blogombal Chapter 175, Section 72: The Polluted Green of All Things
Chapter 175, Section 72: The Polluted Green of All Things
Chapter 175, Part 72: The Polluted Green of All Things (One more chapter will be released later)
What is the secret to winning with fewer resources?
The answer is guerrilla warfare. As long as they keep moving, they won't be surrounded by enemies from all sides. They are quite adept at handling enemies attacking from only one or two directions.
The owl relied on its agility, launching its grappling hook to weave between the pillars, occasionally throwing darts behind it, chasing the cubs down like mosquitoes flying over an electric fence.
Qin Wei relied on the endless stream of fine treasures hidden in his belt.
He pulled out a sticky bomb and threw it at a nearby stone pillar, then pressed the detonation button as the pursuers passed by.
boom!
The entire hall trembled and turned to dust amidst the explosion.
The pursuing cubs were blown to pieces, and the rest were obscured by the smoke.
Qin Wei then seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
The cubs were blinded by the smoke and dust when a dark figure suddenly appeared, tearing through the ranks with an uppercut followed by a kick. Qin Wei, who had charged into the crowd, took down the two closest enemies and quietly threw a high-explosive grenade to the ground.
As he activated his grappling hook and soared into the air, a burst of intense sparks erupted behind him.
And so, the two fought and retreated, slaughtering the hundreds of cubs in just a few minutes.
When only one enemy remained, the brainwashed cub, stepping over the corpses of his comrades, stumbled and launched a suicidal charge at Night Owl.
His eyes were then pierced by steel claws.
The owl mercilessly severed his head, holding it in his palm and admiring it.
"Stop playing around, it's time to get down to business."
Qin Wei was already standing in front of the gate; it seemed he had won the game.
Upon hearing this, Night Owl tossed his head aside and kicked out a shower of bone fragments.
He fired his grappling hook and arrived at the stone gate:
"Open Sesame won't work this time. Let's think of a way to open it."
"We have no choice but to blow it up. You should be glad that the door is made of stone, not steel."
Qin Wei extended his right hand, with three sticky bombs between his fingers.
Night Owl inserted his steel claws into the crack in the door, prying it open slightly. Qin Wei then inserted the bomb, and the two retreated to a safe distance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amid a series of explosions, a crater the size of a tire was blasted into the stone gate. Night Owl took small, quick steps to approach, spread his arms, and threw a punch.
Amidst the flying stone chips, a gap wide enough for one person to squeeze through appeared in the stone door.
Peering through the opening, Night Owl saw a stone chamber. Before he could get a closer look, a nauseating stench emanating from it forced him to back away.
"What on earth are these guys worshipping on the rooftop? Only ten thousand rotting British pigs could emit this damned stench!"
I couldn't agree more.
Upon smelling the aura, Qin Wei immediately thought of a corpse. But then he thought, if the true form of a mysterious organization that has existed for hundreds of years is merely a cult that indiscriminately kills innocent people to worship corpses, then that would be too degrading.
"Since we're already here, why don't we go inside and take a look?"
"Of course! I just want to see what these people have done with my blood!"
Before they could finish speaking, the owl had already slipped inside.
Soon, a drawn-out gasp of surprise came from inside.
"My God! Bruce, you absolutely have to come and see this! I've never seen anything like it before!!"
Qin Wei, on high alert, slipped into the secret room.
The room was brightly lit despite the lack of natural light. In the center of the stone chamber was an altar surrounded by six cushions. He could almost picture the owl's high-ranking officials kneeling on the cushions in worship.
He covered his nose and walked forward, only to find that it was not an altar, but a stone coffin filled with a bright green solution.
Just as he was wondering what the solution would be used for, a drop of viscous liquid fell from above his head.
Like a spider spinning its thread, it slowly descended in his sight, finally separating from the silk and landing in the coffin, splashing ripples.
Qin Wei looked up following the rising mucus threads.
He probably understood why Thomas had exclaimed in surprise.
The entire inner layer of Wayne Tower was hollowed out. From the secret chamber where they were to the top of the tower, it was completely occupied by a huge, gray-black mass of flesh. It sent out tens of millions of tentacles that clung to the tower walls, like insect eggs in the process of hatching, wriggling in sync with Qin Wei’s increasingly rapid heartbeat.
