Chapter 237 : Exotic Decay Fragment
Following Elucia toward the basement, a foul stench hit them head-on.
This wasn't ordinary stench, but a kind of smell mixed with the stink of hawthorn wine... Since Lonis became a girl, she hadn't smelled this kind of odor for a long time.
And now smelling it, she instinctively felt terrible all over. The girl stayed very close to Elucia, afraid that a burly man would suddenly appear and splash some strange substances on her.
However...
"Safe. Everyone seems to have fainted."
"Fainted?"
"Mm."
Nalonaté observed the surroundings, and on the basement floor, bodies of thugs lay collapsed. They were scattered about, as if they had drunk too much, with no color left in their faces.
And further away, Lonis spotted a familiar figure.
"Senior Luozhi Sheng?"
"!"
The three quickly ran forward, only to see Luozhi Sheng collapsed on the ground, seemingly unconscious... Fortunately, her clothes were relatively intact, with no signs of assault visible.
But...
What was going on?
Why had everyone in this basement fainted?
Lonis crouched down, trying to carry Senior Luozhi Sheng on her back, but just then, Nalonaté seemed to discover something and suddenly shouted: "In that room."
"That room?"
"Mm, there... should be something incredible."
Although she didn't specify what it was, judging from Nalonaté's grave expression, this must be a very terrifying object.
Elucia also sniffed the smell in the air, and after thinking for a while, said to Lonis: "Bunny girl, summon the Red Lotus Hammer."
"Eh?"
"Although there's a risk of exposing our power, we must be fully prepared before going in."
......
The Red Lotus Hammer burning with lava patterns was like a crimson shield, reassuring.
Under the protection of the Red Lotus Hammer, even the fishy stench of hawthorn liquid seemed to dissipate considerably. Elucia carefully pushed open the door, and a surge of black light emerged.
"This is..."
"Stay behind the Red Lotus Hammer!"
The black light was like an ominous curse—just looking at it made one feel chilled to the bone. Fortunately, the Red Lotus Hammer's power was still sufficient, so everyone was temporarily unaffected.
"There's a corpse."
"Mm..."
In the center of the room, a pitch-black sphere floated in mid-air, and the heart-stopping black light emanated from this sphere.
A man's corpse lay collapsed on the floor, dead in a horrific state.
Judging from external evidence, this man had died no more than an hour ago, but his body was already highly decomposed.
Pitch-black pus and blood flowed from his seven orifices, and where his body had originally been covered by Black Scale Disease, parasitic organisms resembling tentacles grew chaotically.
"Hmph, trash."
Seeing the man's corpse, Elucia mercilessly struck it with her hammer, smashing it to powder.
Crimson-yellow flames burned, and when they reached the man's black skin, they made a strange sound.
Like wailing, like crying... Lonis could feel that those black patches of skin seemed alive, seemingly unwilling to perish like this, but under the power of the Red Lotus Fire, they had no way to resist.
"Hmph, these disgusting things. As expected, it's the Trickster Demon Lord's methods... Nalonaté, do you know what the black sphere in the center is?"
"I don't know, but I can confirm that the appearance of Black Scale Disease seems related to this thing."
"Eh?"
"Because the Geiger counter is jumping wildly, indicating this object contains deep Exotic Decay power."
Having said this, Nalonaté held up the Geiger counter in her arms... and the exaggerated numbers on it also startled Lonis!
"Wai, wait! Geiger counter... is this thing radium crystal? It's dangerous! We can't get close!"
"Hmph, of course I know it's dangerous. Lonis, summon both the Clear Staff and the Emerald Whip simultaneously."
"Mm!"
......
With the Clear Staff, there was a way to find out what this black crystal was.
But without investigation, they wouldn't know—once they examined the data, both were dumbfounded.
......
『Fragment of Exotic Decay Origin. Category: Extraterrestrial matter.
Not matter from human civilization, but one of the energy sources from Exotic Decay civilization.
Although only a fragment, it can still cause biological mutation.
Containment level: Extremely high, cannot be neutralized by energy from relics below S-level. When exposed to air, it poses a risk of causing all normal people to undergo aberration.
To some extent, it can transform human thinking, gradually converting ordinary people into bloodthirsty and murderous monsters.』
......
......
No wonder all the small thugs in the Ramlin Gang's underground had fainted.
So it was because they were affected by this fragment?
Realizing this, Elucia no longer hesitated and quickly used the Emerald Whip to tightly wrap around the fragment... Under the power of the Tree Abyss, that heart-stopping black light was completely covered, but the current situation still couldn't be considered safe.
"Nalonaté, notify the shield guards to quickly send people for support and handling."
"Understood!"
Subsequently, Nalonaté departed quickly, leading fully armed shield guards to this place, using professional methods to contain the Exotic Decay fragment.
However...
The effects caused by the Exotic Decay fragment weren't so easily eliminated.
The Ramlin Gang's boss had already completely lost genetic control and become a puddle of corpse due to being too close to the Exotic Decay fragment for too long.
And those underlings?
Their situation was also very grim—conservatively estimated, they only had a few months left to live... According to Yi Cheng's analysis, for people suffering from Black Scale Disease, Exotic Decay fragments were like drugs, very difficult to resist.
You could feel your originally weak body become strong as if injected with hormones, but this method wasn't treatment—it was just another step forward on the path to becoming a monster.
Like drinking poison to quench thirst.
Eventually your reason would be completely lost, and your body would decay into a terrifying monster.
......
At the same time, Senior Luozhi Sheng's condition wasn't optimistic either.
Although she hadn't been exposed to the Exotic Decay fragment's erosion for a long time and had Bright Ember power protecting her body—spots of Black Scale Disease still appeared on her skin.
This meant that although they had successfully rescued the senior, Lonis wasn't happy at all.
And Elucia had the same expression.
Having experienced the Snow Kingdom, they both knew that the danger before them was just the beginning, and the Exotic Decay fragments hidden among humans couldn't possibly be just this one piece.
......
Darkness was about to descend.