America: The Cremator

Chapter 209 Elena's Bronze Sculpture!

The only sound in the medical tent was the beeping of the monitors.

Su Long stood there dumbfounded in front of the folding chair, completely at a loss.

His gaze fell on Byron's face, trying to find even the slightest trace of a joke.

But the helpless and self-reproachful expression on Byron's face told him, quite genuinely, that it was true.

Su Long took a step back, his thoughts in disarray, many images of this woman flashing through his mind.

From the moment she was first chased by the Rain Girl and met Elena, she has always been a resilient and powerful warrior.

As the captain of the Black Chess Task Force, she has experienced countless life-or-death battles, and the sacred artifact in her hands is incredibly powerful.

Whether it's Valak, Siren Head, or Baphomet—she can't defeat them all on her own, but she can hold her own for a long time.

He just died like that?

impossible.

As Su Long was thinking, Byron suddenly raised his only remaining right hand and gripped Su Long's wrist tightly.

"Su Long, I'm sorry—"

Su Long stared at Byron's empty left shoulder, his Adam's apple bobbing, before finally asking, "What's the command post's next plan? Communication inside the building is completely cut off. How are they going to confirm the situation inside? When are they planning to reorganize a high-level assault force?"

Byron let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Sulon, there's no further tactical option. The military command and the high command of the Odds Support Bureau have abandoned the rescue."

""

Byron released Sullon's wrist and leaned back in his chair, exhausted.

"Both advance teams were wiped out, the rooftop safe house was confirmed to be a trap, and our mixed A-level and B-level team also met the same fate."

"They have determined that there are no survivors inside the building. Now, the National Guard has received final orders and they are withdrawing completely."

"About ten minutes later, the air force will drop high-yield thermobaric bombs and bunker buster bombs. They will use the most extreme methods to completely wipe out this building."

After hearing these words, Su Long suddenly turned his head and looked at the towering building in the distance.

Once a high-yield thermobaric bomb falls, the physical structure of the entire building will instantly be reduced to ashes, and the spiritual structure of the inner world attached to it will also collapse completely.

If Elena is still struggling inside the giant devourer's belly, this bombardment will completely cut off her chance of survival.

Just then, something that Su Long had almost forgotten suddenly came to mind.

He immediately summoned the system panel, and the list of entries scrolled rapidly before his eyes, his gaze fixed on [Elena's Clay Sculpture☆].

】superior.

This clay sculpture is bound to Elena. If Elena really died inside the Great Devourer's stomach, this entry should definitely change.

But this entry hasn't changed at all. Does that mean—Elena is still alive?

Perhaps she is desperately clinging to life inside the giant devourer's belly, waiting for rescue!

"She's not dead," Su Long said firmly.

Byron paused for a moment, watching Suron turn and walk out of the tent. He instantly realized what Suron was going to do, so he shouted, trying to persuade Suron to come back.

"Sulong! Calm down!"

Without turning his head, Su Long flung open the curtain of the medical tent: "Elena is still alive. She's waiting for me to save her. I have to go back and get her out."

The moment he rushed out of the tent, Su Long saw that the entire temporary camp had already begun the evacuation process.

The Apache attack helicopters that had been stationed around the square were rapidly gaining altitude and withdrawing to safe airspace.

The tracks of the M1A2 main battle tanks blocking the street intersection were reversing at full speed.

Large numbers of fully armed soldiers were frantically moving communication equipment and ammunition boxes, with the engines of military trucks roaring in unison.

Everyone knew the bombing was coming, and everyone was desperately trying to evacuate.

Su Long stood amidst the chaotic crowd, his gaze passing over the layers of barricades and locking onto the massive building covered in black mud a few hundred meters away.

The black substance on the building's exterior wall was writhing violently. The crack that had been forcibly torn open by the space stabilizer was now less than a meter wide and was rapidly closing.

With only ten minutes left before the bombing, the crevice was about to close.

"Su!"

