My Lord, please spare my life!

The ancient obsidian door slowly opened again, and as its owner's blood poured in generously, it began to emit a strong and heavy aura.

Thick black fog kept surging inside the door, eager to break free. However, it was restrained by the blood-red thorns and almost solidified inside the door.

The man who had just reported who the remaining people were - he introduced himself as Ricks - stared at the door in front of him and felt his legs go weak again.

It’s really not that he is useless!

The polluted air from this door is about to rush into his face!!!

"Sir, are we really going to get through like this?"

The young man raised a finger and waved it in front of him: "You can call me sir, but don't call me master, it sounds too weird."

Rex took a deep breath and said, "...Okay, sir, are we really going to go through like this? Although I don't know many of these people, their conditions are not very good. If they are exposed to such strong pollution, they will definitely mutate on the spot."

Before the masked young man could reply, the obsidian door shook violently as if it could not bear the humiliation. The thorns on the door were baring their fangs and claws, and they looked so gorgeous that they seemed to be bleeding.

"You are talking nonsense. Don't slander me in front of the master. I have always controlled my pollution very well! Even if I send an SS-level monster to your capital right now, you won't be able to find out that it was me!"

Ricks: “…”

The door slammed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm a professional!"

The man's mouth twitched, and he subconsciously looked at the person sitting next to him. The young man looked back lazily: "What are you looking at me for? I'm not in charge of transmission. Didn't it say it's professional? When you go out, listen to the professionals more."

[Portal] felt extremely happy after hearing this, and he praised the other party's good taste without hesitation. The man was silent for a moment, turned his head and looked at the unconscious people on the ground, feeling quite sad.

If he wanted to choose, what choice did he have?

The humans captured by the worm queen are of all kinds: some come in to look for treasure, some come in to clear out the enemies, some are rescue teams sent by the Holy See, and some are investigation teams like him... People of all forces fall together harmoniously, and it is rare to see such close relationships.

He couldn't expect the other party to send them all home one by one, but if they were sent directly back to their own city...

Let’s not talk about how to deal with a group of people of unknown origin, how to explain this out-of-control pollution and people to the higher-ups! ?

For the first time, Rex regretted why he was the only one awake. He glared at his unconscious teammate at his feet with envy, and quickly thought about where he should ask him to take these people.

The young man had no intention of urging her. He had a smile on his face, and his eyes, filled with murderous intent, were twisted and terrifying.

"You'd better make a decision quickly. I have things to do."

Ricks nodded hurriedly, fearing to anger the other party, and left them with the door. These old, weak and sick people are not able to go back on their own!

Seeing his uneasiness, the young man asked himself in distress: "I think I am quite amiable, why are you so afraid of me..."

Looking at the other person's blood-soaked clothes and the arms that had not yet fully grown, Rex curled his lips and assumed that he believed his explanation. The masked young man coughed awkwardly and said, "I'm serious. Although the worm queen here has been dealt with, there is still a group of out-of-control larvae where I came from."

He briefly explained what happened in Ya'an City, and Rex was horrified: "The worm queen is dead. If the worms in Ya'an City have parasitized humans, wouldn't it be..."

"Don't worry. They are underdeveloped and have given up all their offensive power for the sake of concealment. They only win in numbers."

But quantity is the biggest problem.

A three-year-old can easily smack the smallest worm to death, but what if there are hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of them?

These tens of thousands of worms control tens of thousands of people?

"Ya'an City is finished..."

Rex thought of this instantly. His face turned pale. If humans want to build a city, they have to snatch it from the mouth of the black fog and the mouth of the monster. It takes several generations to build a city. Then the bloodline people have to consume it continuously, and ordinary people have to build it with their lives.

But reducing a city to ruins is so easy that it only takes one month.

Rex's mouth was full of bitterness. After a long while, he sighed heavily and begged: "Sir, can you send the others to a safe place and take me to Ya'an City?"

The masked young man asked curiously, "What are you going to do in Ya'an City?"

"Go and save people."

Rex said: "I am a bloodline person. Since I can still move, I can be useful. The loss of the city is just a small matter, but the people inside are the most important!"

The other person looked him up and down. His eyes were as sharp as a peeling knife, and Ricks felt uncomfortable as if he was being stripped naked in broad daylight. He subconsciously felt resistance, but heard the other person's light voice.

"It would be useless for you to go. There are tens of thousands of insects in Ya'an City. One more and one less of you won't make a difference. You just got out of the insect cocoon and you are weak. You might even die there. It's better for you to have a good rest. You will have more opportunities to contribute later."

