Chapter 1 A Swamp of Flesh

The group walked on the viscous, slippery flesh and fungal carpet, akin to a swamp.

"No need to turn off your flashlight."

In the darkness, Alphonse said in a low voice without turning his head, "Leave it on. The things here don't have light-sensitive organs."

The Stonemason hesitated for a moment before turning the flashlight back on. "Can the Biological Matriarch hear us?"

"Her?"

Alphonse shook his head. "She doesn't possess autonomous consciousness in the human sense. She won't actively interact with the outside world. Even if we stood in front of her plotting how to destroy her, the Biological Matriarch wouldn't do anything."

That was good news. At least the group didn't have to use sign language to communicate. Li Ang knew a little about sign language. When he was young, he would fool around with Wang Congshan and get his mouth taped shut by her. He could still use light-speed sign language to taunt her, like Naruto performing hand seals.

Although this would attract Wang Congshan's Farmer Three Punches, which she couldn't understand at all.

The group zigzagged through the corridor, taking detours left and right, and saw the vibrant side of the fungal carpet.

Insects, birds, beasts, plants... Although most of the organisms here were made of flesh and blood, completely different from Earth life, they could still form a complete ecological environment.

"After the disaster, Aberrations appeared one after another in various places, eventually gathering above the laboratory to form the fungal carpet.

These fungal carpets extend underground like the roots of trees, until they reach the third basement level where the Biological Matriarch is located, forming a complete ecological chain here."

Perhaps it was because he hadn't encountered anyone to confide in for too long, Alphonse kept talking.

"After I was infected by the fungal carpet and became an Aberration, I also gained some special abilities, such as night vision, no need for sleep, loss of pain..."

"At first, I tried to kill myself, but each time the fungal carpet could restore me. Even if my head was cut off, it could be reattached."

Alphonse stroked his tattered suit and said calmly, "The road to the surface was blocked by Aberrations, so I could only wander here.

The first few years were difficult. I went crazy many times.

Fortunately, my sanity as a former biochemist saved me. I began to study the Aberrations themselves, using their special abilities..."

As he spoke, Alphonse bent down, picked up a flesh and blood plant similar to the aerial roots of a banyan tree, tore off the tip of the aerial root, and used the tendrils inside the aerial root to pierce his own neck.

Blood splattered, Alphonse shivered, and said leisurely, "This thing also contains hallucinogenic ingredients. If you master the trick, it can make people recall the best memories of their lives,

Even freely program and create any dream you want.

The only price is that the banyan tree will draw the user's blood, so you must control the duration of use, otherwise you will die from blood loss.

I rely on this thing to avoid becoming a speechless beast."

Alphonse made a "whoosh" sound and pulled out the banyan tree's aerial root. The aerial root bounced a few times on the ground, slowly shrinking back into the banyan tree's range like a snake.

The others marveled at this, but they didn't have the idea of putting these things in their inventory. Who knew if taking Aberrations back to the real world would cause infection.

There were many magical creations like the hallucinogenic aerial roots.

Li Ang solemnly examined the surrounding environment and sighed, "It gives me a feeling of strangeness, distortion, full of vitality, like the beginning of creation."

"That..."

Wanli Fengdao, walking behind him, couldn't help but say, "Brother Li, can you please stop playing with the rats? You're making me nervous."

"Am I?"

Li Ang, holding a skinless rat in each hand, looked as usual. He grabbed the rats' long, meter-long tails and swung the two fat rats back and forth like yo-yos.

While making various moves, he muttered in a low voice, "Magic Glove!", "Starry Sky Wander!"

These two Aberrant rats, which had tried to attack him from the beginning, not only had extremely long tails, but also had a sense of telepathy.

As long as one of them was manipulated, the other would make corresponding movements, which was quite interesting.

"We're here."

Alphonse stopped in front of an alloy door.

The door was half-open. If you shined a flashlight inside, you could see several giant generators covered in dust on the fungal carpet.

The Stonemason looked around, not in a hurry to go in. Instead, he turned to look at Alphonse, "Where's the Aberration you said was blocking the way?"

"There."

Alphonse pointed to a dark corner of the room. In the light, you could see a one-person-high, pitch-black insect cocoon growing in the corner.

The cocoon was spindle-shaped, translucent, and through the shell, you could vaguely see an unformed lepidopteran insect floating inside.

"It will attack any creature that enters the room."

Alphonse said quietly, "I've been killed by it many, many times."

Li Ang frowned, stood outside the door, swung the tails of the two rats a few times, and threw them violently into the room.

Before everyone could react, two slender, thread-like objects shot out from the surface of the cocoon, accurately piercing the two plump rats flying in the air and nailing them firmly to the wall.

Zheng—

The sound of the silk threads cutting through the air arrived late, mixed with the rats' squeaking screams.

Everyone's faces were a little ugly. No one saw the cocoon's movements clearly. If they had accidentally walked in directly, they would probably be the ones nailed to the wall now.

"Squeak—"

The rats' shrill cries suddenly stopped. The ends of the silk threads extending from the surface of the cocoon suddenly split, like a curled-up net, winding back the plump rats flying back to the cocoon, wrapping them in the pile of black silk threads.

"Is this its hunting method?"

The Stonemason frowned, took out an assault rifle from his backpack, signaled his teammates to step back a few steps, and stood at the door, firing at the cocoon.

Dense gunfire rang out. Before the bullets flying into the room could approach the cocoon, they were all broken one by one by the torrential silk threads and nailed to the wall.

The Stonemason put away his rifle and took out a single-soldier rocket launcher.

However, even the rocket warhead was easily pierced. The intense explosion caused by the warhead couldn't even damage the silk threads in the slightest.

"Let me do it."

Black Saint signaled the Stonemason to step aside, took out a flamethrower from his inventory, and sprayed it far at the cocoon.

A pillar of fire tens of meters long ignored all the silk threads, and the fuel accurately poured on the cocoon, causing it to burst into flames.

The cocoon immediately let out a shrill wail like an organ, wriggling and falling towards the generator set.

Zhuang Pengpai quickly stepped forward, took off his hazmat suit gloves, hooked his palms, and absorbed the excess flames on the cocoon into his palms.

Li Ang, who was secretly observing from the side, suddenly narrowed his eyes. In the blink of an eye just now, he saw Zhuang Pengpai's hand.

This man was terrifying!

On his hand, there were actually two lifelines!