nownovels Chapter 12 This isn't a terrorist attack, it's a fully automated VIP elevator!
Chapter 12 This isn't a terrorist attack, it's a fully automated VIP elevator!
The wispy mist that had been cut open didn't dissipate. Instead, it writhed and healed behind me, like a wound that had just been cut open by a scalpel and was quickly scabbed over.
This group wasn't walking on thin air. It was more like they were traversing the slippery esophagus of some giant creature.
The dark red, fleshy texture underfoot had disappeared.
In its place is a vast plaza paved with dark green obsidian.
The laws of geometry here have long since crumbled. The distant spires do not rise abruptly from the ground. Instead, they hang down like stalactites from the abyss above, where purple nebulae surge.
The massive stone pillars twisted into the grotesque shape of a Möbius strip. Even a brief glance sent a sharp, tearing pain through my retina.
"Gravity anomaly! Activate your magnetic boots, everyone!"
Before the hounds' barks had even faded, a gravitational turbulence powerful enough to displace one's internal organs swept across the entire area.
The world turned upside down.
Their stomachs suddenly felt like they were pressing against their throats. Their vision blurred and became disorienting. They weren't standing on solid ground; instead, they were forcibly attached to an inverted ceiling. Above them lay a bottomless, dizzying purple void.
Several team members with weaker mental defenses immediately knelt down. Their masks were filthy, with vomit smearing the glass.
"The interior design of this place is probably the work of a crazy Picasso."
Chen Mo is an anomaly.
He didn't even use his magnetic boots. Yet his feet seemed rooted to the spot, firmly planted on the upside-down stone slab.
Under the correction of that all-knowing eye, the erroneous parameters in his field of vision were eliminated one by one. In his view, it was simply that someone had installed the living room chandelier on the floor. Although the taste was peculiar and morbid, it wasn't unacceptable.
"Shut up! Stay close!"
Gao Lin's face was deathly pale. Her knuckles were blue from the excessive force as she gripped the Lava Tyrannosaurus's scales tightly.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex, with its potential to become a monarch, now resembled a frightened gecko. Its claws dug desperately into the cracks in the rocks, its tail tucked tightly in, and its throat emitted heavy, bellows-like breaths.
The team made a difficult advance towards the center of the square.
There stands a giant totem pole, hundreds of meters high. Instead of carving dragons and phoenixes, it is densely covered with tens of thousands of closed stone eyeballs.
The moment the group stepped into the shadow of the totem pole.
hum.
A low-frequency noise, similar to an electrical overload, penetrated my eardrum. My skull tingled from the resonance.
On the totem pole, tens of thousands of stone eyes opened in unison.
There were no whites in the eyes, no pupils to be seen. Only an abyss flowing with bright red liquid.
"what!"
A scream ripped through the deathly silence.
The three team members responsible for flank reconnaissance were struck dumb. Their protective soul power shattered instantly. Their eyeballs uncontrollably bulged and became bloodshot. Then, with a muffled, wet thud, they burst open like rotten berries, spraying red and white matter everywhere.
"Enemy attack! Defensive formation!"
The hound barked and pulled the trigger. The alchemical revolver spewed enchanted flames.
But this was completely ineffective.
The void cracked open. Countless translucent, vein-like tentacles surged forth from all directions. They ignored the physical barriers of the exoskeleton armor, piercing directly through flesh and bone, and stabbing into the already fragile spiritual sea of the beast tamer.
"Crimson Flame! Burn them all!"
Gao Lin screamed and swung the beast whip. Her voice was distorted with extreme fear.
The lava tyrannosaurus, barely managing to hold on, unleashed a breath of eerie green dragon breath. The flames did indeed ignite several tentacles. But the charred tentacles emitted a hallucinogenic, sweet, and strange fragrance. This, in turn, stimulated the surrounding space to frantically sprout even more limbs.
Tentacles surged forth like a tidal wave, instantly binding the Tyrannosaurus Rex into a cocoon of death.
Click. Click.
The bone-crackling sounds emanating from the two-story-high behemoth were chilling. Its soul was being relentlessly crushed by some higher-dimensional force. Its massive body was visibly withering away.
"Help me...help me..."
The dying cry of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was directly projected into Gao Lin's mind. Her last shred of sanity was on the verge of collapse. She trembled like a leaf in the wind.
"It's over...it's all over..."
The hound's eye socket ruptured. Two streams of bloody tears meandered down. The magazine in his hand was empty. The clicking sound of the firing pin hitting empty air was desperate and monotonous. The Holy Light Shield cracked under the pervasive whispers, on the verge of shattering into countless fragments.
This is a massacre.
The defense mechanisms of the S-class restricted area are simply beyond the reach of mortals. This place is the garden of the gods. Those who step in become nourishment.
Just as everyone closed their eyes in despair, waiting for their brains to be drained,
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A series of extremely untimely footsteps suddenly rang out.
That was the crisp sound of leather shoes stepping on the obsidian floor. Unhurried and unhurried, almost jarringly so.
