"They failed." Qingluo's voice was tinged with a subtle sadness. "The Logic Plague contaminated the core roots of the World Tree. The fire was extinguished, and the firewall collapsed. This place... became the tombstone of their civilization."
His gaze shifted to the violently shaking ground, the pressure of decay growing stronger. "And the 'Fungal Dome'... the 'Fungal Master' you face... it didn't emerge from thin air." A cold glint flashed in his cyan silver eyes. "It is none other than the 'Logic Plague' that swept through the 'Root Era'. After a long period of dormancy and mutation, it has revived with the torrent of negative data from human civilization in this era... its ultimate form! It has always known of the 'World Tree'! It knows that buried here lie things that threaten it... as well as things that nourish it... the remnants of an old civilization!"
His slender fingers suddenly pointed downwards, as if penetrating the thick metal stratum and pointing straight to the depths of the earth!
"It's awakening! Its greedy roots have penetrated the earth and entangled the deepest core of the 'World Tree'! It's frantically absorbing the remaining energy and data from this civilization's tombstone! It's devouring the 'Source Point'! Once it succeeds in completely devouring it and completing its final evolution... The Master of Fungi will descend, and all things will rot!"
Qing Luo's voice was like a hammer, hammering down on Xu Shuangyao's heart! 167 hours countdown! The Fungus Master was devouring the World Tree's core! Was this the reason it awakened early?!
"Then what should we do?!" Xu Shuangyao asked anxiously, her voice trembling with fear and anxiety. The wound on the side of her neck stung with pain from the pressure.
Qingluo's gaze slowly shifted towards Pei Du, who was curled up in pain on the ground. His levitating body floated in front of Pei Du, his bare green feet inches off the ground, and his silver-white pupils stared at the faint shadow of a crown pulsating between Pei Du's eyebrows.
"He... is the key." Qingluo's voice carried a strange wave. "The Crown of Thorns is not a false god. It is the fragment of the final 'Purification Protocol' scattered before the collapse of the 'World Tree' firewall in the previous era. It chose him because deep in his soul, he holds the most tenacious primordial imprint, resisting the contamination of the 'Logic Plague'... even though that imprint is distorted and deeply buried."
"His suffering stems from the eternal conflict between his body's 'purification protocol' (the Crown of Thorns), designed to combat the Master's contamination, and the 'source of contamination' (compliant sclerotia) implanted within the Fungal Dome. Like a war between light and shadow, it rages within the very soil of his consciousness." Qingluo's gaze seemed to penetrate Pei Du's flesh and blood, catching sight of the dark seed deep within the back of his neck. "For him to truly master the Crown's power and turn it into a weapon against the Master of Bacteria... the source of contamination must first be eradicated! We must... dig out that dark sclerotium!"
Qingluo slowly raised his palm, composed of emerald green vines and silvery-white light, palm facing upward. Within the palm, a point of pure, emerald green light shone, and within this light, a tiny leaf, like a carved jadeite, seemed to slowly rotate.
"I can temporarily suppress the rampaging crown energy within him, stabilize his condition, and even... guide him to the core root battlefield and confront the fungus master. But digging out that deeply buried dark sclerotium..." Qingluo's gaze turned to Xu Shuangyao, his silver-white pupils reflecting the hideous teeth marks on the side of her neck and the burning determination in her eyes. "That requires a 'key'... that can penetrate the thorns and reach the core of darkness."
"Only you, the Omega carrier marked by his thorns, desired by him, and... trusted by him, can become that key. Only you can delve into the thorny jungle of his chaotic memories, find and... pluck that dark fruit."
Qingluo's voice was like the final judgment and the only light of hope.
"Time... is running out. Decay is gnawing at the roots of the tree. Before he is completely devoured... or before the crown within him is polluted and twisted... make a choice." The emerald green light in his palm swayed slightly, like a candle in the wind, illuminating Xu Shuangyao's pale and bloodstained face, and Pei Du's body twitching in pain.
The vibrations beneath my feet grew more intense, the Fungus Master's decaying roar seemed to be right beside my ears. The massive tombstone of civilization, the World Tree Server, wailed silently as the Fungus Master devoured it. And the only hope lay in a gravely wounded woman, tasked with delving into the chaotic, painful, and thorny core of an out-of-control man's memories... a near-suicidal excavation.
Xu Shuangyao's gaze moved from the emerald green light in Qingluo's palm to Pei Du's furrowed brow and painfully curled body, and finally, landed on her own blood-stained fingertips.
The key... She was his key. It had been destined from the moment she'd been on the operating table for "Higanbana." But this time, it could open the door to life, or it could lead to... the depths of hell.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com