The core of the Fungus Dome, the throne area.
Time lost its scale here. Only an eternal, suffocating green light descended from a vast dome covered in living mycelium, drenching every inch of space in a viscous mixture of life and decay. The air was thick with spores, like billions of tiny green stars, and every breath felt like inhaling searing sand. Beneath my feet lay no cold metal or rock, but a thick, pulsating, and breathtakingly warm fungal carpet. Like the lining of some immense creature's guts, it slowly and powerfully contracted and expanded in sync with the indescribable will of its master. With each "heartbeat," a surge of mighty yet decaying life energy washed over the space, bringing with it a destructive pressure and a sickening sweet odor.
Pei Du suddenly knelt on one knee, his right fist slamming down hard on the scorching fungal carpet with a dull, thud. The crown of thorns tightened around his head, its sharp spines seemingly alive, burrowing furiously deep into his skull. Each burr was accompanied by the cold, sticky whispers of the fungus master, like millions of maggots wriggling and gnawing within his brain.
"Did you see it? Pei Du... your destination..." The Fungus Master's voice resonated directly in his consciousness, with a kind of all-knowing mockery, "It's right there... your incomplete answer... the 'completeness' you long for..."
That whisper was not false. An irresistible tearing sensation, emanating from the deepest depths of his blood, gripped his heart like invisible claws, dragging him violently toward the area to the left of the throne, enveloped by an even denser, almost condensed green fungal mist. He could clearly "feel" something calling to him from beyond the fog. A "point" that resonated with the very essence of his own being—his clone!
"Ugh!" Pei Du roared like a beast, and he jerked his head up. His left eye was completely covered in thorns, fine black roots piercing the skin beneath his eyelid, spreading like ugly cracks. His eyeball itself shone with an inhuman, pure mycelial green light. Only his right eye still retained a hint of the human crimson glow, ignited by extreme pain and rage.
"Pei Du! Don't go!" Xu Shuangyao's voice pierced through the Master's whispers and Pei Du's own frantic roars, carrying a tearing pain and unprecedented urgency. On the other end of the symbiotic connection, Pei Du's nearly uncontrollable violent emotions and the excruciating pain of the Master's frantic erosion surged into her mind like a flood. With her head on the verge of exploding, she tried to channel her will through the connection: "It's a trap! It's exploiting your senses! Stay calm!"
She struggled to maintain her position, her body trembling violently from the double agony. Sweat soaked her combat uniform, clinging to her paper-white skin. Her gaze, however, was piercing, fixed directly behind the throne on the vast, pulsating energy node of mycelium—the true "heart" of the dome's core. Countless thick, mycelial tubes, gleaming with high-energy green light, converged here from all directions, plunging deep into a vast, pale structure resembling the girth of some immense creature. Its surface was covered in honeycomb-like holes, and with each pulse, a torrent of energy was pumped out, channeled through those tubes to every corner of the dome, nourishing the terrifying lifeforms that blanketed the entire continent.
The plant network's warning message, faint yet resolute, echoed deep within her consciousness, like a candle in the wind, yet persevering. It pointed to the throne's core—only by completely destroying that node could the Fungus Master's near-infinite energy circulation be interrupted, paralyzing the entire Fungus Dome! This was her only escape, the only straw she could grasp at atonement—for the sin of having participated in the development of the core technology for this terrifying biological weapon.
"Shut up!" Pei Du turned his head abruptly, his only remaining right eye bloodshot, and glared at Xu Shuangyao fiercely. His voice was hoarse and distorted, full of mania dominated by instinct and anger, "What do you know? That's mine... mine! It's waiting for me! It's calling me!" The symbiotic connection trembled violently due to his intense emotions and the physical distance that was about to be widened. The power quickly decayed like the tide, and was replaced by the bone-marrow-deep tearing pain caused by the forced stretching of the connection itself. This pain stimulated him even more. He was like a ferocious beast that was completely enraged and wanted to tear apart all obstacles in front of him, "Get out of the way! Don't block my way!"
Before he finished speaking, Pei Du unleashed his last remaining strength. The trampled fungal mat beneath his feet instantly exploded, leaving a charred dent. He transformed into a streak of black lightning, enveloped in the shadows of thorns and carrying an aura of resolute destruction. He relentlessly slammed into the dense fungal fog on his left! The moment he burst forth, Xu Shuangyao could clearly feel the invisible spiritual bond between them suddenly tighten and stretch to its limit. Then, a heart-pounding buzzing sound echoed, as if his soul were being torn apart.
“Pei Du——!”
Xu Shuangyao's cries were drowned out by the roar of Pei Du's charge into the fungus mist. The piercing pain darkened her vision, and her body swayed. A mouthful of sweet, fishy blood surged up her throat, but she swallowed it back with all her might. The symbiotic connection remained intact, but it grew extremely weak and unstable, like a spider's thread in a gust of wind. Only intermittent pulses of pain and fragments of chaotic, violent will could be heard.
He left.
Alone, rushing towards the almost obvious abyss.
A profound sense of loss and even deeper fear gripped Xu Shuangyao's heart, nearly suffocating her. But the next second, the core node behind the throne experienced even more intense energy fluctuations, striking her senses like an invisible hammer. The Fungus Master's immense will seemed to have become even more active and filled with malice, thanks to Pei Du's capture.
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