A Stone-Like Egg (Please Vote and Follow)

Should he immediately flee, abandon this exploration, and return safely?

Or should he seize the gap in the skeleton patrol's movements, risk entering the hall, and conduct a quick search?

Luo Lin's eyes flickered as he swiftly weighed his options.

Risk and opportunity clashed fiercely in his mind.

In the end, his thirst for knowledge and his assessment of his own abilities won out.

He took a deep breath, adjusted himself to peak condition, and fixed his gaze on the Metal Skeleton that had just turned around, mapping out his route in advance.

He had only one chance!

The instant the Metal Skeleton turned around and began patrolling along its fixed route with stiff steps, exposing its unguarded back, Luo Lin moved.

He became a cheetah that had been poised to strike for a long time, lowering his body and pushing off with his feet. He did not use any spells that might trigger energy fluctuations, relying solely on physical strength and the slight assistance of the Levitation Boots.

Like a silent shadow, he shot out from behind the boulder where he had been hiding, heading straight for a huge gap in one of the walls of the half-collapsed hall.

Luo Lin moved lightly and swiftly, landing without a sound.

He slipped into the hall by a hair's breadth, almost brushing the edge of the skeleton's patrol route.

A smell mixed with stale dust, corroded metal, and some lingering unknown fragrance rushed toward him.

The inside of the hall was even more dilapidated than it looked from outside. Most of the dome had collapsed, exposing the gray sky.

Broken stone beams and rubble littered the ground.

The light was dim. Only a few faint rays shining through the gaps and holes in the dome outlined the rough shape of the interior.

The suppression on his spiritual power was even stronger here, compressing his perception range to only a few meters around his body.

Luo Lin did not dare let his guard down. He immediately darted behind a massive fallen stone pillar, held his breath, and listened carefully.

Outside, the Metal Skeleton's regular, stiff clacking footsteps continued. It had not noticed anything unusual.

The skeleton seemed not to have noticed the figure that had just flashed past.

Safe for the moment!

Only then did Luo Lin begin examining the surroundings.

This place seemed to have once been a laboratory or a library.

Several rows of completely decayed wooden bookshelves stood against the walls, leaving behind only metal frames and blackened debris.

Most of the stone structures resembling experiment tables had also broken apart and collapsed.

Fragments of containers were scattered across the floor, mostly ceramic and glass. They had long since lost their glow.

His gaze swept rapidly over the room, searching for anything valuable that might have survived.

Before long, Luo Lin spotted a half-buried metal chest beneath a pile of rubble and rotten wood in a corner.

The chest was not large. It was made of some kind of dull black iron, with simple protective runes on its surface. But after countless years, the runes had long since dimmed and failed, while the chest itself was covered in rust.

He carefully walked over and pried open the already deformed lock with his dagger.

When he lifted the lid, he found blackened moisture-proof velvet lining the inside.

Several items rested on the velvet.

A small stack of scrolls made from some tough beast hide. Their edges were slightly damaged, but they were largely intact.

Several fist-sized crystals in different colors. The energy reactions inside them were weak; they seemed to be the remains of magic crystals that had exhausted their power.

A palm-sized bronze compass with an ancient design. Its needle was frozen in place, and its surface was covered in fine, indecipherable runes.

There was also a tube of dark red liquid sealed in transparent crystal, though he had no idea what it was for.

With no time to inspect them closely, Luo Lin quickly swept all the items into his Dimensional Bag.

Though these things looked damaged, they came from the future or ancient times. Perhaps they contained knowledge or technology he had yet to understand.

Just as he was about to continue searching elsewhere, he caught sight of an inconspicuous depression beneath the ruins of another collapsed experiment table.

His heart stirred. He quickly walked over and carefully moved aside several pieces of rubble pressing down on it.

The depression was covered in a thick layer of dust, but beneath it, he could vaguely make out a crude little nest woven from metal wire and some kind of tough plant fiber.

Inside the nest lay an egg in complete stillness.

The egg was about the size of an adult's fist. Its shell was an unusual grayish white, covered with natural dark-gray markings like stone veins. It looked utterly unremarkable, even like some kind of fossil.

No energy fluctuations emanated from its shell. It was cold and lifeless, almost blending into its surroundings.

Luo Lin frowned slightly.

An egg?

