by Chen Ran
Above the water, four tentacles shrank back from the five-tier base and two of them were broken off completely. Dark yellow liquid continued to drip out of them into the water. The meat tentacles extended towards the Lord's strange eyes, looking at its injured limbs. The Crypt Lord's six compound eyes burned with an angry flame, it opened its mouth, releasing a loud and angry sound wave.
The sound wave spread out in the air, causing the water surface to tremble, as water vapor exploded out and floated towards five-tier base. The Crypt Lord suddenly sank into the water, and then instantly attacked with its strength, like a submarine breaking through ice, it actually went straight for the base above!
Chapter 263 - Graduation (I)
Crypt Lord Angelguet was very angry now!
It was one of the first generation of giant mutated beasts that came into being after the Cataclysm. After Angelguet grew up, due to this instinctive control, it returned to the mainland from the deep sea and came to this underground base to build its own nest. When all of the Six layer base s were destroyed by Angelguet and he used his own energy to raise the temperature of his cave, causing the frozen underwater meridians to flow again. Finally, the entire cave was filled up and Angelguet entered into his long hibernation period.
And on the heads of this tyrannical existence, various beasts also quietly occupied the various layer base s. They made their home in the base and formed their own territory. They could have continued living in peace for ten, twenty, or even more years. But not long ago, Angelguet woke up from his deep slumber because it had also entered its reproductive period.
Different from the other life forms on the base, Angelguet's breeding cycle was very long. It would take at least a year for the process of producing an egg from the inside of the body to the point where the egg could be removed from the body. With regards to the new era's biological reproduction cycle, which was gradually shortening, Angelguet's was already considered to have a very long period of time. It was not the only one. The other giant creatures were all the same, and the survival rate of their young was lower than that of the other beasts.
This was a rule of nature, and even if Angelguet possessed close to limitless biological energy, he would still not be able to change his own situation.
Therefore, Angelguet cherished his chance to reproduce. This was the only way it could pass its species down. After Angelguet carefully went through a year-long breeding cycle, it finally reached the ovulation period. In order to avoid seeing so many lifeforms that would make him hungry, and to increase the reproduction rate of the next generation, Angelguet opened up the outer walls of the five-tier base and poured earth water into it, transforming it into an environment suitable for young to live in.
And when thousands of mature fish eggs were laid into the five-tier base, it would be a disaster for the human facing moth that lived in the five-tier base. Within two hours after the mother was expelled, the eggs began to rupture. At this time, the life characteristics of the young started to collapse due to the special genes of the mutated beasts. The densely packed fish eggs filled up the space behind the base. Amongst the millions of fish eggs, only about a thousand of the hatchlings were still alive.
When Angelguet's baby came out from the shell, it was only the size of a puppy. They, like other egg-like organisms, instinctively eat the shells that surround them after birth to absorb the rich protein and other nutrients in the shells. After eating their own eggshells, they will enter their first sleep. The resting time was only 24 hours, and during this time, the young would undergo their first evolution. They grow in size, from a puppy to the size of a wolfhound. They grew sharp teeth and, behind the original pair of eyes, two other pairs of compound eyes. However, these two compound eyes were still covered by a layer of gray carbuncle and could not be opened immediately.
They left the fish egg area, and followed the ground water that Angelguet poured into the five-tier base to sweep the Whole Base, to hunt and kill the other living beings in the base as a form of nourishment.
Three days later, Angelguet's child entered the second stage of the evolution. Other than the size that will get bigger, the other two pairs of eyes of the young carbuncle will fall off. By observing the data in the surroundings, they will be able to create a panoramic view of the three-dimensional model. On the other hand, the rear end of the larva will produce a pair of spray organs, which can be used to accelerate when needed. This variable speed movement mode is also a good method for the larva to catch its prey.
Originally, Angelguet had predicted it. After five days, the ground water will rise to the base level where the larvae can enter the four-tier base. That way, its young can enter the four-tier base to hunt for food. In 20 days, it will allow the entire underground base to be submerged in water, making it a paradise for the young to survive.
In half a year, there will be about two hundred of the nearly thousand young. At this point, these descendants were about to evolve for the third time. After their evolution was completed, they had already formed Crypt Lord s. They would be as big as a ship, and would grow whiskers on their bodies that could be used for hunting. At this point in time, they were no longer natural enemies. In another two years, after the battle, there would be only one cub left. The fourth evolution would make it completely transform into a true Crypt Lord, and its size would become as large as Angelguet's mother. Every single one of the meat tendrils would produce countless energy storage organs and energy nodes, and the whole body would also produce pieces of hexagonal biological armor. Other than being the protective shell of the Crypt Lord, these armor were also an important energy circuit.
When this young Crypt Lord appeared, Angelguet would immediately leave the place. It had completed its task of reproducing, and it would then return to the deep sea. Who knows? Maybe it will settle in a corner of the Endless Sea forever, or maybe it will die in the mouth of some other sea giant.
However, no matter what, it would not be the current situation of the base.
