The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 671

Chapter 671: The World Within the Mountain

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The search and destroy parties had entered the deepest areas of the mountain, and the leading werewolf cavalry suddenly found themselves stepping into a foreign land.

This was their homeland, yet it was absolutely alien to them.

Hao Ren remained silent as he followed Uruk from behind, while a dozen knights and clerics looked out for any threats. Everybody was tense, but there were still no signs of hostile contact.

“Other units have also responded,” Uruk grumbled, his ears twitching. The werewolves’ unique communication technique allowed them to keep in touch across the mountain. “A few teams are heading towards the valley, and none of them remember this mountain path.

It was just as Hao Ren predicted. The monster had used some sort of mental disruption or sense distortion ability to hide this valley. For most living beings with cognitive abilities, this was akin to a piece of the mountain being excavated, and those under the influence would be none the wiser. No one could say when this disruption started, but there was something unsettling. No written history from the time the werewolves moved to the Sacred Mountain until today made any mention of this valley. There was also nothing about it in their maps.

A knight of the party could not digest what was going on and blurted out, “Why did this valley appear all of the sudden?”

Uruk threw him a glance. “It’s because of the protective crystals. This is the first time someone’s stepped into the area without having their senses disrupted.”

As they went farther ahead, Lily suddenly shouted as she pointed forward, “Something’s up ahead!”

Hao Ren turned towards the direction Lily was pointing at and saw half of a stone pillar sticking out on the side of the snow-covered mountain. It seemed like the remnant of a manmade item. He went up to have a look and noted that it was a black obelisk. On it was a series of runic inscriptions. An accompanying cleric immediately recognized the words. “A mark left by the heretics.”

“This thing’s been lying in the open for a long while,” Y’zaks said as he touched the almost fully eroded inscription. “Can you run a scan?”

The MDT floated ahead as it scanned the obelisk. “There’s dried paint on the inscriptions. This is about 3,000 to 4,000 years old.”

If the obelisk was about 3,000 to 4,000 years old, then the valley and everything in it was probably even older. Lady Ophra looked at the obelisk with a dumbfounded expression before something dawned upon her: the fact that the heretics had somehow flourished unknowingly under the noses of the Disciples of Glory.

It was because they had been there all along!

“Their history is beyond the Disciples of Glory.” Hao Ren clapped his hands as he got up. “They were here before the migration of the werewolves, before the founding of the Kingdom of Holletta, before the Disciples of Glory were first sanctified. The valley was already being shielded by the monster’s powers. They did not expand under the nose of the Disciples of Glory, rather the Disciples of Glory and the Kingdom of Holletta grew under the noses of the heretics.”

Lady Ophra’s expression was conflicted. She had no way to accept the fact of the matter. This was even more outlandish than saying that the heretics were hiding within the Beinz Diocese. Even the usual thick-headed Becky found it a little too surreal. “The Cult of Origination is more ancient than the Disciples of Glory? Then, this world was theirs to begin with! Why didn’t they do anything for the past thousands of years?”

Hao Ren waved his hand. “How would I know what they have been up to. We’re just basing this on the cold-hard data here. As early as the start of the werewolf migration, the inner sanctum of the Sacred Mountain was already under the disruptive spell.”

Vivian rubbed her chin as she demurred. “For something to stay incognito for thousands of years only to rear its heads recently, there must be something more to it. Perhaps they had some long-term plans, which needed thousands of years to realize, and the change of events in the past years have forced them to react. Possibly something to do with the goddess.”

Lady Ophra frowned and was still in disbelief. The fact that the heretics had been hiding out in the Sacred Mountain for thousands of years was a seismic shock to what she had known. Thousands of years… If this was a mere mortal race, how many generations had passed?

When did the heretics start congregating there? Where did they come from? How did they live there? How did their doctrine spread? How did they keep contact with the outside world? What kept them hidden for thousands of years, yet still enabled them to maintain fervor for their cause? Was it due to the influence of the brain monster? Or something else?

“Move on,” Lady Ophra shook her head as she ordered her knights. “Stay focused. Report the moment you detect any illusions or psychological effects.”

Even though she was holding on to the protective crystal, her unease was apparent. Mind control was not something that you could defend against, and as such, was a terrifying weapon. The terrifying part was not only its ability to corrupt someone totally but the fact that the victim would not be aware of it. That was even more chilling. A sleeping person would not realize it when he fell asleep, and for a victim of mind control, he was most vulnerable when he felt that he was well-prepared for it.

