Chapter 170 - Chain of Proof (2 in 1)
Chapter 170: Chain of Proof (2 in 1)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“This area is extremely dangerous? How dangerous can it be?”
Tang Ling was not thinking about the potential danger. On the contrary, he was excited about it.
In his current form, he existed to fight, so he was not scared of the so-called danger. He was only afraid of there not being anyone to fight him or their inability to fight!
Was it that dangerous? The countdown timer in Tang Ling’s head was decreasing. He had 4 minutes and 25 seconds left in his five-minute duration.
However, he selected “no” without a second thought.
He looked up after he entered the spaceship and saw a dozen more large Green Fungus Mannequins.
This is…great! Tang Ling’s eyes shone with bloodthirsty excitement as he raised his grade C alloy longsword and dashed towards the group of enemies.
Was it dangerous? It was. It was really an extremely dangerous area in the spaceship.
Had he entered the spaceship in his usual form, he would have been dead a million times without the slightest hope. However, in his battle fanatic form? It was also impossible for him to win. All he could do was stall the time of his death.
The large Green Fungus Mannequins could be revived infinitely, and Tang Ling still had to be wary of the risk of getting heavily infected. However, what if he were to neglect the risk of getting infected and ignored the fact that the large Green Fungus Mannequins could be revived infinitely?
Then, the only thing he could do was slaughter these goons over and over again in delirious excitement.
Grade C alloy longsword once again slashed the skin of a large Green Fungus Mannequin. The cut started from the center of its collarbone and extended all the way down, forming a huge gash.
The cut was clean and there was no blood or liquid. Only layers of green skin were cut open like a ghastly clown having shed its mask.
Inside the body was a lot more green fungi like it was a mobile farm. With a scowl, Tang Ling kicked another large Green Fungus Mannequin before he removed the torch from his mouth and stuffed it into the stomach.
The large Green Fungus Mannequin wailed in pain as the green fungi in its stomach were set ablaze. It then faltered backward before running deeper into the spaceship, but Tang Ling did not chase.
He knew that fire was the only weapon he had against the green fungus. However, due to how inefficient burning them one by one with his torch was, he could not stay back within his remaining duration and settle every single one of them.
Countdown timer: 4:05.
Tang Ling roared as he spun his sword around, sweeping it across a row of large Green Fungus Mannequins and then speeding towards a certain direction.
So, this is the interior of an alien spaceship?
The old civilization thought of this day and night with many writings and pictures recorded in books, but it seemed like they were wrong about it. At least, the internal workings of this spaceship were unlike what they described.
There was no futuristic feel, no lines or strokes that presented a futuristic feel, no transparent composite material, and not even metal were found.
The metal only covered the external part which had already half-rusted. Inside the spaceship was a dark hall connected to many tunnels. On both sides of each tunnel were so-called “cabins” and many huge vine-like tubes that covered the walls, intertwining with each other. It seemed like they provided the creatures with a way to go up and down.
The place was filled with a strange rotten and desolate atmosphere. Running in the spaceship felt like stepping on dead human skin.
Tang Ling ran wildly in the spaceship. Behind him was the large Green Fungus Mannequins in pursuit and many others also stood in his way.
However, he could not care about his injuries anymore. He was like a rampaging beast that would ram over obstacles and slash them with his sword and daggers. He punched, elbowed, kneed and even bit his way though. Every part of his bow was a weapon. As long as he could land an effective hit to charge forward, he would go without mercy.
He was like drops of water dripping into a pot of boiling oil, causing oil to explode on impact and countless splashes to spray out. Nothing could stop him unless he stopped or died.
Countdown timer: 3:40.
Time was limited, and the tremendous pain tortured him even more. The level 2 vicious beast meat jerky was being digested even quicker in his current body.
The pain played a vital part in all this. It was like the biggest stimulant, arousing him and making him numb to the pain of his battle injuries.
Kachak!
Tang Ling relocated his arm that had dislocated due to the impact with the large Green Fungus Mannequin earlier without showing any expression. He continued pushing forward.
3:35.
He was 30 meters away from the destination that he laid his eyes on. In front of the narrow passage, there were a dozen large Green Fungus Mannequins.
3:30.
Tang Ling ran forward for another ten meters. Three more large Green Fungus Mannequins were struck to the ground and stomped over. He used them as a jumping board to launch himself forward.
