except for the matter of the master being parasitized by those bugs.
That wasn't a problem for the butler to consider.
The Old Butler exchanged a glance with Lin Ye, then suddenly moved in front of Cecilia, throwing a punch aimed at her head.
*Thud!*
The entire manor shook from the impact of that single punch!
That intangible barrier appeared once more, blocking the Old Butler's fist.
*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The entire manor began to tremble violently. That barrier seemed to be connected to the whole manor;
only by shattering the entire manor could the barrier be broken.
The Old Butler didn't stop. He understood the troublesome nature of this manor's final defense layer better than anyone. But as long as no one interfered, he could forcibly break through this barrier.
This was something he absolutely had to accomplish, even if it meant destroying the entire manor.
A cacophony of tearing sounds erupted. Various incompletely evolved, grotesquely shaped humanoid creatures ripped open the flesh pillars and squeezed their way out.
A flash of brilliant crimson lit up Lin Ye's right eye. The seal on the Abyssal Eye was instantly lifted. A creature from the Abyss that did not originally belong to this Plane appeared in the center of the church.
Earlier, Lin Ye had seen its phantom in the center of the church. After the seal on the Abyssal Eye was lifted, it traveled through Lin Ye's gaze to reach this Plane.
It was a mass of layered, semi-transparent, flesh-colored membranes. Deep within the membranes, there were constantly wriggling dark shadows.
The surfaces of the surrounding humanoid creatures began to grow Flesh Membranes, quickly becoming part of that mass of membranes. After devouring those humanoid creatures and the flesh pillars, the membranes continued to expand outward, soon reaching Lin Ye's feet.
Lin Ye and the others hurriedly retreated. Only the Old Butler remained, continuously attacking Cecilia.
Cecilia wanted to retreat, but the Old Butler wouldn't let it go.
Anna: Holy crap, boss, is this your trump card? Why do I feel this trump card is more dangerous than the BOSS?
Kumar: What do we do now? Just keep running outwards? Feels like the new BOSS the boss summoned can't catch up to us.
Lucas: We've been parasitized. Running out might not be useful anyway. What do you think, boss?
Lin Ye: You decide for yourselves. I'm going to collect some loot. I can't go back with an empty loot space.
Lin Ye moved towards the positions previously marked by Little Silver. He intended to fill his entire loot space.
Anna: That's true. Rather than thinking about enemies we can't handle, it's better to collect some valuable loot.
Lucas: Split up. Contact each other in the group chat if you encounter danger.
Kumar: Okay, I'll go over there.
The four of them split up. Lin Ye began rapidly looting various resources within the manor. Some parasitized attendants still lingered in the manor, and their bodies also began to grow flesh-colored membranes.
Lin Ye avoided areas where attendants were active and sped up his resource collection.
After Lin Ye and the others left, the Old Butler's body also began to grow Flesh Membranes. But he paid no mind to these changes at all. As long as he could destroy these bugs, he was willing to accept any outcome.
"You damned mad dog!"
Looking at the coffin now covered in Flesh Membranes, Cecilia was furious.
Without the contents of the coffin, it couldn't parasitize Lin Ye at all.
Moreover, the surrounding Flesh Membranes were increasing. If it continued to be entangled by the Old Butler, it wouldn't be long before it was submerged by the membranes.
Unlike Cecilia, who kept cursing the Old Butler, after learning the truth, the Old Butler hadn't uttered a single unnecessary word. Only action could carry out his will.
Soon, they were both submerged within the Flesh Membranes.
Guided by Little Silver, Lin Ye happily collected valuable items within the manor. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. Relying on the attendants, the Flesh Membranes sprouted in multiple locations across the manor. Soon, the manor became a jungle of membranes.
The four of them, Lin Ye and the others, scrambled out of the manor in a sorry state. They tried to destroy the patches of membranes, but the speed at which they destroyed them couldn't keep up with the speed at which the membranes grew.
Anna: How do we handle this? We can only run away!
Kumar: But I feel something within those membranes calling to me. I can still maintain my sanity for now, but I'm not sure how long I can hold on.
Lucas: Same here. Feels like these two BOSSes have merged.
Lin Ye: Sorry, I didn't expect things to turn out like this.
Anna: Haha, that's not the boss's fault. Besides, I feel like I can hold on until tomorrow morning.
Lucas: Really? Any secrets to that?
Anna: Sorry, my talent ability is related to mental willpower.
Kumar: Boss, do you still have maybe one and a half trump cards left?
Lin Ye: Hmm, for your sake, I've decided to reveal one more trump card.
Cecilia, her body now covered in Flesh Membranes, squeezed her way out of the membranes while carrying a coffin. The Old Butler, now transformed into a humanoid Flesh Membrane, followed closely behind her.
Lin Ye crushed a red-and-black card.
"Come forth! My War Machine! Peace! Giant robot! War fortress! A spaceship would be okay too!"
Lin Ye loudly voiced his desires. According to his luck theory, this made it easier to draw something good.
"Huh?"
A three-meter-tall gray humanoid suit of armor appeared before Lin Ye. The armor was riddled with gaps everywhere. A broken sword, only half remaining, was sheathed at its waist. On its back was a red firearm with a gun barrel that had been blown apart, leaving only a small section.
No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like a nearly scrapped, Nth-hand piece of junk. Whether it could even start up was a question.
Lucas: Uh... this trump card is a bit too... unique.
Anna: ...Maybe it'll be strong once it moves.
Kumar: That's where you guys don't get it. The older the artifact, the stronger it is. Get it? Relics! This thing looks like an antique at first glance. It's definitely a relic among relics!