freenovelworld Chapter 324 Shoggoth and the Demon
Chapter 324 Shoggoth and the Demon
Chapter 324 Shoggoth and the Demon
Since learning that this passage might be the intestines of some enormous creature, or some other organ, Huo Wen and Miao Guang have become increasingly cautious, afraid of waking up this creature of unknown size.
Modi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of them. He looked around without any regard for others, and occasionally knocked off a strangely colored stone and examined it closely in his hand.
This whole operation left the two men trembling with fear. Huo Wen could only offer a word of advice: "Sir, I think it's better to avoid trouble. If we really wake this creature up, you'll have to deal with this menace yourself. How about we be quiet, conduct our inspection, and then head back?"
"Not very good," Modi turned around and gave him a look, letting him figure it out for himself, "Besides, it was you guys who made the move, not me."
"Huh? We're fighting something as big as a mountain range?" Miao Guang pointed to himself. "Do we have a chance to win?"
"It will win. Don't be fooled by its size; it's just an empty shell. The real danger comes from deep within its body."
As they walked forward, Modi explained, "This big guy doesn't realize what he's eaten, but actually, what he sees as food is the real danger."
"Are you referring to yourself?" Huo Wen asked half-jokingly, after all, those who voluntarily ventured into the ice cave were, in a sense, walking into a trap.
"Think what you will... Oh, there's a naughty little thing up ahead, go and catch it and bring it to me."
Modi pointed casually, and the three of them moved at the sound, rushing to the left and right towards the shadows at the corner of the cave ahead.
About two or three seconds later, a piercing scream came from around the corner:
"Tekeli—li!!"
Hearing this voice, Modi sighed, "Just how many extraterrestrial beings has this wretched world attracted? How come even something like this exists?"
He walked toward the corner of the cave and bumped into the two returning figures, each carrying two thick tentacles, effortlessly dragging the giant object behind them.
"This is the little thing you were talking about." Miao Guang put down his tentacle and said meaningfully, "It feels... not as big as the fish I fished in the dark sea last week."
"You mean that radioactive terror fish that the Lord of the Darklands gave you?" Huo Wen exposed his lie without hesitation. "Come on, you can't catch any fish at all."
"A cunning fisherman."
Modi delivered the final blow and stepped forward to examine the giant creature they had dragged back.
It was a protoplasmic vesicle larger than an entire subway train, with an irregular shape.
On its enormous, bloated body, tens of thousands of pus-like eyes decomposed and reassembled, emitting an eerie green light.
The ghastly green light shone on their faces, and Huo Wen and his companion couldn't help but recall the sea of radiation they had encountered during their last vacation in a private territory of a reincarnator.
"This thing seems to be called a Shoggoth. I've seen it on a fragment of the Necronomicon," Miao Guang warned. "They're unpredictable and inherently evil traitors. You'd better not think about keeping one."
, 7
"I know."
Modi didn't mind the Shoggoth's terrifying appearance at all; instead, he reached out and touched one of its wrists.
It has a slippery feel and is difficult to handle. Of course, if anyone underestimates it because of this, they will suffer the consequences—this thing is incredibly powerful.
"Don't you find it disgusting... I bet you just swallowed it whole?" Miao Guang looked like he'd seen a ghost.
He watched as the arm that Modi was gripping writhed and changed, its scales turning outwards to cover the flesh, eventually transforming into a huge red dragon head.
The dragon head bit down on Shoggoth's wrist and tore it off with little effort, swallowing it whole.
The two couldn't help but wonder if the dragon head attached to their arms was also connected to their digestive tract.
Shoggoth let out a painful howl, and Hoven slapped it, instantly silencing it.
"Are you... uh, eating raw marinated food?" Miao Guang asked awkwardly. "I know a chef who specializes in Ke family cuisine. How about I introduce him to you another day?"
"There's no need for that." Modi wiped the dragon's mouth, and the dragon squinted its eyes contentedly.
He didn't tell the two that he himself could be a chef specializing in Kejia cuisine.
"Due to a lack of sophisticated instruments, I had to resort to this method to analyze Shoggoth... although most sophisticated instruments in the world are not as good as my artificial organs."