A loud shout came from the side and behind.

Dania ran over from the logistics department and saw Sulong walking against the flow of retreating people. She immediately guessed what he was going to do.

Hannah followed closely behind Dania, clutching the Bible, her face full of anxiety.

"Su! Where are you going! The military is about to blow up the building!"

Surong glanced back at them: "You all stay here! No one is allowed to follow us!"

Then, Su Long turned around again and mobilized all the power in his body.

[Burning Flesh and Blood], activate!

boom!

A violent surge of heat exploded through Su Long's limbs and bones, and his heart began to pound wildly, forcing a large amount of blood into every blood vessel and every muscle.

Then, he suddenly exerted force with both legs.

"Snap!"

The paving stones beneath their feet were shattered by the explosive force, and stones flew in all directions.

Su Long transformed into a blur too fast for the naked eye to follow, hurtling straight toward the building like a cannonball.

Dania gritted her teeth, watching the rapidly receding figure.

After spending a long time together, she also understood Su Long's personality, and at this critical moment, no one could persuade him to back down.

Su Long's speed increased, and the physical strain from burning away his flesh and blood even caused wisps of white steam to rise from his body.

The entrance to the building is just ahead.

The massive space stabilizer had been shut down by the special forces soldiers, and two soldiers were struggling to drag the thick cable in preparation for evacuation.

The black sludge on the building's exterior wall was surging wildly, and the barely maintained crack had shrunk to a width that only allowed one person to pass through. The black sludge on both sides was merging together.

"Sir! Danger! Stop immediately! The passageway is closing!"

The special forces soldier dragging the cable saw Su Long charging towards him, immediately dropped the cable, waved his arms, and shouted a warning.

Sulong showed absolutely no intention of slowing down.

ten meters.

five meters.

three meters.

Just as the gap was about to be welded shut, Su Long pushed off the ground with both feet, twisting his body in mid-air and turning his shoulder to the side.

"Whoosh!"

He squeezed through the gap, which was less than half a meter wide.

A heavy thud of black mud came from behind.

The crack has completely closed.

The blinding searchlights were shut out, and the noise from the soldiers' evacuation outside vanished instantly.

Su Long landed firmly on his feet, stepping into the foul-smelling puddles.

The pungent, sour smell and deathly darkness inside the building engulfed him once again.

Back in darkness, the only sounds in the world were Suron's own heartbeat and breath.

Viscous, rotten, and lifeless.

He returned to the lair occupied by the Great Devourer. Time was of the essence, and Surong immediately looked down at his wrist.

With a thought, the light gray mark on the back of his hand became slightly warm, and a small clay sculpture appeared out of thin air, lying quietly in his palm.

What made Su Long's heart sink was that there were obvious damages and dents on the left shoulder and right calf of the clay sculpture, and several pieces of clay had peeled off, revealing the hollow structure inside.

The state of the clay sculpture directly reflects Elena's condition, meaning she is currently seriously injured.

If the damage to Elena can be reflected back to this clay sculpture, then what about the reverse?

If this clay sculpture is healed, will the same effect be felt on her?

Sulong immediately drew Raphael from his waist and carefully poured the wine inside onto the damaged part of the clay sculpture.

However, the expected situation did not occur.

The liquid simply slid down the surface of the clay sculpture and onto the ground; not a single drop was absorbed. The damage to the clay sculpture remained.

"Is it not working? —" Su Long frowned and began to analyze why the treatment had failed.

Is it because the entry level is too low and the permissions are insufficient?

Or is it that this one-way feedback of damage simply doesn't support reverse healing?

Either way, it's bad news for the current situation, but maybe he can raise the entry's ranking a bit?

With this thought in mind, Su Long summoned the system panel and focused his gaze on his limited resources.

Experience points: 50.

Mithril Coins: 3.

Upgrading [Elena's Clay Sculpture☆] to three stars requires 40 experience points and 1 mithril coin.

