The mucous rolled at a fast pace, like the rising tide, swiftly reaching the forefront. Michael keenly sensed the sudden surge in pollution levels. His golden wings spread open behind him, disregarding his posture as he grabbed Lu Yan and Yan Bei with one hand each, lifting them into the air.
He weighed the difference between his left and right hands and remarked to Yan Bei, "So, it's you who's so heavy." Maintaining a suspended posture was more tiring than continuous flight.
At the bottom of the hall, the mucous quickly covered the floor. Once it occupied the ground, the color deepened, resembling mashed meat. Within the coarse and uneven meat paste were embedded pairs of malicious eyes, staring fixedly at the people above.
Lu Yan inexplicably felt this scene was familiar. After thinking for a moment, he realized he had seen a similar situation when he first acquired the talent of Delirium. It was in a dream, deep in the sea, with the ground covered in nauseating, bloodshot eyeballs.
However, unlike the dream, the eyeballs on the ground were not stationary; they were moving around the spread meat sauce.
A foul stench of deteriorating meat filled the entire hall. Lu Yan warned, "Don't look at the eyes below; it will increase the degree of mutation."
Uriel had encountered an unfortunate situation like this before. [To say he encountered misfortune is not entirely accurate; Uriel took his own life. In mythology, he presided over terror and anger. This Harbinger called Uriel was the same, possessing the Dagger of Hellfire and the talent of Judgment. He also had wings for flight. If not for suicide, it would be challenging for other pollutants to kill him.]
Lu Yan asked, "What exactly is the talent of Judgment?" After a moment of contemplation, the system reluctantly responded, "[Judgment is] 'With me as the rule, I judge the world.' I admit, ranking it fifth might have some logic, but I still insist that the talent ranked sixth is the most 'six'!"
Lu Yan felt that as his spiritual power threshold increased, the system gradually became more humanized or emotional. For instance, he could now sense a command like "Come and comfort me" in the system's tone. However, Lu Yan couldn't bring himself to do such things; he readied his bow again, asking, "Which eyeball is the core of this snotty creature?"
"[The 548th from south to north, and the 154th from west to east. Find it; it has shifted a bit to the left now.]"
For others, the system's information might be useless, but for Lu Yan, it was enough. His eyes were like a camera lens, quickly replaying scenes he had witnessed in his mind.
He carefully observed the ground, closed his eyes, and simulated the approximate location in his mind. These eyeballs were truly mentally polluting. Even in recollection, Lu Yan found it headache-inducing.
He raised his bow and shot towards the southwest, targeting a statue of an angel. The angel sculpture had half of its wings missing at the back and its lower body cut in half, turning into the tentacles of an octopus.
A eyeball flew off like a swimming fish, landing far away on the red meat paste. "[Oh, missed.]"
Lu Yan suddenly complained, almost causing Michael to miss grabbing him. Michael sighed, "What are you doing? Seems like Cupid."
"Looking for the eyes," Lu Yan thought for a moment, then said, "Among all these eyes, I can vaguely feel which one is the most important."
Michael was shocked, "Now the talent ranked five hundred is so powerful?"
Yan Bei's gaze swept around, finally locking onto the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The chandelier resembled blooming petals, with a diameter of at least five or six meters, connected to the ceiling by iron chains, appearing quite sturdy.
Yan Bei's hair grew at an incredible speed, more like the roots of some tree than braided hair. These roots firmly grasped the bottom of the chandelier.
He pulled hard. It didn't fall, so he said to Michael, "Let go."
Michael skeptically released his grip. Yan Bei swung like on a swing, hanging on the chandelier, pulling himself up with his hair, and sat on the light.
He turned to Lu Yan, "Come."
For a long-range attacker, finding a suitable sniping point was sometimes more important than their own skill.
Only a few wall lamps were lit, making the interior dim. The mucous on the ground appeared more disgusting and terrifying. Pink flesh chunks slowly crawled up the walls like proliferating ivy.
Lu Yan looked towards the doors and windows, which were blocked by flesh chunks. Several eyeballs stared vigilantly in those areas.
Michael tentatively swung the Holy Sword at the flesh chunks. The golden giant sword drew a dazzling sword light, turning the eyeballs into powder in an instant. However, the surrounding flesh quickly split and reproduced, filling the gap.
The eyeballs revealed mocking smiles.
Michael's expression became noticeably irritated. *This work is provided by the Si Tu Net for online reading.*
In just a few minutes, he had seen the bodies of missing comrades for years and encountered these disgusting monsters. Anyone's mood would be affected.
But he had worked on the front lines as a Harbinger for many years. Soon, he realized that something was wrong with his state. He took out a military tranquilizer from the pocket on his chest and drank a dose.
Michael threw the empty bottle to the ground. The flesh chunks swarmed and swallowed it whole, leaving no glass shards behind.
Lu Yan said, "Michael, watch my arrows." "[Using the angel statue as the origin, the entrance direction of the main door as the Y-axis, establish a rectangular coordinate system. One eyeball equals one scale.]" "[1123, 81.]"
Lu Yan closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and shot the silver arrow in his hand.
The arrowhead was like a swift meteor. However, the accumulated thickness of the meat paste made the half-length arrow that hadn't penetrated explode into a large hole, and black blood oozed from the edges.
Michael raised his sword and slashed towards the ground. A large amount of rotten flesh evaporated in an instant, and the solid bluestone floor was cut into a deep trench.
"[1217, -46.]"
The second arrow.
The minced meat let out a miserable scream and wriggled rapidly.
"[1365, -217.]"
The third arrow.
...
...
