Within the Root Network, Lynn dragged his battered body along as he rode Little Darling deeper underground. At a bend, he abruptly slid off Little Darling and leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
He swiftly activated his Flesh Cataclysm ability while pulling bottle after bottle of Recovery Potion from his System Space, pouring them into his mouth as if they cost nothing.
But his body was so full of holes.
Much of the potion he drank sprayed straight back out through the little holes all over him.
"We really almost died back there! Head, why did those Nanite Swarms you infected come to help us? Have you already gained control over them?"
Zuo Zuo asked in shock.
Lynn shook his head breathlessly, his muscles contracting with a wet rustle. "I'm wondering the same thing. Logically, even if the Mechanical Church no longer controlled them, they should have just followed their underlying programming and wandered around. But back there, they felt like they shared a single consciousness."
No.
Or rather, they really did.
Because when he had thrown that M punch, he had distinctly heard the system notification mention an intelligent chaos consciousness.
And most importantly...
Lynn frowned and pressed a hand over his beating heart.
At the moment his consciousness had been about to collapse, he had indeed clearly felt his powerful heartbeat.
At the same time, for a brief instant, he had formed a strange connection with two things. One was at the center of Curse City, while the other seemed to be those Nanite Swarms.
And...
Little Darling had been part of it too.
He knew the heart in his chest was not his original one. Over a year ago, after a demon had torn out his heart, his teacher had replaced it while performing Flesh Modification