Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 641 Submerged Ruins (9)

Around the hall were numerous narrow "passages," their entrances irregularly circular, about three meters in diameter. Each entrance had a leaf-like structure, translucent pale red with fine veins on its surface, revealing a dark red liquid flowing within. The leaves were tightly closed, sealing the entrances, their edges interlocking with a transparent gel-like substance at the seams, acting as sealant to prevent seawater from entering. Han Zu moved to a passage entrance and gently touched a leaf with his finger. The leaf trembled slightly, the flow of the veins on its surface quickened slightly, and then slowly opened a crack, just large enough for one person to pass through. There was no extra movement, nor any unusual energy fluctuation. The little mouse, seeing the leaf open, curiously poked its head out, peering into the passage. The inside was pitch black, with only a faint light visible in the distance, filling it with both curiosity and fear. It gently patted Han Zu's hair with its little paw, seemingly asking if it should enter, or perhaps expressing its own unease.

Han Zu led the little mouse into the passage. The passage was approximately three meters wide and five meters high. Its walls were covered with fine, denser, and darker brown patterns than those on the hall walls. There were no light sources on the walls; the lighting came from a dark red liquid that occasionally seeped from them. This liquid formed a thin film on the walls, emitting a faint red glow and providing dim illumination. On the floor, there was a shallow groove filled with a dark red liquid flowing faster than in the hall. The liquid carried a slight warmth, and a very thin, transparent oily film floated on its surface. The passage wasn't straight but meandering, with a slight turn every few dozen meters. At each turn, tiny, tentacle-like structures, less than ten centimeters long and covered with suckers, extended from the walls. When Han Zu passed by, these structures would twitch slightly before retracting back into the wall, showing no aggression. The little mouse perched atop Han Zu's head, its eyes fixed on the outstretched tentacles. When the tentacles trembled, its small body would quiver slightly as it watched curiously as the tentacles retracted into the wall. The dim environment of the passage made it uneasy; it huddled even tighter, only showing a flicker of curiosity in its eyes when it saw the glowing liquid membranes.

After Han Zu had traveled several hundred meters through the passage, it suddenly narrowed, becoming less than a meter wide and only about two meters high, allowing him to pass only sideways. The patterns on the passage walls became denser, almost covering the entire surface, and the dark red liquid flowing within them was more clearly visible. Occasionally, tiny, dew-like drops of liquid would seep from the patterns, dripping into grooves in the ground with a soft "drip-drip" sound, exceptionally clear in the silent passage. The tentacled structures on the passage walls also became more numerous and densely distributed. When Han Zu passed sideways, these tentacles would gently touch his body, feeling like a soft sponge, without any discomfort. Because the passage had narrowed, the little mouse had to press its body tightly against Han Zu's head, afraid of being touched by the passage walls. When a tentacle touched Han Zu's body, it would curiously extend its little paw to poke at the tentacle, and after the tentacle retracted, it would make a soft squeak, seemingly expressing its curiosity. The ticking sound in the passage made it uneasy, and it would occasionally look up at Han Zu's profile, as if to confirm whether Han Zu was safe.

Han Zu carefully pushed aside the leaves at the end of the passage and stepped out. Before him lay a vast domed space, its ceiling a massive arc, over a hundred meters high. At the center of the ceiling was a huge crystal, about ten meters in diameter, emitting a soft white light. Its radiance was brighter than the red light in the passage, illuminating the entire space. Surrounding the crystal were translucent, cloud-like fleshy substances that floated slowly, contacting the crystal approximately every ten minutes. Upon contact, a small amount of transparent liquid would seep from the substances, dripping onto the crystal's surface before slowly drifting away, as if cleaning the crystal. Around the perimeter of the space were numerous enormous, stalactite-like fleshy structures, hanging from the ceiling, some tens of meters long. Their ends connected to enormous, bud-like structures, each over ten meters in diameter, a translucent pale pink, through which one could see the dark red, heart-beating substance within. The little mouse's eyes widened instantly upon seeing the domed space, its mouth slightly agape in astonishment. The enormous crystals at the top and the floating flesh and blood fascinated it. When it saw the pulsating flower buds, its little body trembled slightly, instinctively feeling a trace of fear, but this was quickly replaced by intense curiosity. It stared intently at the pulsating buds, its little head bobbing slightly as if sensing their rhythm.

The buds pulsated extremely slowly, each pulsation taking over ten minutes. During these pulsations, numerous tiny, shimmering white particles seeped from their surfaces, floating slowly in the air like fine snowflakes. At the bottom of the space was a massive platform composed of fleshy material, its surface exceptionally flat and silvery-white, covered with intricate patterns. These patterns echoed the crystals at the top, forming a vast energy circulation network. Along the platform's edge was a ring of low protrusions covered with tiny cilia. These cilia constantly swayed, collecting the floating white light particles and transporting them into the platform's patterns. The little mouse watched the floating white light particles with curiosity in its eyes. It couldn't resist reaching out its tiny paw to grab a particle, but the particle slowly dissipated before even touching its paw. Undeterred, it continued to reach out its paw again and again, enjoying the task. When it saw the cilia collecting the particles at the platform's edge, it tilted its head, seemingly pondering the cilia's function, its eyes filled with inquisitive curiosity.