Chen Mo had one hand in his pocket. With the other, he tossed the eerie blue crystal he'd plucked from the monster's belly. He strolled leisurely toward the totem pole that was frantically secreting tentacles.
The transparent tentacles surrounding him, powerful enough to shred steel, recoiled in terror the instant they were about to touch his clothes, as if burned by a scorching hot iron. They forcefully created a vacuum passage two meters in diameter.
"Hey! You idiot! What are you doing?!"
Gao Lin clutched her head, which throbbed with excruciating pain. Her voice was sharp and hoarse as she watched the figure walking towards the eye of the storm.
Chen Mo didn't turn around. He simply raised his wrist to look at a non-existent watch. His tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction with the property management.
"Don't panic. The access control system is just lagging a bit; a restart will fix it."
"Door...access control?"
Under the horrified gazes of the crowd, Chen Mo walked up to the totem pole that seemed to writhe like a living being.
Tens of thousands of bleeding eyes on the pillar stared intently at him. The blood and tears that flowed into streams stained the ground red.
"What are you looking at? Open the door."
Chen Mo coldly uttered two words.
He raised his hand and roughly shoved the R'lyeh engineer's Vision Core into a pulsating groove beneath the totem pole. The movement was as practiced as inserting a key at home. He didn't even turn it; he just pushed it all the way in.
Boom!
The entire upside-down city trembled violently.
The dark red alarm light, which had been filled with killing and madness, froze for a moment.
Immediately afterwards, it was like ink being dripped into clear water.
The raging red quickly faded. In its place came a soft, tranquil, and even somewhat sacred, ethereal green glow.
The transparent tentacles, which were hunting beast tamers, froze instantly as they flew everywhere.
The next second, the scene became utterly absurd.
The tentacles that were originally used to strangle lives began to weave and recombine rapidly. They did not disappear. Instead, they intertwined and transformed into... groups of intricately designed, even padded, floating staircases.
Some tentacles even thoughtfully reached under the fallen team members, transforming into ergonomically designed leather seats.
The tens of thousands of bleeding eyes on the totem pole closed simultaneously. The originally jarring low-frequency noise transformed into a respectful, organ-like murmur.
[Core permissions verified.]
Welcome back, the Most High Shepherd.
[VIP access is now open, providing direct access to the Abyss Corridor.]
"That's right."
Chen Mo patted the slippery surface of the totem pole, as if patting his obedient old dog.
He turned around and looked at his teammates behind him, their mouths agape in disbelief.
"What are you standing there for? Is your leg broken?"
Chen Mo was the first to step onto the staircase woven from countless tentacles. The tentacles even curved downwards in a flattering manner, creating a perfect step height.
"This is... Abyss-themed voice-controlled smart home technology. It saves you time and is environmentally friendly."
The entire room fell silent.
Only Gao Lin's lava tyrannosaurus, which was almost strangled to death, was now being gently laid on the ground by tentacles. There were even two tiny tentacles performing CPR on it.
The hound's hands trembled. The gun in its hands clattered to the ground.
He looked at the boy standing in the dim green light, his feet treading on tentacles as if walking on flat ground.
The logical loop that had long been formed in my mind was now welded shut due to the shock, leaving no gaps.
"This... what terrifying affinity for holy light..."
The hound's lips trembled. Its grey eyes were brimming with frenzied tears.
"Even the most defiled limbs of the abyss were forcibly transformed upon sensing the pure radiance within him, willingly becoming inanimate objects to be at his command..."
"A miracle...this is a living miracle!"
"What are you all standing there for! Get up! Follow the Holy Son... no, follow Chen Mo!"
The hunting dog wiped the blood from its face and was the first to rush forward. Its devout expression was almost like that of someone going on a pilgrimage.
Gao Lin stood up, supporting herself on her knees. Looking at that bizarre yet harmonious scene, she felt as if her worldview, built up over twenty years, had shattered into dust.
The way she looked at Chen Mo changed. It was no longer as if she were looking at trash, or a dead man. Instead, it was as if she were looking at a monster she couldn't comprehend at all.
"Let's go. This elevator won't wait for anyone."
Chen Mo stood on the slowly rising tentacle platform. The zipper on his backpack slid open a crack on its own.
Through the crack, Xiao Hei's golden vertical pupil greedily scanned the ancient city. It sensed it. Deep beneath the earth, a vast and familiar primal power was reawakening.
As the elevator descended deeper into the ground, the surrounding temperature plummeted.
A wet, sticky sound, seemingly containing countless chewing sounds, silently crept into Chen Mo's mind along those tentacles.
"host……"
"These snacks... are they safe to eat?"
Chen Mo's expression remained unchanged. He tapped his fingers lightly twice on his backpack. That was a signal of rejection.
"Don't rush."
Chen Mo chuckled inwardly. His gaze pierced through the deep green abyss, landing on the endless darkness at its edge.
"That's a small gift for the guests. We're all family here, so we'll have a proper meal."
"Now, take me to see my throne."