Chapter 232: The Tide of Poison Floods the Cabin
A faint, fishy stench of spores slowly diffused from the main ventilation vent, adding an invisible shackle to the already foul and stifling air. The first to fall were the civilians whose mental fortitude was already on the verge of collapse. Several of them collapsed to their knees, pressing their temples with both hands as they squeezed out suppressed, agonizing groans from their throats. Their Sea of Consciousness was fiercely battered by the invading spore toxins. The illusions were no longer fragmented, tempting images; they had transformed into a surging, rolling torrent, tearing at their minds repeatedly.
Some saw themselves being impaled by the claws of scaled beasts, their flesh and bones shattering; others saw the ancient beings offering water and rations, only to find their palms grasping nothing but cold, empty void when they reached out. These two extreme images ground back and forth. Those with weak wills instantly lost control, flailing their limbs and screaming as they rolled on the ground. The military police hurried forward, trying to drag the out-of-control individuals into the innermost compartment, but their manpower was already stretched to the limit. The slaughter near the fissure was still ongoing, making it impossible for them to split their attention.
At the fissure, the first third-tier scaled beast had already squeezed more than half its body into the cabin. The wound on its lower jaw continued to leak dark green blood, dripping onto the steel floor and corroding tiny pits. Ignoring the injuries on its shoulder and jaw, its dark crimson vertical pupils locked onto the retreating defenders. Its thick claws scraped against the steel plate with a piercing screech as it pressed forward step by step. Scholar Su and his four injured soldiers used a horizontal steel beam as a temporary barricade, crossing their short blades to desperately block the giant beast's path.
"Do not stare into its eyes! Its gaze assists in psychic infection!" Scholar Su's left shoulder wound continued to bleed, soaking through his outer combat suit. The blood loss made his vision black out intermittently. Forcing his consciousness to stay focused, he kept his eyes on the gaps in the beast's scales. Seizing the moment the giant beast raised its claw to strike, he ducked and lunged forward, driving his short blade viciously into the unarmored soft flesh under its foreleg's armpit.
The third-tier scaled beast, feeling the pain, went into a frenzy and thrashed its foreleg. The immense force slammed directly into the steel frame. The heavy metal structure roared and trembled, the bolts anchoring it to the rock wall snapping and flying off one after another as rubble rained down. A soldier nearby failed to dodge in time and was struck hard in the chest by a protruding edge of the swaying steel frame. With a muffled groan, he stumbled and fell, his short blade slipping from his hand and rolling away.
The other two third-tier scaled beasts followed closely behind, squeezing into the cabin one after another through the fissure. Under the relentless barrage of impacts, the remaining three latches of the gate finally emitted a continuous series of crisp, snapping sounds.
Crack—Crack—Crack!
The last three latches had completely broken.
Freed from all restraints, the heavy alloy gate tilted outward and swung completely open. Seeing the opening, the dense masses of ordinary scaled beasts outside let out an instant surge of restless roars, swarming toward the cabin entrance like a tide. The Beast Commander hid in the shadows of the passage, its psychic tendrils steadily guiding all the scaled beasts, advancing methodically to prevent the low-tier beasts from crowding chaotically and wasting their combat power.
Lin Yan stood guard by the command terminal, projecting his Sea of Consciousness outward with all his might while simultaneously enduring the onslaught of spore toxins spilling from the vent. Waves of dizziness rushed to his head. He bit his tongue, using the sharp pain to maintain his clarity, his gaze locked firmly onto the jumping thermal signatures on the screen. Deep underground in the rock layer, the Spiderweb Ancient Being did not continue to push more spores. It had achieved its phased objective—the spores had spread throughout the entire shelter pod via the ventilation system, and the psychic toxins were continuously draining everyone. It lay dormant in silence, waiting for this tide of poison and the tide of beasts to jointly reap the harvest.
"The gate has completely fallen! Massive numbers of ordinary scaled beasts are flooding into the passage. We can no longer hold the entrance!" Lin Yan reported loudly, his voice wavering. "The spore concentration is still rising. In a moment, the vast majority of people will completely lose their sanity."
Deep within the cavern, the consciousness of the five ancient beings resonated quietly.
