Chapter 569: Mushroom Trap

Soon, an experienced ad‑hoc reconnaissance squad was formed under Qi Junyi's command; they mounted the mineral lamp onto their tactical helmets and began probing deeper.

"Stop." The leader raised his fist abruptly, his voice pressed low.

The other two instantly followed his gesture, standing back‑to‑back, their rune‑tipped guns pointing in opposite directions.

The man holding the life‑detecting device swallowed nervously; its screen showed only static snow, the instrument had failed.

With the device completely useless, they could only rely on their own scouting skill, pressing forward, when a broken cry for help sounded again.

...... Save, save me......

It was a man's voice, perhaps the same one Qi Junyi had heard earlier; his breathing was heavy, exhaling more than inhaling, and without timely rescue his days were few.

"…Who…is anyone there…please…I'm stuck here…"

The three held their fire, and after choosing to join this party that was nominally exploring the Eternal Silent Abyss but was really a suicide squad, they prepared to sacrifice their own lives at any moment.

Rescuing others…

This goodwill could bring misfortune to themselves, even the whole team.

The leader closed his eyes with remorse and listened intently.

The plea continued, tinged with sobbing.

But something still felt off to him.

"…I can't hold on…so painful…these mycelia…they've grown into my leg…ah—!"

A gut‑wrenching scream of pain.

"Over there," one pointed to a descending side passage, having pinpointed the source.

The leader slowly opened his eyes, the lingering sense of discord refusing to leave his mind.

"It's a lure," he said calmly.

The two beside him offered no rebuttal; whether it was a real person or a bait, the outcome was the same.

The leader stared at the descending passage, pondering for a moment.

"It uses sound to lure, showing it isn't good at rapid pursuit; fungi fear fire most, so if any change occurs, don't aim—just burn."

Among the three captured this time, one's Aberrant Arts happened to be flame, another excelled in defense, and his gun technique was also masterful.

He placed the gun‑user ahead of himself, with the flame‑user covering the rear.

"You're quicker than me; go ahead, and remember—if you see anything, fire a shot before asking."

"What about you?" the gun‑user whispered.

The leader drew a signal gun from his waist and checked its ammunition.

The rounds were special rune bullets that could burst into a blinding flash instantly; for something that roots itself in prolonged darkness, the flash might be more effective than the projectile.

"I'll be the target."

The three descended the slope slowly, and at the tunnel's end lay a modest Dome.

In the instant the mineral lamp swept across, they saw clearly: a person in tattered research garb half‑kneeling, body trembling violently, one hand feebly reaching forward as if pleading.

Because the researcher made no move, even the gun‑user's finger, though already on the trigger, did not fire.

"Save me…" the voice sounded again, accompanied by the 'person's' shoulder twitch.

This time, the mineral lamp revealed the interior clearly.

The 'person's' shoulder hadn't moved at all; something beneath the skin was writhing, creating the illusion. A split had opened in the researcher's nape, revealing not spine or flesh but layers of gray‑white tissue.

Bang—!

At the first sign of the change, a bullet Engraved with the "Penetrate" Rune pierced the 'person's' skull, producing only a dull thud of hitting soft matter and a spray of Ying Guang Lu slime from the wound.

The 'person's' head, riddled with a hole, rotated an impossible 180 degrees, a motion no living being could achieve.

What might once have been a face is now merely a fungal cap stitched by mycelia, warped into the shape of human features.

A fissure split the cap, emitting the familiar sound.

"Save…save me…so painful…you—have—come—!"

The next second, the thing detonated completely.

No flesh flew; instead a frenzy of spores surged forward. At the instant the human‑like exterior burst, a cloud of Ying Guang Lu spores rose like materialized demons, surging toward the three.

"Attack!" the leader shouted; the man behind, already prepared, hurled a fireball, striking the spore cloud precisely.

Boom—!

The blazing white flame instantly engulfed the entire cavern; though these fungi had become Aberrant Plants, they could not escape their own weakness as flammable material.

"Retreat! Fall back!" the leader roared, firing while covering the two's withdrawal.

Even if the spore cloud ignited, the residual Mutation after burning would be beyond what their bodies could endure.

As the three surged down the slope, rolling and crawling into the passage, the flames behind them still blazed, and the ghastly thing uttered its final sound in the fire—

...... Save, save......

Then it turned entirely to ash.

————————————————

"It's less a reconnaissance report and more a ghost story,"

Qi Junyi stared at the man before him; his right arm had been brutally hacked off, not by the strange mushroom battle but by his own hand.

An experienced, well‑coordinated team returned with only one survivor, and that lone returnee had also lost an arm.

Qi Junyi couldn't hold back a sigh, glancing at the person beside him who was bandaging the severed arm; that person was pouring holy water onto the wound, the best way to cleanse the cut of possible Mutation infection.

He wasn't very old—around twenty‑seven or twenty‑eight—and the excruciating pain from the wound made his complexion grow even paler.

"And then?" Qi Junyi pressed on. "By your account, after you realized the cry for help was a trap, your team barely escaped death. Why…"

Why did it end in such a tragedy?

Besides the man before him who self‑amputated to survive, the other two unfortunately perished below.