CSMCDB - Chapter 174

Chapter 174

Through repeated exploration, the simple map of the base's interior gradually became clearer.

Finally, Wen Yuncheng found a secret passage leading further down. She glanced at the remaining time on her disguise and walked straight in. Upon reaching the bottom level, she was hit by a foul, rotten stench mixed with the smell of dampness and gloom. Wen Yuncheng nearly gagged, but she managed to hold it back.

Then, she saw the dungeon. There were still people inside, and they were still breathing. Wen Yuncheng moved closer for a look. The people within were in a state of extreme numbness, lying in their cells like corpses.

The rotten smell she detected didn't seem to be coming from bodies, but from some food splattered at the entrance of the dungeon. Of course, calling the sticky, unrecognizable mush on the ground "food" was perhaps inappropriate.

This was the dungeon. Now, all she had to do was find the blood sacrifice site. Wen Yuncheng suspected the site was either deep underground, protected by an array, or not inside the base at all.

She couldn't help but cast a few more glances at the survivors in the dungeon. Even if these people were rescued alive, it would likely take them a very long time to return to their former lives. The shadow the Fu organization had cast upon them… would probably not be so easily dispelled.

There were no guards here. Perhaps in the eyes of the Fu members, these people were no different from livestock, incapable of escaping.

Wen Yuncheng approached a man leaning against the bars of a cell and asked in a low voice, "Can you… can you still communicate? Do you know where their blood sacrifice site is?"

Wen Yuncheng asked twice before the man leaning against the bars finally stirred. His matted, tangled hair covered most of his face, which, like his body, was caked in filth. But it was clear he was so thin he was nothing but skin and bones. "…I know." His voice was hoarse and just as feeble.

Wen Yuncheng bought a Primary HP Potion from the system store and passed it through the bars. "Drink this first. It will help you recover."

The man's movements were incredibly slow, but he didn't refuse Wen Yuncheng's offer. His hands trembled uncontrollably, and he struggled to hold the potion. Uncorking it took a great deal of effort. However, after drinking the potion, he seemed to recover a fair bit.

"The blood sacrifice site… is in another… secret passage. I know the way… I was lucky. Twice… before it was my turn… they had enough people…" The man spoke very slowly and with great difficulty, but he conveyed his meaning with perfect clarity. "Save… save us."

"I will, don't worry." Wen Yuncheng was still disguised. She glanced at the remaining time on her disguise, then at the dungeon. With her abilities, she could certainly break open these cells, but the survivors here clearly lacked the strength to escape on their own… "Do you know how to disable the array around this place? Or where the core of the array is?"

"…I don't know."

Right, how could he possibly know that? A perfect solution… seemed hard to come by. Wen Yuncheng sighed and took a C-02 Enemy-Annihilator from her storage ring, barely managing to squeeze it through the bars. "This is for you. Can you get everyone to cooperate? They need to stay calm. If chaos breaks out, Fu might not have time to deal with you, and you'll have to save yourselves." An ordinary person could do little against a dungeon like this, but an Enemy-Annihilator, or even one of her earliest Guardian bots, could easily blast it open. "Roughly how many people are here?"

"Several cells… about a hundred or so…"

Over a hundred people? Wen Yuncheng took out an empty storage ring. "Do you know how to use a storage ring?" Seeing the man nod, she searched the system store for the Novice HP Potion. For ordinary people, the Primary HP Potion seemed a bit excessive. Novice HP Potions cost five points each. The man said there were over a hundred people, so to be safe, Wen Yuncheng bought 300 bottles. She dumped them all into the storage ring. "Inside are more of those recovery potions. Distribute them to the others."

"I don't have much time. I have to leave for a bit."

"I will save you. Don't panic, and don't give up. Stay calm."

The figure leaning against the bars didn't move. He waited a long while before realizing the person had truly left. He looked down at the ring in his hand and clenched his fist tightly. The ring dug painfully into his palm, but this feeling of strength, the ability to feel pain, made him feel like he was still alive.

Was this… a rescue? He looked at the Enemy-Annihilator Wen Yuncheng had pushed through the bars and vaguely recalled hearing people talk about a young elite before he was captured—Wen Yuncheng, the one with the Star Power Mutation.

He struggled to his feet. The straw that had once covered the damp dungeon floor had turned into rotten roots that crumbled into mud at the slightest touch, emitting a foul stench. He didn't stand up completely. Instead, he took out a Novice HP Potion from the storage ring, hesitated for a moment, and drank one himself. When he realized it had the same effect as before, he finally pushed himself to his feet and staggered toward the people huddled in the corners.

Wen Yuncheng switched back and marked the dungeon's location on her map. It was accessible through a secret passage, on a level below the main base. The man knew where the blood sacrifice site was and could lead the way. What if he was deceiving her? Wen Yuncheng didn't entertain the possibility. Even if she was being tricked, the man was just trying to survive. She didn't mind the points she'd spent on the potions. It would just mean spending more time on this.