The Beast Commander steadily directed the scaled beasts to compress the encirclement inward. Capitalizing on the spores floating throughout the cabin, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being pushed the intensity of the Sea of Consciousness erosion to its absolute peak, washing over everyone's minds with alternating waves of dizziness, paralysis, and excruciating pain. The Illusion Ancient Being no longer deliberately crafted images of temptation or fear. Instead, it allowed the deepest obsessions, fears, and desires in each person's heart to generate their own illusions. A thousand people, a thousand dreams, tearing themselves apart from within. The supreme ruler hovered above this darkness, calmly observing the desperate struggle inside the iron box as it marched toward its end. It had witnessed countless such scenes; most species, upon reaching this point, would completely fall apart.
Scholar Su quickly scanned the situation, knowing in his heart that stubbornly defending the gate was now meaningless. He made a swift decision and roared, "Fall back inward! Use the compartment walls to stage a layered defense! Military police, prioritize escorting the civilians to the deepest storage compartment! The wounded will retreat with the civilians!"
The order was passed down. The surviving soldiers fought as they retreated. They no longer tried to stop the three third-tier scaled beasts, merely using their short blades and steel shards to harass the giants' eyes, snouts, and soft joints, slowing their advance. Every swing of the blade consumed massive stamina. Compounded by hunger, blood loss, and the mental dizziness brought on by the spores, their movements grew increasingly sluggish. Many attacks had lost their accuracy, hacking against the thick scales and leaving only shallow marks.
A soldier circled behind a third-tier scaled beast, spotting a gap where the scales at the base of its tail connected. He summoned all his strength and drove his steel shard into the gap. Enraged, the scaled beast spun around violently, its bone spurs sweeping horizontally. The soldier had no time to dodge; the spurs tore a deep, long gash across his abdomen, and warm blood instantly gushed out. He glanced down at his flesh rolling outward, but did not scream. Using the very last ounce of his strength, he twisted the steel shard deeper into the wound before being swatted away by the giant claw. He crashed heavily to the ground and never rose again.
The civilians' path of retreat was equally chaotic.
The spore illusions had felled most of them. Some lay paralyzed on the ground, unable to move; others ran frantically, unable to tell direction, charging straight toward the surging scaled beasts. The military police pulled and blocked with all their might, shouting the wake-up commands, but the commands grew increasingly ineffective against the high-intensity spore toxins. A mother clutched her exhausted child tightly, curled up against the wall, trembling uncontrollably as she watched the shadows of the scaled beasts draw closer. In the wounded area, the military doctor supported two patients who could still barely move, stumbling at the very back of the group.
In the radio booth, the guard still sat before his headphones.
The fishy stench of spores drifted into the cramped booth, causing his head to throb in waves. Images of his hometown constantly flashed before his eyes. Yet, he still obeyed the regulations etched into his bones. At the designated time, he reached out with a trembling hand and pressed the transmit button. The weak long-wave signal pierced through the spore clouds shrouding the wasteland, drifting alone into the distance. The headphones still held only the endless hiss of white noise, without a single reply. He lowered his hand. Through the partition wall, he listened to the increasingly close roars of the scaled beasts, the clashing of blades, and the desperate cries of the people. Slowly, he took off the headphones, picked up the short blade leaning against the wall, pushed open the small door of the booth, and walked briskly toward the sounds of battle.
Only Lin Yan remained in the command area.
On the terminal screen, the thermal signatures were densely pressing inward. The three third-tier scaled beasts split up, flanking from three passage branches, intending to divide the defenders and the civilians. The spore concentration curve continued to rise slowly; the entire sealed shelter pod had become a massive psychic prison. His Sea of Consciousness had reached its absolute limit. His temples throbbed wildly, and the scenery before his eyes occasionally warped. The physical resilience brought by his martial arts foundation was of little advantage against this omnipresent psychic poison.
He raised his eyes to look down the inner passage. Scholar Su and the remaining three combat-capable soldiers had formed the final line of defense at the intersection of two compartments. The corner was narrow, preventing the scaled beasts from rushing in all at once, barely offsetting their numerical advantage. However, one of the three third-tier scaled beasts had already circled to the side, intending to maneuver through an abandoned pipeline maintenance tunnel to flank the storage compartment where the civilians were hiding.
