The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

As soon as Shen Ge finished speaking, as if in response to his sarcastic remark, the entire huge circular hall of flesh and blood began to throb violently without warning!
"Boom-thump-thump-"

The sound was like a heartbeat, like a heavy war drum, each beat causing the air to tremble.

A surge of eerie energy, far exceeding that of any previous "security cells," suddenly erupted from the massive "eerie tumor camera" in the center of the hall!
"Be careful!" Shen Ge shouted in a low voice. The invisible barrier formed by [Leaving the Ghost Domain] instantly thickened, firmly protecting the three of them inside.

The next second, a sudden change occurred!

The walls and floor of the entire hall began to writhe and proliferate at a visible speed. The "hounds" and "turrets" that were originally slowly regenerating were now being injected with a catalyst, and within seconds they were devoured and dissolved by the new flesh and blood tissue, turning into nutrients.

Immediately afterwards, a brand-new "security unit" "grew" out from the flesh and blood.

"What...what the hell is this?" Yu Tiexiong stared at the new enemy before him, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Ahead, a gigantic, bizarre creature made entirely of a translucent, gelatinous substance was slowly sliding down the wall.

It has no fixed shape; its body is like flowing flesh and jelly, spreading out on the ground to form an insurmountable "gelatinous barrier."

On both sides of the hall and on the ceiling, a dozen or so bizarre creatures, resembling spiders but with sharp, syringe-like mouthparts, were silently climbing. Their abdomens were slightly swollen, from which dripped a viscous liquid emitting an eerie green glow.

Throughout the "living laboratory," countless biological senses, transformed from the original monitoring equipment, had already transmitted every frame of the battle to the "core" hidden in the deepest part.

It lacks the intelligence to think, but having merged with the base's main system, it retains its most basic instincts—analyzing data and executing protocols.

Just now, through data analysis of Yu Tiexiong's violent power and Yun'er's extreme speed, the "security protocol" of the "Brain of the Nest" was instinctively triggered.

Yu Tiexiong didn't care about anything else. He roared and his burly body slammed into the "gelatinous barrier" like a cannonball.

"boom!!"

A muffled sound!
However, the anticipated overwhelming victory did not materialize.

The "gelatinous barrier" caved inward the moment of impact, like a giant elastic airbag, perfectly dissipating most of Yu Tiexiong's violent impact.

Immediately afterwards, countless gelatinous tentacles suddenly stretched out from the barrier, like predatory pythons, and coiled around Yu Tiexiong!

Yu Tiexiong was completely entangled. He struggled desperately, but found that these tentacles were incredibly tough and were constantly secreting a substance that could weaken the power of his Ghost Arm Armor.

Meanwhile, a battle broke out on the other side.

Yoona's figure transformed into a black lightning bolt, instantly rushing to the eerie front of those climbing "predators".

"Hey!"

The bloody claws sliced ​​through the predator's body with ease.

However, before she could expand her gains, the other "predators" around her simultaneously turned their mouthparts and sprayed huge spider webs made of viscous acid at her!

These "spider web acid" are not only highly corrosive, but also have a terrifyingly sticky effect.

Yoona had to dodge at high speed; her speed advantage was greatly limited by the spider webs that almost completely blocked her movement.

For a time, Yu Tiexiong and Yun'er, the two top captains of the Special Operations Department, were simultaneously caught in an unprecedentedly fierce battle.

The enemy seemed to have a complete understanding of their capabilities and had "designed" the most effective countermeasures.

Protected by the [Unfettered Realm], Shen Ge calmly observed everything. His [Strange Eye] pierced through appearances, revealing the true nature of things.

He could clearly see that the strange energy and biomass throughout the hall were flowing in a bizarre way. Whenever Yu Tiexiong exerted his strength to break free, more energy would be transferred to the "gelatinous barrier," strengthening its resilience; and whenever Yun'er tried to break through the spider web blockade, new "predators" would quickly generate from the walls, replenishing the firepower network.

All the responses are like the optimal solutions derived from precise calculations by a supercomputer.

“It’s not thinking; it’s just executing optimized defense commands.” Shen Ge’s eyes narrowed, and he instantly understood the key point.