Just when Angelguet's baby had completed its second stage of evolution, it had sensed the arrival of humans. If they were only at two-tier base, that would be fine too. However, Angelguet sensed that these humans were heading towards the five-tier base. However, the biological energy of these humans were not strong enough to be placed in the eyes of the Crypt Lord.
The thing that Angelguet was truly concerned about was the two humans outside the base, as well as the woman who had disturbed it from its slumber two years ago, and had settled down in the two-tier base. Towards this powerful neighbor, Angelguet's opinion of her far surpassed that of the other two people outside the base. On this woman, what Angelguet smelled was not human.
Although in this new and changing age, human beings have been very different from the same kind of people in the old. However, no matter how much humanity evolved, it would never become another organism. But from this woman, Angelguet could smell that she did not belong to a human. The smell came from the blood, and in Angelguet's eyes, it was as if the lady was wearing a human clothing, but inside her was the blood of a monster!
Not long after the appearance of the foreign human, the human that Angelguet cared about also came over to the five-tier base. There was an invisible line between all the powerful creatures. Once across this line, it could be considered a provocation. The line between Angelguet and the four-tier base was at the entrance of the four-tier base, but no matter if it was from a foreign human or a woman, both of them had brazenly crossed the line it had set, which made Angelguet very angry.
What made it even angrier was that the woman had accompanied other humans to kill a large number of its young. At this moment, one of the humans had reached the deepest part of the base. Angelguet attacked angrily, but the two strong humans who were originally outside the base not only entered the base, but also stopped it from killing. This had already exceeded the bottom line that Angelguet could tolerate.
For the sake of his own descendants, for the sak
e of his own dignity, he wouldn't allow anyone to provoke him. The furious Crypt Lord broke out of the water and rushed towards five-tier base.
Immediately, the Whole Base shook violently. The magnitude of the tremors even affected the surface of the ground, causing the snow on the ground to be on the verge of collapsing.
And the ground of the underground five-tier base, after rising up a lot, suddenly split apart. In the center of Whole Base, a giant hole that was a kilometer wide was torn open. The water in the ground instantly poured in, causing the base's water level to rise abruptly. The water that suddenly became hurried brought out countless strange fish that were hiding in the corners. They desperately tried to stabilize their bodies in the water but discovered that the water that they were used to was now unfamiliar. No matter how hard the strange fish tried, they couldn't stop themselves from following the flow of the water.
As for Valkyrie and Callio, both of them had their own plans. Valkyrie simply inserted the war lance into the base surface that had not been torn apart yet, and allowed the water to flow even faster, as it was unable to shake her in the slightest; while Callio maintained the energy ripple that was wrapped all over his body, with the guidance of the Waves, he caused the incoming torrent to naturally split into two flows in front of him, from top to bottom, and then converging behind him.
Like this, after a quarter of an hour passed, the torrent of water gradually disappeared, and the water that had already occupied the entire five-tier base and was spreading towards the upper layer base suddenly quietened down. Following that, waves of ripples spread out in the water. When Valkyrie and Callio were swept by the ripple, they immediately felt like they were being watched by something. They immediately understood that their position had been exposed.
With this thought, dozens of tentacles suddenly broke through the water and swept over. Under the pressure of a few tons of huge force, the ground water was immediately pushed away, forming streams of strong water streams in front of them, pulling countless of pieces of the water pieces towards Valkyrie and Yue Yang.
The war lance in Valkyrie's hand lit up with a milky white light, and the dark red energy around Callio's body also became brighter and brighter. In the end, a ball of red and white light lit up at the bottom of the water. The moment it came into contact with the water, the red and white belt of energy swept through the entire water area, immediately creating a ten-meter-tall water wall that spread out in all directions!
Whole Base shook his body violently once again, causing Su Yun, who just ran out of the fourth floor's entrance, to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
Unexpectedly, his waist suddenly tightened, following that, Zero soared into the sky and steadily landed on Ma Pei's shoulder. It was Ma Pei who caught him in time and carried him on his shoulder. Just like that, Ma Pei carried Zero and followed the convoy towards the exit of four-tier base. As if escaping with them, they left the battlefield that had already become a base, together with other beasts. The Human-Faced Moths and the Vengeance also joined them.
The battle that broke out in the five-tier base was no longer a level that they could interfere in, and if they were not careful, they would be swept into destruction. They did not dare to stay on the edge of the battlefield, and the other creatures in the base had also sensed the battle underground. Regardless of whether it was the auras of the Crypt Lord or the auras of Valkyrie and Callio, they were both tightly suppressing their nerves like predators.
As a result, the group of Fusarium that was attacking suddenly stopped, and quickly dispersed like a tide, revealing their besieged prey.
Antony's face was covered in blood. Feeling the Whole Base's vibrations, he asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"
Chapter 264 - Graduation (II)
From the moment the vanguard team met the Fusarium until now, they had been relying on all kinds of obstacles. They had already been fighting the Fusarium for ten hours inside the three-tier base. From the insect nest that they had initially met at the main passage to the other places inside the base, the vanguard team had already deviated from its original position by nearly one kilometer.
