"Damn it!" Pei Du cursed inwardly, his eyes growing even colder. He no longer hesitated, exerting all his strength, carrying Xu Shuangyao on his back, and rushed towards the direction of the traction—a huge gaping hole on the other side of the building! Beneath his feet, the entire floor gave a final wail under the stranglehold of the giant vine, completely crumbling and collapsing!
"boom--!!!"
Behind him was a bottomless abyss and a deafening crash! Pei Du, carrying Xu Shuangyao on his back, burst through the gap like a cannonball, crashing heavily onto the sloping roof of a shorter building below, also covered in fungal mats! The immense force of the impact blacked out his vision, and a piercing pain ripped through his broken arm. But he held onto Xu Shuangyao on his back, rolling to absorb the force, and finally coming to a near-perfect stop on the edge of the roof.
He gasped and looked up, gazing towards the city center. Even from the vast distance, even with countless animated giant vines and fungal buildings blocking his view, the scene still stood like a beacon in the dark universe, bearing a suffocating, despairing pressure, clearly imprinted on his vision and the depths of his soul!
The city's central square—if it could still be called a square—had now turned into a huge, wriggling nest of horrors!
There, mycelium, metal debris, shredded living plant roots, and countless indescribable fragments of organisms and machinery were forcibly kneaded and shaped by an invisible, terrifying force! They rolled, merged, and rose from the ground like boiling lava!
A "throne" that is difficult to describe in words is taking shape!
Its base consisted of countless massive, sturdy, animated vines covered in thick metallic armor. Like coiled pythons, they intertwined and supported each other, burrowing deep into the seething fungal carpet. The throne's main body was forged from a forcible fusion of viscous, wriggling dark red and silver-gray mycelium, molten alloy debris, and structural steel. Its surface was covered in sharp, twisting, thorn-like metallic spikes, and mycelial holes that constantly opened and closed, dripping with corrosive mucus. The throne stood nearly a hundred meters tall, its form constantly shifting, proliferating, and changing. Sometimes it resembled a twisted giant tree, sometimes a ferocious beast's skull, and sometimes the outstretched, spiky wings of a bat. At its summit, countless thick mycelial nerve bundles and metal pipes gleaming with dark blue data streams converged and intertwined, forming a dark red "sclerotium" that pulsated, expanded, and contracted like a gigantic heart. The surface of the "sclerotium" was covered with flowing silver spots, and at the core was flickering a dark light so deep that it seemed to be able to devour the soul!
The Throne of Thorns! The embodiment of the core will of the Fungus Lord!
A vast, cold, chaotic, and terrifying will, imbued with a consuming desire, emanated like a tangible shockwave from the pulsating "sclerotium," instantly sweeping across the ruins of the city! The movements of all the skeletal warriors instantly became more coordinated, as if infused with new instructions! The animated giant vines danced even more violently! The concentration of spore dust in the air soared! An absolute, soul-freezing pressure, like an invisible giant hand, firmly grasped the throat of every survivor!
Pei Du felt as if his heart was being gripped by an invisible will, making breathing incredibly difficult. The Fusion Crown emitted a low hum above his head, both a response and a shudder of being suppressed by a higher-level power. On his back, Xu Shuangyao's body twitched violently under the terrifying pressure, and he let out a fainter groan of pain.
Is this the end? That damn throne?
However, the road to the throne is by no means an easy one.
Just below the building where Pei Du was located, the road leading to the central square was already filled with murderous intentions!
First, a swarm of fungal skeletons surged like a silver tide, their numbers multiplied by those of the previous ones, their forms even more ferocious and terrifying! They formed a strict formation, their crimson electronic eyes locking onto every living thing near the throne area, especially the fusion crown atop Pei Du's head! They had only one command—bring the twin carriers to the throne, or else "purify" them!
Secondly, at the edge of the throne area, in the shadows of several ruined buildings that hadn't yet completely collapsed, lurked a group of twisted figures—the remnants of the Wildfangs! Their numbers had dwindled dramatically, to fewer than twenty, but each one had undergone a profound fungal mutation! Their bodies were covered in thick, keratinous plaques, their muscles knotted and swollen, their limbs twisted and deformed. Some had sprouted extra bony arms, while others had fused their lower bodies with abandoned vehicles, transforming into monstrous creatures half mechanical, half fungal! Leading the charge was the former bald, scarred leader! His current form was the most terrifying, nearly four meters tall, his entire body covered in a thick, dark green fungal armor resembling tree bark. His single remaining eye had turned a murky crimson, gleaming with madness, pain, and naked greed for the throne's power! In his hand, he clutched a hideous club, a fusion of massive metal tubes and bone spurs, entwined with sticky fungal mycelium! They are like hyenas lying on carrion, waiting for the opportunity of chaos, coveting the power of the throne and the crown on Pei Du and Xu Shuangyao's heads!
Finally, and most surprising and confusingly, outside the throne base, between the thickest animated vines, and in the areas further out, there is another force!
Countless strangely shaped animated plants, instead of the dark purple giant vines of fungus, appear a cold, metallic, dark green or gray-brown color! They include:
The "Ironwood Guard," covered in heavy wooden armor and like a mobile fortress, moved slowly and steadily around the throne, its huge roots smashing the ground like giant hammers.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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