"Left maintenance tunnel! One third-tier scaled beast is flanking from behind! Targeting the civilian compartment!" Lin Yan shouted with all his remaining strength.
Hearing this, Scholar Su turned his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the pitch-black entrance to the maintenance tunnel, and his heart sank. If the giant beast squeezed in there, the defenseless civilians crammed into the cramped compartment would be slaughtered instantly.
"Hold the corner!" Scholar Su ordered the soldiers beside him in a heavy voice, gripping his chipped short blade. "I will intercept it."
Without waiting for his comrades' reply, Scholar Su turned and sprinted toward the entrance of the maintenance tunnel. The wound on his shoulder tore continuously with his running, blood dripping down his arm and leaving a trail of dark red spots on the steel plate. The tunnel was narrow, allowing only one scaled beast to pass, and only one person to block it head-on. This was a one-way path, and he knew it clearly.
Deep in the tunnel, the third-tier scaled beast had already pushed half its body inside. Its dark crimson vertical pupils locked onto the direction of the storage compartment at the end of the tunnel, emitting a low, excited purr from its throat. It saw its prey, huddled together and trembling.
Scholar Su planted his feet in the center of the tunnel, holding his chipped short blade horizontally, his back pressed against the cold rock wall, completely blocking the passage. One man and one beast stood in a standoff in the narrow, dark tunnel.
At the outer corner, the remaining three soldiers stood back-to-back, facing the other two third-tier scaled beasts and the endless stream of ordinary scaled beasts rushing in, raising their broken weapons. The roars, the clashing of blades, and the dull thuds of shattering bones echoed continuously from the corner. The fishy stench of spores permeated the air, and illusions raged wildly within everyone's Sea of Consciousness.
Lin Yan supported himself against the terminal console and struggled to his feet. Extending his Sea of Consciousness outward, he could clearly sense the indifferent consciousness of the ancient beings deep within the cavern, and feel the calm gaze of the supreme ruler. He did not choose to retreat into a compartment to hide. Gripping a thick, sharpened steel shard in his hand, he took step after step, walking toward the corner where the slaughter was unfolding.
Inside the iron box, the final resistance burned on, inch by inch, between the compartments and the passages. Reinforcements had never arrived, and the path of retreat was long sealed. The tide of poison flooded everywhere, and the scaled beasts were right at their doorstep. All they could rely on were the broken weapons in their hands, and an unyielding will that refused to bow.
End of Chapter.
Some saw themselves being impaled by the claws of scaled beasts, their flesh and bones shattering; others saw the ancient beings offering water and rations, only to find their palms grasping nothing but cold, empty void when they reached out. These two extreme images ground back and forth. Those with weak wills instantly lost control, flailing their limbs and screaming as they rolled on the ground. The military police hurried forward, trying to drag the out-of-control individuals into the innermost compartment, but their manpower was already stretched to the limit. The slaughter near the fissure was still ongoing, making it impossible for them to split their attention.
At the fissure, the first third-tier scaled beast had already squeezed more than half its body into the cabin. The wound on its lower jaw continued to leak dark green blood, dripping onto the steel floor and corroding tiny pits. Ignoring the injuries on its shoulder and jaw, its dark crimson vertical pupils locked onto the retreating defenders. Its thick claws scraped against the steel plate with a piercing screech as it pressed forward step by step. Scholar Su and his four injured soldiers used a horizontal steel beam as a temporary barricade, crossing their short blades to desperately block the giant beast's path.
"Do not stare into its eyes! Its gaze assists in psychic infection!" Scholar Su's left shoulder wound continued to bleed, soaking through his outer combat suit. The blood loss made his vision black out intermittently. Forcing his consciousness to stay focused, he kept his eyes on the gaps in the beast's scales. Seizing the moment the giant beast raised its claw to strike, he ducked and lunged forward, driving his short blade viciously into the unarmored soft flesh under its foreleg's armpit.
The third-tier scaled beast, feeling the pain, went into a frenzy and thrashed its foreleg. The immense force slammed directly into the steel frame. The heavy metal structure roared and trembled, the bolts anchoring it to the rock wall snapping and flying off one after another as rubble rained down. A soldier nearby failed to dodge in time and was struck hard in the chest by a protruding edge of the swaying steel frame. With a muffled groan, he stumbled and fell, his short blade slipping from his hand and rolling away.
