161: Chapter 161 I've disliked that octopus head for a long time.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Kasa brought out the "Mimic Spider Suit" she had prepared long ago.

It was a form-fitting garment that felt cold and slick to the touch, shimmering with a dark, violet light.

Lu Chen put it on, and his form twisted and deformed amidst a series of eerie undulations—eventually transforming into a massive, mutated abyss spider with crimson compound eyes and razor-sharp legs.

Even his aura was simulated to perfection, exuding the same fishy scent of its kind and the sweet, cloying sensation unique to abyss toxins.

"Remember, the 'Time of Dark Tides' only lasts for 30 minutes. Once you go in, head straight to the 'Acid-Breeding Lair' at the deepest point. Sakti is there."

"Only when it is in heat will its heart turn into a venom heart. That is the only time you can obtain it upon killing it. It has very high standards, but your type... it will definitely like you."

Kasa instructed him on the key points of the mission while helping Lu Chen adjust a non-existent "spider silk bowtie."

Confirming that the time was near, Lu Chen moved his eight legs, silently blending into the shadows of the street and moving rapidly toward the entrance of the city sewer hub.

The sewer entrance was hidden beneath an abandoned plaza fountain.

When an ancient abyss rune on the wall faintly lit up and emitted a gurgling suction sound, the "Time of Dark Tides" arrived.

The fountain base slowly slid open, revealing a massive hole continuously spewing out thick, ink-green toxic gas.

A suffocatingly strong, corrosive toxic gas rushed toward him; an ordinary Tier 6 class-changer would likely dissolve into pus in less than three seconds.

However, the "Kasa's Antidote" within Lu Chen had already taken effect. An invisible film covered his body, and all the toxic gas dissipated upon contact, unable to erode him in the slightest.

Without hesitation, he leaped inside.

Below lay an unimaginably vast underground world.

Huge pipes crisscrossed to form an incredibly complex maze, with the walls covered in slimy, glowing moss and constantly dripping venom.

The air was filled with a thick, acidic, and rotting scent. As far as the eye could see, everything was shrouded in varying shades of green toxic fog.

Countless smaller, sharp-fanged mutated spiders crawled and scurried between the pipes, making a teeth-gritting "rustling" sound.

The "mutated spider" that Lu Chen had transformed into possessed a powerful aura, allowing him to travel unimpeded. Occasionally, a few foolish small spiders would approach, but they would retreat in a panic after being glared at by his crimson compound eyes.

Following the map provided by Kasa, he moved quickly and finally arrived at the deepest part of the maze: a lair as large as a stadium, wrapped in countless pale spider silks.

In the center of the lair lay the target of this mission—the BOSS Sakti!

It had the enchanting and alluring face of a human female, with pale skin, blood-red lips, and seductive pink eyes.

However, from the neck down, it was a bloated spider abdomen covered in steel-needle-like black hair, with eight thick, pillar-like legs with razor-sharp tips deeply embedded into the floor of the lair.

Sensing Lu Chen's aura, its pink eyes instantly lit up, greedily sizing up this "strange and robust" kin from top to bottom.

Sakti's voice was bone-meltingly charming, yet carried a hair-raising hissing static: "What a... rare and excellent Bloodline. It seems the lonely days are about to end."

Its massive body leaned forward slightly, releasing a rich pheromone and issuing an invitation to mate: "Won't you come to the depths of my lair... and have a deep exchange? Big brother~"

Lu Chen suppressed his psychological discomfort, controlled the spider-shaped body, and mimicked a courtship posture as he slowly approached.

The depths of the lair were more private and much hotter. The air was filled with dizzying, potent pheromones.

As Sakti became intoxicated and let out a pleased hiss, its heart began to emit intense energy fluctuations due to its special state, gradually condensing into a beating "venom heart" containing terrifying toxic energy!

Just at this moment, Lu Chen erupted into action!

The Mimic Spider Suit suddenly tore apart, revealing his true human form!

The god-slaying spear appeared in his hand without warning, and with cold killing intent, he thrust the spear precisely at the BOSS!

"You—!"

The seductive smile on Sakti's face instantly froze, transforming into extreme shock, rage, and pain! But it was too late!

Puchi!

Its body was instantly pierced by the spear tip, and the terrifying damage killed it instantly!

[Ding! Successfully obtained quest item "venom heart" (1/1)!]

[Third Ring Quest: venom heart (Completed)!]

"Screech!!!"

Sakti let out an incomparably shrill scream. Its massive body convulsed violently as its core was destroyed, and venom sprayed wildly, causing the entire lair to erupt into chaos! Countless large and small mutated spiders swarmed in from all directions!

"Spiders, just right for the Explosive Stealth Spider to devour and evolve!"

Lu Chen smiled lightly.

The next second, the army of Explosive Stealth Spider surged forth like a crimson tide of death!

They did not trigger self-destruction, but instead continuously killed and devoured the spiders. Countless spiders were consumed before they could even scream.

Even more surprisingly, some Explosive Stealth Spider began to evolve after devouring the Origin venom sprayed by Sakti or elite spiders.

Their carapaces gradually stained deep purple, their compound eyes turned ghostly green, and after self-destructing, they no longer caused just explosive damage; they would also leave behind a large patch of continuously corrosive, highly toxic venom land, dealing significant damage!

[Ding! Some Explosive Stealth Spider evolved successfully! Evolved into D-rank "Explosive Stealth Poison Spider"!]

The area was cleared. Lu Chen put away the dim-glowing venom heart and turned to leave.

However, when he returned to the [Regent House], the scene before him made his eyes narrow.

The shop door was crooked, the windows were shattered, and the interior was a mess. There were many charred lightning strike marks on the walls, and several corpses of strange Invading Monster, fried to a crisp and looking bizarre, lay on the floor, emitting a burnt smell.

Kasa stumbled out from the inner room. There were several bone-deep wounds on her blue skin that were still sizzling with black smoke; clearly, she had suffered a great loss.

"You... you're finally back!"

Seeing Lu Chen, Kasa was both shocked and angry, her voice hoarse: "It was The Ferryman! It betrayed you! It sent an abyss succubus and its servants to attack me and stole my 'chaos scroll'!"

She pointed excitedly at the charred corpses on the ground: "These are all the succubus's servants! They wanted to kill me to silence me! Fortunately, I... ahem, fortunately, I have some survival skills!"

[Fourth Ring Quest triggered!]

[Quest Name: The Price of Betrayal]

[Quest Objective: Retrieve the "chaos scroll" stolen from Kasa from the attacking abyss succubus and its servants.]

[Quest Difficulty: The succubus's mental temptation and high-speed attacks require a firm mind. Choose whether to trust Kasa or The Ferryman? (Different choices will lead to different subsequent quest paths.)]

[Quest Reward: "Incomplete chaos scroll", unlocks the fifth ring.]

The quest prompts appeared clearly, especially the "choice," which made Lu Chen's eyes flicker.

Trust the wounded Kasa?

Or trust that elusive, playful-spoken, and suspicious-looking octopus head, The Ferryman?

Lu Chen hardly hesitated.

He looked at the disheveled Kasa, and the corners of his mouth curled into a cold arc:

"I will get it back for you."

"Not because I trust you."

"But because... I have disliked that octopus head for a long time."

PS: I've been hospitalized, taking a day off today~