Before Allen could finish, Old Morgan gave a bitter laugh.
"Gelimu Port was blockaded the moment you entered."
Before the words had even faded, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.
A member of the Holy Armored Army rushed in, soaked through, his expression filled with terror.
"Something happened at the screening point!"
His voice trembled as he gasped for breath.
"That group of people who were held back... they are undergoing a mass mutation!"
"The communication crystals are jammed; I can't connect! Battalion Commander Sivating told me to run here for reinforcements!"
"Battalion Commander Sivating and Hans are trying to suppress them, but there are too many; they can't hold them back!"
The atmosphere in the room froze instantly.
Old Morgan and Allen exchanged a look.
Without any hesitation, Allen turned and left.
"Lead the way, everyone get ready for battle!"
The group immediately followed.
Lu Yuan was among them.
The rain was falling even harder than before.
Raindrops as large as beans slammed into the ground, kicking up a white mist, and felt painful against his face.
Screams could be heard faintly in the distance, mingled with the clashing of metal and a certain wet, tearing sound.
At the edge of his vision, grey-white text pulsed quietly:
【Environmental Perception: Detected a sharp rise in surrounding pollution concentration】
【Warning: Safe threshold exceeded, suggested immediate evacuation】
Lu Yuan frowned, following closely behind.
The unease in his heart grew stronger.
It wasn't just the current mutation in Gelimu Port, but it also reminded him of the warning from that eerie cluster of colors in his dream two nights ago.
Danger.
And that sensation of being watched appeared again.
It felt like needles on his back.
But Lu Yuan could not find the source.
By now, the screening point was in a state of complete chaos.
Before they even got close, Lu Yuan saw two completely different scenes on either side.
On one side was an evacuation.
The Nightwatchers and the Holy Armored Army were escorting the residents who had not yet mutated toward the outside.
The crowd was in utter disarray, with people crying out and pushing each other, and some continuously attempting to break through the blockade to escape.
"Behave yourselves!" a soldier of the Holy Armored Army shouted, slamming his scabbard onto the back of a man trying to flee. "Running around will only get you killed faster!"
On the other side, a battle was already underway.
In the center of the screening point, several blood-red flesh trees had erupted from the ground, the tallest of which was already over two people high.
Sivating held a golden great blade, battling one of the trees.
Every strike severed several branches made of flesh, and holy light exploded in the rain curtain, illuminating half the sky.
Hans commanded the scouts to provide fire from the perimeter, their alchemical slugs sinking into those bloated bodies with dull thuds.
But the bodies that were pierced continued to grow.
Lu Yuan's gaze fell upon those "things."
They were trees made of flesh and blood.
Human torsos had bloated into trunks, their skin covered in writhing networks of veins that pulsed like blood vessels.
Limbs twisted and elongated, turning into branches that spread out in all directions.
Heads were pushed to the very top.
Eyes were still rolling.
Mouths were still opening and closing, letting out incoherent moans.
Those people were still alive.
The moment Allen saw the flesh trees, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
His pupils contracted, and his face instantly turned ashen.
"Bountiful..."
His voice was very low, carrying disbelief and fury.
"Damn it... what exactly has the Deep Sea Church done..."
Old Morgan walked to his side and asked in a low voice, "What is Bountiful?"
Allen did not answer immediately.
His gaze swept over the crowd before him, his voice suddenly turning cold.
"That is something even the Empire does not dare to touch lightly!"
"Now they have become believers of Bountiful... if Bountiful is awakened and drawn here, it won't just be Gelimu Port; other parts of the Empire will have to pay a tragic price."
His gaze turned cold instantly.
"Do not allow a single believer of Bountiful to escape."
"Every one of them infected by Bountiful, kill them all! Leave none alive!"
Everyone was stunned.
Old Morgan remained silent for a moment before finally nodding.
In the next moment, the blades of the Nightwatchers and the Holy Armored Army began to reach toward those people.
Those who had not yet fully mutated... they still looked like humans, still screaming, still pleading for help.