With each arrow, the time Lu Yan needed for contemplation shortened. Conversely, his breath grew heavier, and a surreal, hallucinogenic display of colors appeared before his eyes, reminiscent of mushroom poisoning.
"[Host]," the system solemnly reminded, "[It's time to take the medicine.]"
Unbeknownst to him, his back was already drenched in cold sweat.
Lu Yan took out his mint-flavored special medicine. Perhaps due to the varying degrees of targeted contamination, the candy dissolved in his mouth without much effect.
From behind, Yan Bei embraced Lu Yan, resting his head on his back. Vines formed from his hair reached into Lu Yan's pocket, pulling out white flowers and offering them to his mouth.
Lu Yan instinctively swallowed, the taste being sweet and milky.
However, the quantity of these flowers was evidently insufficient.
The vines seized Yan Bei's dagger from his bag, gently slicing a small piece of skin behind his neck. From the ends of Yan Bei's hair, a dozen white flowers instantly blossomed. He gathered the picked white flowers into a small bouquet and presented them to Lu Yan's mouth.
The vision before Lu Yan's eyes finally cleared, no longer distorted and surreal.
The arrow was once again poised on the bow.
Although the merchant no longer possessed consciousness, it still retained animal instincts.
After several near-death encounters, it distinctly sensed the aura of danger. In the past, its prey couldn't escape mental contamination and would often stand obediently in place, devoured after persisting for a few minutes. This was true for the calamity hunters who had come before.
However, this group of people was evidently different.
The merchant's inner hesitation grew, and Michael's holy sword, radiating sacred light, inflicted double the damage on pollutants. The burning sensation made its eyes bloodshot, unbearable. The rate at which the meat pulp ascended significantly slowed, and the eyes rapidly disappeared in large clusters.
It realized it couldn't continue like this. These people it couldn't touch for a short period, and the mental contamination effect wasn't too significant. Continuing this way clearly worked against it.
The meat pulps began to converge toward the center, forming a rolling meatball.
But Lu Yan's arrowhead shifted away from this mass.
"[Left front corner.]"
The merchant, well-versed in military strategy, knew about sacrificing pawns to protect the king. Past experiences made it confident in this strategy, but this turned out to be its most significant mistake in its life. The last major mistake was letting its wife devour a disgusting placenta.
In the corner, a tiny eyeball with spider-like legs quietly crawled into the wall crevice.
"Swoosh."
The silver long arrow, carrying an unstoppable sharpness, pierced through this pea-sized eyeball from dozens of meters away.
A painful and ear-piercing howl echoed in the hall!
This eight-legged eyeball was firmly pinned in the corner, rolling on the ground, struggling in pain. The wailing sound sent shivers down the spine.
The central meatball instantly lost its vitality, spraying out like water from a shattered container. Eye after eye rapidly withered, leaving only interconnected white membranes scattered on the ground, resembling a giant spider web.
The merchant's wailing gradually subsided, eventually ceasing altogether.
"Is it dead?" Lu Yan asked.
"[Dead.]"
Michael furrowed his brow, lightly stepping on the ground. Now, the ground was covered with meat foam sprayed by the meatball, quite nauseating.
He took out his phone from the waist pouch and took several pictures as documentation for the exploration, all of which would be sent to headquarters later.
Lu Yan finally had the mood to examine Urele, who was within arm's reach.
Hanging on the cross for 26 years, even for a highly distorted Harbinger, the upper half of the body began to shrivel, leaving only a piece of skin adhering to the skeleton. The clothing, made of a special material, still retained its original luxury.
He had long, straight, deep brown hair that cascaded to his knees, hanging low enough for Lu Yan to see the top of his head.
Urele was three meters tall, and the head was inevitably a bit larger.
Thus, the wound on the back of his head was even more noticeable.
It was a hole chiseled open, and judging from the injury, something sharp and conical had forcibly stabbed into it.
"[Does it look familiar? If it does, then it's right. Happiness is reserved for the ignorant.]" The system's tone carried a hint of pity, "[This is the Talent Transplantation Surgery.]"
"[Judgment]," Yan Bei was stolen by the True Church people."
"[Originally, he was the righteous angel judging the mortal world. Now, this judge has turned into Satan.]"
Yan Bei still embraced Lu Yan's waist, looking exhausted.
He rubbed his head against Lu Yan's back and whispered, "Today can't blossom anymore. The researcher said if I turn into a tree, I won't be able to move in the future."
Michael finished documenting the crime scene, flying back into the air, preparing to bring Yan Bei and Lu Yan back to the ground.
Lu Yan, at this moment, pointed to the top of Urele's head. "Michael, this wound, it looks like Talent Transplantation Surgery."
Michael flapped his wings, flying to the top of the crucifix.
He stared fixedly at that wound, his eye sockets reddening.
After a long time, Michael took a deep breath, raised his phone, and took a picture.
Unlock exclusive early access to 100s of Chapters before anyone else by becoming a valued member of my Patreon community.
As a cherished member of our Patreon community, here is what you'll get:
For just $5, you'll receive:
- Early access to 100s of chapters before they go public. (You can find all the novels I'm translating HERE.)
- Your name will be prominently featured on the "Wall of Gratitude".
- The power to vote on which novel I translate next.
- You Get Ad-free Chapters.
If you decide to pledge $10, you'll get all the perks from the $5 tier, plus:
- You get to suggest a Novel for me to translate.
- Your name featured on the "Wall of Gratitude" (in gold).
And if you're feeling generous with a $20 pledge, you'll unlock all the perks above:
- You get to recommend an abandoned Novel and I will immediately start translating it.
- Your name featured on the "Wall of Gratitude" (in blue).
Plus, you can Cancel your membership at any time.
Don't let this amazing opportunity slip through your fingers!
