"Neurotoxins?" Vivian pulled her eyebrows together. "You think neurotoxins would work?"
"Whatever. Let's just give it a try." Hao Ren approached the pool. The surging red fluid was emanating an even greater luster with an increased vitality like a liquid ruby. The heart, which was immersed in the pool was thumping with a greater force. "Neurotoxins, anesthetics, acids, alkalines... whatever you can get your hands on. Of course, be careful not to pour them in directly as that may agitate and wake it up too soon. We should set up some booby traps and time them to trigger once the thing awakens!"
"I never knew you were so evil." Vivian glanced at Hao Ren, stunned but impressed with his little evil thoughts!
The vampire maiden began to draw a magic circle around the heart. It could only be triggered remotely and it would create a large area of corrosive Blood Mist. Although she was not sure if the corrosive mist would do any damage to the super life form, which measured several hundred kilometres across, she hoped that it would stun it for a while, no matter how slightly.
The MDT was spot on; this was a creature beyond the normal sense. The life form had seriously out-spec'd anything that God ever designed. No normal method was going to bring it down; not even the inspector gun Hao Ren was wearing. When going against such a massive creature, no explosives would do either—not even 200 lbs of C4 would work. The sheer size of the thing was its ultimate defense!
So, the only option left to destroy the ancient, awakening monster was to bring total destruction upon it. But before they did that, they had to evacuate the residents in Beinz.
However, Hao Ren had no clue about the kind of weapon he could use to bring the thing down: there were no nukes there and frankly speaking, he had every reason to believe that not even a nuke could bring the super life form to its knees!
By then, Vivian had finished laying her booby traps; it was a two-metre wide rune circle. Compared to the thousand-metre heart, it was just a drop in the ocean. The heart was just one of the many organs of the Gnarled Grove. A sense of helplessness began to weigh on Hao Ren's mind. Will this circle work at all? he asked himself.
"Done." Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Vivian said, "Shall we go and find the other hearts in the other caverns too?"
Hao Ren shook his negative thoughts away. He pulled the MDT out and said, "Show us the way!"
Without wasting any time, they moved swiftly through the complex underground world. They were not worried about getting lost as the MDT was also a navigation device. Soon, they found one cavern after another, all with similar hearts. Each cavern resonated with the increasingly strong heart thumping sound!
Once Vivian was done setting up the seventh magic circle, she gasped as she looked at the massive thing. "I'm afraid that I'll be the first Blood Clan member to suffer from anemia if I keep drawing the circles with my blood like this... What damage can we expect here? A few scars? I wonder how this thing even grows!"
"Probably, that goddess of creation wasn't as powerful as Raven 12345..." Hao Ren's mouth twisted as he spoke. "But she's definitely outgunned us! We'll just have to do our human best and leave the rest to God. Now let's get the hell out of here and meet the others."
They immediately withdrew from the cavern, leaving behind the magic circles to say hello to the hearts when they fully awakened. A rhythmic thumping of the heart was heard coming from behind them and it sounded like it was sneering at them.
They came back to the first cavern they visited and found only Ophra as well as Elson there. Elson nodded at them gratefully. He seemed fine and was just lost in the caverns. It was Big Beardy who found him and got him out. Ophra stepped up to Hao Ren and said, "Is the news true?"
Clearly, it was a stupid question. But, she just wanted a confirmation becase she felt lost.
"Do you think it's a joke?" Hao Ren spread his hand out. "Has Big Beardy gone with the bishop?"
"They've gone back to town using the teleportation stone. We were waiting for you guys." Ophra furrowed her brows tightly. "The parchments, which the four masters brought out had an unforgeable, sacred seal on them. I'm afraid everything written on them is true... but still, it's hard to believe!"
"I know it's hard to accept, especially for believers like you," Hao Ren said as he waved his hand, "but this is no time to harp on who has gotten the wrong bible! Let's catch up with them first. Your knights will be of help too."
Looking at Hao Ren with surprise, Ophra had an even stronger feeling that Hao Ren was not an ordinary mercenary; the way he spoke to her was not like someone talking to a marshal, but a friend. Nonetheless, she did not harp on it. She just nodded before she took out a little shiny gemstone underneath her armour. "Let's teleport using this gemstone. You lot may have not seen it before, but please come closer."
The teleportation stone was a very precious thing. Even people like Marshal Ophra would only use it under absolute necessity. However, Hao Ren stopped her. "Maybe you should just use our technology. It's just more accurate."
He remembered his cover—he was supposed to be a spatial magic wizard.
Before the light of the teleportation came on, Hao Ren asked, "Have you and Bishop Gelton found the Divine Sarcophagus?"
Ophra shook her head. "Not yet. Maybe the Divine Sarcophagus is buried underbeath the mud in the pool. And according to the theory of the four masters, it's too late even if we find the Divine Sarcophagus now. The life progenitor may have lost its effect."
With a flash of a light, Hao Ren found himself standing in a room somewhere in Leyton. Judging from the feminine decorations, he knew it had to be Ophra's residence.
The storm outside had subsided, but dark clouds still lingered in the sky. Muffling thunder occasionally rolled out of the clouds, making the already grim atmosphere even more depressing.
Ophra and Hao Ren then walked out of the room. They were apparently near to the knights' station. Hao Ren looked around. He saw knights and clerics hustling past in a hurry. Those poor folks in the streets, who looked at those knights and clerics had no idea what was happening.
All of a sudden, the bell tower in Leyton sounded its desperate siren.
Bishop Gelton was calling out to the people, ready to issue an evacuation announcement.
A hurried pounding of hooves was heard from the other end of the street. A monk draped in a white robe was arriving on horseback. The monk lit down and came up to Ophra. "Marshal, the bishop requests your help to evacuate the people and personnel in the villages up north. He's too tied up with his duty."
"Understood. It is an emergency and we shouldn't harp on formality." Ophra took the reins from Elson's hand and lifted herself up onto the horse. She looked down at Hao Ren. "I'm going to assemble my men. You guys may want to get some rest back in the king's house. I will find you later."
Hao Ren had thought of acting nice by offering to help out, but he knew Ophra. The marshal was a very forthright person. So, he thought better of it and agreed. He and his company were not even part mercenary. They were not going to be much help in such a situation. Hence, he nodded his and said to Ophra, "Just be careful."
"You're a strange mercenary. I know that all of you have some secrets," Ophra said with a smile, baffling everyone. "After this is finished, I want to dig your secrets up one by one..."
Then, the marshal left into the distance, leaving Hao Ren confused. "What did she mean?"
No one answered him. Instead, he heard the voice of Nangong Wuyue from afar. "Hey, you guys are back?"
Hao Ren turned around and saw the siren maiden, who was riding on a horse. She had stopped not too far away from him. Accompanying her were the knights who went on the scouting mission with her.
"What's going on?" Nangong Wuyue got down from her horse and ran towards him. "What's the grim atmosphere all about?"
"Let's head back and talk." Hao Ren did not mention what he had found underground as he led them back to the king's house.