Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 642 The Secret of Bastinburg (1)

Han Zu stood on the platform, holding the little mouse. What he saw beyond the exit wasn't the open space he'd expected, but a massive barrier made of interwoven flesh and blood. This barrier was about twenty meters high, its surface covered with raised lines like blood vessels. Dark red liquid flowed rapidly within these lines, making a soft gurgling sound. The barrier was covered with irregular depressions and protrusions. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the depressions were entrances leading in different directions. Each entrance was covered by a thin, transparent, mucus-like substance, revealing winding paths within, collectively forming a vast and complex labyrinth of flesh and blood.

The little mouse peeked out from Han Zu's arms, its little nose twitching slightly as it warily surveyed the scene before it. When its gaze swept over the entrances, its body involuntarily shrank back, burying its head even deeper, with only its bushy tail sticking out and trembling slightly. Han Zu gently patted its back, then strode towards the nearest entrance. This entrance was an irregular oval, about two meters high and wide enough for two people to walk side by side. When the mucous membrane at the edge came into contact with the faint energy emanating from Han Zu, it contracted slightly like breathing, then slowly unfolded to the sides, revealing a dimly lit passage inside.

The moment I stepped into the passage, a warm, metallic scent mingled with a faint fishy odor washed over me. The passage walls weren't smooth; they were composed of layers upon layers of muscle tissue, which writhed at an extremely slow pace. A fine layer of mucus covered the surface, giving the walls a damp sheen. Every few meters along the walls were alveoli-like sac-like structures, filled with a dark red liquid that swayed gently with the muscular contractions. Occasionally, tiny droplets would seep from the top of these sacs and drip onto the ground. The ground was also made of flesh and blood, feeling like walking on a springy sponge. With each step, the muscle tissue would slightly indent, then slowly spring back, leaving brief footprints.

After walking about fifty meters, the passage suddenly forked. The passage on the left was wider, with denser sac-like structures on the walls, emitting a brighter red light; the passage on the right was relatively narrow, with walls that had an eerie bluish-purple hue and no sac-like structures on their surface, relying solely on a faint light from afar for illumination. Han Zu paused briefly, his gaze sweeping between the two passages, before finally choosing the wider passage on the left. He had only taken a few steps into the left passage when a faint "floating" sound came from the darkness ahead, followed by several blurry shadows slowly emerging from the shadows.

They were several bizarre monsters made of flesh and blood. One of them was the size of an adult hunting dog, with an irregularly oval body covered in countless tiny tentacles that twisted and wriggled like earthworms. Each tentacle had a small glowing dot at its tip, emitting a pale green light. It had no obvious head or limbs, but hovered about half a meter above the ground, wandering aimlessly, propelled by a dark red stream of air emanating from beneath its body. Another monster was even more peculiar. Its body seemed to be composed of countless intertwined vines of flesh and blood, with eyeball-like structures growing from the ends of the vines. These "eyeballs" had no pupils, but simply rotated constantly, observing their surroundings. Its mode of movement was also different from the former; it slowly crawled between the walls and the ground by the contraction and extension of the vines, occasionally suddenly releasing its grip on the walls, floating to the center of the passage, and then reattaching to the wall on the other side.

Han Zu stopped and observed the monsters. He noticed that although they varied in appearance, they all shared a common trait—they possessed no intelligence whatsoever. The hound-sized monster drifted directly towards Han Zu. As it brushed past him, its tentacles even touched his arm, but it showed no reaction. It neither attacked nor changed its course, continuing to wander along its fixed path. The little mouse huddled nervously in Han Zu's arms. When its tentacles touched Han Zu's arm, its body trembled violently, emitting a soft squeak, but it quickly quieted down, clinging tightly to Han Zu's arm.

After proceeding for about a hundred meters, the passage ahead suddenly widened, forming a circular space about twenty meters in diameter. The ceiling of this space was covered with numerous chandelier-like fleshy structures, each with a huge sac-like object hanging from its end. These sacs were filled with a transparent liquid, in which floated tiny, fetus-like creatures, constantly wriggling and occasionally bumping against the inner walls of the sacs with soft "thump-thump" sounds. The floor of the space was covered with irregular depressions, from which flowed a dark red liquid. Smaller monsters were slowly rising from these depressions, completing their birth process.