Any accomplished mind control master knew this trick: Controlling your prey was the easiest when the prey was under the illusion that it was free. And any master of the art of mental defense would always remind students that the moment they looked down on their foe, it usually meant they had already lost.

Uruk and a few of the cavalrymen beside him went ahead with a grim expression. The path before them was foreign to them as there were many unknown lanes and scenery. Even when they were walking within their own homeland, they were as lost as a foreigner. The only advantage they had was their accustomization to the local environment and lay of the land. They would probably have an advantage if attacked but God knows if that was actually worth anything.

“Why do I feel like the brain monster here is much more powerful than the one in Nasaton?” Lily mumbled as she got next to Hao Ren. “The monster in Nasaton needed a very long time to control others unnoticed. Why does the one here seem to be able to mess with everyone from the outset?”

“Maybe it has something set up here,” Hao Ren added. “It’s been a few thousand years you know. It’ll probably manage to dig up the Epang Palace¹ with its tentacles alone.”

Lily thought for a bit before poking Vivian on the arm. “Battie, do you know how to walk inside the Epang Palace?”

Hao Ren and Vivian both decided to ignore the husky who was beyond cure.

Uruk suddenly stopped in his steps. His ears flickered amid the chill wind as his nostrils expanded. A faint whiff of a foul scent came from nowhere. “Beware… Something unclean is abounding.”

Lady Ophra immediately drew her longsword as the enchanted blade was ablaze with holy fire. Nangong Sanba and Nangong Wudi squinted as they activated their special demon hunting abilities. Within the demon hunters’ spectral sight, everything on the snow-covered valley was layered with a light blue outline. Any unclean matter within their sights had no place to hide.

But the first one to detect the enemy was not a combat specialist, but a hyperactive dumb cat who had been running here and there since she entered the valley. Rollie suddenly let out a yelp before she darted out from behind a rock not too far away. “Meooowwww—Meownster!”

Just as Rollie dashed back to the group, a humanoid monster appeared from behind the rocks!

Well, “humanoid” was a misnomer, as the monster had already log discarded any vestige of humanity. It was a giant, rotten monster with wound marks and mismatched body parts. It almost looked like a few corpses were stitched together to form the monster. It was also clad in an oddly-shaped vest, which was pitch black with plenty of onyx crystal chips on it. Electricity ran across its surface, and it was clearly not something that the Holettans were able to produce.

When the first “stitched horror” appeared, rustling sounds came from all over the place as a horde of monsters appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the group.

Hao Ren had no idea how these monsters had eluded their notice, but there was no time to think. He pulled out his spear and pistol out from his Dimensional Pocket and led the charge. “Take them down!”

Chapter 672: Tunnel

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A chaotic fight soon ensued as the stiched horrors that appeared out of nowhere roared like enraged beasts before charging towards the knights and clerics. Even though their frames were gigantic and their bodies were a tattered mess, their speed and strength were beyond belief. A fully armoured Royal Knight raised his shield to block the attack, only to be sent flying 10 m back. He went crashing deep into the mountainside as a result. Seeing this, Marshal Ophra dropped an order, “Don’t face it head-on! Anti-giant formation, now!”

Immediately after the order, the knights quickly switched their formation. The frontline changed into a three-man team as they tried to take down that abomination of stitched flesh. The clerics got to work too as they prepared their divine spells. No matter what kind of monsters they were, the divine spells would probably work against them.

Hao Ren swung his spear about as he charged towards the closest foe, and just as he closed the distance a nauseating stench assaulted him. It was the rotting smell of the decomposing corpses. He held his breath as he plunged his spear through the enemy before leaping sideways. “F*ck me! They are walking biological weapons!”

Lily had already cooked up a storm of fire and ice with her Frostfire Claws. As she dashed out from the cloud of steam, it was like a Chinese celestials descending from heavens. As the white fog dispersed, the white furred husky jumped as she grumbled. “Just my luck to have such a sensitive nose!”

Rollie was darting about the battlefield. There were plenty of foes abound but she did not dare engage them. The dumb cat finally decided enough was enough and clambered up a withered tree and stayed there. As she stayed perched on the tree, she still managed to warn the rest. “There’s more meownsters! From underground!”

