Chapter 471: Underwater passage
Lin Ye walked straight toward the treasure's location, the pool. As for searching for information left behind by the previous squad, he only needed to sweep an area with his mental energy to inspect it.
"How come I feel the liquid in the pool has turned a bit redder? Is it just my imagination?"
Logan was a bit afraid of this kind of silent environment. He always felt like something was watching them from inside the pool.
"Unfortunately, it's not your imagination. We need to speed up."
Lin Ye grabbed Logan's protective suit and quickly ran toward the pool where the treasure was located. The surrounding pools had indeed turned a bit redder, which was likely an ominous sign.
Reaching the treasure pool, Lin Ye cast out the Dragon Fishing Rod to start fishing, while simultaneously using Alienation to create a new Red Frog.
"You're in such a hurry just to come here and fish?"
Logan asked, puzzled.
"I'm collecting materials to create scout creatures. If you want to go in and scout for them, I have no objections."
Every time Lin Ye cast the Dragon Fishing Rod, he would hook a creature from the pool. The Red Frog would burrow into those pool creatures and quickly incubate new Red Frogs. Some of the newly born Red Frogs jumped into the pool, directly going inside to parasitize the pool creatures.
Lin Ye sent one Red Frog into the pool to check the situation. Soon, that Red Frog jumped out of the pool, indicating there was no immediate danger below the water's surface.
"I'm going down for a bit. Wait for me here."
Lin Ye left a few Red Frogs outside and jumped into the pool.
Once Lin Ye entered the pool, he discovered that from the inside, the water had become a noticeably pale red. His mental energy was affected by the red pool water, significantly reducing his perception range.
Lin Ye controlled some Red Frogs to deal with the nearby pool creatures. After preparing an escape route, Lin Ye again controlled the remaining Red Frogs to venture deeper into the pool. He wanted to see if this place would be similar to the previous pool.
Those Red Frogs that ventured deep soon lost contact. Due to the environment's effect on mental energy, Lin Ye didn't know what happened below.
'At least it won't sprout that kind of flesh pillar.'
Lin Ye changed into the Nameless Armor Wreckage while underwater, then began a rapid descent with the surrounding Red Frogs. He wanted to see what the treasure was.
Soon, Lin Ye reached the location where the previous batch of Red Frogs had disappeared, which was also the treasure's coordinate point.
A flesh pillar blocked the pool. This pillar looked similar to the previous one, except there was a massive wound in its center. Dense, tiny flesh buds grew from the wound, with some of them skewering withered Red Frogs.
A Red Frog approached the wound. The nearest flesh bud instantly pierced through that Red Frog and brought it back near the wound.
The Red Frog was quickly drained of its contents, and a new flesh bud grew near that original one.
Lin Ye stared at the wound. He sensed a very deep passageway deep within the wound, but he didn't know where it led.
Taking out the Cross Scepter, Lin Ye used Splicing and Synthesis runes on those flesh buds. With the help of the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment, he synthesized those flesh buds onto the flesh pillar.
Another Red Frog approached the wound. This time, the flesh wall near the wound only trembled slightly and did not attack the frog.
Under Lin Ye's control, that Red Frog entered the wound and retrieved the treasure.
It was a deep red crystal. There were many more such crystals inside.
Lin Ye dispatched Red Frogs to dig out all the crystals inside the wound. After losing the crystals, the flesh wall near the wound lost its vitality.
After obtaining the crystals, Lin Ye used his Special Ability, Attract Wealth, again. The new treasure coordinate point was far from him, and its location was below the flesh pillar.
Storing the crystals, Lin Ye sent a Red Frog into the wound to scout the path. He himself quickly ascended and soon jumped out of the pool.
Logan was startled. Seeing Lin Ye inside the Nameless Armor Wreckage, he relaxed a bit.
"You're finally out! Things are getting a bit bad here. We need to regroup with the others as soon as possible!"
By now, the nearby pools had all turned a bloody red. The areas around the pools were crawling with thick, dark red blood vessels. These vessels pulsed faintly, as if they were part of some living creature.
"Tell them to assemble here. I found a passageway below, and this place should be safer than the other pools."
Lin Ye sent a Red Frog to approach the nearest blood vessel. Before it could get close, it was blasted apart by a spray of dark red liquid shot from the vessel.
The liquid was highly corrosive, quickly corroding the Red Frog's corpse into a puddle of liquid emitting white smoke.
Without Lin Ye needing to say more, Logan sent the information he saw to Dr. Wells.
After receiving the information, Dr. Wells forwarded it to everyone and then drove the off-road vehicle to regroup with Lin Ye.
The Captain was the first to arrive. He was holding two researchers in his hands. All three had corrosion marks on their outer clothing.
"The passageway is below?"
The Captain glanced at the Nameless Armor Wreckage on Lin Ye and asked.
"Correct. I've mostly cleared out what's inside. We can leave this place once everyone has gathered."
Lin Ye did not take off the Nameless Armor Wreckage. Those blood vessels gave him a very bad feeling. Wearing this Abyssal Relic made him feel a bit more at ease.
"You all enter the passageway first. I'll wait here for them."
The Captain pulled out a slender spiritual energy weapon from his spatial item, staring at the nearby blood vessels that pulsed incessantly and were gradually thickening.
"You can follow the Red Frogs down. I'll stay here a while longer too."
Lin Ye held the Cross Scepter and stood together with the Captain.
Soon, Dr. Wells approached the pool with a group of researchers. The off-road vehicle had long been blasted apart by those blood vessels. Several researchers among them had lost limbs.
It seemed the protective suits couldn't isolate that Corrosive Blood.
"Five researchers haven't arrived yet. Three of them are heading this way. The other two are out of contact."
Dr. Wells was wearing a suit of high-tech battle armor, holding a half-person-high shield and an energy longsword. He bore no resemblance whatsoever to the withered old man from before, looking even more valiant than the Captain.
"The passageway is right below. You can follow the Red Frogs down. We'll wait here a bit longer."
Lin Ye had a Red Frog lead the way in front.
"They need to treat their wounds. That will take about fifteen seconds."
Dr. Wells took out some canisters from his spatial item and handed them to the injured researchers. Those researchers quickly shook the canisters and then sprayed the medicinal liquid onto the wound surfaces.
"My team members and three researchers are trapped at a pool five hundred meters away. I'm going to help them. Can you handle things here?"
The Captain suddenly spoke up.
"No problem. But you'd better come back quickly. After a while, you might not be able to get back."
Lin Ye used the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment to control the blood vessels, keeping them away from the pool. But as those flesh pillars slowly rose from the pools, the surrounding blood vessels became increasingly frenzied, beginning to indiscriminately spray Corrosive Blood in all directions.