This so-called "nest brain" is nothing more than a giant biological server that has lost its soul and is left with only instinct and programs.

Shen Ge suddenly thought of Hermes, the brain of the "Iron Heart". If it weren't for his interference, would the "Iron Heart" eventually become a "Nest"?
However, since it is a program, there are vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

Shen Ge's voice clearly reached the ears of the two who were locked in a fierce battle.

"Yu Tiexiong, attack the wall at the twelve o'clock position directly in front of us with maximum power and keep firing! Don't stop!"

"Yoona, cover him!"

Yu Tiexiong, who was struggling with the gelatinous tentacles, was taken aback upon hearing this. The twelve o'clock position? Isn't that just an ordinary wall of flesh and blood? What's the point of attacking there?

But out of absolute trust in Shen Ge, he did not hesitate at all. He immediately roared and broke free from some of the restraints. The crimson light of the strange arm armor on his arms shone brightly, and its power was instantly brought to the limit.

"Open it for me!!!"

Two thick, high-energy blast cannons shot out and slammed into the empty, fleshy wall!
"Boom——!!!"

The violent explosion shook the entire hall.

Just as Shen Ge had predicted.

The "security agreement" of the "Brain of the Nest" was immediately misled by this "ineffective attack" that had no tactical significance.

In its "calculation," this relentless and continuous high-energy output is bound to be the enemy's main breakthrough direction.

[Judgment: Primary threat source – location 12-04.]

[Implementation: The 'Barrier' Agreement.]

[Resource mobilization: 73.8%]

Instantly, over 70% of the biomass and supernatural energy in the entire hall surged wildly towards the wall that had been attacked, like a tidal wave.

The wall grew and hardened at a visible rate, and even a thick layer of bone armor that shimmered with a metallic luster solidified on its surface!
In order to provide energy for this "super shield," the energy supply to the "gelatinous barriers" surrounding Yu Tiexiong and the "predators" attacking Yun'er was instantly cut off, causing their movements to suddenly become sluggish and stagnant. Now!

Just as the laboratory's defenses were being mobilized on a large scale, creating a fatal gap, Shen Ge's figure flashed, appearing as if by teleportation at the nine o'clock position, the weakest point in the defenses.

[The Invisible Ghost Realm Collapses!]
He didn't even use much force, just a light grip.

The walls there, along with the several "turrets" that had ceased to function, seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, collapsing and compressing inward in an instant, eventually turning into a pool of blood, revealing a dark passage leading to a deeper depth.

Shen Ge turned around and, facing the two who had already broken free, shouted in a deep voice, "Go!"

On the other side of the passage lies the true core of this "living laboratory".

In the center of the cave, a bizarre skeleton over a hundred meters long is immersed in a huge culture tank made of a viscous, eerie liquid.

The scientist who appeared in the video had his body completely fused with something even more terrifying.

It was a huge, fleshy brain, more than ten meters in diameter, with countless black blood vessels covering its surface, and still pulsating rhythmically.

The scientist's upper torso, like a deformed ornament, was inserted directly above his brain. His eyes were closed, his face expressionless, and he had long since lost all signs of life.

He is already dead.

But Shen Ge seemed to have seen him look like this before.

And I've seen it more than once.

That was the "spire" from the fragmented world, the female monster who appeared in the stairwell almost blended into the wall.

The moment Shen Ge and his two companions stepped into this core area, the enormous "nest brain" emitted a terrifying wave of eerie energy!

It was like an invisible hammer, slamming heavily into Shen Ge's invisible barrier. Even with the protection of the invisible barrier, Yun'er and Yu Tiexiong still felt dizzy and their consciousness was greatly impacted.

The next second, the countless thick, blood vessel-like ducts that had merged with the "nest brain" suddenly contracted and tightened, like a dying heart making its last beat.

The "Brain of the Nest" frantically poured all the accumulated bizarre energy into that huge incubation tank, into that strange skeleton of the progenitor!
An eerie fluctuation, undetectable by any instrument, silently spread out from the massive skeleton.

In the instant the ripples swept across, the entire massive cavern seemed to be shrouded in an invisible veil. The air became stagnant, the light began to distort, and an eerie sense of incongruity arose.

