Coordinates: Liver - Portal Vein Entrance Zone.
The air here was so thick it felt as though water could drip from it. Green mist filled the vast clusters of hexagonal pillar-like structures, reducing visibility to less than twenty meters.
"Fizz... fizz..."
Brute Force Yields Miracles glanced at his armguard, where fine wisps of white smoke were rising.
"This place is seriously messed up. My Lava Shield can block physical attacks and burn monsters, but this poison mist can actually corrode my mana bar? I'm losing 3 mana per second!"
"This is environmental suppression."
Cloud Pomelo waved the Resurrection Scepter and refreshed the entire team's Purification Aura. "The toxins here disrupt energy flow. If we don't establish a safe zone, we'll all run out of mana and be forced back to the city within two hours."
Vanguard Across the Realm walked at the front. The Origin Fang in his hand occasionally slashed through the air, cutting invisible poisonous insects that tried to approach in half.
"Maniac, did you find the node?"
Blue streams of data glimmered in Data Maniac's eyes as he analyzed the surrounding terrain through the holographic map.
In his view, this magnificent hexagonal maze was anything but chaotic. At the center of every hexagonal pillar, or hepatic lobule, stood a thick "central vein," while the surrounding passages were formed by "portal tracts."
"Found it."
Li Zihan pointed toward the base of a relatively intact hexagonal tower off to the side.
"That's the metabolic center of this area. Although the pipelines are broken, the foundation is a hardened calcium structure, enough to support the operation of a Biological Beacon."
"Then we take it."
Vanguard Across the Realm's gaze turned cold. "Everyone, prepare for battle. We're driving in our first nail here."
Coordinates: Hepatic Lobule Base H-103.
The place resembled the plaza of an abandoned biochemical factory. Blackened bile flowed across the ground, while tumor-like lumps of flesh were piled all around.
When the hundred players of the Dawn Elite Corps entered the area, those flesh balls suddenly burst apart.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Dozens of humanoid monsters crawled out of the flesh balls. Green slime flowed over their bodies; they had no skin, and their muscles were turned inside out. They carried no weapons, but their arms had mutated into enormous nozzles.
[Monster: Bile Sprayer (LV.18)] [Description: Cells responsible for secreting digestive fluid have become cancerous. Their bodies store high-pressure acid.]
"Ranged monsters! Watch out for the acid!"
Thunder King roared as the Thunder Magnetic Floating Cannon in his hand charged instantly.
"Strike first! Thunderstorm!"
A thick pillar of lightning blasted into the monster horde.
Water conducted electricity, and acid did too.
In this soaked battlefield, Thunder King's damage was amplified by the environment. Blue currents raced wildly through the bile on the ground, instantly electrocuting more than a dozen Bile Sprayers until their entire bodies convulsed.
"Good chance! Hunters, move in!"
Vanguard Across the Realm vanished, appearing behind the monster horde in an instant.
Shadow Step + Blade Fan!
Black blade-light bloomed like a lotus, harvesting the lives of the wounded monsters.
"Divine Guard Corps! Build a wall!"
Brute Force Yields Miracles led twenty Flame Prison Guards at the front. Rather than taking the attacks head-on with their bodies, they drove their shields into the ground and activated Flame Aura.
The intense heat instantly vaporized the incoming acid, forming a barrier of steam.
"So this is how an elite corps works..."
Several unaffiliated players following behind were stunned.
This smooth, flowing advance was practically a different game from the chaotic hacking and slashing they did outside.
The battle ended quickly.
After all, this was only the cleanup of the landing zone's perimeter.
"Clean up the battlefield! Life Weavers, get to work!"
Vanguard Across the Realm gave the order.
Cloud Pomelo led ten Life Sages to the center of the plaza.
They did not heal anyone. Instead, they cast Purification Rain at the ground.
Rainwater infused with antibiotic properties washed over the toxic fluid and Creep, revealing the grayish-white hardened skeletal foundation beneath.
"This is our foundation."
Vanguard Across the Realm took out the Medium Biological Beacon, worth 5,000 Bio-Energy, from his backpack.
Dawn Guild had spared no expense for this expedition.
"Plant the flag!"
Crack!
The massive crystal beacon stabbed fiercely into the ground.
Bzzzz—!
A green purification force field rapidly spread outward from the beacon.
Wherever it passed, the black poison mist was dispersed, and the slime on the ground was broken down.
An absolute safe zone with a radius of five hundred meters was born within this maze filled with deadly toxins.
