Chapter 158: Root Nodule Chamber, Blight Claw Molten Shadow

The icy torrent instantly drowned Xiang Lingna's consciousness. The Doctor's force projection, filled with absolute annihilation will, was like a giant hand condensed from ten-thousand-year profound ice, viciously gripping her soul core. Her thoughts froze, control of her body was rapidly stripping away, and the claw-mark brand on her right arm erupted with soul-piercing agony and a blinding dark-purple radiance that instantly spread like living vines, crawling over half her neck and creeping toward her cheek!

"Ugh... ah..." A painful gurgling sound escaped Xiang Lingna's throat. Her body spasmed violently beyond her control, and the jade fragment in her hand nearly slipped free. Her vision was occupied by cold dark purple, and she could only see blurred, distorted images.

"Girl!" Wrench Heavy saw Xiang Lingna's strange state, his eyes nearly splitting with rage. He wanted to lunge over, but his heavily wounded body made even moving difficult.

At the critical moment when Xiang Lingna's consciousness was about to be completely frozen and her body taken over by the Doctor's power—

Hum!!!

At the position of her heart, the emerald-green light cluster jointly sustained by the jade fragment, the Thorn Order, and her own unyielding will, in this desperate situation, erupted with its final and purest radiance! This light was no longer gentle protection, but carried a desperate resolve to perish together! It no longer tried to oppose or purify the surging annihilation torrent, but instead... collapsed inward! Like a universe collapsing into a singularity!

All the life energy, Order power, Xiang Lingna's guardian will, and even the cold energy fluctuations from the old-world technology that had just surged in and been somewhat scattered by the impact of the Doctor's power—everything was madly compressed and condensed to the extreme by this emerald-green light cluster!

Then, detonate!

Boom—!!!

It was not a physical explosion, but a violent shockwave on the spiritual and energetic level! An indescribable chaotic shockwave, mixed with life-guardian, thorn-toughness, technological logic, and desperate counterattack will, with Xiang Lingna's heart as its core, slammed viciously into the cold Doctor projection invading her soul!

Sizzle—!!!

Like a red-hot iron block plunged into ice water! A silent yet utterly brutal clash erupted within Xiang Lingna's sea of consciousness! The emerald chaotic light and the dark-purple annihilation torrent clashed and annihilated each other madly!

"Ant... will... tenacious..." The Doctor's projection seemed to feel a sliver of surprise, his cold意念 carrying a slight fluctuation. This deathbed counterattack had exceeded his expectations in intensity.

It was this instant of hesitation!

Xiang Lingna's frozen consciousness, like a fish beneath the ice, seized upon a tiny crack! The survival instinct and the obsession to protect Wrench Heavy and reach the communication station, like the last fuel, let her violently "snatch back" a sliver of control over her body!

"Get—out—of—here!!!"

She screamed with all her soul's strength, and her body erupted with power beyond its limits! Not to attack the Doctor, but—to lunge at the round metal manhole cover exposed on the ground! Her left hand, smeared with sludge and fresh blood, gripped the rust-spotted turning-wheel handle and, with all her might, twisted it viciously!

Creak—sizzle!!!

A shrill sound of metal grinding rang out! The heavy manhole cover was actually forced to rotate under the immense force! Xiang Lingna flung the manhole cover open regardless of everything!

A stream of even colder air, mixed with a heavy smell of rust and machine oil, surged up from below! Beneath the Jingkou was bottomless darkness, with only a cold metal ladder extending downward.

"Wrench Heavy! Jump!!!" Xiang Lingna let out a hoarse cry, and at the same time, with her last strength, violently slammed her body into Wrench Heavy, who was leaning against the pipe with a dazed consciousness!

Thud!

The two of them, locked in an embrace, tumbled down toward the pitch-black Jingkou!

The instant their bodies vanished into the Jingkou!

Whoosh!!!

A condensed-to-the-extreme dark-purple energy ray, radiating an aura of absolute annihilation, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, swept across the spot where Xiang Lingna had just been! It slammed viciously into the edge of the manhole cover Xiang Lingna had flung open!

Sizzle—!!!

The thick special-alloy manhole cover was sliced and melted through like butter! The terrifying energy ray, its momentum undiminished, plunged deep into the Jingkou, illuminating the horrified faces of Xiang Lingna and Wrench Heavy as they fell! The scorching blast wave and aura of destruction grazed past their scalps!

Rumble!!!

A violent explosion and the tremendous roar of twisting metal came from below! It had clearly struck some structure deep in the shaft!

"Cannot... escape..." The Doctor's cold意念 clung like a parasite to bone, pursuing relentlessly, locking onto the two falling figures! A second, even more terrifying annihilation ray had already condensed above the Jingkou!

Life and death hung by a thread!