Han Zu saw a monster, about the size of a palm, emerge from the depression. Its body was translucent, its internal organs clearly visible. A pair of wing-like membranes grew from its sides, allowing it to levitate. It was newly born, its flight clumsy, constantly circling in place, occasionally crashing into the surrounding walls before adjusting its posture and continuing to fly. Just then, another monster not far away suddenly lost its levitation ability. Its body abruptly sank, crashing heavily to the ground. The instant it touched the ground, the flesh and blood tissue of the ground seemed to come alive, rapidly enveloping its body. The monster offered no resistance, only twitching slightly on the ground before being completely absorbed, leaving only a damp patch. Within minutes of its absorption, another new monster emerged from a nearby depression. This monster was completely different from the one that had been absorbed. Its body was long and thin, covered in fine hairs, and it floated in the air by contorting its body.

Holding the little mouse, Han Zu carefully navigated around the spawning and wandering monsters, heading towards the entrance to the passage on the other side of the space. This passage was narrower than the ones they had encountered before, only wide enough for one person to pass sideways. The muscles on the passage walls writhed more violently, and the slime on the surface was much thicker, easily sticking to clothes as one walked. The height of the passage also constantly changed, sometimes requiring one to bend over to move forward, and sometimes allowing one to stand upright. This irregular structure greatly slowed down their progress.

After walking about two hundred meters through the passage, a "drip-drip" sound suddenly came from ahead, growing clearer and clearer until it finally became a fine patter of rain. Han Zu quickened his pace, but after rounding a bend, the scene before him made him stop. Ahead was a vast vertical space, at least a hundred meters high, its walls riddled with honeycomb-like holes, each constantly oozing a dark red liquid. This liquid dripped down from the sky, forming a massive "blood rain" that fell into a huge pool below. The pool was composed of flesh and blood, its walls covered with tiny, straw-like structures that continuously absorbed the dripping liquid.

In the center of the pool stood a colossal pillar of flesh, its surface covered in spiraling patterns. Dark red liquid flowed slowly along these patterns, eventually converging into the pool. The pillar's top connected to the ceiling of the space, and at the center of the top was a massive opening from which new flesh tissue was constantly being pumped down, replenishing the pillar's volume. Floating within this vertical space were even more numerous monsters, their forms far more bizarre. One monster resembled a giant jellyfish, its umbrella-shaped body suspending countless slender tentacles, the tentacles constantly absorbing the dark red liquid from the air. Another monster had a spherical body, its surface covered with crater-like protrusions. These protrusions periodically spewed out puffs of dark red mist, which diffused into the air before being absorbed by the surrounding walls.

Han Zu observed for a moment and discovered that although these monsters were numerous, their activity ranges were relatively fixed, and they would not easily leave their areas. He carried the little mouse and slowly descended the narrow steps at the edge of the space. These steps were naturally formed from flesh and blood, only wide enough to accommodate half a foot, and their surfaces were covered in slime, making them extremely slippery. The little mouse tightly closed its eyes, burying its head in Han Zu's arms, afraid to look at the pool below.

At the end of the steps lay the edge of the pool. Han Zu crouched down and gently touched the liquid in the pool with his finger. The liquid was warmer than the ones he had encountered before, around forty degrees Celsius, and its texture was viscous like honey, with a very thin film of oil floating on the surface. This film shimmered with iridescent colors under the light. When his finger touched the liquid, the straw-like structures on the pool wall suddenly accelerated their peristalsis, seemingly attracted by the energy emanating from his finger, but quickly returned to their normal rhythm.

At the edge of the pool, Han Zu discovered a passage leading downwards. Hidden in a recessed area of ​​the pool's edge, covered by a thick layer of mucus, it was difficult to spot without close inspection. He reached out and gently parted the mucus, revealing a downward-sloping passage. The passage walls were covered with luminous patterns emitting a soft blue light, providing ample illumination. The temperature inside the passage was noticeably lower, and the fishy smell in the air had faded considerably, replaced by a faint, sweet fragrance.

Upon entering the passage, Han Zu discovered that the passage walls were not composed of muscle tissue, but rather a layer of material as hard as bone, with a perfectly smooth surface free of any slime. The passage floor was covered with a scale-like structure; these scales interlocked to form a smooth path, making no sound when walked upon. Every few meters along both sides of the passage, there was a recess containing transparent, crystal-like objects. Inside these objects were tiny pieces of flesh and blood tissue, slowly wriggling, seemingly undergoing some kind of transformation.