3:25.
Tang Ling stood before a big black vine-like tube. A zombie that did not participate in the battle was pouring the black liquid into the great hole under the tube.
Almost two minutes from the five minutes were up. In the two minutes, Tang Ling fought in the fiercest way possible to carve a bloody path for himself just to prove an important theory that he had. The theory was that he could clear the entire mission with at least a Grade A rating by grazing that line between life and death!
He saw the zombie finish pouring the black liquid into the tube and head back outside the spaceship. Another zombie came in and did the same thing as the previous.
Beneath the tube was a pool of grayish-white ashy material while above it were shrubs of withered fungi.
All the fungi grew around a giant stem. The giant stem shared a striking similarity with the ship itself as it was rotten and withered.
There was something different though. The ashy material around it already had a black layer of crystallized sheen like a thin layer of black dirt covering its stem.
Endless black liquid was poured on the ground where the black crystals grew. The ground swiftly absorbed the liquid until it was dry.
The particular scene filled the blanks in for Tang Ling, completing the chain of proof that he had in mind. He felt like he had discovered the tip of an iceberg of an otherworldly civilization.
It was a completely different technology from the old civilization. This civilization was built on top of the planet’s ecosystem, making it a fungus civilization.
When Tang Ling saw the zombies collect the liquid from the mushrooms, he thought about what it could be. He suspected that the black liquid was a certain resource of the old civilization which nations fought fiercely for—petroleum.
What were the true properties of petroleum? You might understand it as another type of oil—corpse oil.
Of course, it was not a perfectly suitable analogy, but the old civilization had records that speculated about petroleum being produced from the dead bodies of ancient living beings.
The process had to go through time, sedimentation, pressure, decomposition, and heating before it could turn into a viable resource.
Tang Ling had no intention to verify the other theory about petroleum being formed from the Earth’s carbon layer when he saw the black liquid around the Energy Converting Dead Shroom and the hills of dead bodies. Instead, he quickly had an urge to test it out, so he did.
The sub-mission that he started was unintentional. It required him to destroy the source.
Right after his little test, it did not just verify Tang Ling’s speculation that the black liquid was a kind of resource similar to petroleum, but even the objective of the sub-mission provided more space for Tang Ling to expand his thoughts. A shallow chain of evidence slowly took form.
Of course, the resource was not the source of all this. Did destroying the source mean abolishing the Energy Converting Corpse Shroom that produced the liquid or the target that the resources served?
Tang Ling boldly selected the latter!
Who else was so important that the aliens had to harvest resources to serve? Gu Gu!
It was the first suspicion that came into Tang Ling’s mind, but according to Grandfather Han’s journal, it clearly stated that in the past 20 years, Gu Gu required blood and flesh to survive, not petroleum.
So, there was only one thing that could use petroleum—this broken spaceship!
A crazy thought popped up in Tang Ling’s mind. If this spaceship went far beyond human imagination and understanding, could it be a kind of living being and not a commonly perceived product made of iron and technology? What if the spaceship was a kind of strange living being?
Just look at it! It was shaped like a shuttle with a broken umbrella on top…It strikingly bore a resemblance to a mushroom.
If his speculation was correct, Tang Ling would be a lot more confident because he had found the key to the line between life and death.
That was the reason why he made his way into the spaceship. Judging from the rotten and withered insides, it further verified his speculation that this giant spaceship was actually a dying giant mushroom.
Although he was in his battle fanatic form, his clarity remained.
His goal had always been clear. He wanted to know where all the resource-collecting zombies were going. Therefore, this bloody path that he had carved out was actually following the path that the zombies moved back and forth on in the spaceship.
Tang Ling also saw the stem of this giant spaceship and the surroundings around it which were the Energy Converting Corpse Shroom bushes that provided energy to the whole ship.
It seemed like Gu Gu really wanted to repair this ship. Although her motive was unclear, she managed to achieve a part of it after all these years.
There was a faint purple stripe around the giant stem albeit it still being very small.
Alas, all this should come to an end.
Tang Ling did not want to know what Gu Gu’s ambitions were. He finally grasped the line between life and death, and his remaining 3 minutes and 25 seconds would be his craziest performance yet.