But was there enough time?
The answer was no.
A bolt of lightning struck the sky.
Thunder and torrential rain intertwined, making the air deafening.
The mutation... began to accelerate.
In that moment, Lu Yuan saw a scene he would find difficult to forget for the rest of his life.
The bodies of those residents began to bloat and grow.
They wailed as their frames twisted, taking root like trees... and growing.
Skin tore apart, revealing the bloated flesh underneath.
Limbs contorted and extended, spreading frantically in all directions.
Heads were pushed to the very top.
They were still alive.
Some were terrified, some were screaming, and some were begging for mercy.
"Save me... save me..."
The voice of a middle-aged woman came from the canopy of a certain flesh tree, her face contorting as tears mingled with the rain.
But her body was already out of her control.
Her every movement accelerated the pollution.
More and more flesh trees began to take root and grow.
One by one, trees made of blood and flesh erupted from the ground.
Those who were not yet polluted were pierced by thrashing branches and devoured frantically.
The people who were devoured did not disappear.
Their heads would be hung from the branches, becoming part of the flesh tree.
More and more heads hung from the flesh trees.
Five heads.
Ten heads.
Those heads were still alive, their mouths opening and closing to let out incoherent moans, as if they were praying or singing.
As rain fell on the flesh trees, their growth rate increased even more.
Roots burrowed out from the ground, piercing into walls, into buildings, into everything they could reach.
At the edge of his vision, grey-white text pulsed quietly:
【Detected large-scale mutation fluctuation: Believer Pathway (Bountiful)】
【Trait: Believers who have faith in Bountiful, it shall grant you the strength of eternal life, allowing you to cast off the brevity of the mortal body and achieve... eternity...】
【Warning: This mutation is irreversible!】
【Sanity: -3, 38/70】
Lu Yuan's pupils contracted sharply; was this the power granted by Bountiful?
No wonder those flesh trees... were still alive and still conscious.
But they could no longer be called human.
Even if he wanted to strike and grant them release, it would be difficult to do, because they simply could not be killed.
Their branches thrashed instinctively, allowing them to greedily plunder and devour all surrounding life they could reach.
Screams echoed from the distance.
It wasn't just here.
Lu Yuan raised his head and looked into the distance.
Fires were breaking out simultaneously across the inner city.
Screams were also coming from the direction of the outer city.
The skyline began to distort.
Flesh trees erupted one after another in the rain.
"It's not just the screening point..."
Allen's voice came from beside him, filled with suppressed rage.
"The entire Gelimu Port has been sown."
A brief silence followed. Allen turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"Retreat."
Old Morgan was taken aback: "What?"
"Gelimu Port can no longer be held." Allen's voice was icy, without the slightest hesitation. "Go back immediately and fetch your respective people. Assemble at the back gate of the inner city."
"One hour at the most." He paused, then added, "Whether we can get out is another matter."
Old Morgan's expression changed instantly, and a rare look of gravity appeared in those clouded eyes.
Leaving meant abandoning the citizens here.
The port the Empire had spent so much effort to develop would also vanish into nothingness.
But not leaving meant death.
The Archbishop's lips trembled slightly; the Angel's gaze had moved away, and for a transcendent of the Believer Pathway to be unable to see his own faith was nothing short of a joke.
In this moment, the Archbishop's resolve began to waver.
Even if he successfully escaped this time, his strength would decrease significantly.
But at this moment, no one objected.
Because everyone knew that in the face of an outbreak of this scale, staying behind meant only certain death.
A golden longsword manifested in Allen's hand, the runes on the blade lighting up and emitting a searing glow.
With a single strike.
A flesh tree blocking the path ahead was sliced in half, clearing a path for the group.
"Go!"
In the next moment, the group scattered in different directions.
Lu Yuan followed behind Old Morgan, rushing through the rain curtain toward the base.
Behind them, the flesh trees were still growing.
Still spreading.
Rate on N.U.