Bang! Thud!

Xiang Lingna and Wrench Heavy crashed heavily onto the bottom of the shaft, landing on cold metal grating and thick dust. The tremendous impact made Xiang Lingna's vision go black, her internal organs throbbed with pain as if displaced, and the brand on her right arm burned as if being torn apart. Wrench Heavy passed out on the spot.

Xiang Lingna forced herself to raise her head through the agony and saw that, at the Jingkou above, the second lethal dark-purple ray had already taken shape, about to erupt downward! Despair instantly seized her!

Just at this moment!

Rumble rumble—!!!

The entire shaft suddenly began to shake violently! More violently than any time before! As if a major earthquake had struck! From overhead came deafening, terrifying sounds of metal structures twisting and breaking! Large chunks of concrete and twisted steel bars rained down like a storm! Landing right near the Jingkou!

It was the Doctor's first annihilation ray! It had pierced through some key load-bearing structure deep in the shaft, triggering a chain collapse!

Boom—!!!

The Doctor's second annihilation ray lost its aim amid the collapse and slammed viciously into a massive concrete block that had fallen, blasting dust into the sky! The entire Jingkou was instantly buried and sealed shut by the collapsed rubble! Temporarily cutting off the Doctor's will and attack outside!

The collapse continued! The metal walls on both sides of the shaft let out shrill groans, and huge cracks spread! Cold muddy water mixed with rust debris gushed from the cracks!

"Cough, cough..." Xiang Lingna was choked into violent coughing by the dust, yet a feeling of post-disaster dread and relief rose in her heart. The collapse had blocked the Doctor, but it had also completely sealed off their retreat! They were trapped in this deeper underground!

She struggled to rise and, aided by the faint glow of the jade fragment flaring again, surveyed her surroundings. This appeared to be a huge, circular pipe-convergence chamber. At the center of the chamber was a massive metal structure formed by countless thick pipes converging, like the root system of a giant tree. Yet now, this enormous "metal root system" was covered in terrifying cracks; cold mud was seeping from the cracks and pooling into murky puddles at the bottom of the chamber. The air was thick with rust, muddy stench, and... an even richer, nauseatingly sweet, putrid腥 smell!

The source of that sweet腥 smell was right at the center of the chamber, deep within the cracks of the giant metal root system! Xiang Lingna's gaze locked dead onto it—within the cracks were not cold metal pipes, but... writhing, dark-purple, tumor-like fleshy structures! The surfaces of these "tumors" were covered with thick, blood-vessel-like pulsing dark-purple veins, radiating pure corrupted-energy fluctuations! Countless fine, tentacle-like dark-purple rootlets were spreading out from the "tumors," like greedy parasites, 缠绕 and piercing into the surrounding metal pipes, draining their energy and matter!

【Rotclaw Root Tumor】!

Xiang Lingna instantly understood what the "corrupted energy gathering point" marked on the scan map was! The Doctor's power was not only spreading on the surface, but had gone deep underground, parasitizing the "root system" of this wasteland's underground network, draining the nourishment of the entire world and transforming it into a hotbed for Rotclaws! This chamber was a massive corrupted node in the process of developing! Far larger and more terrifying than that small furnace node in the shelter!

What made Xiang Lingna's scalp prickle even more was that, on the surface of the largest dark-purple root tumor, a blurry "face" formed of flowing dark-purple energy was slowly emerging! Those vortex-like eyes pierced coldly through the darkness and locked onto her!

The Doctor's will projection had actually followed the underground corrupted network and descended directly onto this root tumor! Though weaker than the power projected directly across space before, that cold killing intent and oppressive aura still made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave!

"Found... you... insect..." The "lips" of the energy face on the root tumor opened and closed, emitting a silent意念 branded directly onto Xiang Lingna's soul.

At the same time, from the shadows of the pipes缠绕 with dark-purple rootlets around the chamber came rustling sounds. Pairs of blood-red eyes, filled with greed and destructive desire, lit up in the darkness! Underground corrupted creatures with even more twisted forms and shells coated in sticky dark-purple moss surged out from every pipe opening and crack like a tide! Attracted by the root tumor's aura, they became the Doctor's most loyal claws!

Rotclaw root tumor and the Doctor's projection ahead, the collapse-sealed retreat behind, surging corrupted beasts all around!

A true desperate situation!

Xiang Lingna leaned against the cold metal wall streaming with mud, shielding the unconscious Wrench Heavy behind her. Her right hand gripped the dimming jade fragment tightly, while her left hand unconsciously pressed against the cold emergency device in her arms that was connected to the data box.

The cold touch of the technological creation formed a stark contrast with the jade fragment's warm smoothness. In the midst of despair, a nearly fantastical thought, like a firefly in the darkness, flashed through her mind...