Parasitizing the Bone Demon

The moment the heavy aura from underground suddenly accelerated, the restraint of the entire underground space was completely torn apart.

From the moment Lu Heng broke into the crack and shattered the main vein of Mycelium, the repeated destruction and continuous harassment have been silently eroding the original reserves of the underground organism.

Fungi, as aggregate life forms, are inherently extremely inert and extremely stingy with their energy.

It tolerated the repeated killing of Puppet and the continuous damage to the relay network, using minimal energy consumption to remotely restrain the intruders. But this endless, unprofitable tug-of-war eventually broke through its final tolerance threshold.

I'm annoyed.

Endless inefficiency and losses caused this mutated entity lurking underground to completely lose its patience.

There was no warning, no probing.

The rock strata beneath the entire sewage treatment plant suddenly resonated with a deafening roar, and countless cracks instantly spread across the workshop floor, causing the solid concrete load-bearing structure to crumble inch by inch. The cracking sounds piled up in layers, quickly merging into a deafening collapse.

The ground in the entire war zone collapsed completely.

Gravel, broken steel bars, and murky mud and water fell suddenly along with the collapsed soil, and Lu Heng's foothold vanished instantly, his entire body swept into the turbulent torrent.

A feeling of weightlessness suddenly enveloped my entire body.

From the cracks in the rock wall, countless fine Mycelium burst forth like countless black needles, sealing off all escape routes and piercing and strangling the falling figure.

Lu Heng's eyes narrowed, and he forcefully stabilized himself in mid-air. His wrists flicked, Deboning Knife flashed with dense, cold light.

As the blade passed, patches of Mycelium broke apart, and a foul-smelling, viscous, dark green sap splattered everywhere.

However, the number of Mycelium is endless. Once one batch is cut off, a new batch immediately surges up, layer upon layer, densely packed, making it impossible to completely eradicate.

Just as he was using the momentum of his leap and slashing continuously, a main Mycelium about the thickness of a bowl broke through the turbulent flow and swept horizontally with overwhelming force.

There was nowhere to gain any leverage in mid-air.

Lu Heng had no way to avoid it.

A dull thud exploded out.

The immense force instantly coursed through his limbs and bones, a tearing pain shooting through his side, his flesh bruised, and his bones groaning and creaking. His body went completely out of control, crashing heavily into the thick, sticky mud deep underground like a broken string.

puff--

Mud splashed everywhere, and the wet, cold, and foul-smelling mud enveloped his body. The shock and impact made his internal organs churn, and a faint, sweet, metallic taste rose in his throat.

Lu Heng gritted his teeth, suppressing the excruciating pain, and used one hand to support himself as he instantly flipped over and stood up.

The moment he looked up, an extremely eerie, desolate, and terrifying underground cavity unfolded completely before him.

This is a giant underground cavity that far exceeds the size of the surface factory area.

In the boundless darkness, thick, crisscrossing Mycelium crisscross the entire space, like the veins of a living organism, firmly embedded in the rock strata. Inside the robust mycelial tubes, a dark red, viscous liquid flows and pulsates slowly, carrying the vibrant breath of life.

The walls, ceiling, and floor of the cavity were densely covered with dried human corpses.

Each body was pierced by fibrous Mycelium, fixed in mid-air, and piled up in dense layers, like sealed-up reserves of nutrients.

A damp, cold, and suffocating stench of putrid blood enveloped the entire space, making it difficult to breathe.

Lu Heng's pupils contracted slightly, his muscles were tense throughout, and his fingertips gripped the knife handle tightly, not daring to relax for even a moment.

He raised his Survival Bracelet bracelet on his wrist.

A faint blue light flashed, and two lines of minimalist, cold text appeared on the screen, without any further introduction or spoilers regarding any habits or abilities.

[Biology: Blood Taisui]

[Rank: Silver Tier (Under Promotion)]

Just two lines of information were enough to set off alarm bells in Lu Heng's mind.

In the process of being promoted.

This means that this subterranean Aberrant is in a critical phase of explosive power growth, and its condition is getting stronger every moment.

There's no need for any explanation from the panel; the surrounding scenery is gradually confirming all the dangers.

