Chapter 403: Merging the Flesh Wall
The pasture was filled with two-meter-tall blue-green grass. Lin Ye moved through the grass and soon encountered a strange creature.
It was a four-legged creature about the size of a wild dog, but its surface looked like melted rubber, appearing utterly terrifying.
"...save...me...please..."
What was even more horrifying was that this creature intermittently emitted a human voice from its mouth.
In Lin Ye's perception, the internal structure of the creature was no different from that of a normal beast, yet it still retained human consciousness. This deliberate state indeed fit the name "Pasture" quite well.
'So this is the Pasture? What's the purpose of raising things like this here?'
Lin Ye bypassed the creature and continued exploring forward. There was nothing he could do to help a human in such a state.
If the creature hadn't seemed to still want to live, Lin Ye would have considered putting it out of its misery.
Lin Ye moved quickly. The grass was filled with similar beasts. These beasts weren't aggressive;
they just kept following behind him, pleading for help.
Listening to these voices, Lin Ye felt subtle changes beginning in his body, as if he was slowly transforming into a 'beast'. However, the change was extremely weak, so weak that it would likely take hundreds of years to fully transform him into a beast.
'The efficiency is way too low, isn't it?'
Lin Ye suspected there were other methods in the Pasture for turning humans into beasts. Thus, he proceeded through the grass with even greater caution, searching for the fissure leading to the Port.
It was said these fissures randomly appeared within the Pasture and were the only way to escape it.
Lin Ye wanted to go to the Port again. Although it was dangerous there, as long as one wasn't affected by the perception distortion, getting out wasn't too difficult.
He planned to go to the area between the Port and the Ruins;
from there, he should be able to escape.
Just as Lin Ye was searching for the passageway, he suddenly sensed Researcher Derrick in the distance. Derrick was still maintaining a human form, but his condition was poor, only able to move slowly.
Lin Ye ran to Derrick's vicinity, only to find that the other man was almost melting.
"How did you end up like this? I thought you had some means of escaping this place."
Lin Ye said curiously.
"I know how to get out! I became like this because the spiritual energy users who came were too weak! If you help me, I'll lead you out!"
Seeing Lin Ye, Derrick said excitedly.
"...You really don't have a single truthful word, do you."
Lin Ye couldn't help but sigh.
"I'm not lying! I really know how to leave this place!"
Derrick tried to get closer to Lin Ye, but Lin Ye increased the distance between them.
"You can get others to share this pollution-like state? No wonder you need strong people to come. With a few strong individuals sharing the burden, you could hold on until you find a fissure. So the exit is at the Port?"
Lin Ye hadn't expected his first choice to be the correct answer.
"Not the Port. There are monsters there. Going there means death."
Derrick was still trying to get closer to Lin Ye.
"It's useless. I won't let you get near me. Do you know the pattern of when fissures appear? If not, I'm leaving."
Lin Ye had no other questions.
"I know. I'll take you."
Derrick continued trying to close the distance, but Lin Ye kept retreating at the same pace, so the distance between them remained unchanged.
"Aren't you going to throw me what you're holding? Well then, goodbye."
Lin Ye quickly increased the distance from Derrick.
Derrick hurriedly threw the object in his hand towards Lin Ye. It was a blue-green piece of flesh.
Lin Ye opened the small pouch. A tumorous flesh spike extended from within, coiled around the flesh chunk, and pulled it into the pouch.
"This is what Ms. Carnot wanted, right? Thanks."
Lin Ye put away the pouch and moved further away from Derrick.
"You bastard! I'll remember you! Once I'm out, I'll definitely kill you!"
Derrick roared furiously.
"You want me to kill you? So killing you guys also turns one into a beast?"
Lin Ye ran even faster.
However, after only running for a few minutes, Lin Ye began rapidly retreating, because a massive wall of flesh appeared ahead of him.
The flesh wall was a full ten meters high, covered with the heads of beasts. The wall extended to both sides, with no perceivable end in sight.
The beast heads on the wall continuously emitted pleas for help. Just getting slightly close increased the transformation speed of Lin Ye's body by at least tenfold.
And at the base of the wall, Lin Ye spotted some fissures leading to other places.
'Do I have to get close to that wall to leave? But getting closer speeds up the body transformation. I'd be completely turned into a beast before I could even enter a fissure, and then escaping would be pointless.'
Lin Ye sighed. This body-targeting transformation couldn't even be countered by the mental purification technique. He could only use the Abyssal Eye.
As long as an Abyssal creature dealt with that flesh wall, he could leave through a fissure.
Lin Ye used the Abyssal Eye to observe his surroundings and soon found a suitable-looking Abyssal creature.
It was a chunk of flesh that constantly changed size and shape, looking like a video stuck buffering.
Moreover, the flesh chunk was near the flesh wall. If he could get it over, it would be affected by the wall.
Lin Ye directly used the Abyssal Eye to move the flesh chunk into the Pasture. The chunk appeared near the flesh wall. It wasn't affected by the wall;
instead, it instantly transformed into another flesh wall, attaching itself to the surface of the original one.
[Time Mark Obtained]
The new flesh wall also grew identical beast heads. The combined pleas from both walls actually weakened the transformation effect.
The two flesh walls began to merge. Foul flesh and blood intertwined, gradually becoming one. Lin Ye activated everything on him that could accelerate movement. His internal mutation organs operated beyond their limits while simultaneously ejecting large amounts of compressed spiritual energy behind him. In an instant, he shot through a fissure and arrived on the other side.
Also passing through the fissure was a Lin Ye made of flesh and blood. It had grown from the flesh wall when Lin Ye got close to it.
Just as Lin Ye was about to act, he saw the flesh-and-blood Lin Ye collapse for an unknown reason.
'A defective product?'
Lin Ye opened the small pouch. Several tumorous flesh spikes shot out, collecting all the collapsed flesh and blood into the pouch.
Putting away the pouch, Lin Ye sensed his surroundings. He was back at the Port.
Now he could rely on the noise to leave here, try to exit this area from outside the Ruins, or attempt to find a way to leave this area from the Port itself.
That Experimental Subject probably left from the Port.
If possible, Lin Ye didn't want to get near the Ruins again. He had a premonition that approaching the Ruins would be extremely dangerous.
But to leave from the Port, he'd probably have to leave the Port and enter that pitch-black sea, which wasn't a wise choice either.
That boundless deep-sea creature was right beneath the water. The slightest misstep, and Lin Ye would alert it.
'But last time, it was probably the light. If I don't use a flashlight, that deep-sea creature might not surface. It's very quiet now...'
Lin Ye suddenly turned on his flashlight and discovered a mountain-sized, pitch-black eyeball just outside the Port, staring right at him.