Return

Twenty minutes earlier.

At the center of the island.

Using the plump tadpoles lodged between the holes,

Wu Wen and the ape-like monster arrived here. Before them lay a colossal quarry beyond comprehension; the rubble piled around its perimeter alone formed a ring-shaped mountain nearly a hundred meters high.

At its center was a gigantic circular hole seemingly excavated by "human hands," with a radius of a thousand meters and a bottom too deep to see.

Searchlights were set around the perimeter like heads sticking out, aimed into its depths.

Even so, the seemingly powerful beams were swallowed by darkness after descending only halfway, leaving the bottom entirely invisible.

Merely approaching this place, Wu Wen could feel the disguised holes on her body becoming active. Her thoughts began to be affected, as though some kind of "distant connection" were about to form.

Following the pull, she headed toward an elevator.

There were no offspring in this area, only workers.

Not every monster infected from outside could become an apostle. Those unable to endure the process transformed as they ventured deeper.

They lost their humanity, lost their thoughts.

Tails and extra arms grew from the hole-covered regions of their bodies, while brand-new faces sprouted from the backs of their heads, turning them into workers through and through.

There were also monsters like Clown Jock, who had been influenced by manga from the very beginning and voluntarily thrown themselves into the outer domain. They served as overseers here.

Wu Wen and the ape-like monster boarded one of the elevators.

Teacher Guo followed them aboard using Disguise Mimicry.

The hinges turned.

The elevator descended.

During the descent, the ape-like monster transformed. It climbed directly out of the car and joined the workers' ranks.

Clang!

The elevator arrived at the bottom, a thousand meters