“From underground?” Hao Ren was surprised. Y’zaks at the same time had just blasted one of the stitched horror down the cliff with a punch. It was a cakewalk for him against these monsters. As he had time, he hailed Hao Ren. “Go down to have a look. I can take this on solo.”

Hao Ren responded with a ‘Oh’ as he dashed towards the position where Rollie pointed. Lily too followed behind. “Wait up! I’ll protect you!”

She could not stand the stench anymore.

Hao Ren swiftly dispatched a few stitched horrors that was in the way with his spear before using his pistol to turn a few more approaching foes into crystal dust. He soon spotted the burrow where the monster came from and the scene shocked him and Lily. There was at least a dozen big holes in the ground and the holes were tunnels that had a metallic hue to it; and the exitway was a petal-like gate created out of onyx-coloured crystals. The stitched horrors had came through these tunnels to the surface. Lily looked at exitway that seemingly should only exists in a ultra-modern sci-fi setting. “This thing sure doesn’t fit Holetta’s architecture eh?”

As she spoke one of the metallic doors opened and a stitched horror that had electricity running across it leapt out of the exitway. It immediately noticed Hao Ren ad Lily and charged towards them after a bone-shattering roar. The electricity danced across the onyx crystal vest and made the monster looked like a charging thunderbolt. Lily saw the smelly excuse of a creature charging towards her and immediately picked up a rock weighing half a tonne without thinking before flinging it towards the monster. A thunderous crack later the monster was destroyed. Hao Ren took a peak and only saw a pool of blood…

“Calm down.” Hao Ren looked at the werehusky before charging towards the gateway. He noticed that the bottom part of the exit was a metal exit catapult that is borrowed deep into the earth. The all too familiar stench came from the tunnel, and it was apparent that the tunnel led deep underground.

“Stand back.” Hao Rem motioned for Lily to find cover before taking a shining tube from his Dimensional Pocket. He gave both ends of the tube a twist to unlock the safety and start the countdown before lobbing it into the tunnel. The tube was a kind of bomb, and the difference of it to a graviton bomb is that its explosion will not cause a spatial distortion, rather it will release a powerful electromagnetic pulse. Hao Ren noticed that the electrified vest on the monster had something to do with how they move, and figured that this was not your cookie cutter undead, but a half flesh half mechanical monster that acts based on electric transmission. A electromagnetic pulse would probably ruin their day.

A bright flash of light came from deep within the tunnel as the tube exploded. Hao Ren heard a few thuds following the blast. As the din faded smoke started coming out of the tunnel, and a few other tunnels nearby. It seems like the tunnels were interconnected underground.

After a moment Hao Ren realised that all machine activity had ceased and no monsters had appeared from the tunnel. It seems like the electromagnetic pulse had wrecked the tunnel’s function but how many of stitched horrors were taken out was still unknown to him.

The other stitched horrors that had popped up earlier were easily dispatched by Y’zaks and the rest. Lady Ophra led the party as they rushed to Hao Ren’s side. “You… have you taken them out?”

Vivian saw the corpses strewn around Hao Ren and the few smoking holes as she blinked. “I was just about to let you know that using high voltage electricity works well against them. They’re finished when their vest shortcircuits.”

Y’lisabet kicked on of the dead stitched horrors with her tiny leg. “See if your vest save you now huh?”

Nangong Wuyue too had appeared from whatever hole she managed to hide in. The siren was assured that the fighting was over before collecting whatever courage she had and come to Hao Ren’s side. The first thing that caugh her attention was the smoking tunnels. “What is that? Did the heretics made this?”

“Don’t think the heretics have such craftsmanship, and even if they had they would not have the technology. You see the connectiors and the lever of the gate? Those are some pretty advance hydraulics.” Hao Ren pointed towards a part of the metal gate. “This is probably by the brain monster… I have a bad feeling.”

The MDT floated forward to scan the area. It was only a PDA and with the Sacred Mountain being shrouded in a weird energy field, its radar could only tell that there was a big hole underneath and nothing else appeared on the scan.”

“Seems like the nest of the Cult of Origination is underneath.” Hao Ren looked at threst. “Lets look for any other entrances… If no, we’ll have to go through here”

Lily suddenly remembered the rancid smelling stitched horror had came out from the tunnel and her fur immediately stood up. “Are you sure it’s a good idea Mr Landlord?”