He hadn't specifically blocked the dragon head's sense of taste; a fishy, foul smell mixed with a cold sensation traveled upwards from the dragon head, making him realize that he shouldn't have given the dragon head any sense of taste in the first place.
"Interesting artificial life forms. The genetic technology of those ancient beings has many merits, but unfortunately, they are too prone to betrayal."
Modi casually commented that the dragon's head opened wide, blood gushing out, precisely bypassing Huo Wen and the other man, and entangled the Hughes that was larger than a train.
After wrapping it in layers upon layers, the blood flowed backward, and like a compressed towel, it was forcibly shrunk back into the dragon's head.
The massive Shoggoth was swallowed into the sea of blood, and the road ahead was once again unobstructed.
"Let's go, this isn't the end of the journey yet, the bigger part is yet to come."
As Modi spoke, he took the first step, followed closely by two reincarnators.
"To be honest, we really ended up doing the grunt work this time."
After casually dispatching a small, wriggling Shoggoth that was trying to ambush him, Miao Guang patted the sleeves of his Taoist robe to make sure his clothes weren't covered in the disgusting slime.
Huo Wen calmly withdrew his fist and casually replied, "At least it's better than doing nothing. This way, we can at least prove that we have some value."
"That's true, but how much longer do we have to go? It feels like we've been exploring the cave for most of the day already, right?"
Speaking of cave exploration, Miao Guang feigned horror and said, "I don't want to become the next subject of Mysterious Garden."
"If you jump off this cliff, I promise you'll be the subject of my next video."
Modi peered into a deep pit, picked up a stone, and threw it in.
After a while, faint sounds came up, telling the three just how deep the pit was.
He glanced back at his guards and gestured for them to stop.
"Huh? You don't need us to help you anymore?" Huo Wen asked, puzzled.
"While the thing below may not be a match for you, it can still smear your faces before it dies," Modi explained. "Or do you want to see it now and experience the taste of cognitive pollution?"
"Uh, then let's forget about it."
Both Miao Guang and he shrank back.
Modi laughed and said, "Don't worry, there's plenty of time. You'll understand sooner or later."
Without further ado, he leaped into the bottom of the pit.
pat.
After landing nimbly, a vast, dark cave appeared before his eyes.
Unlike the cave above, which, no matter how dark, is not even half as dark as this one.
The darkness here is almost tangible, thick and dense. Being here is like being swallowed by a swamp, and every move requires more effort.
Modi knew that this was no illusion, but that something had influenced and changed the environment here.
If this were in Itnity, it would most likely be a result of the shadow plane approaching the present world, but this world does not have a shadow plane.
"Hoo." Modi exhaled softly, but found that the breath did not move forward, but retreated, as if trying to return to his throat.
He tried to move forward, but as soon as he took a step, he found himself leaving the place he was in and stepping into another darkness.
His sleeve was being pulled by the darkness, and for some reason, he identified the clothing as part of his body; the damage to his sleeve was equivalent to the damage to himself.
"Sure enough, there's a big problem with the rules here."
When the senses are confused, emotions may materialize, and even physical objects become unreliable.
This is not just a simple form of cognitive pollution, but a distortion of the rules of reality.
"No wonder even with Yuri's immense mental power, he needed the Mind Termination Device to contend with the madness here. And what's in this cave is just one example; there are many more inside the mountain..."
Ignoring the escalating biting sensation, Mordi's will detached from his current body, drifting outside of time, observing this dark cave from another perspective.
With a single glance, he pinpointed the source of the pollution.
It was one, or rather, many, strange individuals whose number could not be precisely expressed. They lurked in the darkness, moving non-linearly, and seemed to be surrounding Modi.
For them, the line segment between two points is not necessarily the shortest, so nonlinear movement is their fastest way of moving. Even so, for observers outside the timeline, their speed is meaningless.
He saw them, so they were destined to be captured by him.
An invisible hand manipulated the timeline, weaving an inescapable destiny for these strange individuals.
When Mordi returned to the first-person perspective, the darkness around him had completely dissipated, and the physical rules of the cave had returned to normal, so the situation of "the line segment between two points is not necessarily the shortest" would no longer occur.
He shifted his gaze to his raised right hand.
