On the Ark.

He heard it.

Chapter 343 Escape (Part Two)

"Dr. Lin Ye?" Magellan noticed the change in Lin Ye's expression and asked with some confusion, "What's wrong?"

Lin Ye frowned deeply: "Didn't you hear anything?"

"A sound? What do you mean?"

“I can’t quite explain it either…” Lin Ye shook his head. “It seems like it is, but it also seems like it isn’t. I don’t know if I misheard… But it’s better not to trust your imagination at times like this. Magellan, send your drone over there to take a look.”

Lin Ye pointed in a direction that made him feel danger.

"The other side of the river?" Magellan's expression gradually turned serious. "Okay, I understand. I'll send the drone over right away. But speaking of which, Dr. Lin Ye, your premonition seems quite accurate. Is it also because of that knife?"

Is your premonition accurate?

Lin Ye was stunned, because no one had ever said that to him before. He didn't know if it was because of [Maple], but he hoped that his premonition was wrong, or even better, the opposite, because the sudden throbbing in his heart just now had indeed made him feel uneasy, as if something terrible was about to appear.

"We need to speed things up." Lin Ye made a decisive move, turning to Swire and saying, "Don't listen to anything else. If you're alright, come with me into the water to rescue them. There are still quite a few Guard Bureau agents in the river. All you need to do is peel those tumors off them. As for what happened, you can tell me as many times as you want after we leave here!"

Swire didn't expect Lin Ye to dare to order her around in such a forceful tone, but she didn't mind; in fact, she admired Lin Ye's decisiveness.

"Since that's the case, you'd better explain things to me properly when we get back to Lungmen. If you really did save my life again, I will repay you." After saying this, Swire followed Chūmaru into the water. Actually, when she learned that her subordinates were also in the water, it wasn't really in her nature to stay on the shore and listen to what had happened.

After Swire went into the water, Lin Ye glanced at the situation on Skyfire's side. It has to be said that Skyfire's strength is indeed excessively powerful. She was almost exhausted from releasing a powerful move like "Heavenly Fall Fire" and has not yet recovered, yet she is still able to block the entire entrance by herself. Countless monsters have already perished in her flames.

But just to be on the safe side, Lin Ye still went to inquire about the situation of the Heavenly Fire.

"Leave this to me." Tianhuo's face was a little pale, but he didn't look too tired. "Just hurry up and find the exit."

Lin Ye nodded and, without saying anything more, quickly went into the river to "rescue the person".

There are about thirty people still in the river. Of these, only five or six have not been targeted by the tumorous parasites; the remaining twenty-five have already been possessed. These are the most difficult to deal with and the most time-consuming to rescue. Only Blue Poison can dissolve them with her toxins.

Very few of those rescued were as fortunate as Swire and Youmeng, one completely unharmed and the other without a fatal wound. Most were seriously injured, and two members of the Guard Bureau were already dead when they were brought ashore. This made Swire's expression extremely grim.

"Fuck your mother!" When she saw the third corpse belonging to the Guard Bureau, Swire finally couldn't hold back and cursed, but it was all in vain. If curses had power, then internet trolls would have been saviors long ago. All she could do was vent her anger. After all, from her perspective, she had just taken a nap, and when she woke up, she saw several of her subordinates turned into cold corpses. As their superior, she didn't even have a chance to save them. The frustration in her heart was indescribable.

Meanwhile, Yumeng, an oceanographer from the Guard Bureau, also heard the whole story from Magellan. After thinking for a moment, he said, "From your description, if the unseen deep-sea entity hypnotized its food and brought it to this island, and then these tumorous parasites devoured it, then there might be some kind of symbiotic relationship between the deep-sea entity and the tumorous parasites, but..."

"but?"

Looking at the slain parasitic tumors not far away, Youmeng said softly, "I feel like I've seen this kind of creature in some book before, but I can't remember where."

Magellan thought to herself, "It's amazing you can't remember at this time. This is too much of a rip-off." Just as she was about to let Youmeng think about it, the microcomputer suddenly received a message from the drone. She glanced at it and immediately showed a joyful expression. Then she shouted to Lin Ye, who was still retrieving people from the river, "Dr. Lin Ye, I've found the exit."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ye immediately kicked the hypnotized Sunset Merchant Guild member in his arms awake, and then, regardless of his mental state, quickly ran to Magellan's side and asked, "Where are you?"

“The road is on the other side of the river.” Magellan showed the route map to Lin Ye. “Look, there’s a passage here, about the same size as the one we came in through, but much shorter, only about 350 meters long. That’s how you get out.”