This almost drained his accumulated experience points, but Su Long did not hesitate at all.

To find and rescue Elena in this building, which is strangely occupied by A-level peak experts, we must seize every possible opportunity.

Even though he didn't know what effects this strange term would have after it was upgraded.

"upgrade!"

Su Long silently recited this in his heart.

[Consuming 40 experience points and 1 mithril coin, the "Elena's Clay Sculpture☆" attribute has been upgraded.]

【Elena's Bonds☆☆☆】

Type: Bond Entry Description: The host has formed a bond with Elena and can summon "Elena's Bronze Sculpture" through the mark on the back of the hand. Any actions performed on the bronze sculpture (touching, damaging, healing, and spiritual blessing) will be projected onto its body. The host can briefly sense the location and status of its master through the bronze sculpture.

Verdict: She belongs to you now!

Seeing the description that "the location and status of the owner can be briefly sensed through this bronze sculpture," Su Long's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Become!

He urged the mark on the back of his hand again.

This time, a bronze statue appeared in his palm.

This bronze sculpture is several times more exquisite than the previous clay sculpture. Elena's facial features are much clearer, but her left shoulder and right leg are still missing, and the broken parts of the brass show signs of being corroded by strong acid.

Without further hesitation, Su Long raised the "Raphael" flask again and poured the wine over it.

This time, the moment the liquor touched the bronze sculpture, it quickly seeped into the brass.

Immediately afterwards, the damaged parts of the bronze sculpture began to repair themselves at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Tiny brass fragments sprout from the fracture, reconstructing the contours of the shoulders and legs.

In less than ten seconds, a perfectly intact brass statue of Elena appeared before Suron's eyes.

efficient!

Surong was overjoyed and immediately put "Raphael" back into his waistband.

Healing is only the first step; the most crucial thing now is to pinpoint Elena's location.

He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the bronze sculpture, trying to establish a deeper resonance with it.

At first, Su Long couldn't sense anything, but as he gradually mobilized the spirituality within him, a faint, almost imperceptible connection was finally established in the darkness.

It was a strange feeling; he could clearly sense Elena's heart beating faintly in a distant place.

The signal he sensed was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment, but it did exist and pointed him in a vague direction.

Su Long suddenly opened his eyes and looked up.

The source of that sensation came from the very top of the building.

Su Long concentrated, carefully discerning the exact location of the fluctuation, and quickly reviewed the three-dimensional structure of the building in his mind.

In the end, he locked onto the thirty-eighth floor!

Su Long immediately understood that the Great Devourer's main body was located in the middle layer, cutting the entire building in half.

After being devoured, Elena was not immediately digested, but was imprisoned by the monster in a certain place on the upper level.

That might be the monster's "storage room".

The goal is already very clear.

Su Long put away the bronze sculpture, glanced at the direction he had come from, and saw that the area was now completely sealed off. It was no longer possible to return to the ground and go upstairs the way he came.

The only way is to go up from this underground parking lot.

Time was of the essence. He didn't know when the military's bombing would begin, nor how much longer Elena could hold out.

She must be brought out before the bomb falls.

Sulong retrieved the bronze sculpture, pulled out a building structure diagram from the side pocket of his tactical vest, unfolded the map, and began planning his route of action.

I am currently in the underground parking lot. The nearest vertical passage is the staff-only stairwell located in the northeast corner of the parking lot.

Su Long put away the map, and once again transformed into a blurry shadow, speeding through the rusty, abandoned vehicle wreckage.

A dozen seconds later, a fire door, badly corroded by acid, came into view. Without slowing down, Su Long kicked the door in the middle.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the entire fire door flew inward and crashed heavily into the wall of the stairwell, sending sparks flying.

Su Long stepped onto the stairs and began running wildly upwards.

The situation inside the stairwell was better than in the parking lot outside; at least there weren't those upside-down, fleshy tentacles and acid everywhere.

Su Long remained highly vigilant, climbing rapidly while keeping an eye on any movement around him.

