manynovel Chapter 220: Life Bloom, Mystic Rune!
Chapter 220: Life Bloom, Mystic Rune!
Sizzle.It sounded just like teppanyaki squid hitting a red-hot iron griddle, bursting with sizzling juices.
The eyeballs at the tips of the four tentacles were scorched and charred by the sunlight almost simultaneously, transforming into a surge of Trait Value that the Collector could absorb.
[The Collector has detected dissipating biological information and is automatically absorbing it]
[Absorption complete. The traits of the Demonic Eye Sponge have increased]
[The Trait Value of the Chamber has reached its maximum value of 200%. No further absorption is possible]
[The Trait Value of the Pass-Chamber Patterns has reached its maximum value of 200%. No further absorption is possible]
[The Trait Value of the Rule Eye has reached 100%]
[The Trait Value of the Constraint Eye has reached 100%]
"Not bad, not bad!"
Cheng Ye glanced at the series of notifications popping up on the interface, nodding repeatedly in pleasant surprise.
The Demonic Eye Sponge's intelligence was actually quite high, roughly on par with a five- or six-year-old human child. It was also extremely vengeful, with each of its attacks growing far more ferocious than the last.
However, the eyeballs at the tips of its tentacles didn't seem to possess normal vision. Even if they "saw" him enter the water again, they would not react. It wasn't until a piece of its sponge body or a tentacle was severed that it would suddenly jolt in alarm and launch a frenzied counterattack.
'Is it thanks to the Obsidian Battle Armor?'
Cheng Ye touched the black armor covering his body, silently praising it in his mind.
When Bai Wei gave him this suit of armor, he only mentioned that it could conceal a human's aura to the greatest extent to avoid detection by Infection Sources. He hadn't expected it to evade not only aura sensing but also visual detection. It truly deserved its reputation as the highest-tier Extinction-level Protective Gear.
"Are you... are you going back down?"
Rocook pointed at the water, unable to stop himself from gulping.
After falling victim to Cheng Ye's Surprise Attack for the third time, the Demonic Eye Sponge's tentacles simply stopped retracting. They hovered stiffly just a meter beneath the surface, as if strictly guarding against any further intrusions.
"No, we already have enough specimens. Let's go back and rest first, then figure out our next move this afternoon."
Cheng Ye leaned over and peered down into the water.
He had a vague feeling that maintaining this vigilant state would put a massive drain on the Demonic Eye Sponge's Energy Consumption.
This was a good thing. It meant the energy it could supply to the Immortal Item Fragment would decrease, thereby lowering the potential threat it posed tonight.
However, continuing to dive into the water to provoke it would be irrational. Quitting while he was ahead was the safest course of action.
The two men took off their Obsidian Battle Armor and returned to the Truck Laboratory first, stuffing the newly acquired Tentacle Samples into the Analyzer. Afterward, they hurried over to the newly built Sauna Room to check on the progress of removing the Darkwater Cave Crab infections.
It was already twelve o'clock noon, and the first batch of Residents who had entered the Sauna Room had completed their treatments.
After undergoing dehydration and rehydration twice in a row, the people looked weak, but their spirits were still fairly high.
Given the natural recovery speed of Wastelanders, they would probably bounce back by tomorrow afternoon.
Seeing this, the rest of the Residents completely let go of their worries. Some even muttered privately, secretly hoping they would get infected too, just so they could temporarily skip out on work and rest in a Unit Apartment.
Taking advantage of their lunch break, the four Inspectors gathered together.
Rocook quickly briefed them on the underwater situation, briefly explaining the existence of the Demonic Eye Sponge. To avoid scaring Wang Kang and Garcia, he deliberately omitted the horrifying detail of its "thousands of tentacles" and merely stated that the Cavern was located beneath the Demonic Eye Sponge's main body.
Even so, Garcia's face paled in fright. Wang Kang, on the other hand, looked utterly fascinated and relentlessly pressed for more underwater details.
"Brother Cheng, are you guys going back into the water tonight?" Wang Kang asked.
