143: Chapter 143 Awakening

Lin Mo glanced at the system notification; on his attribute panel, the number in the slaughter value column had once again exceeded 50,000 points.

Duan Qi alone had provided him with a full 12,000 points of slaughter value, and when added to the Mimics he had killed previously—while each individual one didn't provide much, what they lacked in quality, they made up for in quantity!

Zhou Jingyue gripped his sword, standing in place, unable to regain his composure for a long while.

The battle just now had ended too quickly.

It was so fast that he still felt a sense of unreality.

One moment, Duan Qi had been like a mountain so heavy it left people unable to breathe, and the next, he had been completely annihilated by Lin Mo.

Azerbaijani own slowly exhaled, his wrists still numb, yet his gaze never shifted from Lin Mo.

"That guy! It's truly so absurd it leaves one speechless!"

Shen Zhihan did not speak, only gazing at Lin Mo, the shock in her eyes refusing to settle for a long time.

She had seen the clearest view just now.

From start to finish, Lin Mo had been suppressing Duan Qi, controlling the rhythm of the battle entirely in his own hands; this was something only possible when one's strength completely crushed the opponent!

Shen Zhihan even suspected that the incredibly powerful Duan Qi might not have even forced out Lin Mo's true methods.

Just based on what she knew, Lin Mo had not even used the move he had employed to eliminate thousands of Mimics earlier.

Shen Zhihan had a deep impression of the power of that move.

If it had landed directly, even if Duan Qi hadn't died, he would have been heavily injured!

Gu Changchuan quickly regained his focus and said in a deep voice:

"Technical team, continue probing the lower level."

"Heavy armor squad, tighten the defensive line; don't let any remaining remnants get close."

"Everyone, stay alert."

Once the order was given, the people around immediately busied themselves.

Several technicians quickly arrived at the remains of the stone stele to recalibrate the spiritual energy fluctuations.

Soon, the expression of one of them changed.

"Report!"

"The space below... confirmed to exist!"

"And the spatial layers aren't just one level; there are even deeper sealed areas below!"

Gu Changchuan's gaze narrowed.

"Can it be opened?"

The technician gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"The risk of forcibly breaking it open is too high."

"But if we don't open it, the spiritual energy reaction inside is still continuing to climb."

Shen Zhihan had already crouched down by this time, carefully examining the twisted runes beneath the stone stele.

A moment later, she stood up, her expression even worse than before.

"These are not the marks left behind after an ordinary seal is destroyed."

"This is a sacrificial array that has been artificially modified."

"The original seal was likely intended to suppress whatever is below."

"But now, these array runes have been utilized in reverse."

Zhou Jingyue's eyes sank suddenly.

"Utilized?"

Shen Zhihan nodded, her voice tight.

"Someone has turned this place into a furnace."

"Feeding the thing sealed below bit by bit, feeding it until it is about to complete its metamorphosis, and then letting it break the seal."

Azerbaijani own's face turned livid.

"In other words, Duan Qi was just buying time for it?"

"Yes."

Shen Zhihan glanced at the churning black mist in the fissure, her tone cold and low.

"And the 'sacrifice' he mentioned earlier is likely not just empty talk."

"Many people must have already died down there."

The air suddenly became heavy.

Many people hearing this had very unpleasant expressions.

Gu Changchuan was silent for a moment, then looked up at Lin Mo.

"What do you think?"

Lin Mo gazed at the crack in the ground, his expression calm.

"The thing below hasn't fully formed yet."

"But if we drag it out any longer, it's hard to say."

Zhou Jingyue felt his heart tighten upon hearing this and asked instinctively:

"Then what do we do now?"

Lin Mo did not answer immediately, instead lifting his foot and walking toward the edge of the fissure.

"I'm going down."

As soon as these three words were spoken, the people around were stunned.

Azerbaijani own was the first to react: "By yourself?"

Lin Mo looked back at him.

"If you go down, you won't be able to help."

The words were not harsh; they were even very calm.

But precisely because they were calm, it made them impossible to refute.

Zhou Jingyue gripped his sword tighter, his expression complex.

If it were at the beginning, hearing this, he would likely have thought Lin Mo was too arrogant.

But now, he couldn't say a single word.

Because he knew very clearly—

This was not arrogance.

This was the truth.

Gu Changchuan was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Very well."

"But after you go down, at least give us a signal."

Lin Mo did not refuse, only giving a faint "Mm."

The next instant, he stepped down, his figure darting directly into the fissure.

The black mist immediately wrapped around him.

But Lin Mo shifted his figure, activating Instant Shadow, and his entire being became like a streak of cyan-gold afterimage, flashing continuously in the narrow descending space, forcefully rushing through the gap torn in the black mist.

The people above only had time to see a blurred shadow disappear into the depths of the darkness.

Shen Zhihan stood at the edge of the fissure, unable to help whispering:

"Just how strong... can he actually get?"

Zhou Jingyue did not answer.

Because he didn't know either.

The space below was larger than imagined above.

Or rather, it was more like an underground cavity that had been forcibly hollowed out.

The surrounding walls were covered with dense black runes, like countless tiny blood vessels, extending along the rock wall toward the center.

And in the very center of the space, that cocoon-like shadow was slowly rising and falling.

Like a heart.

Or like some kind of embryo that was waking up.

Lin Mo stood in the distance, his gaze landing on that shadow, his eyes slowly turning cold.

Just then, the black mist around the shadow shook violently.

Dozens of twisted black shadows suddenly darted out from the gaps in the surrounding walls, rushing straight at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo did not stop his steps, only raising his hand for a slash.

A flash of blade light, and the first black shadow to pounce was sliced into two on the spot.

Immediately after, his figure disappeared again.

Instant Shadow.

The next second, Lin Mo had appeared in the group of black shadows on the left, his blade sweeping across, and three black shadows were sliced in half at the waist in succession.

In the space below, the cyan-gold blade light flashed continuously, and the black mist exploded piece by piece.

Although the people outside could not see the details, they could clearly feel the tremors coming from underground.

Azerbaijani own could not help whispering:

"Not good, there might be an ambush below; can he handle it alone?"

Gu Changchuan's expression was grave as he spoke slowly.

"At this point, we can only pin our hopes on Lin Mo!"

Zhou Jingyue looked down into the fissure, his hand gripping his sword tightening unconsciously.

Before, he felt that the gap between himself and Lin Mo was perhaps just combat experience or on-the-spot judgment.

But now he realized.

Some gaps were no longer a matter of whether one could catch up or not.

It was that they were simply not in the same world.

Just then, a very faint "crack" sound came from below.

It sounded like some kind of hard shell cracking.

Lin Mo paused his steps and looked up at the cocoon-like shadow.

Amidst the churning black mist, a fine crack opened on the surface of that thing.

Immediately, a pale, twisted hand slowly reached out from inside.

That hand was long and slender, but its knuckles were exceptionally sharp, and the surface of its skin was covered in fine black veins, as if countless tiny blood vessels were crawling under the skin.

A sense of oppression, even heavier than before, suddenly spread out from the depths of the fissure.

Lin Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is it finally coming out..."

And above the fissure, Shen Zhihan's expression also changed instantly.

She took a sharp half-step back, staring fixedly at that churning black mist.

"This is..."

"The embryo is about to awaken!"