You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

"I...I'll talk...I'll talk!"

The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything, and the clown doll screamed.

"Over there! Behind that biggest stove! There's... there's a food serving hatch!"

With all its might, it pointed towards the deepest part of the kitchen.

Everyone looked in the direction it was pointing.

Behind the massive stove, which resembled a small mountain, rows of chains with iron hooks hung down from the dark dome, connecting to a huge basket woven from bamboo.

The basket was about seven or eight meters in diameter and was covered in dark red bloodstains and oil.

[Holy crap, are we just freshly prepared dishes, and now we're being served?]

[This game's planner is a fucking genius; they've turned dungeons into a streamlined, slaughterhouse production line!]

[The meal is served! Today's main course: the four-person anchor team, plus a bonus ghost wife!]

Brother Long's face turned green.

"Honey, it's not lying to us, is it?"

The ghost bride snorted coldly, her five fingers tightening slightly, and the clown doll let out another miserable howl.

"I'm not...I'm not lying to you! That's the only way out!"

"The kitchen is completely enclosed! That's the only way to get up there!"

It roared frantically, fearing that if it hesitated even for a second, it would be completely crushed.

Just then.

"Clang—!"

A loud metallic clang echoed throughout the kitchen.

Then came the second sound, the third sound...

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sounds were as dense as war drums, coming from all directions.

"It's...time to serve the food..."

The clown doll trapped in the net spoke in a tone of despair and schadenfreude.

"Time to begin... serving the food..."

A new faceless chef suddenly appeared, ignoring the ghost bride blocking the way, and walked straight towards Brother Long behind her.

In their minds, these living people like Brother Long are the "ingredients" they need to process and deliver to the serving chute.

The ghost bride's eyes narrowed, and the blood-red ribbon lashed out like lightning, instantly severing her at the waist.

But the chef who was cut down did not fall.

Its upper and lower body continued to move forward mechanically, and its two hands were still futilely reaching for Brother Long.

Even more terrifying is...

Its falling is like a signal.

The other faceless chefs who suddenly appeared became even more agitated and surged wildly towards the crowd.

"Damn it! What are you waiting for! Run!"

Brother Long let out a strange cry, hoisted the temporarily blind old driver onto his back, and rushed toward the huge food delivery opening.

Lancet and Professor Chen followed closely behind.

In the blink of an eye, everyone rushed to the huge bamboo basket.

"Quick! Get up there!"

Liu Yedao was the first to jump in, and he almost slipped as he felt a sticky, slippery sensation under his feet.

At the bottom of the bamboo basket was a thick layer of disgusting stuff made up of scraps of meat, bone fragments, and grease.

Ignoring their disgust, Brother Long and Professor Chen crawled inside using both hands and feet.

"Wife! Hurry!" Brother Long shouted as he turned around.

With a wave of her hand, the ghost bride threw the clown doll, which was caught in the net in mid-air, into the bamboo basket.

Then she flashed and instantly appeared next to Brother Long, kicking the iron chain connecting the bamboo basket.

"Clang!"

The huge bamboo basket began to shake violently and slowly rose upwards.

Brother Long slumped down on the sticky bottom of the bamboo basket, panting heavily.

"Damn...that scared the hell out of me..."

Just as he was about to catch his breath, Professor Chen, who was standing next to him, suddenly pointed with a serious expression to the clown doll that had been thrown into the corner.

"Brother Long, look at it."

Brother Long turned his head to look.

The clown doll, now only its upper body remaining, was grinning, giving them an incredibly eerie smile.

The fear and despair that had been there before were gone from that smile.

There was only one kind of pure, schadenfreude.

It's as if it's saying...

Go up?

Going up there is the real hell.

But the bamboo basket had already risen, and the kitchen below grew smaller and smaller until it became a brightly lit dot and disappeared into the endless darkness.

All around, only the creaking sound of iron chains rubbing against the rock wall and the slight swaying of the bamboo basket could be heard.

This is a huge, vertical shaft that seems to go up to the bottom.

The well walls were not smooth rock, but rather had a strange, dark red color, like flesh and blood.

It was covered in wrinkles and mucus, and was still wriggling slightly and rhythmically.

"Gulp."

A deep, loud sound came from the depths of the well.

It looked as if some enormous creature had swallowed hard in the darkness.

The entire shaft contracted violently with that swallowing sound.

[This...this isn't a lift shaft! This is the esophagus! We've been swallowed!]

[I understand! The entire Yinshan Mountains, from underground to above ground, are one giant living thing! The workshops are the mouth, the kitchens are the stomach, and we are now being transported deeper through the esophagus!]

[The leader of the Scientology Cult: This hypothesis has an 80% probability. The "creating a god" practiced by the Earth Immortals Sect might not be about creating a god, but rather... nurturing a god!]

"Everyone... don't panic." Professor Chen's voice was a little dry as he tried to observe his surroundings.

"According to ancient alchemical records, some unorthodox practices use mountains and rivers as furnaces and living beings as medicine."

"We are very likely inside such a 'calcination furnace' right now."

"Then aren't we doomed?" Brother Long asked, his voice trembling with tears.

"Not necessarily." The scalpel, which had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"Since it's an alchemy furnace, it must have a fire-adding spout, an alchemy outlet, and a slag-discharging spout."

"We come in through the 'sewage pipe' and now we go up through the 'food delivery port,' which means this route was pre-designed."

"As long as you find the pattern, you have a chance."

Just then, the old driver, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly raised his head and looked into the darkness above with his empty, bloodshot eyes.

There's something up there...

"What is it?" Brother Long asked nervously.

"I 'smell' it." The veteran driver's Adam's apple bobbed. "A... very sour, very pungent smell, like... water that can melt bones."

Highly acidic gastric juice!

Everyone's hearts tightened.

The voice just fell.

"Tick-tock".

A drop of dark green, viscous liquid dripped from the darkness above and landed on the edge of the bamboo basket.

"Sizzle—!"

A soft sound.

The sturdy bamboo was instantly corroded, leaving a hole the size of a fist, from which puffs of white smoke rose.

Followed by.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock..."

It was as if an acid rain had started to fall.

Countless dark green liquids dripped densely from the darkness above.

"Damn it! Get out of the way!"