After walking about 300 meters, the passage suddenly forked, with three entrances arranged in a triangular pattern ahead. Above each entrance was a unique fleshy symbol. The symbol for the left entrance was a heart-like structure that was slowly pulsating; the symbol for the middle entrance was a pair of outstretched wings, their surfaces covered with intricate patterns; and the symbol for the right entrance was an eye-like structure with "eyeballs" constantly moving, observing the surrounding environment. Han Zu stood at the fork, his gaze sweeping over the three symbols. He noticed that the pulsating frequency of the symbol for the left entrance matched that of the "heart" core he had encountered in the secret chamber earlier. After hesitating for a moment, he chose the left entrance.

The structure inside the left-hand passage was completely different from the previous ones. The walls were covered with vein-like protrusions, from which flowed a silvery-white liquid, radiating a powerful aura of energy. Hanging from the ceiling were numerous lantern-like fleshy structures, filled with white light that illuminated the passage as if it were daytime. On the floor, a thin stream of silvery-white liquid flowed, flanked by moss-like fleshy plants whose surfaces shimmered faintly, constantly absorbing energy from the air.

In this passage, Han Zu encountered a new type of monster. This monster was smaller, only the size of a fist, with a spherical body covered in diamond-like protrusions that emitted a dazzling light, making the monster appear as a glowing sphere. It levitated in the air using the vibrations of these protrusions, moving faster than the monsters he had encountered before, and constantly changing direction, as if chasing some kind of energy in the air. As Han Zu approached, several monsters flew directly towards him, circling around him. Their protrusions constantly touched Han Zu's skin, but they showed no aggression, merely absorbing the excess dissipated energy emanating from him.

After walking approximately 500 meters, the passage suddenly widened, forming a vast rectangular space. This space was at least 200 meters long, about 100 meters wide, and 50 meters high. The space was surrounded by fleshy structures resembling bookshelves, layered upon each other and extending to the ceiling. Each "bookshelf" held numerous flat, fleshy objects resembling books, their surfaces covered with intricate patterns, like writing, recording some kind of information. At the center of the space was a massive platform, upon which stood a tower composed of fleshy tissue. The top of the tower connected to the ceiling of the space, and in the center of the top was a huge hole from which a silvery-white liquid flowed continuously, running down the surface of the tower to the platform, and then through the patterns on the platform to the surrounding "bookshelves."

Floating within this space were numerous enormous monsters. These monsters resembled giant octopuses, possessing eight thick tentacles. Suction cup-like structures grew from the ends of their tentacles, allowing them to levitate in space. They continuously used their suction cups to attach to flat, fleshy objects on the "bookshelves," then placed them back in their original positions, like a librarian tidying up books. Han Zu noticed that although these monsters were enormous, their movements were remarkably gentle, causing no damage to the "bookshelves" or the flat, fleshy objects. When they noticed Han Zu, they only paused briefly before continuing their activities, showing no sign of interest.

Holding the little mouse, Han Zu cautiously approached a "bookshelf" and gently touched a flat, fleshy object on it. The object's surface was incredibly soft, like leather. When his fingers touched the texture, the patterns suddenly emitted a faint glow, and a vague message flowed into his mind. This message contained some information about energy conversion; although incomplete, it gave him a deeper understanding of the energy cycle of this fleshy architectural complex. He tried placing his hand on the object, circulating his internal energy to try and gain more information, but just then, a giant monster beside him suddenly extended a tentacle towards him, its suckers lightly touching his arm, seemingly warning him not to touch it too much. Han Zu wisely withdrew his hand and continued walking towards the passageway on the other side of the space.

The entrance to the passage on the other side of the space was hidden behind a huge "bookshelf." The edges of the entrance were covered with a thick layer of muscle tissue, which automatically unfolded to the sides as Han Zu approached, revealing the passage inside. This passage sloped upwards, and the patterns on the passage walls emitted a faint red glow, resulting in relatively poor lighting. The floor of the passage was covered with tiny bumps, which acted like anti-slip patterns, making walking more stable.

After advancing approximately four hundred meters through the passage, a sudden, violent tremor arose ahead. The patterns on the passage walls began to flicker, the red light flashing intermittently. Han Zu stopped, cautiously observing his surroundings. The tremors intensified, and the muscle tissue on the passage walls began to peel away, revealing the skeletal structure beneath. Just then, a gigantic monster burst forth from the darkness ahead. This monster was unlike any he had encountered before; its body was the size of a truck, covered in a thick layer of keratin. Its head possessed a massive mouth filled with sharp teeth, and its limbs were thick and powerful, enabling it to run quickly across the ground. Its eyes were blood-red, fixed intently on Han Zu, and it let out a low, guttural roar.