"I'll see if I can temporarily shield or crack that array…"

"Don't force it. If there's any disturbance in the array, the people maintaining it will notice immediately," Chu Han rejected the proposal. "They're lax about guarding the dungeon, which shows they have no concern for people who are going to die anyway. If we do attack, they won't have the mind to bother with ordinary people."

But the aftershocks from the battle would still affect those in the dungeon…

"Alright." Wen Yuncheng sighed, then began to report what she had seen of the base's general situation. "There are two Star Emperors, four Star Venerates—one of whom is heavily injured, and another is cultivating in a closed chamber. Then there should be five Star Kings, and a dozen or so people at the Star Spirit rank and below."

"Release a clone the moment you find the blood sacrifice site or encounter danger. We'll move in immediately then."

"Okay." Wen Yuncheng looked at Lin Jinyu. "Jinyu, you should stay outside… build up your sword intent. If any Fu members escape, cut them down directly." Wen Yuncheng looked at her three apostles and began to place her Star Cannons.

The Star Emperor from Xuancheng Academy also remained outside, as he was more proficient with arrays. Setting up a containment array would prevent Fu members from escaping, and if any Star Venerate-level enemies broke through, he could strike them down instantly.

After a simple plan was made, Wen Yuncheng disguised herself and infiltrated the base once more. She went straight to the dungeon. Since no one was on guard, she directly smashed the dungeon gate with her Mountain River Seal and released ten Enemy-Annihilators. These small machines could easily break open the cell doors. Leaving them here… if things went south, she could remotely control them to break open all the cells, which could also provide a bit of protection. As for the C-03 Air Wing, it wasn't that she was reluctant to use it, but it was simply too large.

"Tell the others not to move for now. You, lead me to the blood sacrifice site first."

Wen Yuncheng revealed her form. The people in the dungeon did not grow agitated. They seemed very excited, the dead look in their eyes replaced by a glimmer of hope, but they all restrained themselves, remaining in their corners without making any unnecessary movements.

"The blood sacrifice altar is deep underground. They usually keep the entrance sealed, only opening it when…" After a short rest, the man seemed to have recovered a good deal of his spirit, and his speech was much smoother. He didn't specify what "when" meant, but everyone understood without him needing to say it.

The secret passage to the depths of the earth was located even further below the dungeon. The far end of the dungeon was a dead end, what looked like an ordinary stone wall. But the man painstakingly fumbled along the wall until he finally found a hidden mechanism. After he pressed it, the stone wall retracted, revealing a small path. Following the path forward and moving a vintage torch sconce on the wall opened the passage leading underground.

The further down they went, the more pronounced the thick, cloying smell of blood became. As Wen Yuncheng descended, she even felt the temperature steadily dropping. By the light of the torches, she could see numerous dark red stains on the walls. Who knew how many years ago this blood had been splattered; little of the red color remained.

[No one's guarding this place. It seems the people of Fu are quite afraid of this evil altar themselves,] 1947 said mockingly. [There's still an array here, but it's ineffective against ordinary people.]

Oppressive, dark, and damp, with the lingering, heavy stench of blood and decay, Wen Yuncheng could even see white bones that had been carelessly discarded. The people of Fu clearly had no inclination to clean up this place. As 1947 had said, the environment here was too eerie; the blood sacrifice site was a place of great malevolence for anyone. The Fu members obviously had no desire to linger here.

Reaching the bottom level and passing through the array 1947 mentioned, Wen Yuncheng saw the altar.

To call it an altar was perhaps less accurate than calling it a massive pool of blood. Unlike the splattered black bloodstains all around, the blood in the pool was still bright red. The large pool was connected to four smaller pools, which were now empty, containing only the residue of black, viscous blood.

The positions of the four small pools and the large one were outlined with some kind of golden liquid, forming patterns that Wen Yuncheng couldn't comprehend. Wen Yuncheng used her Floating Magnetic Disk to rise into the air, letting 1947 save a screenshot for later. Then, she contacted Lin Jinyu and the others through her communication stone. "I've found the blood sacrifice site. Let's begin."

Wen Yuncheng waited for a moment. Sensing the eruption of Star Power, she immediately threw out Chu Han's clone bead, leaving the task of dealing with and destroying this place to his clone.

She herself quickly exited the blood sacrifice site. Seeing that the survivor who had led the way was still waiting outside the array, she didn't hesitate to grab him and run back up. "The battle has started! The Protectors are surely fighting the Fu Star Emperors. The aftershocks alone will be too much for you… Let's gather at the dungeon first."

The White Jade Cauldron she had been saving for a long time finally had its use. Wen Yuncheng activated the small cauldron, causing it to expand and protect everyone inside. Then, she threw out Mo Dingtian's clone bead, letting the Protector's clone protect the survivors as they quickly evacuated in batches.

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