On the fair palm was a sphere shimmering with colors like the starry sky. At the very center of the sphere was a black dot that resembled a black hole, drawing the surrounding starry sky to rotate slowly.
Several tentacles dangled from the edge of the sphere, swaying slightly. Judging from the amplitude of their swaying, the sphere seemed to want to break free from Modi's restraints.
It, or rather they, are constantly emitting pollution, attempting to implant their own existence into Modi's cognition, thereby gaining control over this highly promising body.
"Uncle, I've been treated like an easy target." Mo Di's tone was unfriendly. He slightly curled his fingers, and the sphere emitted a sharp pop, ceasing its antics.
With the sphere tucked into his sleeve, Modi leaped up and easily jumped back into the cave he had come from, startling the two who had been waiting idly.
"What kind of demon are you... Ah, it's you! You scared me."
Miao Guang wiped away his cold sweat and stuffed the talisman he had just taken out back into his pocket.
"Sir, have you completed your investigation?" Huo Wen asked.
"It's done. Now let's go back. Hopefully, Yuri has prepared the laboratory I need."
Epsilon Legion Headquarters.
Inside the giant tower, Yuri hurried along, heading straight for a certain spot within the tower.
Just now, his subordinates told him that the gentleman had returned.
At first, he didn't realize who "sir" was referring to, but his subordinate's next words made him recall everything.
"That gentleman entered your laboratory, seemingly to conduct some dangerous experiment... Yes, the one you instructed us to prepare earlier."
"I see. What else did he say to you?"
"Well, he said he wants to conduct research on cognitive pollution, and if possible, please come and observe."
'
..ah?"
Yuri remembers that he was jolted awake and immediately stood up from his chair, instinctively taking steps toward the laboratory.
He almost thought he had misheard. You see, he himself didn't dare to do research on cognitive pollution, let alone let outsiders use his lab to do it.
If something goes wrong during the research, it's uncertain whether his mind-ending device can be saved. The worst outcome would be that the giant tower is contaminated, constantly broadcasting polluting frequencies to various parts of the planet.
He had to be there on-site to prevent any mistakes from happening.
Yuri pushed open the lab door and was about to say hello when he found several people already standing inside. They all turned to look at him when they heard the door open.
"Mr. Yuri, you've arrived." Xu Hui waved and greeted him. "You've come at just the right time; that gentleman's experiment is about to reach its final stage."
Upon hearing this, Yuri's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "What experiment?"
"Uh, it seems to be called the Demonic Symbiosis Modification Experiment," involving human modification, and the first test subject was... our captain."
"What?" Yuri was shocked. He quickly walked to the glass and looked at the modification room, which was only separated by a wall, and witnessed the completion of this modification experiment.
Inside the modified cabin, a naked man stood with his face contorted in pain, as if he were experiencing a nightmare.
In fact, everyone who saw the entire makeover felt the same way.
"As expected of the captain, he can even tolerate such a large foreign object. Indeed, the old general is still the most cunning." Miao Guang sighed from the side.
Xu Hui glanced at him and said coldly, "I've already recorded what you just said. You can explain it to the captain yourself later."
Yuri's focus wasn't on that; he just wanted to ask one question: "Isn't your captain afraid of death? Or was he forced into it?"
Cognitive pollution and human modification are both extremely dangerous things, and the danger factor will increase exponentially when the two are combined.
"Of course he was afraid of death, but he knew even more how precious this opportunity was, which is why he volunteered to become the first person to be modified."
Xu Hui explained, "After all, this is a surgery performed by a six-star individual, and the risk factor is so small as to be negligible due to the person in charge. It's a rare opportunity."
"You trust that gentleman so much?" he asked incredulously.
"We trust his power and believe that he only agreed to modify the captain on a whim, since we have nothing on us that he would want."
Yuri remained silent in response to Xu Hui's answer and the others' matter-of-fact expressions.
He never expected that these people who called themselves reincarnators were actually all gamblers, and it was hard to imagine what kind of lives they had lived.
He shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions, and looked at the man lying in the modification pod, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
After the man was modified, he put a lot more pressure on Yuri.
Even when facing him, Yuri experiences some cognitive dissonance.
Yuri guessed that this must be the power that the demon had given him.