“Not a good one, but it’s at least one.” Hao Ren gave Lily a glance. “You can activate the lifehoop later no? Just treat it like it’s outerspace. Vivian, throw a bat in, scout the place out for some place for us to set foot.”

Lily mumbled as she followed. “I’m afraid that we’ll fall into a sea of corpse and blood. Don’t blame me if you puke out what you had for the reunion dinner.”

Hao Ren had not thought that far and he had the urge to puke when Lily mentioned it…

Vivian summoned a bat and threw it down the tunnel before quinting as she focused. A moment later she nodded at Hao Ren. “The bat got lost.”

“… Then why are you nodding?”

“Was trying to act all cool.” Vivian turned away, slightly embarassed. “Don’t blame me, it’s a maze down there and many of the pathways intersects, like an ant’s nest. And my bat did not carry the protective crystal. It got dizzy a few seconds in, and I was lucky I managed to dismiss it before it got mind controlled.”

“Alright, regardless if there’s anything down there or not, if it’s that well interconnected, we should have a look. What are you doing, Lily?”

Lily was scampering up a rock before laying on it as she sniffed the place out. “Looking for a normal entrance!”

Hao Ren had indeed asked the rest to look for other entrance and having said that, he knew that the brain monster would not let the entrance to its sanctum be found that easily. Thus he simply rolled his eyes at Lily. “So.. you found one?”

Lily stepped before the tunnel that still bore the stench, her expression dauntless. “Fame and glory is only gained through mortal perils, and you think mere stench would hold this werewolf back!?”

“Take that lifehoop off and repeat that again.” Vivian shot back with an incredulous look.

“…”

Chapter 673: The Underground Stronghold

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

To keep it safe, Vivian threw a little bat down there again. This time, she allowed the little bat to fly down with a small piece of protective crystal. Looking at the little one flying unsteadily into the passage, Hao Ren worried that it would hit the wall, but luckily, it reached the bottom smoothly.

There was an interconnected tunnel world under the metal pipe, which structure was as complex as an ant’s nest. Vivian found the chimeras’ route based on the traces of blood on the pipe and she also discovered a lot of the monsters that died in the pipe. They died together with their upper bodies all burnt and the cause of the burning was a short circuit fault in their black electric vests. It seemed that the electromagnetic pulse bomb thrown by Hao Ren worked. Not only did it blow up the mechanical control parts of the metal pipe, it also killed a large number of monsters that were rushing out, and blocked some of their exits.

But Vivian’s little bat also found the sound of mechanical friction coming from certain branches of the pipeline, which might be gradually resuming operations. If the pipeline system had the ability to maintain and clean itself, then other monsters should soon find new exits and gush out.

Hao Ren decided to dash in before those pipeline systems resumed operation. And in order to give everyone enough time and to cause more trouble to the underground facility, he threw several EMP bombs into another pipeline.

After the bombs exploded in the depths of the underground, Hao Ren nodded and said, “It’s cleaned up, let’s go down. I go first.”

Uruk frowned. This was something he had never seen before. He instinctively felt that there was a nasty smell coming from the depths of the tunnel, but he did not hesitate and flinch. Anyway, a group of unclean fellows dug a hole deep in the depths of the werewolf’s sacred mountain, and he could not leave it alone. The wolf king looked around and then asked, “You all ready to go? I don’t have to go down there, do I?”

Uruk stared at the wolf king and asked, “How can you get cold feet now?”

The wolf king bared his teeth and said, “Look at my four claws! What do you want me to do with them?”

Uruk felt that what wolf king said was quite reasonable, and he had nothing to say.

“You and other wolves just guard outside,” Hao Ren told the Wolf King. “I give you leave a communicator, immediately inform us if anything happens, just speak to it. The other soldiers should reach here soon, let them come down. Someone will be waiting for them. Ophra, is that all right?”

Hao Ren realized that there was a real commander here when he finished speaking. Ophra did not mind at all. She waved her hand and said, “Let’s do it. I know, now you are familiar with this situation, and I don’t know what to start with if you let me do it.”

After Hao Ren hung the communicator on the wolf king’s neck and made sure everything was ready, he jumped into the deep, dark mechanical pipe at once.

