A sense of cold dread surged within her at the thought of such a scene existing beneath the city where she had lived for so long.
Xu Xiaoyou shook her head to keep her mind clear, pulling her gaze back while feigning composure.
She could sense that this heart was currently in a state of slumber.
Even in its sleep, the aura it inadvertently radiated was enough to make it difficult for her to breathe.
Perhaps if it were an ordinary person with lower intelligence, their sanity would have collapsed the moment they faced this heart, turning them into a madman.
"This is Mother—our Mother," Alina said. "What a powerful, mysterious, and beautiful life."
Xu Xiaoyou remained silent and nodded.
"We are all Mother's children. It is because Mother protects us that we are able to grow," Alina said with a sincere expression. "It nourishes us with its soul, so we must repay it with our flesh and blood."
"Let's go, Soya. I'll take you to see the 'Prophet'."
"The Prophet?"
Xu Xiaoyou heard a new term.
"Our parent," Alina explained.
Xu Xiaoyou nodded, suppressing the doubts in her heart as she followed the dismantler beside her deeper into the nest.
The holes distributed throughout the nest were where the dismantlers resided. After entering a tunnel, the figures of dismantlers gradually became more frequent, no longer appearing sporadically as they had before.
She observed her surroundings, identifying the thick stench of blood in the air, before finally focusing her gaze on a specific spot.
Within a dark red blood pool, a bright red liquid boiled and churned, bubbles gurgling on the surface and releasing billows of steam.
This blood pool was formed by the condensation of countless vengeful spirits and souls; from time to time, one could hear hair-raising weeping and shrill screams. The bubbles burst on the surface of the pool, revealing one hideous, demonic face after another.
Countless dismantlers were submerged in the blood pool. They seemed to have lost consciousness, their limbs draped haphazardly. Occasionally, one or two would wake up, look around in a daze, and then sink back into slumber.
Xu Xiaoyou saw a familiar figure in this blood pool.
It was the burly man she had encountered earlier in Alley No. 5.
By now, most of his body had already transformed into a dismantler, covered in alchemical armor with eerie properties, but that highly iconic gatling gun still allowed her to recognize him at a glance.
Speaking of the transformation, she thought back to the little Daoist priest at the end.
Having her skin in contact with this strangely-propertied metal for so long gave her a constant sense of oddity.
It was as if this armor itself was a part of her body; she could feel the armor on her fitting tighter and tighter against her, gradually becoming perfectly tailored.
If she wore this armor for a long time, she feared she would truly become a dismantler, just like those who had been transformed.
Just as the two of them were walking deeper, a shout rang out.
"Yo, Alina, who have you brought back? I don't think I've ever seen this fellow before."
A dismantler who had been submerged face-down in the blood pool turned around.
Wielding a rust-covered hook, the dismantler soon floated over to the two of them, rising to lean against the edge of the blood pool with his hand supporting his face.
"Andre, this has nothing to do with you," Alina said coldly.
"How can it have nothing to do with me? We're family, so of course I should pay attention to everything."
"This fellow has a smell of cookies on them, making me hungry just smelling it." Andre pointed at Xu Xiaoyou. "Maybe this fellow just put on our clothes and sneaked into our nest?"
"Andre, stay away from big sister!"
Neo, who had been trailing behind, suddenly rushed forward and spoke fiercely.
As he spoke, Neo extended his metal claws, intending to grab the dismantler in the blood pool.
Andre was startled by the aggressive Neo and swung his body backward.
"Don't hide if you've got the guts!"
"I won't lower myself to argue with a low-intelligence animal like you," Andre said leisurely. "New face, come here."
Xu Xiaoyou did not comply.
She was observing.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Alina seemed to be wary of this guy.
Could he be even stronger than Alina?
And judging by his ability to organize speech, his intelligence level didn't seem low...
"Hmph, guilty conscience? Did I actually guess right?" Andre slowly rose from the blood pool.
Large amounts of blood splashed onto the surface of the pool with a loud clatter.
Looking at the other's nearly five-meter-tall, stick-straight body, Xu Xiaoyou froze in place.
The shadow he cast alone completely enveloped her.
"Let me see what's under your mask!"