"Hard to say. Let's see how things go this afternoon. It'd be best if we could finish the investigation during the day." Cheng Ye picked up a pouch of nutrient paste, tore open the nozzle, and squeezed it into his mouth. He didn't stop until he had downed three entire pouches.
Having blasted forward at full power three times just now, his Accelerated Energy had dropped to thirty percent.
Fortunately, he had the Fish-Mimicking State to assist him. Otherwise, relying purely on conventional Diving, there would be no way to investigate the Demonic Eye Sponge so efficiently. He would have been forced to slowly grope around the outer edges underwater, just as Rocook had originally planned.
"When you start work this afternoon, prioritize leading the men to establish the Defensive Facilities. Focus on clearing out any hidden dangers along the path from the Riverside to the Camp," Cheng Ye instructed.
He paused and glanced up at the slightly darkening sky, his tone turning more serious. "I have a bad feeling about the rain tonight. Something might happen, and a battle is inevitable."
"No problem!" Wang Kang immediately replied. "The Solar Panels have already been unloaded from the truck and installed. All that's left is to set up the Searchlights and run the Electric Wires. Sun Dazheng is also leading a team to construct the Sentry Tower. Once it's built, we'll be able to see any movement by the Riverside clear as day right from the Camp."
"Everything is fine on my end too," Rocook chimed in. "I already led a group to clear out a large section of the Ruins yesterday. Today's main task is to perfect the Unit Apartments while simultaneously assisting with the Defensive Facilities."
As he spoke, he glanced over at Garcia.
Garcia remained silent for a few seconds before nodding as well. "The Unit Apartments were mostly finished this morning. This afternoon, I'll take charge of leading people to clear the path to the Riverside and set up the Defensive Fortifications. I guarantee there won't be another Surprise Attack from a Darkwater Cave Crab like yesterday."
"Good!"
Cheng Ye tossed the empty nutrient pouches into the trash can and extended his hand. "Once we leave Happiness City and step into the Wilderness, we Inspectors are one cohesive unit. When facing Infection Sources, we need to be United in Efforts if we want to survive."
Wang Kang caught on first and hurriedly placed his hand on top of Cheng Ye's.
Rocook didn't hesitate either, following suit and stacking his hand.
Garcia looked at the three of them, gritted his teeth, and finally placed his hand on top as well.
The four men exchanged glances and recited in unison the very first oath that every Inspector was required to memorize during their probationary period:
"By my duty, by my hands!"
"Civilization!"
"Endures forever!"
As their voices faded, the four hands pressed down forcefully. A surging fighting spirit quietly swelled from the depths of their hearts.
Wang Kang and Garcia continued to lead their teams in pushing the Construction Progress forward. Rocook didn't rest long after eating, rushing straight to the Riverside to prepare for his next dive.
Cheng Ye took a stroll around town. Once he confirmed that the infrastructure and epidemic prevention measures were running smoothly without any issues, he returned to the Truck Laboratory.
The Instruments were still humming along, analyzing the composition of the tentacle while running comparative tests to determine its specific abilities.
Seeing the progress bar on the screen stuck at a mere forty-five percent, Cheng Ye wasn't in any rush. He securely closed the laboratory door, sat down on an Alloy Stool, and with a mere thought, pulled up his interface with Intent.
The Recharge Value in the upper right corner had already been fully replenished. He directly skipped the page over to the Biological Compendium.
After three consecutive underwater harvests, the various traits of the Demonic Eye Sponge had all seen substantial growth. Even the Water-Walking Chamber Patterns and Earth-Walking Chamber Patterns, which had previously been progressing at a snail's pace, finally broke past the five-percent mark.
'Extract Trait: Chamber. Set direction as intelligence,' Cheng Ye muttered silently to the interface.
[Detected that the Collector has selected the "Joint" route. Activating Choice Options for Intelligence Direction]
[Please determine the specific Intelligence Direction. If no selection is made, intelligence for a random direction will be extracted]
"Extracting traits can be assigned a specific direction, just like searching for intelligence?"
