The Thing Beneath the Temple

Twenty minutes later.

Engineer Corps Commander Noel arrived at the temporary command post and handed the survey report to Wu Heng.

Wu Heng picked up the report and scanned it; it stated that to demolish all the buildings and clear them away entirely, it would take an estimated 20 hours.

He frowned. This plot world only lasted seven days, and nearly a full day had already passed; the time required just to level the surface structures was far too long.

"If we only clear one path, straight through to the stone well in the backyard, and move all the construction debris to a spot within a hundred meters, how long would that take? Give me a plan."

"Yes, sir."

Noel hurried away, returning five minutes later to hand Wu Heng a new report.

"Seven hours. Very well, follow this plan. Rotate shifts and keep demolishing."

Wu Heng found this timeframe acceptable; he expected the obstacles to be completely cleared by daybreak.

As the plan was finalized, the roar of engines echoed throughout Tumbbad village.

The fortress-like gate wall in front of the Hastur temple was destroyed by precise directional blasting, the shockwaves causing no damage to the surrounding area.

Stones were shattered by hydraulic hammers, and loaders worked in tandem with dump trucks to pour the debris into a depression a hundred meters to the east.

Larger boulders were blown apart directly with explosives, and wisps of gunpowder smoke drifted through the air.

Wu Heng watched this beauty of labor with great satisfaction, gave a brief order, and returned to the mobile command vehicle to rest for a while.

Although he could have pushed through, there was no need.

Exactly seven hours passed.

Perpetual rain meant the morning in Tumbbad was always shrouded in a layer of gray; the rising sun was never seen.

This land, never favored by sunlight, was filled with a thick, pervasive sorrow.

The rain fell harder, as if the Goddess of Prosperity were weeping for the collapse of the Hastur temple.

"Report: all obstructive buildings have been cleared according to the plan."

Seeing the sky turning a dim, grayish light, Noel turned off his headlamp and entered the command vehicle to report the progress.

Wu Heng, sitting in his chair, opened his eyes instantly; his gaze was clear, without a hint of sleepiness.

He stepped out of the vehicle and looked toward the temple; the entire structure looked like a cake with a slice cut out of it.

A passage wide enough for 20 trucks to enter simultaneously now led directly to the stone well in the backyard.

"Noel, have everyone assemble. I want to speak to them."

"Yes, sir."

Noel ran quickly toward the temple, blowing his whistle as he ran and shouting, "Assemble!"

The battalion and company commanders echoed the call, their voices carrying the order down the line.

Whistles and shouts of assembly rang through the temple.

Soldiers hurriedly rolled down the sleeves they had pushed up for work, set aside their meal bowls, and those resting quickly scrambled up and sprinted toward the assembly point.

Four minutes later, all the soldiers were formed into a neat, orderly square.

Noel trotted out of the ranks, saluted, and reported:

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief: The Engineer Corps has 1,078 men present, 1,078 accounted for. Awaiting your instructions!"

"Fall in."

"Yes, sir."

Wu Heng had a truck parked nearby, climbed onto the roof, and switched on a megaphone:

"Soldiers, you did a great job last night!"

"You didn't come here overnight to tear down this damn temple to build some garden villa."

"You came here for honor, to protect the safety of the people in our territory."

"We have received intelligence that beneath this temple lies a mysterious biological research base left behind by the Chariot Nation."

"It likely involves horrific human experimentation, so do not think your task is insignificant. Every one of you is an essential link in a long chain."

"Later, you will execute your orders strictly according to your officers' commands."

"A true soldier fulfills his duty with his whole heart. Only when every link performs its own function and fulfills its own responsibility is the entire chain unbreakable."

After finishing his speech, Wu Heng jumped down from the truck amidst the soldiers' firm gazes and began assigning tasks to Noel and the three battalion commanders and nine company commanders.

"See that well? There is an underground space six meters below it. First, dig the well into a sloped pit; do not damage the small well inside the basement."

Wu Heng directed the operation on-site, spending two hours excavating the underground space of the square well into a 35-degree sloped crater.

The Well of God was thus brought back to light, revealed in the center of the crater.

Wu Heng once again summoned the 13 officers at the company level and above from the Engineer Corps.

"Beneath this metal well cover is a ball of flesh about 20 meters in diameter. It is a product of the Chariot Nation's biological experiments."

"You are to carefully excavate along the edges. Be careful not to harm it."

The thirteen executives nodded in unison upon hearing Wu Heng's explanation, signaling their understanding.

"Furthermore, have any of you ever made a pancake?"

Wu Heng gestured a hollow circle with his palms.

"I have."

"I haven't, but I know how."

"I've eaten one."

The group replied in unison.

"It doesn't matter if you haven't made one, as long as you've seen it done."

"When you excavate this biological specimen, every time you uncover a bit, you must coat it with flour paste, then apply several layers of cloth and plastic, wrapping it up just like a pancake."

"Assign the sharpest soldiers to this task; there can be no room for carelessness."

"Yes!"

The group shouted in unison.

With the order given, and since explosives were forbidden, the soldiers could only dig away a little by hand at a time. Only after verifying they hadn't touched the fleshy mass would they allow the excavators to scoop away the surrounding soil.

It was like peeling a coconut layer by layer, stripping away the earth from the outside in to find the edges of the Goddess Womb.

After about half an hour of digging.

"Stop, we've hit something!"

"What... what is this?"

"It looks like a flesh lingzhi, but it's huge."

"This must be the specimen the Commander ordered us to dig up."

As a chunk of dark, hardened soil flaked away, it revealed a patch of scarlet, fleshy wall about a square meter in size.

The soldiers paused to stare at the strange object.

"Hurry, where is the Seventh Company? Why are you just standing there? Get up there, apply the flour paste, and keep digging!"

Regimental Commander Noel was the first to snap out of it and roar.

A squad of men quickly coated the scarlet flesh with a mixture of flour and adhesive, then reinforced it layer by layer with cloth, more flour, and plastic.

Seeing that nothing untoward had happened, the soldiers continued their work with fervor.

The entire process took a full six hours just to reach the halfway point, with Wu Heng observing from the sidelines the whole time.

The outer layer of the Hastur Nest was covered in wrinkled textures and vascular fascia; it was neither smooth nor flat.

It looked somewhat like a freshly unearthed peanut, with many blackened tentacles writhing slightly across its surface.

These tentacles contained pipe-like hollows, looking more like severed blood vessels that anchored the entire nest firmly into the soil.

The exposed half, after precise measurement, covered 618.4 square meters, all tightly sealed under layers of flour paste, cloth, and plastic.

As more of it was unearthed, it lost the support of the surrounding soil and began to deflate, resembling a dehydrated sea cucumber.

Whenever the flour-coated seams cracked slightly as the edges buckled, soldiers standing by immediately rushed to patch them up.

Wu Heng estimated that completing the entire process would take another seven or eight hours.

However, at such a critical juncture, he dared not turn away, standing atop his vehicle to supervise at every moment.

He stood like a statue atop the vehicle, his gaze locked onto the changes in the field, remaining there until the afternoon.

Under his watchful eye, the engineers remained diligent; even as the nest continued to writhe slightly, the morale of the troops remained steady, with no major panic breaking out.

Would you be willing to trade your collection and recommendation votes for two enamel bowls from me?

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Thanks to the 12 readers who gave monthly tickets yesterday, the 71 readers who gave recommendation votes, and the readers who caught up to the latest chapter yesterday.