40: Chapter 40 The Heartbeat of the Gray Egg

Thump.

Thump.

In the deepest part of the Breeding Cave, that hatching crystal core pulsed with every beat. The sound was not loud, yet it quieted the entire Dead Ash Mine.

The Red-Eyed Rats crouching by the well froze first, not even daring to twitch their tails. The wounded rats soaking in fungal paste in the fire room also lifted their heads, their nostrils twitching rapidly. The adult mother rats guarding the White-Bellied Mother Rat in the outer layer of the Breeding Cave arched their backs in unison, as if they had smelled something extremely dangerous yet incredibly alluring.

Lu Jin stood at the entrance of the Breeding Cave, his gaze deep and heavy.

Once this heartbeat stabilized, the incubation pool would open.

To put it simply, this thing is a brood nest device that integrates heat sources, food, mother bodies, and the crystal core. If it opens successfully, the Dead Ash Mine won't just be a hole to hide and fight in, but a root that can truly produce soldiers, nurture nests, and grow upward. If it collapses, whatever crawls out of the Breeding Cave won't recognize anyone.

Grey Pupil walked out from the shadows, wounds still unhealed on his shoulder, yet his grey eyes shone white.

"It can open."

"It will be chaotic."

"Suppress the Red-Eyed Rats first, suppress the grey fire fungus too."

Lu Jin nodded and raised his hand to issue orders.

"Seal the well."

"Battle ranks retreat to the outer layer, labor ranks enter the Breeding Cave."

"Cart-pulling Rats move the iron sand, Tunneling Rats dig heat conduction trenches, Fire Oil Thrower ranks guard the two gates."

The orders cascaded down, and the swarm of rats crouching by the well moved immediately.

Eight Cart-pulling Rats bit onto the bone ropes, dragging cart after cart of grey-black iron sand into the Breeding Cave. A dozen Tunneling Rats drilled against the strata, specifically choosing the hardest black stone layers between the warm troughs and heat veins to dig trenches. Six Fire Oil Throwers guarded the outer entrance, their triple fire troughs pressing down the flames, burning only the ground and not the walls, forcing two grey-red fire lines in the outer circle of the Breeding Cave to keep the restless Red-Eyed Rats outside.

Grey Pupil did not go to the innermost layer; instead, he stopped at the outer ring and selected twelve Red-Eyed Rats with the steadiest eyes.

"Follow me to guard the sacrificial ranks."

Those twelve Red-Eyed Rats crouched down one by one, their foreheads almost touching the ground.

Lu Jin glanced at them.

This was what Grey Pupil had managed to suppress during this time. Originally, these Red-Eyed Rats only knew how to charge and bite. After eating grey fire fungus, fighting a few hard battles, and being organized by Grey Pupil into battle ranks, labor ranks, and guard ranks, they had started to understand the rules. Now, at his command, these twelve rats could actually steady the red light in their eyes and not rush into the Breeding Cave.

The framework of the Priest Court was still just a shadow, but it had already been established.

Lu Jin did not delay any further and pressed the page of the Furnace Cave wall diagram into the outer circle of the Breeding Cave.

As the black iron page landed, the patterns immediately crawled down along the stone layers like burning red lines drilling into the depths of the mine. The three sections of the new wall trembled in unison, and a complete inner wall silhouette emerged beneath the wall base, perfectly enclosing the area between the Breeding Cave and the Return Fire Well.

The entire mine seemed to sink slightly.

Hundreds of Gray-tailed Burrowing Rats and Red-Eyed Rats by the well bowed their heads simultaneously, and lines of faith pierced into Lu Jin's Sea of Consciousness, heavy and burning.

"Behind the wall is the Breeding Cave."

Lu Jin's voice was not loud, but it pressed down until the entire stratum went silent.

"Today, whoever dares to go crazy inside, I will burn them with my own hands."

Upon hearing this, even the most restless Red-Eyed Rats in the outer layer pulled back their claws.

Lu Jin stabilized the outer circle with the wall diagram and immediately dragged that section of the old-era brood nest conduit to the deepest part.

The conduit was long, thin at the front and thick at the back, with three outlets at the tail. Just as the Cart-pulling Rats pushed it into the pit, the White-Bellied Mother Rat lifted her head, the white patterns under her abdomen lighting up instantly, pulsing slightly along with the crystal core.

"Dig half a foot deeper." Lu Jin squatted down and traced a line along the stratum with his fingertip. "Here connects to the heat vein, here connects to the warm trough, and here the mother nest opening drops."