Cheng Ye froze for a moment before snapping back to reality, stating in a deep voice, "Set direction to the rules inside the Chamber."
As soon as he spoke, the space around him abruptly froze in place.
Fifty percent of the Recharge Value on the interface was instantly deducted. Just like when he had searched for intelligence previously, the surrounding scenery began shattering into primitive pixels before rapidly undergoing Reconstruction into a brand-new scene, guided by the energy.
Bloop, bloop.
The azure seawater was the first thing to emerge, and it clearly wasn't the White Water River next to Dabo Town.
The perspective rapidly zoomed down. It felt like passing through a space-time tunnel. Cheng Ye suddenly realized he had lost control of his viewing angle. His field of vision was actually attached to a tiny golden fish, leaving him with no choice but to observe wherever the little fish swam.
Since he couldn't pause or switch his perspective, Cheng Ye simply calmed his mind and moved forward through the seawater along with the tiny fish's vision.
It was worth noting that this attached perspective was completely unaffected by the underwater environment. Even deep within the seawater, everything around him remained perfectly clear and visible.
Soon, a blue sponge—entirely different from the one beneath the White Water River—appeared near a Seaside Cliff.
Its form was similar to the Demonic Eye Sponge's Chamber, but it lacked any protruding tentacles. Instead, there was only a crater-like depression in its center. Lodged right in front of the depression was a massive eyeball, roughly ten meters in diameter.
Sensing the tiny golden fish approaching, the giant eye slowly scanned the area before splitting open a gap right down the middle.
The small fish nimbly accelerated and squeezed through the crack. However, after swimming forward just a few meters, Cheng Ye's perspective suddenly unlinked, and he regained control.
But before he could even pan his view to observe his surroundings, the tiny golden fish in front of him underwent a sudden, drastic transformation.
Its body rapidly elongated, its scales shedding and reforming. Finally, with a dramatic shift, it transformed into a golden mermaid.
Possessing a human torso and a fishtail, its face was soft and elegant. If not for those golden pupils, it would look almost indistinguishable from a human!
"Holy crap, it underwent Transformation!?"
Cheng Ye was completely dumbfounded.
But the subsequent scenes overturned his worldview even more. The interior of the Chamber actually resembled a bustling disco hall, with swirling blue lights flashing everywhere, packed to the brim with all sorts of different merfolk.
There were handsome mermen and graceful mermaids.
The two groups looked as if they were attending a grand party, dancing elegantly to the rhythm of the light inside the Chamber. The atmosphere was so relaxed that it didn't feel like the lair of an Infection Source at all.
Cheng Ye tried to pan his perspective outward, but the moment he exceeded the bounds of the Chamber, his vision plunged into pitch darkness. Clearly, this was beyond the coverage area of the intelligence.
Left with no choice, he refocused his attention back inside the Chamber. After careful observation, he quickly noticed several key details:
First was the giant eye at the entrance. The back of the eyeball was densely engraved with tiny Runes. The patterns were obscure and difficult to comprehend, looking like chaotic scribbles, yet vaguely exuding some sort of underlying logic.
Whenever a new merfolk was about to enter, before the giant eye opened, a specific batch of Runes would light up first, emitting a faint blue glow.
After the verification passed and the merfolk entered, a new, different batch of Runes would illuminate as the giant eye closed shut.
'Truly magical. Could these Runes be its underlying operational mechanism?'
Cheng Ye widened his eyes, attempting to memorize the arrangement of the Runes that lit up when the door opened. However, he soon discovered a terrifying fact!
Those Runes would leave an impression in his mind one second, but the very next second he looked away, the memory would completely vanish as if it had been wiped clean.
Let alone the complete patterns, he couldn't even recall the general strokes of the Runes.
"I can't even memorize them by rote. This completely eliminates any possibility of Humans using Runes through Memory..."
After repeatedly trying and failing several times, Cheng Ye had no choice but to temporarily give up.
