Carrion Fungus

The street ahead was getting narrower and narrower.

The buildings on both sides gradually became lower, transforming from workshops into workers' dormitories, and then into somewhat cramped wooden cabins.

This is the deepest part of North Spinning District, where the lowest-income residents live. Compared to the bustling inner city, this place seems somewhat out of place.

After turning the corner of the first alley, what came into view was a gigantic Ghoul.

At this moment, this ugly, eerie creature is lying on a corpse.

The split mouth was buried in the corpse's abdominal cavity, its three layers of teeth constantly chewing something, the sounds of Flesh and bone breaking echoing around it.

The corpse was still faintly twitching.

Boer's Short Shotgun has already lifted off the ground.

But Lu Yuan was faster than him.

The sharp crack of Revolver shot echoed through the alley.

Bang!

The Silver-Plated Bullets struck the Ghoul in the back of the head, the bullet exploding inside the bone cavity and blowing half of its head off.

The Ghoul's body stiffened for a moment, then slid limply down against the corpse.

Lu Yuan did not stop.

He glanced at the corpse on the ground.

It's a woman.

She was wearing a coarse cloth skirt like a textile worker, barefoot, and holding a kerosene lamp in her hand.

The lights are off.

She probably heard the noise and tried to move the lamp.

There wasn't enough time.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze.

"Speed up."

The group did not stop.

But similar scenarios began to occur more frequently.

At the next intersection, three Carrion Ghost were surrounding the corpse of an old man.

Carrion Ghost are much smaller than Ghoul, about the size of a large dog, covered in slime, and have no fixed shape, resembling a pile of rotting flesh roughly shaped.

Their feeding methods are very different from those of Ghoul.

It simply sticks to the corpse, absorbing the remaining putrefactive substances like a sponge.

The sound of gunfire rang out, and the three Carrion Ghost were blasted into pieces by silver bullets, scattering across the ground.

We walked less than a hundred meters further.

Here we go again.

This time, two Ghouls and five Carrion Ghost together, surrounding a shack that had been torn open.

There was blood inside the shack, but no body.

It was dragged away.

The melee team cut in, the bronze sword fell, and the firearms followed up with a shot.

Solve.

But Lu Yuan's expression grew increasingly grim.

It wasn't because of the corpse.

It's because of the quantity.

Since entering the North Spinning District urban area, they have cleared out at least a dozen Ghoul and Carrion Ghost.

Moreover, it is widely distributed.

If there was only one Collapse Point, it would be impossible for it to spread so much in such a short period of time.

Unless the intelligence is inaccurate.

"Boer," Lu Yuan lowered his voice, "The intelligence says there's only one collapse at North Spinning District?"

Boer's face also looked grim.

"That's what the intelligence says," he said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "But judging from the situation on the ground..."

He didn't finish speaking.

There's no need to finish.

Both of them were very clear about it.

The intelligence reports one location, but in reality, it could be two or even three.

There were only nine of them, but now that things had come to this, there was no turning back.

After clearing out two more waves, the team finally approached the core area of North Spinning District City.

The first thing you see here is darkness.

A precipice of darkness.

The previous street had streetlights, but this street doesn't.

All the lights went out.

It wasn't a burnt-out filament.

The lamppost itself was broken.

The iron lamppost was twisted in the middle, with the upper half lying askew on the roadside, and broken lampshades and glass shards scattered all over the ground.

More than one.

As far as the eye could see, all the lampposts along the entire street ahead had been destroyed.

It's obvious that something is deliberately sabotaging the light source.

It's Ghoul.

Moreover, they are organized Ghoul.

Boer saw this too.

His face was pale, but his voice was steady.

"How could Ghoul destroy a light source? This must be being directed by a higher-ranking entity!"

Lu Yuan did not respond.

Because he noticed something even worse.

The ground has changed.

A thin, pale green film covered the bronze alloy floor in front of them.

It looks like some kind of moss, but it feels noticeably smoother than moss.

They cling to the ground, spreading outwards along the brick seams and joints, like a net slowly unfolding.

There was a different smell in the air.

It has a pungent, acidic odor.

Lu Yuan's gaze fell on that thin film.

Grayish-white text appeared.

[Detection target: Carrion Fungus (active bacterial layer)]

[Characteristics: A special type of fungus that can survive in almost any environment. It attaches to various surfaces and secretes a weakly acidic liquid, which has a slow but continuous corrosive effect on metals, stone, and wood. It is a companion organism of Carrion Ghost; wherever Carrion Ghost colony passes, Carrion Fungus inevitably spread.]

[Weakness: Any holy item.]

[Forbidden Studies - Seeker: +0.1]

The symbiotic entity of the Carrion Ghost.

Carrion Ghost swarm is always present wherever it goes.

Lu Yuan's heart sank.

He crouched down and carefully examined the contact surface between the fungal layer and the floor.

The copper-colored floor surface has lost its original luster.

It became rough, darkened, and even developed small pits in some places.

The copper is corroding.

Copper is the key element in this city's suppression of Carrion Ghost.

Lu Yuan stood up, his face grim.

The whole situation is now very clear.

It wasn't just Ghoul and Carrion Ghost that emerged from the Collapse Point.

There are also Carrion Fungus.

Ghoul are responsible for destroying light sources and creating darkness.

Carrion Fungus are responsible for eroding the copper structure and dismantling the natural restraint of the Bronze City.

The Carrion Ghost are responsible for spreading and filling the quantity.

The three work together.

This was clearly an organized attack.

"Try to avoid the fungal layer in front of us," Lu Yuan said. "This stuff is corrosive, and it's breaking down the copper in the ground."

Boer listened without pressing Lu Yuan about how he knew all this, but quickly processed the information and made a judgment.

"If the copper is broken down, then this piece of copper will completely lose its suppressive effect on the Carrion Ghost..."

"It's already ineffective," Lu Yuan interrupted him.

He pointed ahead.

Looking in the direction he was pointing, the area covered by the fungal layer was rapidly expanding.

It gets denser the further north you go.

At the deepest point, it was no longer a thin film, but a thick, foamy green covering.

It completely covers the floor and the lower half of both side walls.

Above that dense layer of fungus, countless Carrion Ghost were slowly wriggling.

They looked like a swarm of giant slugs clinging to rotting flesh.

They were not subjected to the pressure of copper.

Because the copper beneath their feet had been completely isolated.

Boer gasped.

"This can't go on," he said in a low voice. "We need backup..."

"How many grenades are there?" Lu Yuan interrupted him.

Boer was taken aback.

"Alchemy Grenade, six in total." He glanced back at the group. "Distributed among three men."

That's enough.

Lu Yuan took a small bottle of Refined Sandworm Oil from his waist and held it in his hand.

"Grenades all together, I'll count down to three, then throw them all at the same time."

Lu Yuan spoke very quickly.

"After blasting a passage open, don't stop, just rush through. I'll use Sandworm Oil to create a light source and cover both sides."

"What if we step on a layer of fungus?" a Night Watcher asked.

"Go quickly, don't linger." Lu Yuan's voice was calm. "I have a plan."

No one asked anymore.