National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

"Turn off the lights!"

The deliberately lowered voice echoed in layers in the quiet cave.

Almost at the same time,

The light source of [Deep Sea Shadow] has gone out.

But the 'green starry sky' overhead, which was almost still, became even more conspicuous because of the disappearance of the light source.

The points of light, stimulated by the corona stone, blinked wildly, like dormitory supervisors who had been woken up.

"Glug..."

In the darkness, someone swallowed hard.

"Boss, boss..." Ethan's voice trembled slightly, "That thing... seems to have come down."

He doesn't need to say it.

Everyone saw the image that could kill someone with trypophobia on the spot.

Above the dome.

Those tens of thousands of "stars" began to... wriggle and stretch.

They were originally curled up in a ball, but now, as if they had heard the commotion on the [Deep Sea Shadow], they began to slowly droop like noodles.

One, two...

Ten thousand!

The entire cave ceiling seemed to melt, with countless streams of glowing viscous liquid flowing down, pressing towards the people on the deck at a speed similar to that of the [Deep Sea Shadow] Land Walk.

This mysterious and silent sense of oppression is more suffocating than roars and ferocious beasts.

"Boss! Should we..." Klaus switched the Newton in his hand to hammer mode, the soft rattling of gears being particularly clear in the silence.

"Don't panic."

He stood at the very front of the deck, holding the Raven in reverse, but he didn't rush to make a move.

The movements of these mysterious creatures didn't seem like they were hunting; they seemed more like they were probing.

"...I have a very bad feeling."

Nathan stood at the door of the observation cabin, ready to open the door and let everyone evacuate if anything went wrong.

"Based on my experience exploring South America, these social creatures that live in hallucinogenic environments are usually highly poisonous!"

"Or...or vampire bats, those vampires with pig-like snouts that can bite through a carotid artery in one bite!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Cold sweat beaded on Ivan's forehead, and he clutched his "Thoughts" tightly in his hand.

[Thoughts] A few days ago, Klaus improved it, turning it from a one-handed heavy axe into a two-handed long-handled double-edged axe.

certainly......

The heart on top is bigger and more eye-catching, and it has become double-sided.

"I think it might be a centipede... its legs combined are longer than its life; if it falls into your neck, it'll burrow into your brain..."

"Can't you guys... think of something positive?"

Klaus gritted his teeth. "What if it's some kind of highly radioactive fungal aggregate? Once those spores get into our lungs, our lung lobes will turn into rotten mushrooms covered in mycelium!"

The three of them, talking back and forth, brought the atmosphere of a B-movie horror film to its peak.

Aurora & Situ: "..."

Renyi: "I think it's possible—"

"Shut up!" the five people shouted in unison.

The green light bands were getting closer and closer, and were less than three meters away from overhead.

Two meters...

One meter...

A slightly sticky green halo illuminated everyone's pores.

Ivan closed his eyes and roared:

"I'll fight you to the death!"

He suddenly swung his axe, ready to unleash a bloodbath—

"etc."

Suddenly, Ren Yi reached out and grabbed Ivan's arm, looking up at him speechlessly:

"Take another look."

Ivan cautiously opened one eye.

The drooping "rice cakes" stopped less than a meter above their heads.

It has no ferocious mouthparts, no sharp fangs, and no densely packed insect legs.

Those were translucent...tubes?

wrong......

To be precise, they were long, glutinous rice balls hanging in mid-air.

They seemed to have soft, squishy bodies with a semi-transparent, gelatinous feel. Their heads were about the size of a tangerine, and a long, thin, glowing tail connected to the top of the cave.

On its round head, two large, watery green eyes peeked out.

"Pfft...chirp?!"

The 'glutinous rice ball' facing Ivan seemed to sense the gaze of the two-legged creature below and made a sound similar to that of a rubber duck being squeezed.

Nathan's "God bless" got stuck in his throat, turning into a distorted question:

"what?"

Klaus slammed his wrench onto the deck with a loud "bang."

This art style is off!

What happened to the promised hellish scroll, Resident Evil, and American apocalypse?

Are those teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu) hanging all over the sky?

"This...this is what those glowing eyes were like earlier?" Siddhartha pointed incredulously to the one closest to her.

The little thing seemed a little shy—

Its two eyes shrank back into its head, and its body turned a light pink.

"Pfft!"

It let out a shy cry.

[I really don't know what to say = =]

[Help! This thing looks like a Want Want QQ candy...]

[If it's one of those monsters... please let them attack me! I can handle it!]

[Although... what was with that horror movie atmosphere just now?]

[The horror movie atmosphere was probably just something Klaus and his friends created...]

These things don't seem to be very aggressive.

Everyone relaxed like a deflated balloon.

"That scared the hell out of me..."

Ivan wiped the sweat from his brow. "After all that fuss, it turns out to be a... what kind of thing?"

"It looks like daifuku (a type of Japanese steamed bun) that's been exposed to too much radiation..."

"Daifuku?"

Nathan was taken aback. "Isn't that a kind of cherry blossom dessert?"

"A vivid analogy." Renyi shrugged. "Living in symbiosis with [Nightmare Crystals] is definitely a result of excessive radiation exposure... and besides being cute, it's not very useful."

"Cute is justice!"

Ivan has recovered by now.

The two-meter-tall, burly bear-man stared at the little creature that had just made a "plop!" sound at him, and a hint of paternal tenderness appeared in his eyes—

They reminded him of the little bear he used to have.

"Look at those big, bright eyes."

"Come on, little one, give Uncle a smile."

"Um... don't move around," Renyi reminded him.

But it's too late.

Ivan had already gently poked the soft, bouncy forehead of that 'daifuku' (a type of Japanese pastry).

"It feels really good, cool to the touch, much better than Xiao Jiu..."

Before he could finish speaking...

The 'Daifuku' that was originally green suddenly shuddered, and its watery eyes instantly narrowed into slits, turning into a deep, dark green.

Ivan belatedly recalled the system's assessment when he encountered it:

【Fluorescent Suspended Jellyfish (Cave Daifuku)】

[Review: These are peculiar creatures living in a highly radioactive underground environment. They feed by absorbing energy released from nightmare crystals and can be used as streetlights or... a hanging rope. PS: Don't be fooled by their cute appearance.]