The other two third-tier scaled beasts followed closely behind, squeezing into the cabin one after another through the fissure. Under the relentless barrage of impacts, the remaining three latches of the gate finally emitted a continuous series of crisp, snapping sounds.
Crack—Crack—Crack!
The last three latches had completely broken.
Freed from all restraints, the heavy alloy gate tilted outward and swung completely open. Seeing the opening, the dense masses of ordinary scaled beasts outside let out an instant surge of restless roars, swarming toward the cabin entrance like a tide. The Beast Commander hid in the shadows of the passage, its psychic tendrils steadily guiding all the scaled beasts, advancing methodically to prevent the low-tier beasts from crowding chaotically and wasting their combat power.
Lin Yan stood guard by the command terminal, projecting his Sea of Consciousness outward with all his might while simultaneously enduring the onslaught of spore toxins spilling from the vent. Waves of dizziness rushed to his head. He bit his tongue, using the sharp pain to maintain his clarity, his gaze locked firmly onto the jumping thermal signatures on the screen. Deep underground in the rock layer, the Spiderweb Ancient Being did not continue to push more spores. It had achieved its phased objective—the spores had spread throughout the entire shelter pod via the ventilation system, and the psychic toxins were continuously draining everyone. It lay dormant in silence, waiting for this tide of poison and the tide of beasts to jointly reap the harvest.
"The gate has completely fallen! Massive numbers of ordinary scaled beasts are flooding into the passage. We can no longer hold the entrance!" Lin Yan reported loudly, his voice wavering. "The spore concentration is still rising. In a moment, the vast majority of people will completely lose their sanity."
Deep within the cavern, the consciousness of the five ancient beings resonated quietly.
The Beast Commander steadily directed the scaled beasts to compress the encirclement inward. Capitalizing on the spores floating throughout the cabin, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being pushed the intensity of the Sea of Consciousness erosion to its absolute peak, washing over everyone's minds with alternating waves of dizziness, paralysis, and excruciating pain. The Illusion Ancient Being no longer deliberately crafted images of temptation or fear. Instead, it allowed the deepest obsessions, fears, and desires in each person's heart to generate their own illusions. A thousand people, a thousand dreams, tearing themselves apart from within. The supreme ruler hovered above this darkness, calmly observing the desperate struggle inside the iron box as it marched toward its end. It had witnessed countless such scenes; most species, upon reaching this point, would completely fall apart.
Scholar Su quickly scanned the situation, knowing in his heart that stubbornly defending the gate was now meaningless. He made a swift decision and roared, "Fall back inward! Use the compartment walls to stage a layered defense! Military police, prioritize escorting the civilians to the deepest storage compartment! The wounded will retreat with the civilians!"
The order was passed down. The surviving soldiers fought as they retreated. They no longer tried to stop the three third-tier scaled beasts, merely using their short blades and steel shards to harass the giants' eyes, snouts, and soft joints, slowing their advance. Every swing of the blade consumed massive stamina. Compounded by hunger, blood loss, and the mental dizziness brought on by the spores, their movements grew increasingly sluggish. Many attacks had lost their accuracy, hacking against the thick scales and leaving only shallow marks.
A soldier circled behind a third-tier scaled beast, spotting a gap where the scales at the base of its tail connected. He summoned all his strength and drove his steel shard into the gap. Enraged, the scaled beast spun around violently, its bone spurs sweeping horizontally. The soldier had no time to dodge; the spurs tore a deep, long gash across his abdomen, and warm blood instantly gushed out. He glanced down at his flesh rolling outward, but did not scream. Using the very last ounce of his strength, he twisted the steel shard deeper into the wound before being swatted away by the giant claw. He crashed heavily to the ground and never rose again.
The civilians' path of retreat was equally chaotic.
The spore illusions had felled most of them. Some lay paralyzed on the ground, unable to move; others ran frantically, unable to tell direction, charging straight toward the surging scaled beasts. The military police pulled and blocked with all their might, shouting the wake-up commands, but the commands grew increasingly ineffective against the high-intensity spore toxins. A mother clutched her exhausted child tightly, curled up against the wall, trembling uncontrollably as she watched the shadows of the scaled beasts draw closer. In the wounded area, the military doctor supported two patients who could still barely move, stumbling at the very back of the group.
