Chapter 41: with translation of chapter title

On the hall's vaulted ceiling, hundreds of huge, spindle-shaped white cocoons hung densely!

Each cocoon is the size of an adult, hung firmly from the ceiling by thick spider silk, swaying left and right like pendulums blown by a gloomy wind from deep within the tunnel.

Even more chilling, through the semi-translucent cocoon walls, Lin Yue could faintly see that each cocoon contained a curled-up human figure!

Most of them were motionless, obviously dead for a long time; Lin Yue noticed that, wrapped in spider silk, their bodies had taken on a bizarre, withered posture.

Yet among them, dozens of cocoons still held figures that twitched extremely faintly…; if Black Tortoise hadn't earlier said there were living people here, he might not have noticed them at all!

"My heavens…"

Lin Yue stared blankly at the hellish scene before him, his mind going blank.

He finally understood why there were so many human remains outside!

At the same time, he also understood what Black Tortoise meant by "many living people."

This place is practically the spider queen's… granary!

A chill surged through Lin Yue's heart.

Obviously, this spider queen possesses intelligence far beyond that of ordinary mutant creatures!

It actually knows how to store food!

It wraps captured survivors in spider silk and hangs them here, both to prevent escape and, by some means, to keep them at bare minimum vital signs, ensuring the "ingredients" stay fresh!

Once the spider queen finishes evolving, these survivors, treated as "living reserve rations," will become its first feast after evolution!

How vicious! How cruel!

Lin Yue clenched his fists so hard his joints cracked, an uncontainable fury blazing up from his chest.

He's no saint; in this apocalypse, to survive he has killed people too.

But to watch his fellow humans be penned and stored like livestock, awaiting being devoured by monsters, he cannot bear it!

This is his last line as a human!

"Black Tortoise!"

Lin Yue's voice was ice-cold, as if coming from the depths of the Nine Abysses.

"Save them!"

"Save them all!"

"Roar!"

Black Tortoise let out a low, resonant reply, obviously also sensing his master's towering rage.

However, saving people is easy to say but hard to do.

These cocoons are suspended from the vaulted ceiling tens of meters high, and they are tightly interconnected; if one yanks them with brute force, it could trigger a chain reaction that would alert the spider queen.

Once they are discovered, Black Tortoise's massive size would very likely scare the spider queen away!

Moreover, the spider silk seems coated with a venom that has paralytic and corrosive effects; a slight mishap would surely kill the person wrapped inside.

"Black Tortoise, use Earth Control to first make a cushion platform below."

Lin Yue commanded calmly.

Though angry, he had not lost his reason.

"Rumble—"

At his command, the hall floor heaved, countless stones and soil surging upward to quickly coalesce into a huge platform covered with thick, soft dirt directly beneath the cocoons.

Immediately after, Lin Yue issued a second order.

"Use rock spikes to sever the main silk threads attaching those cocoons to the ceiling!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Dozens of rock spikes, as thin as a toothpick yet razor‑sharp, shot silently from Black Tortoise's back, precisely cutting the spider silk suspending the living people.

"Thud… thud…"

One by one, the huge cocoons fell like ripe fruit, landing softly on the soft earth platform without much noise.

After doing all that, the massive platform, under Black Tortoise's control, slowly descended into Xuanwu City; Lin Yue then jumped down from its head and hurried to a cocoon.

He didn't touch it directly; instead, with a thought he had Black Tortoise use its purification ability to release a soft white light onto the cocoon.

"Sizzle…"

Under the purification light, the originally tough spider silk melted and vaporized like ice under a blazing sun, visible to the naked eye.

Soon, a naked young man coated in a viscous liquid appeared before Lin Yue.

He had long sunk into deep coma, only his chest faintly rising and falling.

His body was covered with numerous puncture‑sized wounds; obviously the spider queen had been injecting him with a life‑sustaining "nutrient fluid" and an anesthetic toxin to keep him unconscious.

Lin Yue hesitated not, immediately having Black Tortoise use the same method to rescue the remaining dozens of survivors from their cocoons.

These people, men and women, old and young, were without exception in deep coma and extreme weakness.

Among them, Lin Yue even found a young mother clutching an infant tightly; even in coma she retained the posture of protecting her child, that maternal instinct making his heart clench.

He carefully lifted the equally comatose infant from the mother's arms and wrapped it in his own coat.

However, at the very moment the last survivor was successfully rescued,

"Hiss——!!!!!!!!!!"

The spider queen, was startled!

A piercing, soul‑shredding mad shriek erupted explosively from the deepest part of the tunnel!

That sound did not travel through the air; it detonated directly in Lin Yue's mind!

Even though his mental power now far exceeds that of ordinary people, this sudden psychic shock blinded him, his head buzzing, plunging him into a blankness lasting several seconds.

Upon regaining consciousness, Lin Yue could clearly sense the spider queen's fury and killing intent from that sound.

Obviously, the spider queen was angry because its food had been taken.

Next, the Spider Queen's reaction also confirmed Lin Yue's guess!

【Food……】

【My……food……】

【Steal……thief……】

【Die……you……must……die!!!!】

The Spider Queen's extremely chaotic thoughts made Lin Yue let out a muffled groan, his face instantly turning pale, and he staggered back two steps before barely stabilizing his stance.

"Roar——!!!"

Black Tortoise, upon sensing Lin Yue's pain, immediately let out a low roar!

Its mountain-like head suddenly lifted, a pair of lava-like giant eyes fixed firmly on the depths of the tunnel, and from its throat came a rumbling growl like muffled thunder.

Obviously, it was using its own way to oppose that Spider Queen, thereby alleviating Lin Yue's pain!