To his surprise, there were no ambushes or monsters along the way; it was as if the Great Devourer had deliberately made way for him.

Su Long knew in his heart that this was definitely not a good omen.

The Great Devourer wouldn't withdraw its defenses without a reason. The only explanation is that it has prepared a more deadly trap for itself elsewhere and is waiting for the user to walk into it.

Suron moved even faster, the countdown to the military bombing hanging like a sword of Damocles overhead. He didn't have enough time to guess the Great Devourer's intentions.

One floor, two floors —

As the building ascends, the changes in the surrounding environment become increasingly severe.

Starting from the fifteenth floor, a viscous, dark red liquid began to seep from the gray-white walls, and the stair railings were corroded down to their bare skeletons.

When Su Long rushed up to the thirtieth floor in one breath, the entire stairwell had completely turned into writhing flesh and blood tissue, with tumors of varying sizes squeezing out from deep within the walls, their surfaces covered with pulsating blood vessels.

Sulong ignored all of this; he had only one goal.

The thirty-eighth floor.

"Bang!"

One minute later.

Su Long kicked open the tightly closed fire door again and rushed into the thirty-eighth floor.

This place has been completely turned into a fertile ground of flesh and blood; as far as the eye can see, everything is covered by thick layers of flesh and blood.

Countless thick blood vessels coiled and intertwined, extending from the floor to the ceiling, forming deformed fleshy pillars that supported the space.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and rotting entrails, along with the faint sound of a heartbeat.

Thump—thump—

The entire space trembled in sync with the heartbeat, and the flesh and blood tissue in the air contracted and expanded in sync.

Su Long stepped onto the soft and elastic flesh, walking unsteadily towards the source of the heartbeat.

The source is right in the elevator shaft in the center of this floor.

When Su Long pushed his way through the several fleshy pillars blocking his path to the elevator shaft, he saw that the elevator door had already been violently torn open and twisted outwards like a pretzel.

The elevator shaft, which should have been empty, was now completely filled with a deformed structure that defies description.

That's a mouth.

A huge mouth, arranged vertically, covering the entire area of ​​the elevator door.

Around the edge of his mouth were two rows of neat, pale white teeth, each tooth about half the height of a person, with a smooth surface and a gleaming ivory-like sheen.

Thick, red saliva dripped continuously from between the teeth, corroding deep pits into the fleshy ground below.

Just as Su Long was examining the giant mouth, an eye slowly opened from the deep darkness inside.

It was an enormous, cloudy eyeball. It turned and focused on Su Long, who was standing outside the elevator shaft.

What shone through those eyes was pure curiosity.

It's as if a god has seen a plaything that has intruded into his divine realm.

It was waiting, waiting for Sulong's attack, or rather, anticipating Sulong's next performance.

As Su Long met the gaze of that enormous eyeball, a sense of calm returned to him.

Great, I found the right place.

He directly used the [Intelligence Master] ability, and the next moment, a line of golden text appeared on his retina.

[Warning: The area ahead is the feeding entrance of the "Great Devourer." Once swallowed, you will fall directly into its inherent domain, the Devouring Domain.]

Domain of Devouring!

Upon seeing these four words, Su Long's spirits lifted.

This news further confirmed his suspicions: Elena was not dead!

She must have been swallowed into this "devouring domain" and was struggling to survive in that area thanks to the lantern's defense.

Su Long's tense lips finally broke into a smile.

He raised his head, meeting the gaze of that enormous eyeball, took a step forward, crossed the edge of the elevator shaft, and leaped towards that bottomless maw.

In the darkness, the enormous eyeball suddenly widened, utterly astonished and bewildered.

It had imagined countless possibilities, but it never expected that this tiny human would actually jump in on its own initiative.

The next moment, the giant mouth slammed shut.

Gurgle.

A muffled swallowing sound echoed in the empty hall of flesh and blood.

The area in front of the elevator shaft fell silent again.

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