"It's so close," Lin Ye said softly. "How did you find it?"

“I did exactly what you said, sending the drone to scout across the river. I discovered many similar passages on the other side,” Magellan said. “I randomly picked one that leads to the outside. I think many of the remaining passages must also lead to the outside, given the size of this island.”

Are there many similar channels?

Lin Ye pondered Magellan's words.

"As for the danger you mentioned, I haven't detected it yet. Nor have I found anything resembling a deep-sea entity," Magellan said with some doubt. "Dr. Lin Ye, could this island be..."

Before he could finish speaking, the earth suddenly began to shake.

Everyone's expression changed, and they all looked up to see the rock face on the opposite bank of the river shaking violently.

"What's going on?" Lin Ye shouted. "What is that? Something's coming!"

"I...I don't know, I didn't detect anything just now." Magellan said, glancing at the drone's reconnaissance data, then his pupils contracted slightly. "This...how is this possible?"

"What?! How is that possible?!"

"Intense energy fluctuations and Originium reactions detected!" Magellan shouted. "A large creature is rapidly approaching! But where is it coming from?"

Here comes, finally here!

Lin Ye's unease was finally confirmed: the true form of the deep sea... was finally about to make its appearance!

At this moment, everyone rushed out of the river.

"What happened?" Swire asked loudly. "What's going on?"

“That big guy is here.” Lin Ye took out the Vector from his backpack and handed it to Swire. “You didn’t bring any weapons, so take this and protect yourself. I think we should retreat.”

“Retreat?!” Swire’s eyes widened. “How could we retreat? My men haven’t all been rescued yet, how could I retreat?”

Lin Ye glanced at the underground river and saw that there were still about half of the people in it. He gritted his teeth, about to say something, when Magellan suddenly shouted, "Intense energy fluctuations and Originium reactions detected! The source is... directly below!"

Directly below?!

boom!

Violent tremors.

The entire island seemed to be torn apart.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, the underground river collapsed.

The river water, the mud, the parasitic growths, and the people who had not yet been rescued all sank in.

Then, a huge, fleshy tentacle emerged from the pit, clinging to the ground with its nearly rotten suckers. Then came a second, a third… Finally, seven or eight tentacles exerted their force simultaneously, and a colossal creature crawled up from the pit, allowing everyone to see its full form.

A monstrous tumor magnified hundreds of times.

The tumors on his body continued to wriggle.

But that wasn't the end of it; more tumorous parasites surfaced from the water and then attached themselves to it, making it even larger.

Everyone was stunned.

Youmeng said softly, "I finally know what it is."

Chapter 344 I will guide her to find her way back (3K)

The "original body" has finally been revealed.

When Lin Ye saw this giant, fleshy monster, he finally understood why large creatures were so terrifying. It wasn't just its size; when it stood before you, you felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on your heart, making it hard to breathe.

As the mystery of the deep sea was gradually unveiled, only one thought remained: they simply could not defeat such a creature!

We must go! If we don't leave now, we'll miss our chance.

Just as Lin Ye was about to speak, Youmeng suddenly grabbed his shoulder and said in a trembling voice, "I know what this is. I've seen it in an ancient book..."

"I don't care what this big guy's name is anymore, I just want to..."

"Not that big guy!" Youmeng shouted. "Not that big guy! That big guy is dead! I'm talking about the parasites on it! They're the most terrifying thing here, they're the true form of the deep sea, not that big guy!"

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment, not yet understanding Youmeng's meaning, when Tianhuo had already caught up, and then raised his hand to release three fireballs at the giant fleshy monster, while shouting: "Are you still chatting at a time like this?!"

The fireball struck the monster's body and immediately burst into flames. However, the burning tumors quickly detached themselves and fell into the water, only to be replaced by new tumors to fill the gaps. This was the first time Lin Ye had ever seen such a monster, and this scene made him understand a little better what Youmeng meant when she said, "They are the true form of the deep sea."

The "Deep Sea," attacked, immediately went berserk, its tentacles thrashing about in all directions. Two mercenaries from the Sunset Merchant Guild were caught off guard and struck by the tentacles. Before they could even resist, they were devoured by the fleshy growths on the tentacles and instantly became part of them.

Upon seeing this, Lin Ye immediately shouted, "We absolutely cannot get caught in that thing's attack!"