Along the route that vanguard team took, there were countless corpses of Fusarium and larvae, as well as a few team members. This was an extremely brutal battle, and the troops were under tremendous pressure all the time. Luckily, Antony had the ability to scan the area, which allowed him to always see through the attacks of the Fusarium first, and was also often able to find a place to hide for the team to rest for a short time. Otherwise, the vanguard team would have died out a long time ago.
Now, the ammunition they had tried to keep from the beginning was nearly exhausted. But out of the original five people in the group, only Antony and Luca remained. The fierce battle caused the number of members to decrease, and of the members who died, Olam died the most miserably.
Antony was unable to forget the scene of the tall figure that was surrounded by the swarm of bugs.
Until now, Antony's mind was like a snapped string, ready to snap at any moment. As for Luca's broken sword, it was only left with half of its original size. If the Fusarium were to attack it a little more, the two of them would become the insects' food in their stomachs without any suspense. But at this critical moment, the Fusarium actually retreated, with a hint of escaping.
Whole Base was gently swaying as if there was an earthquake. Antony frowned, using his remaining Spirit Force to scan the area. However, he would compress the scanning method from the surface into a line. By doing so, his psychic power would become a thread even thinner than a needle, which would have a high penetrating power. This was the method Antony used to drive his own mental energy directly into the ground to sense what was happening below.
Naturally, this method of scanning was not as detailed as the normal method. Antony was unable to "see" specific things, and could only roughly sense some blurry figures.
When the spirit threads penetrated through the following four-tier base, and directly entered into the first five-tier base, Antony saw a blurry shadow as well as two balls of bright energy light. It was just a simple touch, but the end of the spirit threads immediately cracked and shattered. Antony turned pale with fright. If all his spirit threads were to shatter into pieces, he would turn into a madman.
At this moment, the splitting of the spirit threads continued, and in a short moment, a small section of it disintegrated. Antony immediately stopped scanning, when the spirit threads shot back, he saw another blurry human face. Although it was not clear, he still recognized that it was the face of zero!
When he completely recovered his spirit power, Antony's body trembled, and two streams of blood sprayed out of his nostrils. He felt as if a sledgehammer had ruthlessly smashed down on his head, causing his entire head to hurt so much that it felt like it was about to explode. Antony held onto his head, his status on the verge of collapse, while Luca who was by his side reached out to support him, and asked anxiously: "Are you alright?"
After a while, the pain in Antony's head disappeared, but he seemed to have collapsed. He could not even stand steadily, and was only supported by Luca. Antony said weakly: "Quickly go, a battle beyond our imagination is happening underground. The battle will spread to this place soon, let's leave quickly! "
Seeing that the usually calm and composed Antony actually had a tone of exasperation, Luca's face tensed up, and immediately helped Antony to walk back along the Blood Road that they came from. On the way to the exit, the silent Antony suddenly spoke out: "I am not reconciled, Luca."
Luca did not speak, his eyes quietly looking at the darkness in front of him. The darkness was not calm, and adult Fusarium and larvae were rushing around the ceiling, the walls, or both of them, rushing back and forth toward the exit. At this moment, the Fusarium no longer cared about the two humans Antony. They even jumped over their heads and didn't stop attacking them.
When he was in Rest area, Antony suddenly pushed Luca away. Having lost his suppo
rt, he immediately fell to the ground, Luca ran forward two steps before stopping, and then walked back to him.
"Leave me alone!" Antony shouted loudly. He struggled to get up and continued to speak. "Luca, you may leave!"
"What about you?" Luca asked.
"I'm not leaving." Antony seemed to have made a decision as he said, "If we go back like this, the sacrifices made by Olam and the others will be worthless. They're on their way here, too. I want to try. It's fine if you're not willing, but it's for Olam and the others, I want to give it a try! "
"What do you want? Snipe zero? How do you know that the experimental diary will be with you, and what if it isn't? " Luca waved his fist: "Enough, today, there are already enough people who died in front of me. Honestly speaking, I don't really like you, but I don't want you to die just like that. "
Antony laughed, "What if the diary is with you? Anyway, I don't want to miss anything. Luca, this is my fight, and also my insistence. You didn't come in either. "
Luca became silent. Insects continued to pass by him. They were so fast that they left shadows in the air. Right at this moment, Luca walked back, and suddenly waved his fist.
A punch landed solidly on Antony's face, sending him flying. After he fell to the ground, Luca walked over to his side and picked him up again. Looking at Antony's swollen face, Luca said in a heavy voice, "I can only say that you are a bastard, and at the same time, an idiot. However, I don't seem to be very smart. Then let's do it together, for honor's sake! "
Antony tightly grasped Luca's firm arm, and said with a heavy voice as well: "For honor!"
The bugs continued to retreat, and soon, the shadow of the bugs covered the two of them. When they left again, they had already lost sight of Antony and Yue Shan.