His Memory was originally quite exceptional, but the bizarre traits of these Runes clearly exceeded the boundaries of conventional memory. He could only rely on subsequent trait analysis or Intelligence Matching to see if he could uncover their Mystery.
Following this train of thought, he continued his search inside the Chamber and quickly spotted two more Runes tucked away in a corner.
Unlike the minuscule Runes on the eyeball, these two were the size of manhole covers, with much clearer patterns. Moreover, miraculously, the moment he gazed at them, a line of information automatically surfaced in his mind:
[Merfolk Transformation Rune: Causes directed changes in biological forms. Only effective within the Chamber, affecting all organisms that enter. Effects automatically vanish upon leaving the Chamber]
[Analyze and Record this Rune: No Authorization (Current Rank cannot analyze this Rune. Please continue to increase your Rank to unlock authorization)]
"Huh?"
"I can actually analyze Runes?"
Cheng Ye's pupils contracted slightly, scarcely daring to believe his own eyes.
He immediately turned his head to look at the other Rune. Sure enough, another line of information popped up:
[Life Bloom Rune: Can accelerate an organism's life process toward a specific direction. Only effective within the Chamber, affecting all organisms that enter. Effects automatically vanish upon leaving the Chamber]
[Analyze and Record this Rune: No Authorization (Current Rank is insufficient)]
"Merfolk Transformation, Life Bloom?"
Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment before his gaze fell back onto the dancing merfolk below.
In particular, the golden mermaid that had originally led him inside was currently entangled in a Frenzied Dance with a blue merman. The scene was a bit too scandalous for the eyes.
But upon closer inspection, he noticed that the scales on the tail fins of the two merfolk were rapidly peeling off. Every scale that fell to the floor was instantly absorbed by the ground of the Chamber.
It wasn't until the largest scale detached from the root of their tail fins that both merfolk suddenly let out a simultaneous wail and collapsed to the floor.
The next second, the floor of the Chamber slowly split open to form a gap, completely devouring them along with all their scattered scales.
Right as the gap closed shut, an imperceptible ripple flashed by, and the space within the Chamber seemed to expand ever so slightly.
Although it wasn't very clear, Cheng Ye rewound the playback and focused his complete attention on the boundaries, confirming that he really did see this subtle change.
Just as he was pondering this, the space shattered with a bang, and he returned to the interior of the Truck Laboratory.
A faint glimmer flashed, and replayable intelligence appeared on the interface. The number of allowed replays was identically capped at five.
"The Chamber..."
Cheng Ye furrowed his brows and replayed the intelligence footage once more.
The tiny golden fish analyzed by the Collector had a very distinct characteristic: its Strength was clearly the weakest among all the merfolk. It had only engaged in the Frenzied Dance for about five minutes before the Runes stimulated it to the very end of its lifespan, turning it into Nutrients for the Chamber.
'So, does this mean the Chamber is actually the equivalent of the Demonic Eye Sponge's 'giant stomach'? It's its digestive organ?'
This hypothesis made Cheng Ye's heart sink. 'If I really enter its Chamber, won't I also be affected by the Runes inside?'
If the Demonic Eye Sponge's Chamber contained Runes similar to "Frenzied Dance" or "Transformation," turning him into a merman and making him lose control inside, he would truly be beyond all help, with no one to answer his desperate cries.
He backed out to the trait interface, glanced at the remaining fifty percent Recharge Value, and ultimately let his gaze fall upon the Pass-Chamber Patterns.
Right now, the only way to judge the feasibility of entering the Chamber was to figure out the exact function of these Chamber Patterns first.
"Extract Trait. Intelligence Direction. Set direction to: the utility of the Pass-Chamber Patterns!"
The scenery shattered and underwent Reconstruction once again.
To Cheng Ye's surprise, the Sea Area that appeared this time was the exact same one from before.
A large, grayish-yellow fish was slowly swimming toward the blue sponge. Before it even fully arrived, the viewing perspective unlocked ahead of time.
