Chapter 578: You......Have Arrived

Xie Jingyan's words plunged the narrow cave into a brief silence.

They only have ten minutes, maybe even less.

The growth of those mycelia, driven by the Mutation, completely defies reason; each time they are forced back by flame, they return even faster.

This is essentially an asymmetric war.

Xie Jingyan said nothing more, merely closed her eyes again; suddenly, Ying Duo saw her mark a point on the mini‑map with a red exclamation mark.

Xie Jingyan is also very gifted at the game, and even after such a short time she has almost mastered the functions of the team‑forming system.

"I've been wondering just now why a gap happened to open here."

Xie Jingyan pursed her lips; clearly, after they had just provoked the fungal swarm, they should have been listed as the swarm's top hunting target.

"Those mycelia are deliberately steering us toward a certain direction."

Those words alerted everyone; Meng Kexin instinctively looked toward the way they came, where the passage had been completely sealed by a massive stone.

Right, the mycelia have spread throughout the entire underground; how could collapsing debris stop their growth?

It's just that after the near‑death escape, seeing the mycelia finally not catching up, everyone's minds haven't yet turned.

That means there's a preset trap ahead.

"This Mutation has already developed self‑awareness?" Qi Hengyu clenched his teeth subconsciously; that would make them prey for these mushroom tricks.

"It's also possible that someone is manipulating it."

Shen Zexi and Ying Duo exchanged a glance, and the one behind the manipulation could only be Fang Zhiyan.

"Then we keep moving forward?" Qi Junyi tightened his grip on the flamethrower's handle.

"Continue," Ying Duo's tone did not waver, "since he wants us to go, we'll see what he's prepared."

"He's not exactly hospitable," Xi Ren Sheng pushed his sunglasses up his nose, his face pale, yet his tone still carried that cocky swagger, "so, did he lay out a red carpet for us?"

As soon as his words fell, a "Rumble—" erupted, countless stones cascaded down, and a passage appeared before everyone.

Talk about calling a man when he arrives.

"This guy's a peeping tom, right?!"

Xi Ren Sheng didn't expect that right after his words fell, the other side actually arranged it for them; what does that indicate? It shows that every move they made after entering here is entirely under the opponent's control.

He's truly audacious.

This 'red carpet' is quieter than any road they've walked before; no mycelia grow on the cavern walls, and the floor is so smooth it looks less like a cave and more like a polished corridor.

Meng Kexin can vaguely see a faint light at the end of the passage flickering continuously.

One.

Two.

That flickering rate matches the heartbeat exactly.

Meng Kexin counted her pulse and found it perfectly in sync with the light's rhythm; she immediately squeezed her palm hard, and the feeling of being led by the nose lessened a bit.

Xie Jingyan led the way, and her perception in this passage seemed amplified several times.

The closer they got to the Core, the more she sensed the malicious life force completely enveloping them.

——————————————

Before them, the once‑narrow passage opened up into a vast cavity, its walls entirely made of mycelia; gray hard shells and layers of Ying Guang Lu flesh stacked together, forming a bizarre yet magnificent tableau.

Come to think of it, since Gloomy Fluorescent Stone should originate from the Eternal Silent Abyss, and the Dome even opened a smuggling route specifically for it, its output ought to be abundant.

Yet as they trekked underground, they hadn't seen a single piece of Ying Guang Lu ore.

Now it seems all of it has been devoured by this thing.

At the very center of the massive cavity, a gigantic mushroom, trembling like a heart, grew in the most conspicuous spot.

Its diameter is at least ten meters, its surface covered with Ying Guang Lu lines resembling veins; each pulse sends ripples of light spreading along the mycelial network on the walls throughout the underground world.

This is the swarm's Core, the source of all Mutation spores.

Directly beneath this huge mushroom, a figure that had been waiting for a long time lifted its head.

The figure is somewhat thin; prolonged lack of normal food has made it emaciated, its silver‑gray hair tinged faintly with Ying Guang Lu.

Its face still barely retains human features, and Qi Junyi, looking at it, found the visage increasingly familiar.

"...... Lin Xun?"

Qi Junyi almost lost his voice; he never expected to see this long‑missing person here.

Lin Xun had been missing for a long time; ever since Ying Duo, together with the Flame City Cannon and the Co‑Absorption people, gave Tianmian City a grand farewell ceremony, the young assistant vanished without a trace.

At that chaotic time, Tianmian City was in utter disorder, and Lin Xun's disappearance was ultimately classified as possibly being caught in a temporal vortex.

But that was the most optimistic view; given how chaotic Tianmian City was, perhaps he simply perished in the turmoil.

Qi Junyi wasn't really close to Lin Xun; he only knew him as Professor Luo De'an's highly praised, genius newcomer in Mutation research.

If Lin Xun is a person of the Dome, then everything starts to make sense......

Why could Ying Duo enter Mitra Academy? Why was Ying Duo sharing a dorm with Luo Jinyou?

There's never any coincidence; everything exists because of an insider.

They had long suspected the Church's interior might harbor a Dome mole, but they never managed to expose the mole, and now they meet again.....

Lin Xun had already become this ghostly figure.

Qi Junyi wasn't even sure whether the Lin Xun standing beneath the huge mushroom was still human.

But soon, he would get the answer.

Because Lin Xun had lived for years in Mitra Academy's lab, his overlong hair always blocked his eyes, and dark‑blue shadows thickened around his eyes under the lenses, stark against his pale skin.

It was the first time Qi Junyi saw his face clearly; Lin Xun's eyes had turned gold, but at the golden center a crazier red kept devouring.

Even though they were far apart, his voice reached everyone's mind directly.

"You......

Here it is.