Lu Yuan made a decision after a moment's hesitation.
"I'm going to get something. I'll be back soon."
Lu Yuan didn't explain; he turned and ran.
"As fast as you can!" Old Morgan said in a heavy voice.
The clinic was not far from the base.
Lu Yuan crossed two streets, the red vein in his vision growing clearer and clearer.
He pushed open the familiar door.
The clinic was still relatively intact for the time being, as the flesh trees had not yet reached this far.
The interior was dim, and rain seeped through the cracks in the windows, forming small puddles on the floor.
Lu Yuan cautiously approached the drawer.
The end of the red vein was connected to the inside of the drawer.
He pulled the drawer open.
A parchment scroll lay quietly inside, pressed down by several medical books.
It was exactly the same as when he had first seen it.
The vein hung down from the sky, its end merging into the surface of the scroll like some kind of eerie umbilical cord.
Lu Yuan stared at the scroll, his brow furrowed.
He remembered the first time he had touched it.
His Sanity had plummeted, his ears were filled with mad whispers, and he had nearly lost control.
The feeling of being on the brink of madness was still fresh in his memory.
But his intuition told him that this thing was important.
Very important.
Lu Yuan took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself.
It should be fine as long as he didn't look at it.
He was just taking it away.
He gritted his teeth, reached out, and his fingertips touched the parchment.
Nothing happened.
No pollution, no sanity shock, no mutation.
It was just like an ordinary piece of parchment.
At the same time, the red vein began to dissipate.
Starting from the end, as if being pulled away by some force, it retreated rapidly toward the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace.
Lu Yuan was stunned by the sight.
Was this scroll waiting for him to retrieve it?
There was no time for deep thought.
Lu Yuan tucked the scroll into his robe, fished out the envelope and imperial gold shields Lawson had sent earlier from the drawer, grabbed a few handfuls of other items, and stuffed them all into his pockets.
He turned and ran out of the clinic.
By the time he returned to the base entrance, Hans was arriving from the direction of the inner city.
Blood seeped through the bandages on his left arm, and a few Nightwatchers followed behind him.
"The people from the inner city have been evacuated," Hans reported quickly, his tone heavy. "Sivating and the Holy Armored Army are heading to the back gate to gather."
He paused and added:
"The situation is grim; the inner city is spreading toward the outer city."
Old Morgan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the returning Lu Yuan, but he didn't ask any questions.
"Move out."
The group began to advance toward the back gate of the inner city.
Allen Kraus led the way.
The golden greatsword in his hand was like a living thing, each strike carrying a searing light.
The flesh branches couldn't last a single round before him.
Severed.
Burned.
Clear the path.
Lu Yuan followed in the middle of the group, witnessing the combat power of this peak fourth-rank powerhouse firsthand.
With his own strength, he forced a bloody path through the thicket of flesh trees.
Those branches lunged at him frantically, attempting to entangle and devour him.
But wherever the golden sword light passed, everything turned to ash.
The streets of the outer city were already unrecognizable.
Branches made of flesh were twisted and tangled together.
They blotted out the sky.
The originally grey sky was now covered by a layer of red netting.
Those branches were still growing.
Still spreading.
Lu Yuan could even hear a low, rhythmic sound.
It sounded like a heartbeat.
By the roadside, corpses that hadn't been burned in time were being slowly enveloped by the roots of the flesh.
The skin split, the muscles melted, and the bones were absorbed.
The flesh trees were devouring them.
Then, something eerie happened.
Those who should have been dead 'resurrected' in a twisted manner.
Their heads were hanging from the flesh tree branches, eyes open, mouths moving.
These corpses were not just ordinary residents.
There were also Deep Sea Church cultists who had died in the previous battles.
Their bodies were devoured and merged by the flesh trees of Bountiful, and then they 'lived' again in this way.
"Hahaha! It worked!"
A hanging head let out a raspy laugh, its face filled with fanaticism.
"We did it! Mother! Dearest Mother! I am about to see you!"
The voice echoed in the rain, carrying a mad devotion.
Other 'resurrected' heads also began to respond, their voices rising and falling.
"Mother..."
"Mother..."
"Dedicated to Mother..."
Their voices formed an eerie resonance that spread to the surroundings.
What was even more terrifying was that the ordinary residents devoured by the flesh trees also had their heads hanging from the branches, and they began to be affected.
Their original expressions of terror and pain gradually turned into daze.
And then... fanaticism.
"Mother..."
The head of a woman who had been crying for help only moments ago began to move its mouth mechanically, murmuring along with the Deep Sea Church cultists.
The expansion speed of the flesh trees became visibly faster.
Those 'resurrected' Deep Sea Church cultists were using some method to accelerate the process.
"Pick up the pace!" Allen's voice came from the front, carrying suppressed anger. "Don't stop!"
The group quickened their steps.
Some civilians couldn't keep up and were left behind.
Screams rang out.
No one looked back.
The group finally arrived at the back gate of the inner city.
From a distance, Lu Yuan saw the crowd gathered there.
It was far more than he had imagined.
Sivating and the inner city Nightwatchers captain, Koleman, stood at the very front, followed by the remaining Nightwatchers warriors, who were covered in blood.
Beside them were the people from the Ascension Society.
The great ascendant stood there with a grave expression. Beside him, two machines similar to Arbiters were constantly attacking the void ahead, their precision gears spinning at high speeds and the weapons on their metal arms outputting frantically.
There was also a squad of the Holy Armored Army—the one the Ascension Society had sent as support. Their golden armor was covered in blood, yet they still maintained a strict formation.
The viscount was there as well.
He stood at the edge of the crowd, his face ashen, looking ahead with hollow eyes.
Everyone was attacking the same spot.
The gate.
It was blocked by a layer of transparent barrier.
It was invisible.
But it could be felt.
The machinery of the Ascension Society roared, and energy weapons bombarded it continuously.
The holy light of the Holy Armored Army condensed into beams that struck down fiercely.
The great ascendant took action personally, his mechanical arms unfolding and releasing some kind of high-temperature ray.
All of it was useless.
The barrier remained motionless.
Lu Yuan approached and subconsciously looked at the barrier.
At the edge of his vision, grey-white text began to flicker:
【Environmental Perception: Detected spatial lock formed by an unknown power】
【Analyzing...】
【Error: Information heavily obscured; unable to identify】
Lu Yuan frowned.
What he saw was not a normal analysis result, but large sections of blacked-out text, as if something had deliberately erased the information.
He couldn't figure out what this was at all.
"Move."
Allen's voice came from behind.
The crowd automatically parted to make a way.
Allen stepped forward, his golden greatsword held high.
The aura of a peak fourth-rank powerhouse was fully released at this moment. A searing light enveloped the entire blade, and even the air began to distort.
He struck down with his sword.
Boom!
The blade crashed against the barrier, and the golden light exploded, illuminating half the sky.
Then...
Nothing happened.
The barrier remained completely motionless.
Rate on N.U.