Han Zu walked to the edge of the platform, carefully observing the patterns on it. A silvery-white liquid flowed within the patterns, more viscous than the dark red liquid, radiating an extremely powerful energy aura. He could clearly see that this silvery-white liquid was formed by the mixing of white light particles seeping from the flower buds with the dark red liquid, transformed through the platform's patterns—a purer, more advanced energy carrier. In the center of the platform was a huge vortex-like structure, about five meters in diameter. The silvery-white liquid slowly flowed into the vortex and then disappeared, clearly being transported to various parts of the entire complex. Around the edge of the vortex were tiny glowing points, their light matching that of the crystals at the top, shimmering slightly as the liquid flowed in. Seeing the vortex in the center of the platform, the little mouse's small body began to tremble slightly again; the unknown aura it brought made it uneasy. It quickly buried its head in Han Zu's hair, only its eyes peeking out, secretly observing the vortex's movements. When it saw the silvery-white liquid flow into the vortex and disappear, its eyes were filled with doubt, but it dared not approach, and just held tightly to Han Zu's hair.

Within the domed space, Han Zu also discovered some small, coral-like, fleshy structures. These structures, ranging in height from a few meters to over ten meters, were distributed around the platform. Their surfaces were covered with tiny, tentacle-like structures that constantly and gently swayed, collecting white light particles in the air that had not yet been collected by cilia and transporting them to the patterns on the platform. These small structures moved faster than the other large structures, but still maintained a slow and steady rhythm, like craftsmen working silently. A little mouse, seeing these coral-like structures, curiously poked its head out, watching the tentacles constantly swaying and collecting particles. It couldn't help but imitate the tentacles' movements, its little paws swaying gently, looking quite adorable. When it saw the tentacles transporting the particles to the patterns, it seemed to understand the function of these structures, a knowing look appearing in its little eyes, before its attention was drawn to other sights.

Leaving the domed space, Han Zu explored several other passages. These passages led to different spaces, each with a unique function. The first space was filled with honeycomb-like small holes, each about half a meter in diameter. Within each hole were structures resembling insect eggs, translucent pale pink in color, covered with fine veins, emitting a faint life force, and occasionally trembling slightly, seemingly developing and growing. The second space contained enormous, leaf-like structures. These leaves were spread out, their surfaces covered with fine hairs that absorbed the light emitted by the crystals above. The backs of the leaves had many fine veins within which flowed a dark red liquid, clearly responsible for absorbing and converting light energy. The third space contained river-like passages filled with a silvery-white liquid. The passage walls were covered with suction cup-like structures that firmly held the liquid within, transporting it to every corner of the complex. The little mouse's curiosity was fully aroused in these spaces. It would look at the insect egg structure in the hole and couldn't help but stretch out its little claws to gently touch the edge of the hole; when it saw the leaves absorbing light, it would stare curiously at the hairs on the leaves; when it saw the flowing silvery-white liquid, it would turn its little head to follow the direction of the liquid's flow. It would show great interest in every new space, but the solemn aura emanating from the building still made it dare not leave Han Zu's head.

During his exploration, Han Zu repeatedly touched the building's sensitive structures. Whether it was the holes for nurturing insect eggs, the leaves for absorbing light, or the channels for transmitting energy, these structures only trembled slightly before returning to their original state, showing no aggression or repulsion. Even when he accidentally bent a leaf slightly, it simply returned to its original shape slowly, without any abnormal reaction, as if his presence were merely insignificant dust, not affecting their dormant state in the slightest. The flowing silvery-white liquid only slightly changed its direction of flow when he approached, returning to normal as soon as he left, undisturbed.

As the exploration deepened, Han Zu's energy consumption gradually increased. He walked to a passage wall, gently placed his palm on it, and began to absorb the life energy within the wall, circulating his internal energy. The energy in the wall was easily absorbed, flowing into his body like a tide along his palm. This energy possessed a gentle quality, directly integrating into his energy core and quickly restoring his strength. While absorbing energy, the part of the wall where the energy was absorbed only slightly faded in color, and the surface movement slowed slightly, without any damage or abnormal reaction. The dark red liquid flowing in the patterns only paused briefly before continuing its slow flow, as if the absorbed energy was insignificant to them. The little mouse sensed the slight energy fluctuations as Han Zu absorbed energy, curiously raising its head to look at Han Zu's profile, then at his palm pressed against the wall. It tilted its head, seemingly trying to understand Han Zu's actions. It didn't disturb Han Zu, but quietly perched on his head, occasionally glancing at its surroundings.

