I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

That's enough.

"I have an idea," Lu Yuan said.

All eyes turned to them.

Wolf straightened up, the dark red lines still flickering erratically.

Heinrich was supporting a Holy Armored Army soldier, and the light from his own armor had dimmed considerably.

Bor leaned against the wall, his complexion not yet fully recovered.

"What are you going to do?" Wolf's voice was hoarse.

"Go in." Lu Yuan looked at the inscribed, sealed entrance. "Find out what's inside, and while you're at it, give it a couple of exorcism grenades."

Heinrich frowned.

"Now?" He glanced at the soldiers around him. "Our men are already..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

The Holy Armor Army's military formation was barely holding together, but it was as fragile as a rope about to break.

Two men in the Iron Guard Battalion had their furnaces completely burned out, and the dark red markings on the rest of the battalion had darkened considerably since the start of the battle.

They have almost no energy left to fight another match.

"You don't need to fight," Lu Yuan said, looking at the crowd.

"Just wait for me to come back here."

Wolf looked at him but didn't speak immediately.

Boer stood up straight.

"one person?"

"one person."

"Your sanity is also slipping away..."

Lu Yuan looked around at everyone.

"I still have plenty of rationality left, which is evident from my demeanor, isn't it?"

Bohr opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Having partnered with Lu Yuan for so many days, he knew that this man never said anything he wasn't sure of.

But he still wanted to ask one question... why?

Lu Yuan seemed to have seen through his thoughts.

"I have a way."

There are only four characters.

But Lu Yuan's tone made Bo Er swallow back all the words he was about to say.

Wolf looked at Lu Yuan for a few seconds, then nodded.

What do you need?

"A few things." Lu Yuan turned to Heinrich. "Give me two Holy Light scrolls."

Heinrich glanced at him but didn't ask.

He pulled two sheets out of the roll and handed them over.

"Bohr, give me your exorcism grenade."

Bor took an exorcism grenade from his waist and handed it to him.

Lu Yuan hung the grenades on his waist. Including his two, he had three in total.

"Also, there are three canisters of mithril left at the shaft entrance; I need one of them."

He looked at the veteran who was missing his little finger.

"The crawlers and living walls have shrunk on the way here, so making the trip won't be a problem. Thank you for your help."

The veteran glanced at Lu Yuan, asked nothing, and turned to walk quickly back the way he came.

The water collection room fell silent during the waiting period.

The soldiers of the Iron Guard Battalion rested against the wall; some were examining the remaining dark red patterns on their short swords, while others lowered their heads and closed their eyes to regulate their breathing.

The Holy Armored Army's formation had tightened into a tight arc, with soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, the holy light runes on their armor flashing at an extremely slow speed.

They are using their remaining willpower to mend their sanity.

Beren remained lying down, but his mouth never stopped moving.

"That main trunk... the conductive structure and the orientation of the copper pillars... if we could take a closer look at the internal network distribution..."

Kai listened from the side, his expression blank.

He had gotten used to the old man's state.

Bo walked up to Lu Yuan and lowered his voice.

"Are you really planning to go in alone?"

"Um."

"...Can you come back?"

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

"When did you become so fussy?"

Bor paused for a moment, then grinned.

"Alright then." He patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

"I'll be waiting for you here."

Wolf also came over.

He didn't say anything to comfort him.

He simply stood to the side, looking at the darkness on the other side of the inscription passage.

"That thing's mental impact... what if it could happen again?"

"No more," Lu Yuan shook his head.

"If it had attacked twice in a row, everyone present except me would have died."

"But it didn't, and that's enough."

"And why do you think I said so much on purpose?"

Wolf thought for a moment and nodded.

"We'll provide backup here."

"clear."

About ten minutes later, the veteran who was missing his little finger ran back carrying a can of mithril.

My breathing was a little rapid as I ran back and forth across the shaft opening, at a fairly fast pace.

"There's nothing on the road." The veteran handed the mithril to Lu Yuan.

"Even the mycelial movement is weaker than when it arrived."

He glanced at Lu Yuan again.

"Going in alone?"

"Um."

The veteran didn't say much. He simply nodded and returned to his position.

Lu Yuan took the mithril and stuffed it into the satchel at his waist.

Everything is ready.

He mentally checked all the equipment one last time.

Three exorcism grenades.

Two Holy Light rolls.

Slag, a can of mithril, a revolver, and remaining ammunition.

One bottle each of invisibility potion, freakish potion, and highly effective healing potion.

Perfect quality sanity potion.

One last thing is missing.

Wolf.

Wolf looked up.

"Can your furnace fire be applied to someone else's weapon?"

Wolf understood.

"...Yes. But it won't last long, at most two minutes."

"That's enough. I'll leave immediately after you finish attaching it."

Lu Yuan first made the final preparations before departure.

He walked up to Bor.

"Prepare to lead the team to evacuate." That's what he said.

But he made a gesture with his right hand at his side.

Bohr saw it.

That's the Night's Watch's internal sign language.

It means to retreat at any time.

Bohr nodded slightly upon seeing this.

Of all those present, the Night's Watchmen were the weakest in combat.

If something goes wrong, I have the authority to intervene, and the Holy Armor Army and the Iron Guard Battalion will surely have their own methods.

But those who follow their Night's Watch will most likely die.

Lu Yuan handed the bronze sword to Wolf.

"Okay. Let's start the timer now."

Wolf took the bronze sword and gripped the blade with his right hand.

Dark red lines spread from the palm along the copper surface and seeped into the metal.

