744. Fusion and Concealment

"How—how did this place turn into this?" the Mermaid responsible for guiding the Fungal Fortress vanguard cried out despite herself as she looked at the Trench, which had become utterly unfamiliar.

By the light provided by the dangling Mycelium Pillars, everyone saw a horrifying sight.

The Trench had originally been a deep fissure in the seabed, with steep rock walls on both sides and a valley floor hidden in eternal darkness.

But now, the color of the stone in that fissure could no longer be seen.

A thick layer of flesh covered every inch of the rock walls, grayish red and still rising and falling rhythmically as if breathing. It was as though they had not arrived at the Trench, but inside the body of some gigantic monster.

"Strange, what's wrong with this fish?" A Half-Demon discovered a small fish with half its body sunk into the flesh. The other half was still struggling, trying to break free.

He reached out, pinched the fish's head, and pulled. After exerting a little force, however, he only tore off half the fish, while inside the wall of flesh, there was no sign of the other half of the fish's body.

"Where's the lower half—damn it, what is this?!" The Half-Demon tried to dig at it, only to suddenly realize his fingers were stuck.

He struggled to pull his hand back, but his hand seemed to have grown onto it and could not be separated.

The flesh that had originally only been attached to the rock wall was now climbing bit by bit up along his hand.

"Let go of me!" The Half-Demon controlled his Puji and launched an attack at the wall of flesh, cutting it to pieces.

After finally freeing his hand, he discovered that his palm had already fused with