Chapter 368: Underground Factory
Before Lin Ye could even react, his War Machine was smashed to pieces by a tide of Flesh Membrane that surged toward him like a flood.
The fragments of the War Machine were scattered in the tide, forcing Lin Ye to quickly distance himself from the oncoming wave.
Fortunately, the Old Butler was keeping Cecilia occupied, otherwise she would have already thrown that coffin packed with Flesh Membrane right into his face.
While fleeing, Lin Ye didn't forget to use his Compressed Spiritual Energy Blade to ambush Cecilia who was chasing him from behind, but it was as if she had no vital spots;
no matter how he stabbed, she just wouldn't die.
The Old Butler was facing the same problem—no matter how he fought, he couldn't kill his opponent either.
Kumar: I can't hold on much longer. The closer I get to that Flesh Membrane, the stronger my urge to merge with it becomes.
Lucas: Same here. But I can use my talent ability to transform one more time. After transforming, I should be able to hold out a bit longer.
Kumar: So that means I'm the only one doomed?! Boss, can you still use that other half of your trump card? If not, I'm turning around to fight them to the death!
Lin Ye: Don't be reckless. Can you take us underground?
Kumar: I can, but moving people consumes a huge amount of stamina and mental energy. I might not be able to bring you back up. Lin Ye: What if you only take one person?
Kumar: Not much difference. As long as I'm carrying people, the consumption increases. For up to five people, there's almost no difference.
Lin Ye: You two, are you coming down with us or staying up here? Staying up here means you can keep running. Going down might mean you can't come back up.
Anna: We're going down together. If we fail, we can fight our way back up together.
Lucas: Exactly. I don't want to use my talent ability just to run away.
Lin Ye: Then it's settled. We all go.
Kumar: I'm starting then, get ready! 3!
The moment he counted to three, Kumar acted. The ground beneath their feet began to sink downward, quickly swallowing them into the earth. The four of them were squeezed into a cramped space less than one cubic meter, and the surrounding oxygen began to rapidly deplete.
Anna: Damn it! If you can't count down properly, then don't! And you didn't even mention your ability doesn't provide oxygen!
Kumar: Sorry, I was a bit nervous just now. I was thinking of using the skill when I counted to three, but I ended up starting with three. Don't worry about the oxygen;
we're almost there.
Right after Kumar sent the message, the ground beneath their feet gave way, and they fell into the interior of an Underground Space.
Little Silver had been following Lin Ye the whole time, requiring no extra effort from him.
The moment they landed, Kumar collapsed onto the ground. He rarely moved people underground, and he had just accelerated their movement speed.
Anna: Judging by the manor's style, I thought this was some medieval pastoral setting. Who would have thought there'd be a modern factory underneath the manor!
They had landed inside a production workshop. Surrounding them was a circle of automated assembly line machinery that looked far more advanced than the assembly lines on Blue Star.
Lin Ye: It seems like they're producing some kind of potion here. Those guests probably turned into that after drinking this potion.
"Hey, don't touch that!"
Anna shouted loudly.
Hearing Anna's warning, Kumar and Lucas snapped out of it. They had just reached for the potions and were almost about to pick one up and drink it.
Lin Ye: Let's go. We don't have much time.
Lin Ye led the way. Although the walls here were also made of that material that interfered with mental perception, his perception range was vast. He could find the correct path by sensing the surrounding terrain.
Under Lin Ye's guidance, they quickly found the path leading to the core area of the Underground Space.
The core area was even deeper underground. The moment they entered it, Anna took a step back in fright.
"...What the hell is this?"
At the center of the core area stood a massive metal column. The column was crawling with a large number of worms of varying lengths, thicknesses, and colors. Some of these worms still retained human features on their bodies.
Beneath the column were several rings of circular metal containers. The worms secreted liquids of different colors. These liquids flowed down the column into the containers, where they were then separated.
"Who cares what it is."
Under Lin Ye's control, the liquid in the containers began to burn, igniting the worms on the column.
These liquids contained components of the worms' blood.
"Wait! Stop!"
The Masked Man suddenly rushed into the core area. He lunged toward the column, using the spiritual energy within his body to disperse the blood that was continuously burning upward.
Lin Ye didn't attack him. This guy was considered one of the few relatively normal people in this manor.
"Hey, where's your Heavy Machine Gun?"
Lucas was still thinking about the Masked Man's Heavy Machine Gun.
"Left it up there. I only made it here by sheer luck. I advise you not to go looking for it."
The Masked Man didn't turn around. Instead, he carefully observed the worms on the column.
"Is there someone you know among them? Even if you find them, what then? You can't exactly take them home and raise them, can you?"
Anna didn't believe these worms had any possibility of recovery.
"What you're looking for should be in that room. The person I'm looking for is right here. You can leave now. Time is running out, so please don't disturb me."
The Masked Man took off his mask, knelt on the ground, hugged a rather plump worm, and burst into tears.
Lin Ye walked toward the small door behind the column. Flames erupted on the column once again. The worms didn't flee or make a sound;
they just continued producing the very liquid that was setting them ablaze.
Kumar: Sigh, why do we always run into this kind of messed-up situation during every Station Mission? Might as well go scavenge in the red maze.
Lucas: If it weren't for this kind of messed-up situation, the system wouldn't have dropped us here.
Anna: Didn't that woman say this was a transaction between her and the system? The system just lets us mess with its client like this?
Lin Ye: The system doesn't care about this kind of mess. The transaction was just to get us here. What we do after we arrive has nothing to do with the system.
Pushing open the door, inside was a narrow bedroom. A corpse lay on the bed.
The corpse opened its eyes and looked at Lin Ye standing in the doorway.
Lin Ye didn't enter the room. Instead, he stood outside the door and attacked the corpse with his Compressed Spiritual Energy Blade.
The corpse didn't resist or move, allowing Lin Ye's attacks to land on its body.
But no matter how Lin Ye attacked, the scattered flesh and blood would always regroup on the old man's body like worms.
"Young man, doing that is useless. You must enter the room and kill me with your own hands, using the weapon in your grasp."
The corpse suddenly spoke.
"Why should I do that? What are you?"
Lin Ye didn't stop his attacks. The Spiritual Energy Concentration in the environment wasn't low anyway, so he could freely use the spiritual energy nearby.
"I am the master of this manor. The method to kill me is related to a ritual."
The corpse had its head blown apart by Lin Ye again.
"Could you please stop hitting my head? It disrupts my train of thought."
After its head reformed, the corpse continued speaking.