Cheng Ye immediately paused the footage to carefully observe the large fish's form. Attached to its scales was a layer of blue patterns—identical to the parasitic microbes found earlier on Rocook's armor—with countless tiny tentacles growing on its surface.
Meanwhile, the belly of the large fish had been torn open by a hideous gash, which was actively oozing pale red blood.
When the patterned large fish approached the giant eye, the eyeball predictably split apart to create a gap large enough for entry.
Upon swimming inside, the grayish-yellow large fish instantly assumed a humanoid form. It was a middle-aged merman!
The blue patterns extending out from below his earlobes were nearly completely identical to the ones discovered on the two human corpses earlier. This firmly verified that those unknown patterns were indeed Chamber Patterns.
Clutching the wound on his chest, the middle-aged merman swam through the Chamber. Although he was subjected to the Merfolk Transformation, he completely ignored the influence of the Life Bloom Rune and headed straight for the corner of the Chamber.
As soon as he stood still, the ground cracked open to form a devouring gap, and the middle-aged merman boldly leaped right inside.
Cheng Ye immediately maneuvered his perspective to follow, only to discover a whole new world hidden behind the Chamber.
Similar to the Cavern occupied by the Demonic Eye Sponge, there was a space of about seven to eight hundred square meters situated behind the blue sponge. Quite a few merfolk were leaning against the stone walls resting, the surfaces of their bodies radiating a faint blue glow.
Cheng Ye paused the footage and carefully scoured the Second Layer Space for any Runes. Very quickly, he found a new Rune smack in the center of the stone wall.
[Life Symbiosis Rune: Can establish a Life Symbiosis Link with specific organisms, allowing both parties to share Life Energy. Only effective within the Chamber, affecting all organisms that enter. Effects automatically vanish upon leaving the Chamber]
The middle-aged merman casually found an empty spot to lie down, and a blue glow also emanated from his body.
Under Cheng Ye's watchful gaze, the wound on his chest healed at a pace visible to the naked eye. In just over ten minutes, he had completely recovered.
Afterward, he left the Chamber and returned to his large fish form. Not only had his wounds disappeared, but his body also seemed noticeably larger than before.
The scene shattered, marking the end of the intelligence.
"My guess was right on the money! The Pass-Chamber Patterns are indeed the crucial key to entering the interior of the Chamber!"
Cheng Ye stood up excitedly, but before his thrill could fully peak, a sliver of dread once again gripped his heart.
This discovery was undoubtedly pushing him toward venturing directly into the Demonic Eye Sponge's Chamber.
But what kinds of Runes would be waiting inside the Demonic Eye Sponge's Chamber?
Once the Pass-Chamber Patterns were materialized as an Item, would they still retain their effect of "granting immunity to the Runes"?
As Cheng Ye pondered this, he suddenly felt a bout of frustration.
What he lacked most right now was Experience. Even with all this intelligence at his fingertips, he still felt profoundly uncertain.
And it wasn't just him; the Humans of the entire wasteland severely lacked any Experience or understanding when it came to Infection Sources of this caliber.
Were there any factions capable of analyzing those mysterious Runes? Could the research labs in Happiness City crack them?
Unfortunately, although he knew of the existence of the "Runes," he couldn't even memorize those two large Runes from the Chamber earlier. The interior of the Demonic Eye Sponge's Chamber would probably be no different.
Furthermore, his Recharge Value was still recovering, so there was temporarily no way to extract the Pass-Chamber Patterns into an Item to test their effects.
'When the time comes, should I go in alone, or bring Rocook with me?'
Cheng Ye massaged his temples, feeling that the choice before him was only growing increasingly difficult. Going in alone carried too high a risk, but if he brought Rocook, he feared he wouldn't even be able to look after himself if an accident occurred.
He stood up and made his way back over to the Riverside.
By now, the sky had turned completely overcast. The Lead-Gray Clouds hung oppressively low. The Water Flow of the White Water River was considerably more turbulent than before, with White Waves churning over the surface.