Shen Ge could only sense the spread of the eerie energy erosion and could capture a portion of it through his eerie eye, but he couldn't understand the specific effects of the other party's eerie energy erosion.

"Watch out! Something's coming!" Yu Tiexiong instinctively raised his grotesque arm armor, but his movements were somewhat sluggish.

To his astonishment, he discovered that a layer of grayish-white powder, resembling rust, was emerging on the surface of the special power armor covering his massive body.

Those indestructible special alloys are actually "sanding" at a speed visible to the naked eye!
On the other side, Yoona's expression also changed slightly. She could feel that her blood-corroding claws, made of high-level strange flesh and blood, had become somewhat unstable, and the sharp edges were uncontrollably emitting strange energy.

Rust disease?
Shen Ge suddenly thought of the rust disease that had once triggered the great crisis of the "Iron Heart". If the rust disease had not corroded the energy core of the Iron Heart, they would not have been able to venture into the Sea of ​​Roots, which led to a series of subsequent events.

But the problem is... how come there's rust here too?
Yu Tiexiong attempted to fire a high-energy cryptid cannon towards the direction of the skeleton.

However, the scorching beam of light, powerful enough to destroy a small mountain, was absorbed by an invisible sponge less than twenty meters from the muzzle, quickly dimming and finally disintegrating completely tens of meters away from the skeleton, turning into ghost energy that was absorbed by the surrounding flesh and blood.

In this "contaminated zone," any form of cybernetic attack becomes meaningless. Not only are they unable to harm their enemies, but they themselves are also constantly being corrupted by this space.

The energy consumption for maintaining the Ghost Domain has increased from ten times that of entering this strange space to almost fifty times that of the outside world.

Fortunately, he is now at the eighth level of the Ghost Energy realm. As long as he doesn't activate the Three Ghost Domains, he can still cope even with fifty times the Ghost Energy consumption.

"Damn it..." Yu Tiexiong cursed under his breath, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness as he listened to the overload warnings coming from the power armor.

How is this played?
Shen Ge's expression remained calm. Judging from the "rules" here and the massive consumption of his strange energy, he suspected that this nest possessed some kind of "characteristic".

Strangely, when he activated the system to scan, he found nothing with bizarre characteristics; it only warned him of a highly threatening Ghost King.

The Demon King, seventh rank?
In the system's understanding, anything above the seventh rank is considered a Ghost King, so judging the rating of a "nest" solely based on this is inaccurate.

Shen Ge realized that conventional fighting methods had reached a dead end. If you want to fight against a "rule", you can't use conventional power to force it.

Then... let's try a different approach.

Shen Ge simply withdrew his Ghost Domain and instead unleashed his Devouring Ghost Domain, using it to resist the surrounding erosion.

"Captain Shen?" Yu Tiexiong exclaimed in surprise, unable to believe his eyes.

Without the protection of the barrier, the surface of Shen Ge's specially made black combat suit instantly showed signs of extensive fibrosis and disintegration, and fine signs of collapse began to appear on the exposed skin.

Staying within the Ghost Domain is "absolute defense," using Shen Ge's ghost energy to resist the surrounding erosion. After converting it into his own Ghost Domain, he shifts from defense to offense.

Both consume a high amount of ghost energy, but unlike others, Shen Ge's ghost domain is also constantly devouring the surrounding ghost energy, consuming the ghost energy of the "nest".

It's better for everyone to consume it than for one person to consume it alone.

The enormous "nest brain" throbbed wildly, mobilizing the last of the skeleton's eerie energy, but it could not stop the spread of Shen Ge's eerie domain.

Even a power with a certain "characteristic" is no match for the "devouring power" of the progenitor's bizarre cells.

At this point, what started as Shen Ge's one-sided consumption of energy has turned into a tug-of-war where both sides are depleting their magical energy.

Shen Ge told Yu Tiexiong and Yun'er to follow him, then unleashed his own demonic domain and pressed towards the cultivation tank. Reaching the enormous tank, he stretched out his right hand—

He didn't even touch the massive skeleton or the still violently trembling "nest brain".

Just a gentle squeeze.

The Devouring Domain suddenly contracted! (End of Chapter)