The Tunneling Rats immediately changed direction, digging crazily toward the three o'clock position. Their claws flipped rapidly, and black stone debris flew out in pieces. Two Fire Oil Throwers knelt halfway, spraying fire into the trench to bake the damp mine layer dry. The Cart-pulling Rats pulled the conduit, locking it down bit by bit, the tail ropes pulled taut, their gums grinding with a squeaking sound.

Click.

The head of the conduit finally locked into the modified Breeding Cave warm trough.

The next instant, the warm patterns at the bottom lit up all the way to the tail end along the pipe wall, illuminating the entire trench in a white-hot color. The heat veins deeper down were tugged by this suction, and the heat surged upward like water, bringing the cold Breeding Cave to life instantly.

The mother rats in the outer layer all lifted their heads, their noses twitching constantly, their eyes filled with panic and heat.

Lu Jin didn't even look at them; he backhanded three clumps of grey fire fungus cores into the three diversion ports of the conduit.

grey fire fungus is that type of grey-red fungal clump that generates heat, grows, and whispers. It can be eaten, used to heal wounds, and serves as sacrificial material in critical moments. It is useful but dangerous.

Once the fungal cores entered the conduit, a wisp of grey-red dark light appeared in the white tube, as if fire had been mixed into a bloodline.

Grey Pupil's eyes constricted.

"The whispering is coming."

Lu Jin hummed, pressed the fragment of the Ancient Incubation Pool calibration pattern in front of the crystal core, and placed his other hand directly on the forehead of the White-Bellied Mother Rat.

"Open."

Hum—

The entire Breeding Cave sank first, then suddenly lit up violently.

The master position fragment, the half-sheet of the incubation pool residual diagram, the circle of white patterns under the White-Bellied Mother Rat's abdomen, and the egg-shaped master pattern deep inside the crystal core were instantly locked into one. The heat flow in the conduit was pulled toward the center, and the grey fire fungus cores also swelled bit by bit under this tension.

Thump.

Thump.

The crystal core pulsed more steadily.

But just as the third beat fell, the whispering pressed against their ears and squeezed in.

Fragmented, chaotic, messy, like many mouths opening in the darkness at once. There were human voices, beastly panting, and the sound of fingernails scraping bone bit by bit. The grey fire fungus around the Breeding Cave lit up, turning a dark, glowing red, illuminating the light in the eyes of those Red-Eyed Rats, making them tremble.

The outermost ring was the first to fall into chaos.

Two Red-Eyed Rats suddenly raised their heads and bit at the necks of their own kind. One adult mother rat was even more direct; she thrust her belly forward and lunged toward the center of the pool, emitting a sharp, cracking scream, as if she wanted to snatch that heat that had just lit up.

"Suppress them!"

Grey Pupil shouted sharply, and the sacrificial ranks moved first.

Those twelve Red-Eyed Rats did not rush inward; instead, they knelt according to the ring positions Grey Pupil had previously set, pressing the broken teeth, scorched claws, and grey fire fungus fragments they had brought onto the ground one by one. Their claws were trembling, and their eyes were red, but they did not lose control. Grey Pupil stood at the front, smashing a swelling fungal core with his staff, and the grey fire spread out along the head of the staff, just enough to suppress the restlessness in the outer ring.

Lu Jin raised his hand simultaneously.

One-third of that black fire in the Return Fire Well was forcibly extracted by him and pressed into the outer circle of the Breeding Cave along the lines of faith. The black fire did not burn the center of the pool but only suppressed the edges, like locking a fire-lock onto the entire new pool.

The mother rat that had lunged in just stepped onto the white pattern when her abdomen suddenly swelled.

Not right.

It was swelling too fast.

Lu Jin's eyes turned cold, and he pressed down with his backhand.

"Kill."

Grey Pupil did not hesitate; his sacrificial staff swept across, knocking that mother rat flying. When she landed, her belly had already split open, and a mass of grey-white flesh rolled out. The surface of the flesh was covered in dense black spots, still trembling as if about to open its eyes.

The Fire Oil Throwers raised their arms and smashed down.

As the grey-red fire paste landed, the mass of grey-white flesh immediately began to shriek, the sound making the entire swarm of rats tremble. Two Ambush Rats lunged from the edge of the fire, pressing it dead on the ground, burning it into a pile of charred black ash.

The Breeding Cave fell silent for half a breath.

All the mother rats crouched low.

Grey Pupil looked down at the pile of ash, his grey eyes even colder.

"A moment slower, and it would have entered the pool."

Lu Jin did not reply; he just picked up the charred black ash and pressed it into the edge of the master position fragment.