Instantaneously, many thoughts flooded his head, and at the same time, he suddenly turned around to the large Green Fungus Mannequins who were chasing him. He stared at the one closest to him.
“Hey…” Tang Ling suddenly revealed a wide odious smile at the Green Fungus Mannequin. His smile was nothing but evil.
The large Green Fungus Mannequin was stunned. It possessed entry-level intellect but was not as smart as a human, yet it was able to instinctively sense danger to the point that it stopped chasing Tang Ling.
Tang Ling did not care. He dashed forward and grabbed the large Green Fungus Mannequin by its fur and lifted it up.
“I choose you!”
Right after his voice subsided, Tang Ling dashed forward madly and knocked away the other large Green Fungus Mannequins along the way. Meanwhile, he also punched the one that he grabbed viciously.
After the transformation, his strength, speed, and reflexes plus all his other techniques were amplified.
He could easily suppress the large Green Fungus Mannequin one on one. If he were to go up against a group without being infatuated with fighting or being afraid of getting hurt, he could also ram his way out of this, but it would be a lot bloodier.
Tang Ling picked the latter option. He punched the large Green Fungus Mannequin in his hold violently over and over again while he went on a rampage in the spaceship.
Soon, the large Green Fungus Mannequin was knocked to its last breath. It was completely out of shape.
It was at that moment that the green wind arrived and surrounded the large Green Fungus Mannequin in his hand. Its heavily damaged body recovered at an exponential speed.
This is so annoying! This is cheating! This is why you think yourself as some higher-level beings and humans as lowly creatures? Am I right?
Tang Ling identified where the green wind came from. He then ran towards that particular direction. Again, he punched the Green Fungus Mannequin that had recovered in his grip. He punched it even stronger this time, and it was punched out of shape faster than before.
Again, the green, rich wind came out and fixed it again.
Tang Ling once again identified the direction and continued forward.
Countdown timer: 3:05.
Tang Ling was like a mad bull in the complicated interior of the spaceship. He knew that he was already heavily infected. His Precise Instinct was being an ass right now as it was operating quietly and told Tang Ling about the strange things were happening to his body The spores had gotten into his blood, rooted themselves and started to sprout…
Motherf*cking shit! Stop it! Is this how it feels to plant mushrooms in my body?
Tang Ling tried his best to fight it. Before his transformation, fighting the spores in his body would be difficult to the point that his mobility would be greatly affected because the green fungus would fight him for control over his body.
However, in his current body, the resistance was very strong. Even though the mushroom had grown in his body, they were still not powerful enough to affect Tang Ling’s movements.
Alas, if his transformation was over…Tang Ling pictured himself as a green-skinned zombie. Yes, a green-skinned, mindless zombie.
Then, if the seed’s ability remained and he could still transform, he would become the well-known pop culture icon of the old civilization, the Hulk!
What the f*ck?! Tang Ling wanted to cry but his tear ducts were dry, so he punched the large Green Fungus Mannequin vehemently.
The large Green Fungus Mannequin felt wronged. It also wanted to cry but could not since the punches were ceaseless.
How unlucky was it? It was being punched into a pile of meat and the green wind kept repairing its body just to make it go through the onslaught all over again. Thankfully the Green Fungus Mannequin could not understand the concept of death. Otherwise, it would have begged Tang Ling to kill it.
Why would Tang Ling kill it? It was the best compass in the spaceship! A monkey GPS!
The place where the green wind came from must be within the spaceship, and even if that place was not Gu Gu’s secret base, it would be close.
Tang Ling was like a tractor with full horsepower charging forward. The large Green Fungus Mannequin was beaten out of shape 17 times and it recovered 17 times as well.
Countdown timer: 2:41
A large rotten and withered door finally appeared before Tang Ling.
He had no idea how tough the door was when it was still strong, but judging on how rotten it was, it should not be that hard.
Tang Ling kicked it down with a single stomp, then scanned what was behind it. Spores flew in the air and danced along with the green fungi, strangely forming a beautiful scene.
He knew deep in his heart how disgusting these spores were.
He tossed the large Green Fungus Mannequin away, smashing a part of the green fungi. He smiled as he stared at the deepest part and said, “Guo Er, Gu Gu, did you miss me? My, my, it’s only been a day and the two of you have given birth to these many little mushrooms?”