Deep in the Living

Chapter 567 Undercurrent
Everything is done.
Roddy temporarily used a specially made hellish book cover to pack the few torn pages together. Whether or not to use this thing would have to be considered after leaving this place.

Movie scene removed.

Just as Roddy was about to remove the ring, he suddenly froze, maintaining his divine state while simultaneously constructing a hellish bone umbrella to block the rain.

"This... Miss Kayako, is this place still usable?"

A snail-shell-shaped cumulonimbus cloud hovered in the sky.
Rain carrying disease continues to fall.

The campus, which was normal before the fight with the fish-man, has now been completely mutated.

Even the grass itself curls and calcifies, forming green snail shells. Stepping on them produces a distinct sound of soft shells breaking and leaves a puddle of slime.

Various protrusions resembling snail shells also appeared on the building's surface.

Some teachers and staff also returned to the elementary school, but instead of walking, they crawled. Carrying enormous snail shells on their backs, with their eyes bulging out with synaptic structures, they wore broad smiles, appearing incredibly happy.

Katayama's infection was above that of the fish man.

at this time,

The Kayako that had been inside her body seemed very uncomfortable and detached herself. Large and small snail shell structures began to appear on her body surface.

Moreover, her original fish infection was not cured.

The situation seems to be getting worse.

Kayako herself had an indifferent expression. She peeled off a snail shell that was growing on her face and looked at the infected substance inside.

"The end result here is destruction. Although your friend can infect and spread the entire city in a short time, his infection cannot penetrate the sea."

The real source of the invasion lies in the ocean region.

The corrupted monster you killed was merely a holder of a comic book fragment. The deep sea likely corresponds to a more complete comic book or something else, which is beyond your current capabilities.

[I am the event]
The collapse here will also correspond to my dissipation. This is the best ending I envisioned from the beginning. Thank you for helping me, at least you killed this intruder.

Your journey is long. Please make sure to eradicate these things completely, from every nook and cranny. If you have the ability, go directly to the source of these things and wipe them out completely.

Roddy didn't say anything to persuade him to stay, he just nodded in response.

As the snail shell peeled away, Kayako's body began to dissipate, revealing less of her resentment and more of her humanity beneath her black hair.

"During the time I possessed you, I discovered that your Black Gate attributes do not match mine. Neither curses nor spiritification can help you in any way."

However, I noticed something: your tongue seems quite special, and you seem to use it very carefully, almost as if you're a little hesitant.

My curse can mark targets without a medium. If this tongue is connected to something else, my curse might be able to pinpoint its exact location.

If you need
In my final moments before annihilation, I can brand the lingering curse upon your tongue.

"Thank you."

……

Same timeline

Inside a high school campus, corresponding to the events of "Death Bell (manga adaptation)".

The entire campus was in a state of severe dissolution.
The ground was littered with the remains of the teachers and students after they had dissolved, and even the buildings themselves were dissolving.

Inside a classroom,
Teacher Guo's student, Song Huiwen, the Green Gate Monster, is so large that you have to bend over completely to fit her in.

however,
Her lower body and most of her organs had dissolved, and she could only move around normally by attaching a purple talisman to her forehead.

On the podium,

Yu Ze stood there unharmed, seemingly unaffected by the dissolution, his copper coin sword impaling a bespectacled young man firmly in the center of the blackboard.

He had already set up the altar.
He held a Bagua mirror in his palm and pointed it at the person's head.

As the Bagua mirror rotates,

The man's eyeballs were first ripped out, followed by two tattered scrolls that were then firmly caught by Yu Ze.

The opponent also quickly vanished due to the departure of the fragment.

The dissolving effect that enveloped the campus and the entire event scene then disappeared.

With a flick of his sword, Yu Ze removed the talisman from Song Huiwen's head, and her powerful life force began to regenerate rapidly.

Because the dissolution has destroyed the spatial structure and the essence of the event, the world they inhabit is collapsing.

Song Huiwen moved the monster's body to Yu Ze's side, and extended her tongue from its gaping maw full of sharp teeth, licking the young man's face.
It seems that this is how they express their appreciation and gratitude.

It's as if you're leaving your scent on the youth, treating them as one of your own kind.

The woman slowly lowered her head and whispered in Yu Ze's ear:

"How come you haven't turned into a monster with such thoughts? It seems that the world you connect to helps you maintain mental stability... I really want to see what you would look like as a monster."

Yu Ze simply smiled and did not respond.

The camera zooms out.

The dissolved corpses in the school and surrounding cities also vanished, leaving behind pale yellow talismans on the ground.

