Shrouded Seascape

As Charles led the other green centipede-like creatures through the spider's internal fluids and speedily sliced through its nerves, their surroundings began to quake violently.

A peculiar yet familiar voice rang out in Charles's mind.

"Vulgtmph""…nglui "wk"…hmr…"

Charles recognized the chanting immediately—the murmur of a Divinity. To think that the spider could even harness a Divinity's power!

Charles' limbs began to slow down to a halt as a creeping frustration and terror overwhelmed his mind, causing him to curl up involuntarily.

Compared to the other green centipede-like creatures, he was in a much better condition. The moment the other green centipede-like creatures heard the voice, their heads exploded, and they were reduced to corpses left floating in the murky insect fluids.

For some unknown reason, Charles hadn't met the same end as them.

Move! Move it! Damn! Charles mentally screamed to himself as he tried to fight the mental fog in his head and struggled to get himself back on his feet. Driven by sheer willpower, he stumbled forward and continued to sever the nerves before him.

As he toiled diligently, the pink brains from earlier swam toward him. Using their metallic beaks, they pecked at Charles, tearing off chunks of flesh from his body.

Charles was too exhausted to fend them off. His injuries grew increasingly severe by the minute as more and more of his flesh was gouged out. Eventually, more of his thin, green form was almost entirely obscured by the brain matter.

Just as Charles was struggling on the brink of death, T dashed out from the side and rapidly sliced away the brains on Charles with fine threads.

Get up! Charles summoned every ounce of strength within him. Using his four maimed three-fingered green claws, he pushed off against the bloodied flesh ground and launched himself forward like a cannonball.

Every nerve and blood vessel in his path was severed in an instant. When he finally sliced through a nerve as thick as a bowl, the entire space around him abruptly shook, and the blood vessels and muscles relaxed.

"Charles, we did it!" T swam over to him and dragged the barely conscious Charles upward to the exit.

The moment they emerged from the viscous fluid, Charles felt as though he could see light despite having no eyes.

He raised his trembling right hand and scribbled on the flesh next to him. "We… succeeded?"

"Yes! We did it! We've severed the physical control 1189-1 had over this creature's body. Soon, its defensive mechanisms will activate, and those guys in the external brain will be reduced to fragments of memory through repeated mental shocks," T explained with visible excitement

"That's good. By the way… how do you know… so much about this thing?" As soon as Charles' words fell, his body went limp, and he slid downward.

"Hey! Charles! Wake up! Don't fall asleep!"

The last thing Charles felt was the tremors of anxiety coming from T.

***

Meanwhile, beneath them, deep within the interconnected tunnels, Anna was chasing after 1189-1 like a cat playing with a mouse.

It wasn't a singular passage. It was a sprawling labyrinth with layers upon layers that intertwined and looped around each other like an enormous maze. During her pursuit, Anna even encountered several other 1189-1 and managed to eradicate them with ease.

Now they were chasing each other in a vast football field-sized cavern. Ever so often, 1189-1 would try to use its ability to take over Anna's body.

"Stop wasting your energy. Your abilities don't work for me. We may have been from the same species from a thousand years ago, but now, I am way more powerful than you."

As soon as Anna's words fell, a transparent tentacle wrapped with white electric arcs extended from her back and struck her.

"Powerful?! You sheltered trash in the sea below have no idea what we've endured and how many times we've evolved!"

Anna's pale, supple skin tore open under the whip to reveal her true form. If she had looked like a giant starfish before, now she had doubled in size

Half a human-like visage manifested on the hideous monstrous face. A single eye with three pupils bulged grotesquely on the black bizarre creature that shimmered faintly with iridescent hues.

"I hate to see you in Charles' body, and I hate your tone even more," Anna remarked.

Suddenly, 1189-1 stopped in the distance. He clutched at his throat as if gasping for air.

When he finally struggled out of Anna's control, he had only merely taken a few steps before he was struck by three black-scaled tentacles with a resounding crack. Like a spinning top, he was flung away.

He crashed heavily against the smooth tunnel wall, causing a spider web pattern.

As soon as he fell to the ground, 1189-1 tried to teleport away, only to find Anna standing right in front of him. She had reverted to her human form and flashed him a sweet smile.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. This body belongs to my husband, after all. It's valuable," Anna commented.

The 1189-1 before her struggled to lift its head. As it gasped for breath, it said, "What's the difference between me and him? Zhao Jiajia, I'm also Gao Zhiming. In fact, I am a more perfect version of him. On top of that, we are of the same ancestral lineage. Compared to a fragile and weak human, I'm more compatible with you."

"Hahahahaha!" Anna covered her mouth with a delicate hand. "Dream on. Do you think stealing Charles's memories makes you him? You're nothing but a counterfeit in his brain."

Seeing that Anna was unmoved by his words, a hysterical expression appeared on 1189-1's countenance. "A counterfeit? What about you? Don't forget, we're both 1189-1! Just different subtypes! If I'm a fake, then do you really think you're real?"

Anna's laughter abruptly ceased as her expression gradually turned icy. She raised her right hand slightly; bulging veins instantly appeared across 1189-1's forehead, causing him to clutch his head while screaming in agony.

Staring at the man in front of her, Anna gritted her teeth. Her pale skin cracked open to reveal writhing tentacles beneath.

The body belonged to Charles, and she had to be careful not to damage it. Fortunately, she had countless other ways to inflict pain.

The surge of negative emotions crashed over 1189-1, but he showed no fear. Rather, hysterical laughter interspersed with his screams of agony. "You're getting desperate! Hahahah! I hit a nerve, didn't I?! You fake existence!"

Anna slowly relaxed her clenched teeth and allowed venomous words to slip through her lips.

"Don't worry, I won't let you die so easily. I'll extract you out of Charles' body, put you in a bottle, and give you the treatment you deserve."

However, 1189-1 was not even the least daunted by Anna's threat. A crazed glint flickered in its eyes as it stared at her.

"Hehehe… do you really think you've won? You people know nothing about us. Do you know why we lured you humans in quietly before? That's because we didn't want to fight and plan to just take over your bodies secretly.

"But now that you've found us out, then there's no need to hide anymore. Look behind you! After we split paths centuries ago, we have developed separately. For every one of your kind, there's one of mine!"

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