The pipe sloped downward, but it still allowed them to walk and would not tumble down as long as they walked carefully. The pipe was more spacious than imagined and that allowed them to stand upright. It looked actually more like a cylindrical corridor than a pipe. Hao Ren was observing the metal wall around him while walking. The metal used was obviously not made by the technology of Holletta, and its fine structure was far beyond the technical level of this planet. The more he looked, the more he was startled: the existence of these high-tech things could only explain one problem, which was, what was hidden in the sacred mountain was not just the lair of The Disciples of Glory!

Did a cult formed by the locals need such a high-tech base?

“That brain monster has been lurking on this planet for at least thousands of years.” Vivian was also thinking about a similar question. “The underground base was probably built slowly by it, which means it has at least a certain amount of industrial equipment on hand.”

Hao Ren just nodded silently.

The situation was far beyond his speculation in the beginning. At first he thought that there was only one brain monster had come to this planet by coincidence and organized a group of locals to form the Cult of Origination, all of which probably had happened in recent years, but now the fact was in the opposite way: the brain monster had actually been dormant in this world for thousands of years. It built an astonishing underground base in this sacred mountain, and the Cult of Origination…

Might just be a small, insignificant group that came with the underground base.

“There is very strong interference here.” The voice of the data terminal awakened Hao Ren from his thought. “The source of interference is still somewhere deeper. But I don’t know if that’s the power of the base or anything else.”

“Let’s go and have a look, there’s no more option anyway,” said Hao Ren.

Y’zaks had to stoop to walk here and it was really hard for him. Y’lisabet could not help saying, “Dad, why didn’t you just shrink the body a little bit smaller at the beginning?”

“When I transformed into human form for the first time, I met a Quibiss tribesman. I thought it was the standard height of human beings… Now I can’t change it even if I want to…”

Soon they reached the first fork that Vivian had ascertained. Lily pointed at the intersection and shouted, “Look over there!”

Several foul-smelling flesh monsters were lying dead in one of the pipes. Their black vests burst from the overload of the circuit, and their entire upper bodies were almost cooked. The surrounding walls also had traces of strong electric arc ablation. This was the masterpiece of the EMP bomb.

Hao Ren found them disgusting but still, he went and turned over one of the monster’s black vest. The thing had broken into pieces, a little flip would make it fall off. Hao Ren found that this thing consisted of layers of materials looking like flexible plastic. Its outer layer was inlaid with black crystals, and the inner layer was a large number of wires. There was also a shiny needle structure on the other side of the body. These needles were probably pricked directly into the muscles of the monster and they were the source of power and control of these flesh monsters.

“Biological and mechanical combination, and looks like an industrial product, mass-produced.” The data terminal quickly made a judgment. “It’s not the same ‘knight’ that we saw at the king’s banquet last time.”

“The question is, where did the ‘materials’ of these monsters come from?” Lily frowned and poked the arm of one of the chimeras with Flamejoy. “They seem to be pieced together by human organs, and many organs have been modified… It’s going to take a lot of bodies, right?”

Nangong Wuyue muttered cautiously, “Would it be those missing heretics?”

Hao Ren immediately remembered that he did not meet any heretic since he entered the mountain and felt that the possibility could not be ignored. “This is… very likely!”

“I can’t believe it,” said Ophra, frowning, “The devil has made his followers into such a monster?”

“The brain monster didn’t treat humans as his followers,” Hao Ren said, threw away the vest fragments, stood up, clapped his hands and continued, “the brain monster and the Firstborn have the same belief, that is, all life deserves to die, but the brain monster is smarter, it will try to let his prey kill each other first.”

Y’zaks stepped forward and waved his hand over a chimera, and saw a blurred, translucent thing in his hand. The thing struggled in his palm until it dissipated. Y’zaks shook his head and said, “But these heretics were transformed into monsters in a conscious and voluntary state.”

All of them fell silent. Ophra could only sigh and said, “What an incomprehensible belief.”

Ophra left two soldiers at the first fork, and then they continued to move forward. They avoided the pipeline, which could lead them to the ‘flesh monster factory’, and chose a direction with little smell of blood. As they went deeper, more lights appeared in the pipe, which seemed to prove that they were on the right path: they were approaching the deep part of the underground facility.

Just as the team arrived at another fork, a mechanical noise suddenly came from somewhere nearby.

Lily had sensitive ears. She immediately turned her pointed ear to the direction of the voice and said, “Over there!”

Y’zaks immediately straightened up and said, “Everybody—” Bang!