In the radio booth, the guard still sat before his headphones.
The fishy stench of spores drifted into the cramped booth, causing his head to throb in waves. Images of his hometown constantly flashed before his eyes. Yet, he still obeyed the regulations etched into his bones. At the designated time, he reached out with a trembling hand and pressed the transmit button. The weak long-wave signal pierced through the spore clouds shrouding the wasteland, drifting alone into the distance. The headphones still held only the endless hiss of white noise, without a single reply. He lowered his hand. Through the partition wall, he listened to the increasingly close roars of the scaled beasts, the clashing of blades, and the desperate cries of the people. Slowly, he took off the headphones, picked up the short blade leaning against the wall, pushed open the small door of the booth, and walked briskly toward the sounds of battle.
Only Lin Yan remained in the command area.
On the terminal screen, the thermal signatures were densely pressing inward. The three third-tier scaled beasts split up, flanking from three passage branches, intending to divide the defenders and the civilians. The spore concentration curve continued to rise slowly; the entire sealed shelter pod had become a massive psychic prison. His Sea of Consciousness had reached its absolute limit. His temples throbbed wildly, and the scenery before his eyes occasionally warped. The physical resilience brought by his martial arts foundation was of little advantage against this omnipresent psychic poison.
He raised his eyes to look down the inner passage. Scholar Su and the remaining three combat-capable soldiers had formed the final line of defense at the intersection of two compartments. The corner was narrow, preventing the scaled beasts from rushing in all at once, barely offsetting their numerical advantage. However, one of the three third-tier scaled beasts had already circled to the side, intending to maneuver through an abandoned pipeline maintenance tunnel to flank the storage compartment where the civilians were hiding.
"Left maintenance tunnel! One third-tier scaled beast is flanking from behind! Targeting the civilian compartment!" Lin Yan shouted with all his remaining strength.
Hearing this, Scholar Su turned his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the pitch-black entrance to the maintenance tunnel, and his heart sank. If the giant beast squeezed in there, the defenseless civilians crammed into the cramped compartment would be slaughtered instantly.
"Hold the corner!" Scholar Su ordered the soldiers beside him in a heavy voice, gripping his chipped short blade. "I will intercept it."
Without waiting for his comrades' reply, Scholar Su turned and sprinted toward the entrance of the maintenance tunnel. The wound on his shoulder tore continuously with his running, blood dripping down his arm and leaving a trail of dark red spots on the steel plate. The tunnel was narrow, allowing only one scaled beast to pass, and only one person to block it head-on. This was a one-way path, and he knew it clearly.
Deep in the tunnel, the third-tier scaled beast had already pushed half its body inside. Its dark crimson vertical pupils locked onto the direction of the storage compartment at the end of the tunnel, emitting a low, excited purr from its throat. It saw its prey, huddled together and trembling.
Scholar Su planted his feet in the center of the tunnel, holding his chipped short blade horizontally, his back pressed against the cold rock wall, completely blocking the passage. One man and one beast stood in a standoff in the narrow, dark tunnel.
At the outer corner, the remaining three soldiers stood back-to-back, facing the other two third-tier scaled beasts and the endless stream of ordinary scaled beasts rushing in, raising their broken weapons. The roars, the clashing of blades, and the dull thuds of shattering bones echoed continuously from the corner. The fishy stench of spores permeated the air, and illusions raged wildly within everyone's Sea of Consciousness.
Lin Yan supported himself against the terminal console and struggled to his feet. Extending his Sea of Consciousness outward, he could clearly sense the indifferent consciousness of the ancient beings deep within the cavern, and feel the calm gaze of the supreme ruler. He did not choose to retreat into a compartment to hide. Gripping a thick, sharpened steel shard in his hand, he took step after step, walking toward the corner where the slaughter was unfolding.
Inside the iron box, the final resistance burned on, inch by inch, between the compartments and the passages. Reinforcements had never arrived, and the path of retreat was long sealed. The tide of poison flooded everywhere, and the scaled beasts were right at their doorstep. All they could rely on were the broken weapons in their hands, and an unyielding will that refused to bow.
End of Chapter.