The Flesh Cube

An iron cage stood before Xia Xiu. Through its bars, he could clearly see a cube of flesh writhing inside.

The flesh cube looked over two meters tall. The constantly squirming flesh and fat on its body formed tentacles, quickly giving it the appearance of a centipede.

It tried to turn into fluid and slip through the gaps between the bars, but whenever it touched them, the symbols on the iron lit up, and a surge of golden electricity gave it a vicious shock.

[Level-one distortion detected!!!]

Xia Xiu felt a slight burning sensation in his left hand, but he kept the Red Book from popping out.

He had also set Heaven's interface template to direct neural transmission mode, so as long as he did not summon the Red Book in front of anyone, no outsider could see the interface currently before him.

"This is flesh from The Boundless Covered by It, except..." Xia Xiu turned to Harry.

"Except it doesn't obey us. It's like an untamed beast, with no sense of hierarchy whatsoever," Harry finished for him.

A strict hierarchy of authority existed within the Flesh Supremacy Lineage.

The Flesh hierarchy was stricter than that of any other Lineage. Each higher rank possessed immense Lineage authority to suppress the rank below it, making insubordination exceedingly rare among Flesh practitioners.

This rule applied even more strongly to Flesh creations. They were absolutely obedient to holders of the Flesh Supremacy Lineage, which was why Xia Xiu had so easily taken control of the three BIO-202 creatures on Kradashi's pendant.

Yet this bizarre Flesh creation before Xia Xiu actually refused to obey them. That was... very interesting indeed.

"This probably isn't the one that escaped from a cage, is it? A creation like this might be rare, but it isn't worth locking up in a cage," Xia Xiu asked Harry.

"Cages" was the name all Anomaly Spectrum Lineages and anomalies used for the [Containment Chambers] the Sanctum had established across the world. The name alone made their hatred of those places clear.

"Right. That's why I'm fairly certain the Adaposs creation that escaped from the cage possesses intelligence. You should have noticed it through the Lineage's location sharing. Apart from this spot, the fields at all the other shared locations are extremely weak. They look like attempts to mislead us. It seems it doesn't want us to find it," Harry continued.

One thing worth noting was that Lineage location sharing did not work like locating a phone through satellites on Blue Star.

For Lineage location sharing, the think tank used special methods to tune a Lineage holder's field to a particular frequency, allowing other holders of the same Lineage to detect it. The strength of the resulting response varied with the strength of the individual's field.

Xia Xiu had seen several shared locations through the Flesh Supremacy Lineage. He had come here because this location produced the strongest response of them all, while the fields at the other shared locations seemed unusually weak.

"We found it in a sewer in Lambeth. It was chewing on sewer rats when we found it," Dorn added, looking at the flesh cube with disgust.

"We've sent people to the other shared locations too. They're all in secluded areas. It probably created all these scraps carrying its scent because it was afraid we'd find it," Harry said, equally disgusted by the flesh cube before him. A creation that could not serve Flesh was no good.

"You've kept your location sharing on to lure it here too, haven't you? But it doesn't seem willing to come," Xia Xiu said.

"That doesn't matter. Keeping our location sharing on naturally attracts Flesh creations. And to a creation, our open fields double the oppressive force we exert."

"Kid, why's your field closed? Did someone out there fuck you in the ass, so now you're too scared to open it?" Dorn mocked Xia Xiu again.

Is that so? Then I hope you keep your field open.

Behind his mask, Xia Xiu narrowed his eyes again, while Dorn stared at him mockingly.

Members of the Flesh Supremacy Lineage were, in fact, remarkably united. They did not slaughter their own kind, and they were far, far more cohesive than members of other Anomaly Spectrum Lineages.

Dorn's provocations stemmed from the hierarchy described above.

Those of a higher rank held relative authority over those below them, so lower-ranking members generally obeyed their superiors.

Among those of equal rank, their standing was determined by their overall strength.

Dorn considered Xia Xiu a Lineage holder beneath him, and therefore believed he had the right to demand Xia Xiu's obedience. Xia Xiu, however, found Dorn's behavior utterly idiotic and had little desire to spend time with the moron.

If you've got the guts, go provoke the old man beside you.

Xia Xiu silently marked down Dorn's attempt to treat him as an easy target. People who earned a place on that list rarely met a good end.

"Has it stayed in secluded areas this whole time?" Xia Xiu continued asking Harry for more information about 4-331.

"Yes, it's kept away from crowds all along. It's probably afraid the Clock Tower will discover it. That's why it's been acting so cautiously," Harry replied.

"It's quite intelligent..."

"High intelligence means it contains a greater degree of the [Way of the Whole Flesh]. If we can find it, it will greatly help us on our path to advancement." Harry turned and opened his bleary eyes, his gaze now filled with fervor.

"You have a way to find it," Xia Xiu said, looking at the fervent Harry.

"There's another reason we've opened our fields." Harry walked toward a clearing in the rear courtyard ahead, and Xia Xiu followed without needing to be asked.

"Do you know the titles of Nadocks, one of the Four Saints?"

"Tongueless Speaker, Lord of Secrets, All-Seeing One, and-Yarn's Hope," Xia Xiu answered.

"Look beneath my feet." Harry tapped the ground with his wooden staff.

A bright red circle ten meters in diameter surrounded them. Within the circle was a hand of the same vivid red, with an opening on its back. An eye lay within that opening.

"Nadocks's Seal..." Xia Xiu said, looking at the ritual array beneath his feet.

"Yes. Nadocks holds authority over [All-Seeing]. I happen to know a ritual called the [Eye of All-Seeing], and it just so happens to require the fields of three Flesh Supremacy Lineage holders to perform," Harry told Xia Xiu.

"I see." Xia Xiu nodded in understanding. This was the second reason they had enabled location sharing: to attract other holders of the Flesh Supremacy Lineage.

"My young brother, I need your help. I've grown far too old. If I cannot advance further along the [Way of the Whole Flesh], death will devour me. My brother, I fear death. I need your help!!!"

Harry gripped Xia Xiu's arm like a man possessed. His wrinkled face scrunched together as he fixed Xia Xiu with a terrifying stare.

"...Calm down, my pitiful elder brother." Behind his mask, Xia Xiu regarded the frenzied old man with calm eyes, then forcibly pried those skeletal hands off his arm.

"I lost my composure. I hope you'll help me capture the Adaposs creation. In exchange, I'll give you this." Harry took a sealed jar from inside his clothes. Inside was a worm as white as paper.

(End of chapter)

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