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墨書 Inktalez
They walked slowly through the White Mist. Although they were not afraid of the strange sounds around them, the slight tremors beneath their feet kept them on edge. Was the ground still moving? It was a source of great frustration.
They continued onward, as retreat was not an option.
They hadn't figured out how to return, so they decided to retrace their steps. The danger level increased dramatically with each back-and-forth movement, and things were not going as smoothly as they had imagined.
The White Mist thickened, revealing only white shapes that resembled weapons, with visibility reduced to less than two meters. Suddenly, they felt the ground beneath them widen; clearly, something had changed.
"From now on, we need to be even more cautious," a voice called from ahead.
Indeed, the path had widened, though not by much. Whatever was happening, they were not surprised in the least.
The surrounding White Mist limited their visibility, making it impossible for them to anticipate what awaited them ahead.
The ground below had indeed become wider and harder, but it was not as solid as they had hoped. Xiong Tai stomped his foot in frustration, and the ground responded with a cracking sound. Fortunately, he hadn’t exerted too much force; it was merely a release of pent-up frustration. None of them truly knew what lay beneath their feet. If it turned out to be an abyss thousands of meters deep, even if there was a pool of deep water below, their lives could still be at risk.
After observing the area for a while, Ross in front seemed to stop and suddenly said, "Give me a moment to think this through. Don't rush, don't touch anything, and don't wander off. Just stay put."
Upon hearing this, those behind him complied. Freyr thought for a moment and responded, "This mission offers such high Reward Points; we should realize it must come with significant risks. Did the association trust us enough to assign us this task directly? Or did they have no other choice but to give it to us because most teams have heard about the dangers here?"
"Yeah, I’ve had enough of this. I've been through many missions but never encountered a situation like this. Maybe this time we’re really in over our heads. If I die, brothers, please cut off my left hand and send it home. I always write letters to my family before missions; if I'm gone, they'll know from my hand that I've fallen. I might as well tell my fiancée to remarry early," Mackey said, sounding quite dejected.
In truth, everyone should have considered what lay behind the high rewards when selecting missions.
"Ah, I hope we all make it back alive. At this moment, I don't want anyone to feel disheartened," Freyr said.
"Alright, I've made up my mind. Let's keep moving," Ross shook his head and suddenly spoke up, "Don't fall behind."
"Okay~"
Ross walked ahead, and the others quickly followed. This dangerous mission was daunting; without someone knowledgeable leading the way, they wouldn't even get past the first two challenges. Now, Freyr thought that if he had come here alone, he would likely have died immediately.
He kept his head down and continued walking, but after an unknown amount of time, it seemed that the surroundings were slowly changing. The so-called white mist had lessened; they had reached a vent where something had separated the smoke.
At first glance, a massive mushroom loomed ahead, entwined with countless vines. As they approached, they heard a strange sound, like someone exhaling clouds of smoke—an incredibly heavy breathing.
"This is the mushroom; we've arrived," Ross pointed to the gigantic mushroom wrapped in numerous vines. The vines seemed to be quite active, moving slightly, but the undeniable glow emanating from within was slowly radiating outwards. It was a yellow-green light that finally gave a sense of reality amidst the overwhelming darkness, resembling a solitary lamp in the underworld.
This situation was unprecedented for them; they had never encountered anything like it before. The vines appeared almost alive, perhaps part of a symbiotic system. If they encountered something sensitive, they might rush in to eliminate any pathogens immediately.
Here, they resembled bacteria; before taking action against the mushroom, these vines might have already targeted them first.
"What should we do?" Freyr asked, now fully trusting Ross's words. So far, nothing had gone awry; therefore, it was reasonable to believe that following his lead would not lead them astray.
Ross understood the predicament well. He frowned slightly and shook his head again after pondering for a long while. Then he said, "Give me some time to observe. As long as you don't touch them, the vines won't attack us." He walked around the vine-wrapped mushroom deliberately, carefully watching and assessing any potential situations that might arise; something indeed felt off.
Since Ross remained silent about the complexity of the situation, it was impossible for anyone else to intervene and learn a thing or two. Moreover, Ross's actions grew increasingly peculiar; unless one wanted to become somewhat abnormal themselves first, learning from him was out of the question. But doing so would only drive oneself mad in this place filled with terrifying carnivorous vines.
He discovered that these vines were somewhat similar to the situation he had seen earlier in the second area, where a creature was drained of its essence. However, these vines were much thicker, with one being equivalent to about four others. They appeared to be millions of years old, towering far above any skyscraper and covering an area at least the size of a baseball field. They were far more massive than he had imagined. By the time Ross walked over, it had already taken him more than ten minutes to make the round trip. He simply observed without engaging in conversation; it seemed that others' words did not affect him.
The characteristic of these vines was that they were carnivorous, making it impossible to climb without coming into contact with them. Attempting to do so would likely end in failure. Moreover, they needed to collect mushroom cells, which was akin to injecting a needle into the human heart. No one would willingly wait to be ambushed like that, especially when it was clearly a vital target. Thus, although the area appeared small, it was actually one of the most elite parts of the plant vines.
Even an Apocalyptic Level Parasite Beast could only come and go from this place because it was evident that there were not many traces left behind. Such creatures were not gentle by nature and would surely attack fiercely. Therefore, either there was some kind of law preventing anyone from coming here for a long time, or no living being could enter this area. Yet, this mushroom and these vines had managed to survive alone for so long, which clearly defied the laws of life; eternal life should not exist.
However, if the entire mountain were likened to an organ, then this mountain was precisely situated at the center of the Earth. This could explain why it could sustain itself for so long without any life; it represented what is known as the consciousness of a planetary carrier. Of course, all of this was mere speculation—talking about Earth's consciousness was obviously nonsense.
Ross continued to pace back and forth for an unknown amount of time before he suddenly rushed over with a look of excitement on his face, as if he had just solved a difficult problem. Now that he knew how to tackle the issue, it was time for him to act.
"Follow me," Ross waved his hand, signaling for everyone else to follow him.
Before long, they arrived at the back of the mushroom. After walking for quite a distance, they stopped. Ross looked up blankly at something on the other side before suddenly breaking into a chilling laugh.
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