Corpses

No, Alice and the others went down!

"Gray, let's go!"

Lu Yuan stood up and strode out of the captain's cabin. "Go quickly to the lower decks."

Without asking why, Gray, who was on guard outside, picked up his weapon and strode after them.

The further down you go, the stronger the fishy stench becomes in the air.

It wasn't the smell of the sea, but the smell of blood, so strong it was nauseating.

The stairwell in the cabin was piled with clutter, barrels, boxes, and even several dismantled hatches.

They were deliberately piled together to form a makeshift roadblock, as if someone was trying to block the way to the lower levels.

It was trying to stop something from getting up, but the roadblock had already been torn open.

The barrel broke in the middle, the box was smashed to pieces, and there were several deep claw marks on the hatch—as if it had been violently cleaved open by some enormous force.

Fragments were scattered on both sides of the staircase, some still stained with dried black blood.

But what made Lu Yuan even more uneasy was the faint whispering sound coming from below.

After rushing all the way, Alice was already waiting at the cabin door.

Her face was grim, and she gripped the warhammer in her hand, which crackled with lightning.

But she didn't go in; Lu Yuan followed Alice's gaze.

A pale blue light membrane enveloped the cabin entrance, like an invisible water curtain.

Fine runes flowed across the surface of the light film, emanating an unsettling aura.

[Anomaly detected: Deep Sea's Scales]

[Characteristic: A special barrier created by referencing and imitating the body structure of ██, capable of absorbing most Transcendence powers and providing immunity to a certain degree of physical attacks.]

[Weakness: Lacks resistance to Purification -type powers]

"There are people inside maintaining this barrier." Alice frowned.

As she spoke, Alice raised her warhammer, crackling with lightning, and slammed it down onto the light membrane.

"Bang!"

The lightning exploded, but Lu Yuan saw a strange scene: all the power was absorbed by the light membrane, like a pebble falling into deep water, barely even causing a ripple.

"I can't break it." Alice had clearly tried several times, her voice tinged with anger. "This thing suppresses Transcendence power; we'll have to wait for those charlatans from the church to arrive."

No sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps sounded behind him.

Philip arrived with his Deacon, followed closely by Marcus and the Born.

"Ms. Alice, the church isn't some kind of charlatan, hmm? The Deep Sea Church's barrier." Philip glanced at the light membrane, his brow furrowing. "It's specifically designed to counter Transcendence power; the stronger the power, the easier it is to be absorbed."

"Can it be broken?" Alice didn't want to waste time arguing with him.

"It can Purification." Philip raised the Holy Emblem in his hand and began to chant a prayer, "My Angel, your most faithful follower..."

A golden Holy Light surged from the Holy Emblem, not attacking, but slowly seeping into the blue light membrane.

As the golden light fell, the light membrane began to tremble, and the runes on it twisted.

"Hiss hiss hiss--"

Like boiling water poured onto ice, blue and gold intertwine and clash.

But the next second, Philip's face was devout, and a book of gold and white intertwined Scripture emerged from his bosom, the golden light emanating from the Holy Emblem suddenly becoming even brighter.

The blue runes that had been able to contend with it began to tremble. After a few breaths, the light membrane, like a piece of corroded paper, began to disintegrate from the center, turning into specks of fluorescent light that dissipated.

"Angel bestow upon you Holy Light." The Scripture before Philip flickered, and a layer of golden light enveloped everyone except those in the Ascension Society. As the golden light faded, Philip's face turned somewhat pale.

"Go inside quickly; this layer of Holy Light can help you resist the Contamination."

As the hatch opened.

A strong stench of blood filled the air, and the faint whispers were now clearly audible.

Alice was the first to rush in, followed closely by Lu Yuan.

The next moment, he stopped.

The scene before him seemed to freeze the blood in Lu Yuan's body.

Twenty-three corpses.

Hanging from the ceiling by iron hooks.

Arranged in a radial pattern, they resemble a strange "flower".

Each corpse was hung upside down, with its hands dangling towards the ground, and a clean cut across its neck.

Their corpses had grayish-white skin, like shriveled sacs, as if all the blood had been drained from their bodies.

But at this moment, their eyes were open and their expressions were distorted, clearly indicating that they had been tortured by the Deep Sea Church before their deaths.

Beneath each corpse was a groove, through which blood flowed and gathered into a river, with dried, blackened bloodstains remaining in the groove.

The floor next to the groove was covered with runes drawn in blood, with a circular hole in the center of the runes and torn edges, from which something was "released".

But none of these are the most terrifying things.

The most terrifying thing was that the hanging corpses were trembling. As the group stepped into the room, their empty eye sockets slowly turned toward the doorway, as if they had sensed the arrival of the intruders.

In the center of the "flower" formed by corpses stood a man in a gray robe.

He had his back to the door, his hands raised high, and was chanting softly. The chanting was eerie and distorted, with a rhythm that sent chills down one's spine.

"Great Mother... bestowing strength upon your children..."

"The Flesh and blood... souls of Outsider... are all your nourishment..."

[Sighting of a large-scale blood sacrifice Formation][Rationality assessment in progress... Assessment failed]

[WARNING: A ritual is underway, producing high levels of energy Contamination. Please move away immediately.]

[Sanity: -2,58/70]

Looking around, Alice's anger could no longer be contained. Her aura surged, and her already massive frame grew even taller. The warhammer in her hand crackled with lightning! Protected by Golden Holy Light, she shot out like a cannonball.

"Kill him!" Marcus's voice came from behind.

The Born followed closely behind, charging in and extending a longsword from his arm to meet the attack.

But the man in gray did not dodge.

He slowly turned around, his face as pale as paper, a murky blue light emanating from his eyes, and a strange smile on his lips.

He simply raised his hand slightly.

"Too hasty."

The moment the words left his mouth, the upside-down corpses all moved simultaneously.

More than a dozen corpses broke free of the iron hooks and fell from the ceiling, crashing straight towards Alice!

The shriveled body twisted violently in mid-air, its skin torn open to reveal rotting Flesh beneath, and lunged forward menacingly.

Alice's warhammer swept across, unleashing a burst of lightning that blasted the onrushing corpses into pieces!

Flesh everywhere, and severed limbs were scattered all over the place.

But that's exactly what the grey-robed man wanted.

"Come, children," his voice choked with emotion, "Your mother is calling you."

The remaining corpses did not continue attacking, but instead began to move closer to each other.

Broken bones reformed, rotting muscles writhed, and drained shells seemed to be refilled by some force, swelling, twisting, and fusing—

"Crunch--Crunch--"

The sound of bones breaking and healing was constant.

Even more bizarrely, the limbs that Alice had blasted apart were writhing on the ground, as if they had gained their own consciousness, crawling towards the mass of Flesh, and re-integrating into it.

They are merging.

To become a whole.

The Born's longsword slashed at the gray-robed man, but was blocked by a blue curtain of water—the black blood flowing from the corpses condensed in front of the gray-robed man, forming a flowing shield.

"Focus on dealing with it." The gray-robed man took a few steps back, hiding behind the forming mass of Flesh, his voice laced with mockery. "The mother's child... is not easy to deal with."

[Witnessing Deep Mutation: Flesh Aggregate (Forming)]

[Warning: Determining sanity... Determination failed]

[Sanity: -1...-1, 56/70]