Clearly, it was raining heavily upstream, and the rainwater was already merging into the river channel.
Cheng Ye stood there for over ten minutes until a sudden splashing sound echoed from the water's surface. Rocook bobbed up, wearing an Underwater Respirator.
To his surprise, Rocook was hauling a long, slender Containment Box in his hands, his face brimming with pure excitement.
"I've made another huge discovery!"
Rocook nimbly climbed ashore and shook the water droplets off his armor. "The Demonic Eye Sponge seems to have been driven to desperation by you. It hasn't even hit nightfall, yet it's already releasing the Infection Sources stored inside it! I just saw it with my own eyes down there—this thing burrowed straight out of its tentacle!"
As he spoke, he popped open the Containment Box. Lying inside was a forty-centimeter-long face-changing fish.
Its entire body was grayish-black, but the most scalp-numbing detail was that every single one of its scales bore a miniature human face. When its eyes were closed, it looked like a deathly still mask; when they opened, murky pupils were exposed, making it look unbelievably eerie.
"So there are plenty of Infection Sources down in the water right now?"
"Yeah! I was just about to ask you to come dive with me for Containment. If we capture them all right now, the pressure during our Cavern investigation tonight will be so much lighter!" Rocook nodded continuously, his voice unable to hide his excitement.
This was an absolute unexpected windfall. Although they weren't afraid of ordinary Infection Sources while wearing their Obsidian Battle Armor, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't stir up trouble at a critical juncture. Eliminating them ahead of time was naturally the optimal choice.
"Alright then, let's head down now." Cheng Ye didn't hesitate in the slightest, immediately turning around to grab some Containment Boxes.
"Hold on!" Rocook suddenly grabbed him, his tone turning dead serious. "We agreed this is only for Containment. You better not start hacking at the sponge again!"
"Uh..."
Cheng Ye was taken aback for a second before letting out a dry chuckle. "Relax. I know the rules of Containment."
The two men retrieved enough Containment Boxes and tools before leaping into the water one after another.
Sure enough, just as Rocook had claimed, the Demonic Eye Sponge seemed completely panicked. The underwater Infection Sources were actively roaming the shallow depths, patrolling the perimeter like a squad of vigilant guards.
At a single glance, all of those ordinary Infection Sources that Garcia had mentioned were surprisingly present.
Wearing Extinction-level Protective Gear to contain a few ordinary Infection Sources?
They had never fought such an incredibly effortless battle before.
In merely ten or so minutes, by taking turns in a relay-style assault, the pair successfully captured a whopping twenty-three Infection Sources.
Cheng Ye didn't waste these "materials." The moment the Infection Sources hit the shore, he immediately dealt the killing blow to Extract Trait.
Rocook was already accustomed to this "violent maniac" persona of his. Not only did he not try to stop him, but he even actively instructed Cheng Ye on how to kill them faster and more efficiently.
"Is that all?"
After finishing yet another sweep of the area, the two resurfaced. Cheng Ye wiped the water from his face and asked.
"That should be it. These aquatic Infection Sources stand out quite a bit, so the ones hiding will be extremely tough to track down anyway." Rocook let out a heavy breath.
"Then I'll—"
"Wait, let me get to shore first!" Rocook hurriedly swam toward the bank, a sudden burst of frantic strength surging into his exhausted body.
When he clambered ashore and frantically whipped his head back to look at the water, Cheng Ye was, unsurprisingly, nowhere to be seen.
He silently counted in his heart. Scarcely a few dozen seconds passed before the water's surface abruptly exploded.
Hauling four or five violently thrashing sponge tentacles, Cheng Ye launched himself into the air like a cannonball, landing squarely on the dock.
Behind him, hundreds of tentacles relentlessly pursued, thrashing wildly across the water. Clearly, he had once again thoroughly enraged the Demonic Eye Sponge.
Cheng Ye blinked, his gaze locking onto the eyeballs at the tips of the tentacles.
"Do you think it'll release any new Infection Sources?"