Once the ash fell, the white patterns around the master position fragment actually stabilized by a fraction, as if adding an extra layer of shell to the newly formed incubation pool.

Good stuff.

The filthy fetus died, but the remaining shell could be used to suppress the edge of the pool.

Lu Jin's black fire deepened in his eyes, and he pressed his palm down completely.

"Open again."

Boom!

The entire Breeding Cave felt like it was being lifted from the ground by someone.

The three heat flows in the conduit formally merged into one, with the warm trough, heat vein, and grey fire fungus cores supplying power to the center of the pool together. The white egg pattern on the outer layer of the crystal core finally detached from the surface, slowly sinking into the ground and transforming into a semi-circular shallow pool. The pool was not large, only enough to encircle the White-Bellied Mother Rat and the crystal core, but the circles of calibration patterns on the pool edge were all lit up, as if someone had carved a complete set of brood nest procedures onto the ground with white fire.

The pool was complete.

The White-Bellied Mother Rat did not scream, nor did she become restless again. She just slowly crouched down, pressing her abdomen against the edge of the pool center. As the white patterns under her abdomen touched the egg patterns at the bottom of the pool, the entire incubation pool trembled gently, as if it had truly taken its first breath.

The mother rats in the outer layer all let out low chirps.

Not harsh, not crazy, but instead like a response.

The outside of the Breeding Cave had also changed.

The inner wall silhouette was completely solidified, and rows of thin, shallow heat-conducting trenches appeared at the foot of the wall, allowing the heat from the fire room to be sent directly to the Breeding Cave. The Cart-pulling Rats began to instinctively move grey fire fungus, broken bones, and soft ash into the newly opened side troughs. The Tunneling Rats no longer dug randomly but opened small chambers outward along the wall silhouette, one after another, as if leaving space for future young nests.

For the first time, the Dead Ash Mine had the feeling of "growing things."

Not just growing soldiers.

It was growing nests, rooms, roads, growing a whole set of things that could operate on their own.

Lu Jin stood by the pool, looking at the shallow white-patterned pool, a trace of real brightness finally flashing in his eyes.

Deep at the bottom of the pool, that master position fragment had not dissipated. The humanoid shadow curled inside was even clearer, like it was hugging its knees and shrinking at the bottom of the pool, quiet, cold, yet waking up bit by bit.

Lu Jin looked at it, and a name slowly locked into his heart.

Wu Fu.

As soon as the name fell, the center of the pool pulsed gently.

Grey Pupil saw it too and spoke in a low voice: "There is someone managing the nest inside."

"Not out yet." Lu Jin's voice was steady. "Feed the pool until it's alive first."

As soon as he finished speaking, Grey Pupil's brow pressed down.

In the outer circle of the Breeding Cave, the abdomens of those few mother rats that had just stabilized began to swell again. The heat flow in the conduit was too smooth, and the power supply from the grey fire fungus was sufficient; once the incubation pool opened, the breeding speed was instantly raised. The outer preparatory chambers were still empty, but the food troughs were already running out.

Grey Pupil looked up at him.

"The food gap will be huge."

"Once there are many mother nests, if we can't guard them, they will be squeezed until they explode."

Lu Jin glanced at the swarm of rats in the outer layer that had already begun to actively move fungal blocks and bone fragments, his gaze darkening slightly.

This pool was the foundation, but it was also a mouth.

It would grow fast, and it would eat fast too.

But there was not a trace of retreat on his face; he backhanded the order down.

"Expand the sacrificial ranks to twenty."

"Keep the cores of the grey fire fungus, feed the Breeding Cave first."

"Divide the Cart-pulling Rats into two teams; one team moves food, one team builds the second layer of nest chambers."

"Grey Pupil, you watch this place."

Grey Pupil knelt on one knee, his sacrificial staff horizontal in front of him.

"Order received."

The entire mine crouched low once again.

This time, what was pressed down was not just awe, but a kind of quiet that had truly found its direction.

When Lu Jin withdrew his divine sense, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

It was not yet dawn outside, but the Black Well dormitory suddenly exploded with human voices. People were running wildly in the corridor, people were pounding on doors, and people were turning the light screens to their maximum.

A huge black-silver list was hanging over the freshman area.

[Zhuixing Divine Academy · Freshman League Battle List Announced]

The names were falling row by row, very quickly.

Lu Jin raised his eyes, looked for only a moment, and his gaze stopped.

[First Round]

[Black Well Class: Lu Jin]

[Vs.]

[First Rank of A-Order Sponsorship: Zhou Jibai]

The commotion outside the door grew even louder.