Andre spoke viciously as his long, phasmid-like hands reached for Xu Xiaoyou's face.
Seeing this, Alina spoke up: "Soya is just a bit shy. Besides, if there really were a problem with her, how could Mother not know now that she's entered the nest?"
"Are you questioning Mother!?"
She deliberately raised her voice, and many of the sleeping dismantlers in the blood pool were startled awake, turning their attention to the scene unfolding here.
Andre's hand froze in mid-air, not advancing another inch.
Xu Xiaoyou felt like the face under his mask was about to turn the color of pig liver.
Having such a heavy accusation pinned on him, Andre's hand remained stuck in the air; he could neither push forward nor pull back.
He only needed to extend his hand a little bit more to tear off the mask and see the other's true face!
But Alina was right. Even in a state of slumber, Mother's senses wouldn't be so dull as to allow a human to enter this deep without any reaction.
Though he wasn't sure where this cookie-scented fellow came from, could she really be a family member who had been lost outside?
"Andre, is he doubting Mother?"
"Heavens, has Andre gone mad?"
"Just because he's close to the Prophet, he bullies the family every day."
Listening to the fragmented discussions of the dismantlers, his expression became as dark as a gathering storm.
"Fine!" he said through gritted teeth. "You win this time, Alina!"
Andre stepped out of the blood pool and shot a fierce glare at Alina. "Follow me. I know where the Prophet is right now, and I know you're looking for him."
"Perfect timing. Let the Prophet judge exactly what this thing is!"
After the figure ahead had moved off, Alina turned her head with a triumphant look and glanced at Xu Xiaoyou.
"What do you think, Soya? Is big sister amazing?"
Xu Xiaoyou was amused by the other's naive and childish behavior and nodded gently.
"You're amazing, big sister."
The two followed Andre and soon met the Prophet the dismantlers spoke of.
It was a man.
Yes, the individual was human.
Or perhaps, the man's current appearance could no longer be called human.
His entire spine was fused with the wall of flesh behind him. With every slight movement of his body, the resilient, thick muscle fibers moved along with it.
His body was pierced with various tubes made of a combination of metal and flesh. The man's lower limbs had long since atrophied, and his highly developed brain was exposed. The moment his murky eyes looked up, Xu Xiaoyou felt as if she were being seen through.
"What is it, Andre?" the Prophet asked.
His lips clearly didn't open, and even his Adam's apple didn't move, yet a weathered voice echoed through the room, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
Xu Xiaoyou couldn't tell how exactly he was making the sound.
"Alina brought someone, claiming they're family." Andre shot a glance at Xu Xiaoyou.
The Prophet's murky gaze followed.
That gaze lingered on the girl for a short while before moving away.
"Did Mother show any signs of abnormality?" the Prophet asked.
Andre paused, then shook his head.
"No."
"Then that's that," the Prophet said.
Andre's expression darkened as he stepped forward quickly, his voice becoming urgent: "But this fellow... has the scent of a human on them!!"
"A human..."
The Prophet opened his eyes, and countless images seemed to flash within them, as if he had fallen into some deep, distant memory. Xu Xiaoyou noticed a few flickers of pain pass across his face momentarily.
"Then, we shall simply ask Mother directly."
After a long while, the Prophet let out a long breath of turbid air.
At this moment, Xu Xiaoyou felt a bit tense.
She instinctively began to observe the scene around the room.
This man called the Prophet had almost no defenses; if she struck now, she could certainly take him down instantly.
But the problem was the two dismantlers beside her. Each of them had the strength of at least a grade 2 fixer; it wasn't realistic to take them down in a short amount of time.
Furthermore, she was currently in the deepest part of the nest with at least several thousand dismantlers. Once they were alerted, they would surely swarm in like a pack of wolves smelling blood and tear her to pieces.
She absolutely couldn't make a move here.
Xu Xiaoyou began looking for an escape route again.
As if noticing the anomaly beneath the girl's armor, Alina comforted her:
"Don't worry, Soya."
"The Prophet is the only parent here who can communicate with Mother, responsible for translating Mother's will and conveying it to us. He won't harm family."
"Soya is our family. As long as Mother responds, you can join our big family."
