Chapter 112: 110 Escape Route

"Can I still be cured?" Drake looked at the pale-faced young man before him with pleasant surprise, seeing in the other's affirmative nod the hope of his own transformation back into a human.

Drake and Li Nuowei walked on the stairs leading underground; Drake was overcome with joy, but Li Nuowei's heart remained as still as an ancient well.

Li Nuowei was already somewhat numb. In thousands of cycles, Drake would always die from all sorts of misfortunes. Although he had tried countless times to avoid Drake's death routes, inexplicable deaths would always befall the other.

Li Nuowei had already witnessed all kinds of bizarre ways for Drake to die, and he had long since become accustomed to the sight of the other's death. Even if he died at the hands of the mire, being squeezed dry into a mummy, his soul merging into a part of the mire, he would not find it particularly grotesque or horrifying.

While heading underground, Li Nuowei summarized his thoughts in his mind.

The current situation was: above, there were Furious Merman pursuers; below, the Soul-Devouring Mire blocked the path.

After 129 death verifications, they had no effective way to deal with the mermen, and the number of mermen was too great. There was no way to survive by turning back and fighting them head-on, so they could only run from the mermen.

After 212 death verifications, the mire could not be forcibly broken through either. In the face of the mire's absolute power and defense mechanisms, whether they wanted to outsmart it or forcibly seize the Green Light Gem, they could not snatch the gem.

The only thing that made the mire retreat was the mountain of treasures piled behind that Stone Wall. Among those treasures, there seemed to be certain special artifacts that made the mire instinctively disgusted and wary; this was something he had finally discovered during his most recent deaths.

Li Nuowei had thought about drilling directly into the Tunnel and breaking the Stone Wall. However, strangely, that narrow tunnel was currently being sealed off by those "Green Light Life" entities. Without disturbing the mire, those "Green Light Life" entities would not move an inch for any of their actions until they sensed the death threat brought by the mire. Naturally, they could not pass through the tunnel to break the Stone Wall in advance.

Therefore, all in all, there were three things they needed to do.

First, they had to shake off the merman pursuers. There was only one escape route, which was this spiral staircase, but the underground was a mire that devoured the souls of all things. There was nothing more to say; this was a matter of having no choice.

Second, they had to shake off the danger brought by the mire. But because there were pursuers above, they could not sit and wait for death without "opening" another escape route. Staying in place meant death, so they had to continue forward. Moreover, for the other escape route to be opened, direct contact with the mire was a necessary condition; therefore, facing the mire head-on was unavoidable.

Third, they had to ensure Drake's safety during the process of opening the hidden escape route, and absolutely must not let him die inexplicably again.

These three points were the core tasks Li Nuowei had to perform in every cycle. The first two were already second nature to Li Nuowei—he could do them with his eyes closed—but the third was the most difficult because it was full of unknown variables.

Drake was always that same Drake, but he would always walk into those unknown variables.

"This time, I will hold him and jump toward a place where we can land safely. I will act as his cushion, so even if he gets injured, he won't die so easily, right?" Li Nuowei thought to himself.

Everything seemed like a predetermined script. The two arrived underground once again, and Drake was once again lured and confused by the strange phenomenon, only to be awakened by Li Nuowei.

Li Nuowei once again took Drake and rushed into that narrow tunnel, crashing through the wall with Drake. Then, before the Stone Wall was completely shattered, he pulled Drake in front of himself, while he personally acted as a cushion and fell into the Golden Ocean filled with Precious Treasure.

When he was pulled to Li Nuowei's side, Drake was still a bit surprised. He did not understand Li Nuowei's act of taking the initiative to cushion him underneath. In which of the other's cycles had he moved him so much? What kind of great favor had he let the other owe him to make the other treat him so well?

Unfortunately, this was just a fleeting thought for Drake; he might not even have remembered it himself, because the pursuit of the Mud Rope shooting from the breach in the Stone Wall had already arrived. Compared to his confusion over Li Nuowei's actions, the immediate fear of reality was more distracting and forced a deep impression.

And the mire, upon sensing the "power" of the glittering treasures, indeed retreated, shrinking back in a decadent and weak manner, emitting bursts of unwilling and angry roars during the process.

Drake landed safely. Although there was someone acting as a cushion, the pain from falling from a high place was not small at all.

"Li Nuowei, are you okay?" Drake rolled over and asked Li Nuowei, who was groaning in pain behind him, checking on the other's condition.

Li Nuowei's pale complexion now added a few more shades of sickly whiteness. He crawled out from the pile of Treasure, which was golden and filled with colorful gems, and then silently reached behind his back and the back of his head, pulling out several sharp objects that had pierced into him.

Seeing this, Drake could not help but feel shocked. He really found it hard to imagine how Li Nuowei could crawl up and stand after suffering such injuries, as if he possessed the vitality and willpower of a monster.

"I'm fine." Li Nuowei grabbed the helping hand Drake extended and crawled out of the circular pit he had crashed into.

Drake looked at the Treasure at the scene, feeling his eyes sting slightly. He did not know if it was the influence of the Jiaoren Disease transformation, but immediately after, it was as if he could see the scene of another world. He saw that in the mountains of treasure before him, every piece of treasure was emitting a special radiance.

Furthermore, Drake discovered that when he looked at himself, he was shocked to find that his body was also emitting the same light as these gold and silver jewels.

Regarding this, Drake did not feel any joy as if his status had been elevated; instead, his heart was filled with incomparable worry.

And not long after, the anxiety in his heart was realized.

Drake felt a throbbing pain in his wrists. He bit off the gauze used to bandage his wounds, only to see large patches of cyan-black Scale growing. The original wounds on his wrists had already healed and were covered by the scales. His hands were transforming into those strange claws unique to the mermen, and what actually caused him pain were the scales drilling out from his pores at a speed visible to the naked eye—hard and sharp. Every Metamorphosis would make Drake feel tremendous pain.

"Am I going to turn into a merman?" Drake was shocked. He saw the mirror in his home, so he tried to strike a few poses for a selfie.

Immediately, Drake finally realized that the reason his illness had accelerated was because of this mountain of treasure before him; these treasures were emitting strange radiation.