How could there be an egg in an ancient ruin filled with chaotic energy and deathly stillness?

And it appeared completely devoid of life.

Was it a fossil left behind by some extinct magical beast?

Or...

He extended his gloved hand and gently touched the eggshell.

It felt cold and hard, truly like stone.

Yet the instant his fingertip touched the shell, the liquid spiritual power in his Mental Sea seemed to tremble ever so slightly!

An indescribable and extremely subtle sense of resonance came from within the shell.

It vanished in an instant, so faint that Luo Lin almost thought it was an illusion.

"Hmm?"

Luo Lin froze, a flash of surprise and suspicion appearing in his eyes.

It was not an illusion!

Within this seemingly lifeless egg, there appeared to remain a trace of nearly imperceptible life force, or perhaps some special origin imprint.

For some reason, it had sunk into the deepest slumber, to the point where even its energy fluctuations were almost impossible to detect.

Was it the egg of some rare magical beast that had mutated during the long years and chaotic force fields within the ruins, falling into a state of suspended death?

Or was it an unusual life-form that required special conditions to hatch?

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Should he take it or leave it?

Taking away a seemingly useless "stone egg" would only be extra baggage.

But that fleeting tremor and resonance just now told him that this object was far from ordinary.

Perhaps this was a stroke of fortune.

He did not have much time to hesitate. The sound of the skeleton's patrol outside seemed to be approaching this direction.

Luo Lin stopped hesitating and carefully removed the gray-patterned egg from its nest.

It was heavy in his hand, far heavier than a rock of the same size.

He quickly found a piece of soft tanned beast hide in his Dimensional Bag, carefully wrapped the egg in it, then placed it inside a cork box insulated against heat and sound, specially meant for fragile or sensitive items.

He then tucked the wooden box into his clothes and made sure it would not fall out.

As for why he did not put it in the Dimensional Bag, Luo Lin remembered clearly that Dimensional Bags could not store living things.

This egg was in an unusual state, with almost no vitality left. It might not have been subject to that restriction, but to be safe, he still did not place it in the Dimensional Bag.

Just as he finished putting away the wooden box, the light spilling through the gap in the wall at the hall's entrance was blocked by a tall figure.

The Metal Skeleton had somehow finished its previous patrol route. It had actually changed course and was walking toward this gap.

The blue flames flickering in its eye sockets were aimed at the inside of the hall, as if it had sensed something amiss.

Alarmed, Luo Lin immediately lowered himself and pressed tightly against the cold stone pillar, nearly stopping his breathing altogether.

The Metal Skeleton stopped at the gap. Its stiff neck turned as its blue gaze slowly swept over the dim interior of the hall.

It did not seem to have immediately spotted Luo Lin hiding behind the stone pillar, but its cold senses were searching inch by inch.

He could not wait any longer!

If it discovered him, fighting this unfathomable undead guard in such a confined space would lead to unpredictable consequences!

Luo Lin's gaze hardened as he made his decision in an instant.

He suddenly burst out from behind the stone pillar and rushed toward a smaller hole on the other side, deeper within the hall!

At the same time, he swung his left hand backward, throwing a Greater Flash Rune Stone at the ground beneath the Metal Skeleton's feet.

Buzz—

A blinding, scorching white light erupted instantly, filling the entire entrance area of the hall.

The Metal Skeleton let out a soundless roar. It seemed to have no effective defense against this pure light-energy attack. The blue flames in its eye sockets flickered violently, and its movements stiffened for an instant.

His chance had come!

Luo Lin moved like lightning. He had already reached the smaller hole and darted through it without hesitation.

Behind him came the sound of the Metal Skeleton furiously slashing at the wall with its sword, followed by the heavy footsteps of its rapid pursuit after breaking free from the rune stone's effects.

Without looking back, Luo Lin rushed out of the hall, identified the direction he had come from, pushed his speed to the limit, and fled desperately toward the outskirts of the Rotting Mire.

He drove the Levitation Boots to their limit, allowing him to run across the muddy, uneven ground as if it were flat land.

He could feel that cold aura of death relentlessly pursuing him from behind.

And there seemed to be more than one!

In the distance, the powerful presence he had sensed earlier, drawn over by the battle, also seemed to have been attracted by the commotion here and was rapidly closing in!

Danger lurked everywhere!

He had to leave this area as quickly as possible!