[Server Announcement:] [Congratulations to the guild "Dawn" for establishing the first outpost in the Liver Region!] [Respawn Point activated! Teleportation array connected!] [Environmental toxins in this area have been neutralized, and "Slow Mana Regeneration" is provided within its range.]
"Whew... I feel alive again."
Brute Force Yields Miracles removed his makeshift gas mask and took a deep breath of the filtered air within the safe zone. "If I had to keep dealing with that health-draining debuff every second, I'd lose it."
"Don't relax yet."
Vanguard Across the Realm looked at the Purification Progress Bar counting down on the beacon's base.
"The liver's mechanics are different from the lungs."
"The lung monsters attack proactively," Data Maniac analyzed from the side. "But the liver monsters are more like... an immune rejection."
Before he could finish speaking—
The surrounding hexagonal towers suddenly began to tremble.
Gurgling fluid sounds came from the pipelines that had once been deathly still.
[Warning: Foreign intrusion detected.] [Warning: Liver defense mechanism activated. Mobilizing "Rejection Response."]
"Rejection Response?"
Everyone froze.
The next second, countless torrents of black surged out from pipe openings in every direction.
That was not water. It was a tide of insects formed by Toxic Sludge Monsters (LV.15) and Hardened Calculus Beetles (LV.17)! They felt neither pain nor fear. Their only purpose was to drown this foreign object.
"Hold the beacon!"
Vanguard Across the Realm drew his weapon. "This isn't a siege battle—it's tower defense! As long as the beacon finishes purifying, these monsters will retreat automatically!"
"Dawn forces! Formation!"
High-Dimensional Perspective: Titan Divine Body.
Gu Yuan watched the green point of light appear in the Liver Region, as if someone had tossed a purification tablet into a pitch-black sludge pit.
Though the light was still faint, it was indeed expanding with stubborn persistence.
"The liver's situation is more complicated than the lungs."
Gu Yuan frowned.
The lungs had been infected by foreign bacteria, but the liver's problem was its own metabolic collapse combined with toxin buildup. Many of the monsters here had actually mutated from what were once his normal cells.
"Simply killing monsters won't be enough to cleanse the liver."
Gu Yuan looked at the enormous, clogged hexagonal pipelines.
"They have to be cleared. Just like fixing water pipes."
With a thought, he added a new functional module to the newly established Detoxification Camp.
[System Update: Outpost function upgraded.] [New Facility: Toxin Extractor.] [Description: Players may place "Poison Sacs" and "Gallstones" dropped from slain monsters into the machine, converting them into "High-Energy Gas" (fuel) and "Anti-Toxin Serum" (medicine).]
"Since this place is full of poison, then let the players learn to fight poison with poison."
Gu Yuan smiled faintly.
"As long as the profits are high enough, the Fourth Calamity could dig every last bit of sulfur out of hell."
Inside the game, Detoxification Camp.
The battle was nearing its end.
Behind the Dawn Elite Corps' wall of steel, the Sludge Monsters trying to overwhelm the beacon had become little more than walking experience points.
When the final wave retreated, the beacon finally stabilized completely, emitting a gentle green glow.
"We held it!"
Cheers erupted.
At that moment, a sharp-eyed player noticed a strange machine that had suddenly appeared beside the beacon.
"What's this? A Toxin Extractor?"
Brute Force Yields Miracles curiously tossed the pile of useless Rotten Poison Sacs from his backpack into it.
Bzzzz—ding!
The machine spat out two items:
[Anti-Poison Potion (Excellent)] x5 [Bio-Energy] +500
"Holy shit?!"
Brute Force was dumbfounded. "Turning trash into treasure? The shop only gave 10 points for these Poison Sacs before, but this machine gives 500 right away?"
That discovery instantly set the entire place ablaze.
Everyone had been disgusted by the monsters here and their worthless drops.
But now that they looked again... how were these disgusting Sludge Monsters? They were clearly walking cash machines!
"Quick! Tell the brothers in the guild who haven't come yet!"
"Stop hanging around that poor dump in the lungs! The liver is heaven!"
"The trash here can be exchanged for money! For medicine!"
Vanguard Across the Realm watched the guild members instantly fall into a frenzy, as well as the players continuously pouring through the teleportation array in the distance. A smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"The first nail is secure."
He looked toward the countless hexagonal structures deep within the maze.
"Next, we'll plant Dawn's flag across every hepatic lobule."
Before you continue