Y’lisabet looked up and found that her father’s head was stuck in the ceiling. She sighed and said, “So dad, why didn’t you just make yourself smaller?”

Y’zaks’s voice came from behind a layer of steel. “Stop it. Pull me out first…”

Chapter 674: What the Heck!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Boom!

Y’zaks pulled his head out of the wall, together with some debris and stones. He spat them out and said, “I don’t want to fight in this place. I can easily cause the entire tunnel to collapse.”

Uruk looked at the enormous man with a strange expression and found that he was pretty much squatting. “Can you still fight?”

“Don’t underestimate him. He can beat everyone here even if he’s lying on the ground, let alone squatting,” said Nangong Wuyue.

Hao Ren waved his hand and said, “Stop mumbling. Be careful of your surroundings.”

A mechanical sound came from a branch pipe on the left. Everyone was on guard, but they did not find any enemies. It sounded just like the operational workings of a transmission device. Nangong Sanba went up and took a quick look cautiously. He then waved to everyone and said, “There’s a gate here!”

Everyone rushed there and saw a brighter light at the end of the pipe. The mechanical sound was coming from that direction. It seemed to be an exit.

After confirming that no enemies were lying in ambush, Hao Ren held his shield and led the team through the long tunnel. They came out of a circular gate and found themselves in an unusually broad, tall corridor. It was a solemn, square corridor with a width of more than 10 m and a height of more than 10 m. And if you looked up, it would almost make you feel dizzy. The corridor was brightly lit, while the walls were cast with some kind of grayish-white metal. Bare rock could be seen where the metal did not cover. It seemed to be a place that was not completely finished yet.

Y’zaks was stretching his arms. He was happy to come out of the narrow, cramped pipe. “Finally I don’t have to be cramped inside… Hmm, this place is a little too wide.”

The huge corridor was clearly not made for humans. Hao Ren immediately remembered the kind of giant he had discovered on Io. He knew that the brain monster was the result of those giants’ mutation. However, the brain monster had lost its body. Did it still need to live in a lair of this size?

Uruk was stunned from the scene before his eyes. “There’s been such a thing in the depths of the Sacred Mountain?”

“These things may have existed before you came here.” Vivian looked at Uruk and said, “I can understand how you feel. In a sense, the brain monster and his servants should be the natives of this place. And all of you just moved here thousands of years ago.”

Uruk waved his hand. Apparently, he did not want to talk about the topic. Ophra ordered the knights around her, “The lot of you, go and check the situation in front and at the back for a moment. The rest of you, stay here and rest while we wait for the other soldiers. We don’t know the situation here, it’s better not to move too fast.”

Hao Ren agreed with the arrangement, but the size of the underground stronghold made him feel anxious. He held the MDT and scanned every inch of the place. Lily noticed this and curiously asked, “What are you doing?”

“The space here is surprisingly large,” Hao Ren said while he looked at the results on the MDT. Although the powerful energy disturbances in the mountains had reduced the accuracy of the MDT, it still managed to collect some data as they went deeper. “There’s a huge hole in the area hundreds of meters away from here… but I can’t detect its boundary.”

Lily stuck her tongue out and asked, “Is it possible that this mountain is hollow inside?”

Hao Ren was just about to say something when they suddenly heard noises coming from the end of the corridor. The knights who had just gone to check the situation in front were retreating and fighting at the corner of the corridor. The thing they were fighting with was the stitched horror that they saw on the ground earlier!

As soon as Ophra saw this, she drew her sword and rushed forward without hesitation. The long sword was blazing with holy flame. The marshal’s silhouette flashed in the air like a shadow and a couple of the monsters were burnt to ashes by the holy flame before they could react. Several of the knights reported loudly before they could catch their breath, “A lot of monsters are coming out of the gates. They seem to be blocking the place!”

The moment the knights finished speaking, the alarm went off, and the sound of mechanical friction came from every corner, indicating that more mechanical gates had opened. Everyone immediately understood what was going on: the base’s controller had sounded the alarm and begun to release the stitched horrors to stop the intruders.

The defense system of the entire underground stronghold was activated and it quickly targeted the site of the invasion. More gates as well as the exits for counter-attacks were slowly opened in the corridors. A large number of the stitched horrors roared out of the bio-modification factory hidden deep underground. As these defenses were activated, they heard voices in the pipe behind them: more knights had finally arrived.

