NovelOnline Chapter 346: Center of the Ruins
Chapter 346: Center of the Ruins
Lin Ye continued hacking for a while, and the flesh-and-blood suction tubes finally vanished, but a new problem appeared ahead."...Why is there a fork in the road here? Which way do we go?"
Xiya looked at the tunnel branching off to both sides ahead and stopped walking.
Karan and Ferrando didn't speak, they just glanced back at Lin Ye.
"I don't know. The right side is the direction towards the center of the ruins, but I can't be sure about the tunnel's actual path. Also, there are spatial anomalies here, so it's hard to say which way is correct."
Faced with this situation, Lin Ye had no choice but to take out the Lucky Coin.
The Lucky Coin spun in the air, and after falling, Lin Ye caught it on the back of his hand.
"Take the right side."
Xiya took the lead and entered the right tunnel. As the four of them gradually went deeper, the material and shape of the tunnel changed, and the sounds within the walls grew increasingly louder.
"Doesn't this feel a bit like the inside of some kind of creature's body?"
Karan was starting to panic. The tunnel was becoming narrower and narrower. If there were a large number of flesh-and-blood suction tubes here, it would be hard for him to dodge.
"It's not just 'like'. This *is* the inside of some kind of creature."
Inside an enemy's body, Lin Ye had many methods to deal with it, but those methods wouldn't just fail to improve their situation, they would likely make things even worse.
"Should we turn back?"
Ferrando dodged a yellow-green liquid dripping from the tunnel ceiling. Smelling the rotting flesh odor it gave off, he felt something bad would happen if they continued deeper.
"No need. Keep moving forward."
Another fork in the road appeared ahead. Lin Ye tossed the Lucky Coin.
Relying on the Lucky Coin's guidance, the four of them hurried through the passageway that was gradually mutating into a narrow, fleshy tunnel. When they reached a fork so narrow they could no longer pass through upright, the falling Lucky Coin landed standing upright on the back of Lin Ye's hand.
"It's too narrow ahead, and the ground is covered with yellow-green fluid buildup. Should we really keep going forward?"
The gradually thickening smell in the tunnel made it hard for Xiya to breathe. She just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
"No. What's ahead probably isn't a good place. It's time for us to get out."
Lin Ye looked at the yellow-green fluid not far away. This fluid was very similar to the blood he had collected earlier.
"There seems to be something moving in that liquid!"
Xiya had sharp eyes and noticed the abnormality in the fluid.
Rotten corpses, one after another, crawled out of the fluid. They emitted a foul stench, and the rotting flesh remaining on their skeletons had already begun to liquefy.
Lin Ye set up a spiritual energy shield in front of Xiya, then used Blood Burning to ignite the yellow-green blood.
The yellow-green liquid erupted with astonishing energy. The fleshy tunnel was instantly torn into fragments. Behind one of the tunnel fragments, a tunnel that looked quite normal was revealed.
After the fleshy tunnel was blown apart, the entire tunnel seemed to react defensively. A large number of flesh-and-blood suction tubes pierced through the surrounding walls, and yellow-green liquid sprayed down from above like rain.
"Get into that tunnel!"
Lin Ye expanded his spiritual energy shield, protecting the others as they entered the tunnel.
After the four entered the tunnel, a flood of rotten corpses accompanied by yellow-green fluid surged out from the depths of the fleshy tunnel. The yellow-green fluid, carrying the rotten corpses, poured into the normal tunnel. The normal tunnel also began to mutate, developing towards becoming a fleshy tunnel.
Lin Ye directly used Blood Burning to ignite the yellow-green fluid behind them. The intense energy explosion tore apart the fleshy tunnel and those rotten corpses.
The residual shockwave from the energy explosion shattered Lin Ye's spiritual energy shield. The tunnel shook violently, and parts of it began to collapse.
The four of them fled at full speed through the tunnel. It took quite a while before the tunnel stabilized again.
"That scared me to death. I thought we were going to be buried alive."
Karan looked back to check the situation. The rotten corpses hadn't pursued them, but he faintly caught the smell of rotting flesh.
"Let's go. Something is coming. We'd better leave here before that thing arrives."
Lin Ye had a very bad feeling about the thing that was approaching.
The four of them moved quickly along the tunnel. A normal tunnel didn't interfere with spiritual perception, so they soon found the subway exit leading to the center of the ruins.
"I can't sense anything up there. What about you guys?"
The four stood on the middle section of the stairs leading to the surface. Above them was the center of the ruins. Xiya's voice was a bit tense.
"...It's a choice. You can stay here. It's not dangerous up there. I'll be responsible for getting you back."
Lin Ye hesitated for half a second, a rare occurrence, but he quickly made up his mind.
"What choice?"
Xiya followed behind Lin Ye. There was no way she would let Lin Ye handle the problem here alone.
The four of them walked out of the subway entrance. A massive shadow loomed over the square in the city center.
It was a giant heart covered in red eyeballs and pitch-black tendrils. The giant heart was still beating slowly. Those eyeballs were half-open, and the tendrils lay limp around the heart.
The heart was a full five stories tall. A frail old man leaned against the base of the heart, sitting on the ground. His eyes were also half-open, and he held a heavy, pure white staff in his hand.
"You've come, powerful one from another world."
The old man stared at Lin Ye. His tired eyes suddenly became bright and sharp.
"I'm just the supporting cast. My companions here probably have something to say to you."
Lin Ye met the old man's gaze, not yielding an inch.
The other party was a ninth-tier spiritual energy user. Even though now he was just a remnant, he still couldn't be underestimated.
"They are not important. You are the one who can decide everything."
The old man didn't pay any attention to the survivors beside them, even though they were all of a higher tier than Lin Ye.
"Was it you who teleported Windflower City here?"
Xiya looked at the old man, her expression complex. She had thought the one who made the decision would be some high-ranking official who didn't care about civilian deaths, giving orders from afar. She never expected the other party to be an old man like this.
A ninth-tier spiritual energy user had sacrificed himself for world peace. In comparison, they really shouldn't even be here.
The old man completely ignored Xiya, as if only he and Lin Ye were present.
"Hey, my teammate is talking to you."
Lin Ye said in a low, heavy tone.
The old man didn't answer or shift his gaze. Without making any visible movement, a compressed block of spiritual energy shot towards Xiya's head.
Lin Ye expanded a spiritual energy shield while pulling Xiya aside. The compressed spiritual energy block instantly shattered the shield and struck the ground.
Boom!
The ground was blasted into a deep crater, and the entire square shook several times.
This was the old man's answer. He would not allow anyone to send this city back to his world, so he had nothing to discuss with these survivors.
"Really rude. Are you sure you won't talk to them? Then I'll just send this city back."
Lin Ye had already given him a chance. He wasn't prepared to waste any more time.
"Are you sure? I can release the anomalies inside here at any moment. Even the thing behind me. For the sake of your world, you'd better not act impulsively."
The old man straightened his sitting posture. The eyes on the giant heart behind him slowly began to open.