After absorbing energy for a period of time, Han Zu decided to enter the deeper core of the building. Instead of using fire energy, he circulated the energy within his body, gathering it in his palm and gently pressing it against the wall. The energy slowly seeped into the wall, gradually "melting" away the flesh and blood, forming a circular opening about one meter in diameter. The flesh and blood around the opening, affected by the energy, became translucent, slowly wriggling as it attempted to heal, but the healing process was extremely slow. The little mouse, seeing the wall "melted" into a hole, was filled with astonishment. It stared intently at the opening, watching the flesh and blood around the opening wriggle and heal, its little mouth slightly open, revealing an incredulous expression. It gently patted Han Zu's hair with its little paw, seemingly expressing its surprise, or perhaps inquiring about the next plan.

Han Zu looked down at the little mouse above his head, gently patted its head, and then crawled into the hole. Inside was an even narrower passage, less than a meter wide, barely wide enough for him to squeeze through sideways, and only about 1.5 meters high, requiring him to bend slightly to move forward. This passage was an energy transmission pipeline within the building; the patterns on the walls were denser, almost interwoven into a network. The dark red liquid flowing inside moved faster than elsewhere, radiating a stronger warmth. There were no lighting structures on the passage walls; only the faint red light emitted by the flowing liquid provided illumination. The little mouse on Han Zu's head had its eyes tightly closed, its body curled up in a ball, uneasy about the narrowness and darkness of the passage. As the passage narrowed further, it left Han Zu's head, crawled up his arm to his chest, burying its head in his arm. Only when it felt Han Zu's body heat did its unease ease slightly. Occasionally, it would tremble slightly at the sound of the flowing liquid, but dared not make a sound.

The passageway was several tens of meters long, ending at a small, secret chamber. The chamber, though small, only a few dozen square meters, emanated an extremely dense energy fluctuation. In the center of the chamber stood a massive, heart-like structure, about five meters in diameter, its surface covered with thick, vein-like lines flowing with a silvery-white, high-grade energy liquid. The heart's beat in unison with the flower buds in the dome space. With each beat, numerous white light particles seeped from its surface, floating slowly within the chamber and being absorbed by tiny holes in the walls. The walls of the chamber were covered with even more complex patterns, interconnected with the central heart to form a complete energy circulation system. The holes in the walls continuously absorbed the white light particles, transforming them into a silvery-white liquid that was then transported to the heart, which in turn distributed this liquid throughout the entire complex. The little mouse, carried by Han Zu into the chamber, froze instantly upon seeing the central heart structure, its eyes filled with awe and fear. The powerful energy fluctuations and solemn aura emanating from the "heart" instinctively instilled fear in it. It clung tightly to Han Zu's arm, burying its head even deeper. But when it saw the white light particles seeping from the "heart," its curiosity resurfaced. It secretly peeked out from between Han Zu's arms, observing the particles floating and being absorbed.

Han Zu walked to the "heart" structure, carefully observing its beating and energy flow. This "heart" was clearly the energy core of the entire flesh-and-blood architectural complex, responsible for generating and distributing advanced energy. The various spaces he had explored earlier all revolved around this core, each responsible for absorbing, converting, and transmitting energy, collectively maintaining the life activities of the entire complex. He could clearly feel that the energy contained within the "heart" was extremely vast and pure, far more advanced than the energy he had absorbed from the walls. He reached out, wanting to feel the energy fluctuations of the "heart" more closely. When his fingers were still a few centimeters from the surface of the "heart," a gentle energy barrier blocked his fingers, not aggressive, but simply serving as a barrier.

Han Zu withdrew his hand, his gaze falling on the wall of the secret chamber. He needed more energy to deal with possible unknown situations, and also needed to find a way out of the seabed. He walked to a wall, circulated his internal energy, and placed his palm on the wall, beginning to absorb the energy contained in the flesh and blood within it. Unlike before, this time he absorbed not only energy, but also part of the original structure of the flesh and blood. As energy and matter continued to pour in, he could feel his energy beginning to fragment, rapidly filling his entire body. At the same time, his body seemed to undergo some changes, becoming more solid, but its flexibility not only did not decrease, but actually became stronger than before. The portion of the wall that was absorbed gradually formed a larger gap, the flesh and blood at the edge of the gap writhing, but unable to keep up with the absorption speed. When the gap widened enough for one person to pass through, Han Zu stopped absorbing, picked up the little mouse, and crawled through the gap. Behind the gap was a sloping upward passage, the walls of which were covered with silvery-white energy patterns, and the flowing silvery-white liquid provided ample illumination for the passage. He quickly moved upward along the passage, the angle of the passage increasing, and the pressure of the surrounding seawater decreasing. When he reached the end of the passage, he found a small platform ahead with an upward exit in the center. He leaped onto the platform, and as soon as he landed, the gap above him rapidly closed. Flesh and blood writhed quickly, instantly sealing the gap. At the same time, the patterns on the passage walls emitted a faint light, forming an energy barrier that prevented the seawater from flowing back in.