Blue Poison fired a poison arrow at "Deep Sea," but just like Skyfire's attack, before the poison could take effect, the poisoned part was expelled by "Deep Sea," and new tumors appeared to fill the gap.

“This is going to go on forever,” Chūmaru said. “Let’s see if I can cut off its tentacles.”

Before Chōmaru could even step forward, Yūmu shouted again, "Don't get entangled with them! This is their home ground, and their numbers are endless. As long as they can find a powerful body, they will turn it into the most terrifying giant creature. They have few natural enemies even in the deep sea, let alone in a place like this. We have to leave!"

Standing beside Youmeng, Swire stared at the "Deep Sea" before her, gritting her teeth. Of the VAR agents she had brought here, less than a third had been recovered. The rest were lost forever. She desperately wanted to kill this monster, but she hadn't brought any weapons; all she had was the Vector that Lin Ye had given her. Although, strictly speaking, she had given the Vector to Lin Ye, she didn't think the Guardian Gun could do much damage to such a monster, and thus she resisted the urge to fire a burst.

Youmeng looked at Swire: "Sir!"

Swire almost bit his lip until it bled, but he still managed to squeeze out two words: "Retreat!"

Retreat, retreat is the only option. Or rather... escape.

The "deep sea creature" was too enormous to freely wave its tentacles within the confined space. Even so, in the short few minutes it had surfaced, it had already claimed several lives. Therefore, if they didn't leave soon, they would likely be trapped.

"Magellan!" Lin Ye shouted to Magellan, "Have your drone lead the way and withdraw along the route we just scouted!"

Magellan nodded repeatedly, and soon they spotted his drone. Taking advantage of a lull in the "Deep Sea's" attacks, the group crossed the underground river and rushed towards the drone. Just as they were about to reach the drone's location, the "Deep Sea" unfurled all its tentacles and emitted a strange cry, the same sound made by the monster killed by the heavenly fire on the shore.

At that moment, Lin Ye felt his head go blank, his vision blurred, and his steps became sluggish. "Deep Sea" seized the opportunity, its two tentacles slamming down, absorbing several Ursus soldiers and Sunset Merchant Guild mercenaries into its body.

Oh no... Is this a mental attack?

Lin Ye forced himself to stay calm as his thoughts became increasingly muddled, and once again took out Nightingale's white amulet, then used [Maple] to cut it open.

The fiery red blade turned pure white as Lin Ye plunged [Maple] into the ground. The power of [Sacred Domain] instantly spread out, directly neutralizing the mental attack from "Deep Sea." Lin Ye's mind returned to normal in an instant.

"What kind of power is this?" Youmeng asked in surprise.

"Don't worry about these trivial things now!" Lin Ye shouted. "Hurry up!"

If Lin Ye hadn't reacted quickly enough, they would all have perished in the underground river. His enhanced Sacred Domain, powered by Maple, had even had some effect on the Deep Sea. Perhaps due to an unprecedented power, the Deep Sea's attacks became somewhat sluggish, allowing the remaining people to evade its tentacles and reach the drone's location.

“Follow this road, and you’ll be back on the island in just three minutes,” Magellan shouted.

“Going back to the island won’t help, will it? This guy will definitely come after us,” Chūmaru said. “I think this place is about to collapse. Once we’re in an open area, I feel it will be even harder for us to fight this guy.”

"Then let's fight it!" Swire gritted her teeth. "Damn it, I'm going to beat this thing to a pulp..."

Lin Ye pressed down on Swire's shoulder: "Calm down. This guy is beyond our capabilities. The best thing to do is to leave here and call for backup."

“Yes.” Youmeng nodded and said quickly, “The ocean is its home, and the land is our home. This is its home, and we are just a group of lost guests…”

Something suddenly flashed through Lin Ye's mind, and he immediately grabbed Youmeng: "What did you just say?"

"Huh?!" Youmeng didn't react.

"What did you just call us? Lost guests? Is that it?!"

"yes……"

During their conversation, "Deep Sea" had recovered from the attack by [Sanctuary] and became even more agitated. They had to retreat into the narrow passage, but it wasn't safe there either; although "Deep Sea" couldn't get in, the passage could collapse at any moment.

"Don't waste time!" Tianhuo said. "Let's talk about our strategy outside!"

“Once we go out, we won’t have another chance,” Lin Ye said in a low voice. “Youmeng, I remember you told Chanmaru a story a week ago. Could you tell it to me again? It’s about orcas.”

"A story, a legend? The story of the orca?" Youmeng asked, puzzled. "You mean..."