……

Same timeline

In a certain city's underground transportation hub, corresponding to the event "Midnight Cannibal Train (Comic Adaptation)," only Wu Wen was standing between the carriages.
Holding a blood sword,
Heaving heavily,

Despite having no visible injuries, the person appeared extremely weak, requiring special flesh assembly and skin pulling to barely stand.

The person lying in front of her looked like an ordinary girl, except that her teeth seemed a little unusual.

A short while passed,
The corpse in front of her twitched, and Wu Wen immediately gripped the hilt of her sword, assuming a ready stance.

But the next second,
The corpse's mouth opened, and tiny flower stamens emerged from it, with the topmost stamen carrying several torn pages of comics.

Hua Yuan did not keep the comic for herself, but instead handed it to Wu Wen, seemingly believing that it was her due.

"Wu Wen, just a little reminder, don't use this stuff carelessly. Go back and ask Teacher Guo before making a decision."

Although I was selected by the comic book store and given a comic book as a gift.

But the comic book that remained inside me was originally just a blank page, with no content on it.

The comic book itself will gradually reveal its contents as I develop. Currently, I only have three usable fragments in my body, about the same as the little girl we killed.

I know you have big ambitions, but don't ruin yourself.

The abyss behind these comics should lead to a place we don't know, or even a place far beyond our comprehension, a place that can easily destroy any corner of our being.

I can't deduce the specifics; Professor Guo should know more.

Wu Wen simply accepted the torn pages.

Once the corpse on the ground had dissipated, Wu Wen finally returned to normal and immediately wrapped the tattered pages with a skin-like structure.

"Sister Hua, don't worry~ I'm not that impulsive."

But these monsters that lurk from the shadows are truly formidable; they can directly devour our souls. No matter how perfectly I control my body, I can't defend against this kind of damage.

Hua Yuan glanced at it disdainfully, "Tsk~ You call this undefendable? You practically killed the opponent by yourself... It seems that this Teacher Guo does teach some very useful things. I've decided to stay."

"Go back, Hua Yuan. I hope Luo Di and the others are alright."

……

hum!
The incident collapsed, and the curse vanished.

As an outsider, Roddy was forcibly sent back to where he started: the dungeon entrance, the transformed video store.

"Katama!"

Roddy's hand suddenly landed on Katayama's sticky shoulder, trying to pull him out of the immersive state released by the infection.

Shouting or shaking my body were all useless.

Katayama is currently in a state of immersion and may completely infect the entrance area; snails have already appeared crawling on the surrounding shelves.

Roddy prepared to unleash his hellish power, using forced heating to dry out his opponent.

at this time,

Another slender hand landed on it.

The blood vessels on the back of the hand exhibit a swirling structure and are circulating.

hum!
Katayama instantly snapped out of his infected state and looked at the people in front of him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Professor Guo, and Luo... I haven't been able to be so unrestrained in a long time, and I haven't been able to get used to it for a while."

Teacher Guo didn't seem to blame her. She gently waved her hand to shake off the slime. "You did a great job. You two can come down and assemble after you recover a little. You are the last group to come out."

This operation can be considered a success, and we can now formally establish the organization.

Roddy was somewhat surprised, "We were the last ones? Everyone came out, are they alright?"

"There were three groups like yours who were able to extract the fragments, but one group of members died in the incident."

"What! Which group!?"

“My two students, Group Four.”

Whew... Roddy breathed a sigh of relief, because apart from this group, all the others were friends he knew.

But upon closer reflection, it makes sense. It's unlikely that Yu Ze, Li Beite, Wu Wen, or Hua Yuan would encounter any major problems.

But in Roddy's memory,
The Golden Curse expert and the silent Black and White are no less formidable. Both have reached plant maturity and are also individuals capable of wielding comics, having been selected by Teacher Guo.

Just like Katayama, the potential behind it is terrifyingly large.

Roddy couldn't help but wonder, "These kinds of mutation events are indeed difficult, but it's not enough to completely kill them... What exactly happened to them?"

Teacher Guo, who was walking ahead, stopped and seemed to sense that something was wrong.

"These two are talented and have great potential. They shouldn't have died here... As students I chose, I at least fulfilled my responsibilities during our time together."

Their deaths were sudden and unexpected; due to the great distance between them, I could only obtain limited information about their deaths.

Teacher Guo opened his palm, and a wisp of mist was released from between the swirling lines of his palm.

The moment Roddy saw the mist, his eyes widened.

"Jock!!"

(End of this chapter)