He observed quietly, capturing every subtle movement within the cavity.

The Mycelium network throughout the space is expanding, contracting, and pulsating at an increasingly rapid pace. Dampness and yin energy are constantly seeping from the cracks in the rock strata, and the overall outline of the mycelium is visibly expanding slightly.

It is accumulating power, drawing energy from the earth, and consolidating its advanced state.

At the same time, an extremely unusual sense of unease enveloped the entire venue.

Logically speaking, with such a massive network of Mycelium before us, if we were to launch a full-scale attack, it would be able to overwhelm us in an instant.

But at this moment, the countless approaching Mycelium stopped several meters away from him.

The thousands of mummified corpses hanging on the walls twitched slightly in their muscles and skin, and their bones trembled and shifted. They were clearly on the verge of awakening and surrounding the enemy, but they were always just one step away from waking up.

Neither attack nor retreat.

It was building up momentum, but it was slow to unleash it.

Lu Heng instantly grasped the key point.

It's weighing the options.

Large-scale activation of Mycelium strangulation and awakening of tens of thousands of zombie hordes to surround the enemy requires the consumption of massive amounts of Origin Energy.

This Aberrant is extremely energy-conscious and abhors any meaningless energy waste.

Enraged by its own harassment, it still instinctively avoids inefficient methods of slaughter.

Just as the Global Region offensive came to a bizarre halt, Lu Heng's mental perception suddenly detected a deadly anomaly emanating from the upper ruins.

The continuous sounds of bones colliding and mud exploding above suddenly fell silent.

The Bone Demon, who had been stubbornly defending the ground and fighting the Puppet, froze completely.

There was no sound of struggle, no sound of fighting; the entire upper battlefield was eerily quiet.

Lu Heng's mind sank, and he focused all his senses upwards.

The next moment, he saw the truth.

The Bone Demon stood frozen in the ruins of the dilapidated workshop, its raised bone blade suspended in mid-air, completely still.

On its pristine, hard skeletal surface, fine, dark red fungal patterns are visibly spreading.

The eerie patterns spread, took root, and seeped into the gaps between the bones.

The skeleton trembled and shook slightly; it was the remaining fighting instinct of the mindless skeleton, fiercely resisting the erosion and domination of the foreign bacteria.

It is resisting.

But the resistance is being crushed and dismantled little by little.

Lu Heng instantly saw through Blood Taisui's entire scheme.

Abandon the inefficient encirclement of tens of thousands of zombie hordes, and abandon the massive consumption of Mycelium Global Region.

At a crucial stage of its promotion, it was unwilling to waste a single bit of its essence.

Compared to the enormous energy required for encirclement and suppression, seizing a powerful, robust, readily available skeleton that requires no nurturing is the most cost-effective hunting method.

The next second, the underground microbial community suddenly changed its behavior.

The massive amount of Mycelium that had been stationary in front of Lu Heng all changed direction.

The dense Mycelium flowed upstream along the cracks in the rock strata, rushing madly towards the upper workshop.

The target was perfectly precise— the Bone Demon that was being corrupted and struggling to resist.

The cheap mass killing tactic was abandoned.

It aims to eliminate this human being who has repeatedly harassed it and exhausted its patience, using the lowest energy cost and the most reliable method.

At the same time, a cold, viscous consciousness gently covered Lu Heng's mental surface.

There are no flashy lock-on prompts, and no mystical aura tracking.

Only the bacterial residue that adhered to the skin's surface during the fall, carrying subtle biological activity, remained firmly attached.

Superficial spiritual imprints, tangible microbial residues, dual marking, silent locking.

He has been completely targeted by this underground monster.

Within the underground cavity, thousands of corpses lay poised to pounce, their ring-shaped Mycelium sealing off all escape routes.

Lu Heng, wounded in the side, died alone in this den of flesh and blood.

The passageway above his head collapsed and was cut off; his only combat ally was being forcibly parasitized and possessed.

In the depths of darkness, the pulsation of the entire Mycelium network grew increasingly rapid and violent.

The Blood Taisui, currently undergoing promotion, has already abandoned all maneuvering.

A deadly trap, using the Bone Demon as a new weapon to precisely hunt him down, has already taken shape.