"Only those who can communicate with Mother can become a Prophet and our parent."
Xu Xiaoyou remained silent.
She kept her eyes fixed on the man.
Suddenly, she thought of something and relaxed her entire body.
The Prophet closed his eyes, and six blood slits appeared on his cheeks.
Six lashless eyeballs opened.
Those six eyeballs revealed dark red, frantic, and desire-filled colors.
The thickest, brightest red tube behind the man was wriggling, as if continuously funneling his thoughts and consciousness out.
He was relying precisely on this to resonate and communicate with that heart.
As if hearing the man's thoughts, the giant heart gave a thud, and the room trembled slightly.
"How is it? Lord Prophet," Andre asked impatiently.
It was as if he couldn't wait to see Xu Xiaoyou torn apart by countless dismantlers.
The Prophet opened his eyes and fell into a brief contemplation.
"Mother..."
"Did not answer."
Andre was shocked: "How is that possible!!"
"Mother has always been responsive to you, Lord Prophet. You are our parent."
"Andre."
Hearing the man call his name directly, Andre realized his loss of composure and quickly lowered his posture:
"My apologies, Lord Prophet. I was impetuous."
"Mother did not answer..."
A flicker of doubt passed through the Prophet's murky eyes as he whispered.
"Why, exactly?"
"There's no need to doubt my identity anymore."
Xu Xiaoyou suddenly spoke.
The various dismantlers in the room were confused, then their eyes widened one after another.
The girl performed an action that caught everyone off guard.
Under everyone's gaze, she took off her metal mask.
A head of dazzling blonde hair tumbled down. Her eyes were calm, and she wore a confident smile.
"A human!?"
Both Alina and Andre beside her were incredibly shocked, and even the Prophet's eyes widened.
"Soya... how could you..." Alina was somewhat dazed. "How do you know our language?"
"I can not only communicate with you, but I can also communicate with Mother," Xu Xiaoyou said.
She didn't look at Alina or Andre; her playful gaze remained fixed on the Prophet the entire time.
"That's impossible!" the man barked.
"Why would it be impossible?"
"Since you can communicate with Mother, what's so strange about another person appearing who can also communicate with Mother?"
"But I am Mother's child!" the man's volume increased.
This was the first time Alina and Andre had seen such a panicked and uneasy expression on the Prophet's face.
"I never said I wasn't Mother's child either."
Xu Xiaoyou didn't move, but her words pressed him at every turn.
"So long as one can communicate with Mother, they can become a Prophet?"
The situation fell into a brief stalemate.
The two dismantlers couldn't understand what was happening, but the man understood in his heart what the girl's appearance meant and what kind of dangerous position it would force him into!
The man calmed down. "How can you prove yourself?"
"Words alone carry no weight."
"Then watch closely."
Under everyone's varying gazes, Xu Xiaoyou slowly closed her eyes, sensing that giant, bright red heart in her mind and gradually resonating with it.
She was making a risky move.
Rather than remaining passive and facing a slow death, she preferred to directly go All In and achieve victory with total dominance!
As long as she could prove she could communicate with the dismantlers' Mother, then everything that followed would be easy to handle.
With the Linguistic Artist card, achieving this wasn't difficult.
What made it 'risky' was that she couldn't be certain whether her soul would lose its sanity and fall directly into madness when facing that heart.
Ordinary people were pitifully small in the face of the unknown.
By the time she opened her eyes again, the surrounding scene had become dark and chaotic.
The giant, bright red heart was presented directly before her.
Thump—
The beating of the heart lingered in her ears for a long time.
It was so close that she could even clearly feel every powerful throb of the heart.
She was momentarily dazed and instinctively approached the heart, her hand gently pressing against its surface, feeling its massive life force.
Alina was right.
Only at such a close distance could one feel the power, beauty, and mystery of this heart.
The crimson aura on its body was like pairs of warm, soft female hands reaching out to her, lifting her body as if to take her to a land of gentleness.
There was none of the discomfort Xu Xiaoyou had imagined. Like sinking into hot spring water, she slowly and bit by bit immersed herself until her body was completely enveloped by the feeling of warmth.
"My child."
"Can you hear my call?"
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