Chapter 402: Tumor-like structure
Lin Ye did not follow Derrick into the pasture, because the other party seemed to want to lure some powerful individuals to go there with him.
Neither Martin nor the armed squad leader took the bait, nor did they try to stop Derrick from leaving. Instead, they cooperated tacitly with Derrick's act. Those mid-level spiritual energy users were just the pawns sent to scout the way.
If Martin and the armed squad leader hadn't made such a big fuss, those shrewd mid-level spiritual energy users wouldn't have fallen for it so easily.
The three of them achieved this outcome through perfect, unspoken coordination, without any prior communication.
Lin Ye didn't stop them either. He wasn't familiar enough with this area yet, and Derrick had too many schemes. Lin Ye couldn't be bothered to get involved.
As for the commission, it wasn't important anymore. What Ms. Carnot wanted wasn't Derrick himself, but whatever he had obtained after making contact with that experimental subject.
The selection ended, and those mid-level spiritual energy users immediately fled the center of the ruins, running into the abandoned buildings.
Lin Ye wasn't in a hurry to leave. He looked towards those high-level spiritual energy users, planning to find someone later to inquire about information regarding this place.
However, it didn't seem to be the right time yet, as those high-level spiritual energy users hadn't made a move against the fleeing mid-level ones.
The high-level spiritual energy users gathered together, seemingly engaged in some kind of trade. Lin Ye used his mental energy to sense and discovered they were trading some strange materials.
"You just arrived, you should have some food on you, right?"
That seventh-tier spiritual energy user who had blocked his way earlier approached Lin Ye and asked.
"Yes, I still have half a box of uneaten breakfast."
Lin Ye took out the meal box, instantly attracting the attention of those high-level spiritual energy users.
"...Looks like a meal box from the Free Hotel's restaurant."
"Hey, kid, want to trade? I can exchange high-grade materials for it."
"Ah, come to think of it, it's been a month since I've had normal food..."
...
Lin Ye quickly traded the leftovers in the food box for some high-level spiritual energy materials and, in the process, also traded for some information about the ruins.
- Each of the three locations—the Ruins, the Pasture, and the Port—is inhabited by an extremely powerful anomalous creature. The anomalous creatures in the Pasture and Port are very dangerous. The anomalous creature in the Ruins seems to have developed some issues, which is why they can survive here.
- The anomalous creature of the Ruins seems to be connected to the entire ruins. This causes the ruins to be influenced by certain rules. Anyone who triggers these rules will be sent to the Pasture.
- Within the Ruins, you cannot take action anywhere except on the roads. The abandoned buildings also have some strange rules. Furthermore, spiritual energy creatures periodically spawn within the ruins. Taking action against these spiritual energy creatures will also get you sent to the Pasture. Therefore, they can only be dealt with by luring them onto the roads. These spiritual energy creatures are their food source.
- The Ruins, Pasture, and Port are interconnected. You can enter the Pasture from the Ruins, the Port from the Pasture, and the Ruins from the Port.
'Could this be a city abandoned by the system? Then wouldn't the Bottomless Pit become the system's garbage disposal site?'
Lin Ye considered one possibility, and this possibility made him feel somewhat uneasy.
Anything the system itself had to abandon must be extremely troublesome.
Lin Ye decided to leave this place. The Bottomless Pit was even more dangerous than he had imagined. Messing around here was worse than going back to make money.
Just because others couldn't leave this place didn't mean he couldn't either.
Lin Ye quickly walked towards the edge of the ruins while simultaneously unsealing the Abyssal Eye.
"Holy crap!"
Previously, whenever he unsealed the Abyssal Eye, some Abyssal creatures would appear around him, more or less. He had planned to first summon a few Abyssal creatures to disrupt the ruins' rules, then search for a way to leave from the ruins' edge.
As a result, there wasn't a single Abyssal creature in the ruins. It was terrifyingly clean. But above his head, an Abyssal creature that enveloped the entire ruins, resembling a flesh and blood network, was slumbering right over him. The ground, like a mirror, reflected the Abyssal creature's shadow, and this shadow was buried right beneath his feet.
Giant tumor-like masses hung down from above, densely covering the space over the ruins. The closest one was less than ten meters from the top of Lin Ye's head.
Corresponding tumor masses grew underground beneath his feet. Some of these masses ruptured, transforming into deformed spiritual energy creatures that crawled out from below. These were the spiritual energy creatures those people had told him about, and also their food source.
Lin Ye hurriedly checked inside the small pouch and found it was already crawling with tumor-like structures.
A mid-level spiritual energy user passed by nearby. Lin Ye could clearly see the continuously growing tumor structures inside his body.
'The anomalous creature of the ruins has problems? I think it's your brains that have problems! It's far more "spirited" than the Port's anomalous creature!'
Lin Ye hastily examined his own body. Only after confirming there were no tumor structures inside did he relax a little.
'This is a bit troublesome.'
Lin Ye's method of influencing space was related to the Abyssal Eye, and using the Abyssal Eye on an Abyssal creature was not a good idea.
Just as Lin Ye was thinking, the flesh and blood network above began to tremble. It seemed to have detected Lin Ye's gaze.
Lin Ye hurriedly closed his Abyssal Eye and rushed towards that mid-level spiritual energy user who had passed by nearby.
"What are you doing?! Taking action here will get you sent to the Pasture!"
That mid-level spiritual energy user was so frightened by Lin Ye's aura that he stumbled back several steps.
"I want to go to the Pasture! Cooperate with me!"
Lin Ye quickly reached the other person's side and swiftly kicked him.
He didn't use much force in that kick, but a rift leading to the Pasture still appeared beside them.
Without waiting for the ruins to enforce the rule, Lin Ye directly jumped into the rift himself.
After passing through the rift, Lin Ye felt a chill run down his spine. He turned to look behind him, just in time to see that mid-level spiritual energy user's body sprouting numerous tumor-like eyeballs. Before the rift closed, all those eyes were staring straight at him.
'No wonder it was abandoned. That thing looks incredibly difficult to deal with.'
When dealing with foreign matter costs more than rebuilding a city, the system naturally chooses to simply abandon the city.
Lin Ye used the Abyssal Eye to observe his surroundings and soon discovered an Abyssal creature nearby.
This made him sigh in relief. This place seemed much more normal.
Lin Ye took out the small pouch and began dealing with the tumor-like structures inside. However, he soon discovered that those tumor-like structures seemed to have become entangled with the parasite stored inside the pouch.
'The parasite is likely related to the Bottomless Pit. There seems to be some kind of connection between the two...'
Lin Ye closed the small pouch. Inside, only the Metal Sphere had significant value. But after his research during this period, he had gained some understanding of the principle behind the Metal Sphere's spiritual energy oscillation. So even if the pouch was destroyed, the loss would be bearable.