“Good.” Ophra nodded to Elson and said, “It appears that the defenses here have been activated. All we need to do is rush in. Bring your men and come with me.”

In fact, Hao Ren was not surprised at the activation of the defense system, because this was inevitable. The brain monster that could sense their minds must have been able to sense that someone had invaded its territory. The only thing Hao Ren found strange was why the alarm did not go off until now. The brain monster’s slow reaction made him feel weird. He had expected to be attacked fiercely the moment they entered the underground stronghold.

“MDT, try to navigate as far as possible.” Hao Ren put his doubts aside and threw the MDT in the air. “Take us to the depths.”

The Data Terminal did not talk much in such a situation. It whistled and dashed to the front.

All of them immediately followed the blue lightning. The knights raised their swords; the mages were surrounded by the brilliance of magic; the priests held holy objects and the Bible aloft. This “cleansing force”, driven by faith and justice, ignored the eerie alien surroundings. They left all doubts behind and charged towards the end of the corridor, which was being blocked by monsters.

The MDT tried to eliminate the ubiquitous energy disturbances in the underground stronghold as much as possible. It tried to trace out the roadmap to the depths of the cavern, leading the team swiftly through the gates, which were blocked by monsters. However, there were some occasional errors in the navigation: Some sort of automatic system in the stronghold seemed to be aware of the MDT’s existence. It was consciously using strong interference to disturb the route. But those errors did not affect Hao Ren’s team. When they saw a thick wall in front of them, and a road was right behind the wall, they did not find another route. Y’lisabet threw a hellish, super lava ball two times larger than her at the wall. And the wall was gone.

That’s right. This was how they dealt with a maze. They did not care about the gates or obstacles.

Over time, more backup soldiers penetrated the area through several tunnels. The new soldiers were ordered to take a different route to sweep away the chimera-like monsters, while they also relieved pressure on the main forces. Soon, the underground stronghold was filled with explosions and shouting. But the other troops did not move as fast as Hao Ren’s team, so most of them stopped at the outer corridor, blocked by layers of alloy gates. In the end, only Hao Ren’s team got into the core of the underground stronghold.

The monsters were constantly coming out of all corners. The knights formed a defensive line on both flanks, resisting the monsters and ensuring that the team could maintain its tempo of bombardment and march quickly. Meanwhile, Ayesha and Nangong Wuyue, as powerful healers, were constantly healing the wounds of the knights and dispelling the poisonous stench from the stitched horrors. Watching Y’zaks and Y’lisabet bombing the way in front of them, they got a little worried and asked, “What if the Sacred Mountain collapses?”

“Do you think that the brain monster would dig such a huge hole in the Sacred Mountain and forget to reinforce the outer frame?” Hao Ren replied loudly in the explosion. “The Sacred Mountain has been hollow for several thousand years, it won’t collapse!”

Bang! As soon as he finished talking, they felt the ground shaking as if it was crumbling.

“Landlord! Look what you’ve just said…” Lily immediately screamed.

Hao Ren was also startled, but he soon realized that something was not right. “Wait a minute, the mountain isn’t collapsing! It doesn’t sound like an earthquake…”

The loud crash lasted only for a few seconds, and the quake around them soon calmed down. But after a while, a similar quake and loud noise came again!

As Hao Ren said, it did not sound like the Sacred Mountain was going to collapse, nonetheless, it was definitely not a good phenomenon!

They heard roars of the stitched horrors coming from the front. Hao Ren saw a heavy gate at the end of the corridor, which seemed unable to close. He immediately lifted his lance and strode forward. “Hurry up!”

They went through several gates as well as pass a few corners, and the space around them seemed to become more and more spacious, making them wonder if the whole mountain had been hollowed out. That weird, quaking sound was still going on and on and on. It sounded as if some super huge device was warming up, ready to start. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Hao Ren’s mind. At the same time, he found that he had come to the end of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, there was a platform hanging in the air. A shockingly huge cavern was in front of them, and they were stunned by the thing in the middle of the cavern.

Hao Ren now knew what the brain monster was doing in the Sacred Mountain for tens of thousands of years.

“He’s fixing the spaceship… and it’s fixed…” said Lily.

Rollie also glanced at it. She immediately rolled up into a ball at Hao Ren’s feet and said, “We’re going to die meow!