As for the light inside the room, it was moonlight shining into the secret chamber through the hollow tower.
The tumor basked in the moonlight, just as it had for every night for over a century.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
Thomas muttered to himself.
"You're asking me? Who should I ask? But one thing is certain: the Court of Owls is offering this thing with your blood." Qin Wei found a bronze artifact stained with mottled blood in the corner, and countless tiny tentacles, like vines, were coiled around the bronze artifact, extending from the edge of the fleshy mass.
"What should we do—blow it up?"
Thomas found himself at a loss for what he was doing for the first time. He looked at Qin Wei with pleading eyes, only to find the latter taking off his gloves.
"What are you doing?!"
"How much blood do they usually take from you?"
"You want to worship it? Don't be silly!!"
Seeing Qin Wei cut his fingers with the barbs on his arm guard, Thomas rushed forward and grabbed the other man's wrist.
"But aren't you curious about what will happen after it's made offerings? The court can't keep such an ugly creature as a pet, can it?"
Thomas Jr. fell silent. He had come here specifically to clarify these matters. It must be said that Qin Wei's ideas, though seemingly insane, were...
But it is the move that brings us closest to the truth.
Claws must be on their way; they don't have much time left.
"Approximately 300ml."
He released his grip and watched as Qin Wei squeezed the wound on his palm, slowly pouring blood into the bronze vessel.
The blood inside the bronze vessel was quickly absorbed by the small tentacles.
The tentacles, having absorbed their fill, became visibly more active. They began to swell and split, overflowing from the bronze vessel and spreading like ivy across the walls and floor.
Qin Wei and Thomas were forced to retreat repeatedly by the extending tentacles.
"My intuition tells me that things are not good. This thing grows by feeding on human blood. Don't forget that the last person who collected human blood was burned alive by the church."
"To be honest, this is the first time I feel that witch punishment should not have been abandoned by the times."
Isaiah Thomas became unusually talkative, perhaps only in this way could he suppress his inner anxiety.
Qin Wei's face was also pale beneath the mask, but he had witnessed far more desperate scenes when he was implanting the amber gold composite. The tentacles crawling on the ground were causing his SAN value to plummet, but they were far from enough to make him panic.
What truly unsettled him was the position of the moon.
When he looked up, he saw that the moon overhead looked like a globe being turned around.
It actually turned slightly.
Can you imagine this scene: a colossal object behind the clouds displaying a speed it shouldn't have, turning nimbly and stealthily.
If it was an eyeball, Qin Wei was certain it was staring intently at him.
"Look, that thing—it looks like something's about to fall out of it!"
Thomas Jr. no longer bothered to hide the fear in his voice. He patted Qin Wei on the shoulder twice, and when the latter ignored him, he reached out and turned Qin Wei's head around.
Thomas Jr. was right; the central sarcoma trunk had begun to swell and a tear was appearing, pulling at the mucus.
What is about to unfold before our eyes, things beyond human comprehension, are the root of fear, as countless classic horror movies have proven with real-life examples.
The dimly lit and eerie secret room, the enormous fleshy tumor above their heads that sucked human blood, the mysterious organization with a history of hundreds of years, and the mutated moon—everything was like an icicle, piercing their eyes and minds without reservation on this somewhat rushed night.
The two brothers' hearts were in their throats as they watched in disbelief as a huge arm, almost entirely made of vines and algae, emerged from the gaps in the fleshy tumor.
Swamp Monster, the embodiment of the green of all things on Earth, a mysterious creature passed down by word of mouth in Innsmouth, Massachusetts, has now become nourishment for this unknown lumps of flesh.
The real truth is this: the blood of the Wayne family men was merely a catalyst; what truly nourished this lumpy mass was the Swamp Monster.
Of course, the two brothers didn't know what "the green of all things" was, nor did they understand what the monster trapped in the tumor was; all they wanted to do now was escape.
Qin Wei took out all the sticky bombs from his belt and threw them at the tumor on his head.
At the same time, he turned on the GoPro while Thomas wasn't looking.
He no longer cared what Night Owl thought; everything that happened here had to be made public.