A cold and hard aura slowly spread out, and he stared at the man in front of him, without a smile in his eyes. It was as if he was warning him, or as if he was repeating it to himself over and over again. At this moment, the person standing here did not look like a human, but a monster in human skin.

"Those who achieve great things don't pay attention to small details. You should look far ahead."

Fear, overwhelming fear.

Rex's body had been completely paralyzed by the murderous intent, and his heartbeat kept accelerating, breaking through the limits of human beings. But he was completely unable to take his eyes away from the other person's eyes.

Sadness, self-blame, resentment, madness... It's hard to imagine that a pair of eyes can carry so many things. Rex's mind was blank and he could only answer based on his instinct.

"You are right. I am the captain of the reconnaissance team under the Duke of Mertan. This time when I return, the Duke will definitely give me a good territory and rewards, so that I can escape from this life of birth and death in the dark fog."

"As a bloodline, I have more power than ordinary people, but I am also more afraid of death because I have been exposed to pollution countless times. I know how painful it is to die from pollution. I have personally executed many of my comrades. The scenes of their mutation left a deep impression on me and even became nightmares for countless nights."

"Sir, of course I don't want to die. If I had a choice, I would never go! ... But I have to admit that I can save more people. As a bloodline person, I can save a hundred people."

He numbly pointed at the person on the ground who was wearing the same clothes as him. He had no idea what he was saying. He just spoke his inner thoughts quickly as if to vent to ease the fear of drowning.

"I don't know about the others, but if the awake ones were my teammates, they would make the same choice. Before entering the black fog, we all voluntarily signed a sacrifice agreement."

"[I voluntarily step into the dark mist, regardless of sacrifice or fear of death, just to open a path for those who come after me!]"

"So whether it's me or those people who are now in a coma, they will all make this choice - because under the black fog, only people who are alive have hope!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the dead silence with no one responding, his heart was beating like a drum, almost bursting out of his chest!

After a long while, the young man suddenly laughed. His laughter was full of self-mockery: "Hope..."

"That's great, there's still hope for you."

The young man's expression suddenly returned to being nonchalant, and the newly flowing air rushed into his lungs, suddenly choking Rex so much that his face turned red. He himself didn't even realize that he was holding his breath.

"Let me tell you a story."

Do I still have the right to refuse... Rex was speechless. As expected, the other party did not intend to wait for his answer and continued talking to himself.

"Long ago, the World Tree was not yet polluted. It was an ancient giant tree that was strong enough to support the starry sky, and it was as green as ever. The tree was full of fruits, waiting for the moment to be born into the world."

The man who was originally just helpless was now about to cough out his lungs. He looked at the person in front of him with horror. What the hell is he talking about! That's the World Tree! Can this be arranged at will?

But the most frightening thing was that this person's attitude was quite natural, as if he was really just telling a story. The calm words were full of devilish attraction, drilling into his ears.

"At that time, numerous human souls surrounded the World Tree. They came from different times, regions, and countries, but they all had the same wish..."

"They built a wall around the World Tree, offered sacrifices to it, guarded it, and promised to protect its eternity to keep the world running."

"But one day, the dark mist eroded the World Tree. The souls did not discover this until one of them fell."

...I'm just a small B-level bloodline...Why should I listen to this kind of thing...Rex's lips trembled, and he felt the blood flow in his body suddenly speed up, rushing to his head, while his limbs were abnormally cold.

Is this person losing control? No, no, no... This is more terrible than the contamination of ordinary bloodline people losing control. This sounds like a story, but it is more like the echo of the contamination.

People who are contaminated will do all kinds of weird things. In the man's perception, the entire mountain of corpses is gradually merging with the other party's breath. The huge bloody pollution is like a giant beast that is slowly awakening, greedily licking the young man's shadow, as if coveting a piece of sweet cake.

And the other party was still laughing.

In the scene where Rex wished he could pass out, he was still telling the story seriously!

"...The fallen man was an honest and trustworthy wandering swordsman, but he was always in a very miserable state when he was alive, and was eventually killed while trying to save someone because he was unable to do so. After his death, he came to the World Tree and formed a deep friendship with it. In order to gain power, he even killed a brother whom he regarded as a father."

"So he gained the power to turn everything into a weapon and nearly eternal life, but the price was only the death of a loved one, the advancement of the world tree's pollution, and the corruption of all souls—"

The young man, who had told the story seriously to the end, slowly adjusted his mask. He stared at Ricks and asked curiously, like a novelist who really expected a reply from his readers: "Do you think he did the right thing?"