Ten seconds later, the air around the blade distorted.

It wasn't the fierce orange-red of Wolf's own short sword, but a calm, dark red.

It is sufficient to carbonize the mycelium.

Wolf returned the sword to Lu Yuan.

"Two minutes. That's it."

Lu Yuan took the bronze sword and turned to face the entrance to the passage blocked by the inscription.

From this moment on, the countdown begins.

A dark golden light curtain swirled before my eyes.

Lu Yuan reached out his hand and passed through the light barrier.

A warm sensation came from my palm, and the energy of the inscription flowed through my hand, as if I were soaking in warm water.

And then it was over.

On the other side.

The light in the passage dimmed instantly.

Only the faint red glow from Wolf's engraving on the bronze sword remained, illuminating an area of ​​two or three meters in the darkness.

Mycelium is underfoot.

A thick layer.

The sweet smell in the air was still strong.

In the darkness ahead, the main vines stretched downwards along the passage and disappeared into the distance.

The remains of the exploding flower buds were scattered on both sides of the passage. The grayish-green fragments writhed weakly but made no attacking motion.

[Environmental Sensing: High-risk pollution source detected ahead... is continuously decreasing...]

It is still declining.

The thought sank into the chest.

Touched.

Click.

[Time synchronization acceleration (enabled)]

[Rationality: -1...-1...]

The world has slowed down.

The mycelium's peristalsis solidified in mid-air.

Grayish-green spores floated in the air, hovering motionless.

Lu Yuan gripped the bronze sword tightly. The dark red furnace fire was exceptionally clear in his accelerated vision, and every line seemed to flow across the bronze surface like a living thing.

He withdrew his gaze and stepped into the depths of darkness.

The passageway was wider than expected.

The inscribed, sealed passageway was just the entrance; less than ten meters inside, the space expanded to both sides.

This place cannot be called a passage; it's more like a tunnel.

It is at least four meters high and wide enough for three carriages to travel side by side.

The bronze walls and dome reflected a dim red outline in the dim light of the furnace.

This used to be the main road of the pipeline layer.

But now, it is the territory of something else.

The main vine stretches across the center of the tunnel.

The enormous stem, half a meter in diameter, extends deep into the ground, its surface covered with dense veins that pulsate slowly in the darkness.

Like a lurking snake.

Lu Yuan did not step on it.

With the accelerated vision provided by the timer, he could clearly see the pulsating rhythm of every vein on the surface of the main vine, and he could see the tiny branches extending from the main trunk, stretching along the walls and ceiling, weaving a net that covered the entire tunnel.

He circled around the left side of the main trunk, his steps incredibly fast, each one landing precisely in the gaps between the vine branches.

In a world under accelerated conditions, all movement slows down.

The reaction rate of the mycelial layer is much lower than its movement rate.

When he stepped on it, the mycelium under his feet hadn't even had time to shrink before he had already taken three steps.

The furnace fire on the bronze sword left a dark red trail in the darkness.

fast.

Faster.

There were no ghouls in the tunnel.

There are no crawlers.

There were no living creatures.

There were only vines covering the walls, the floor, and the ceiling, and gray-green mycelium entwined among the vines.

This place has been completely transformed.

Lu Yuan is currently running inside 'its' body.

This sent a cold sweat down Lu Yuan's back, but his leg movements remained unchanged.

[Environmental awareness: Pollution concentration continues to decrease... Pollution concentration continues to increase...]

As the investigation progressed, the previously decreasing pollution concentration began to rise.

Lu Yuan quickened his pace.

The fire in the stove is dying down; not a second can be wasted.

They ran for about twenty more seconds.

The diameter of the main vine has swelled to over a meter.

Branch veins began to appear on both sides of the passage.

Thin vines branching off from the main trunk penetrate the mycelial layer of the walls and ceiling like blood vessels.

The number of branches became increasingly dense, from just a few to a dozen or even dozens.

The effective space of the passageway has been compressed to less than two meters wide.

Lu Yuan sidestepped through a particularly dense cluster of branches, his bronze sword slicing past the two most obstructive ones.

The dark red furnace fire carbonized the contact surface, and grayish-green liquid gushed out from the broken branch, condensing into fine threads in the air.

Just then.

The wall moved.

The walls of the entire passage expanded simultaneously.

The mycelial layer bulged inward like an inflating balloon, with mycelia hanging down from the ceiling and mycelia rising up from the ground.

They surged in from all directions simultaneously: front, back, sides...

The entire wall transformed into 'waves'.

The dense vines and mycelium piled up together, like a torrent, rolling towards Lu Yuan's location.

But with the acceleration of time synchronization, the wave moved as slowly as if it had been paused.

Lu Yuan could clearly see the trajectory of each vine's extension, the cracks on the surface of the mycelial layer as it expanded, and the gray-green spores that emerged from the cracks and hovered in the air.

The bronze sword was swung out.

The fire drew a dark red arc.

The densest layer of vines directly in front was sliced ​​open with a single sword strike, and the carbonized section cracked on both sides.

Lu Yuan crawled through the incision.

The vines behind him converged where he had passed, but it was too late.

With the second cut, the mycelial curtain hanging overhead was split open, and carbonized fragments fluttered down like black snow.

The third cut cleaved through a wall of vines that was surging in from the right.

But the wave was much stronger than expected.

Cut open one layer, and there's another layer behind it.

The dark red patterns on the bronze sword have faded from orange-red to dark brown.

"The fire in the stove isn't strong enough."