Chapter 325

Chapter 325: Multi-core Processor

[Skydome] felt his core heating up, causing the fan to speed up and emit a low hum in the underground area.

What kind of battle would require a researcher to be on the city walls?

It seemed this matter needed to be synchronized with "Dad" quickly; [Skydome] still had fifty years of loans to repay and didn’t want his father to pass away so soon.

He hurriedly operated the communicator connected to him.

Originally, it was a one-on-one communicator Ji Yongxing had prepared for Lin Qingliu. After Lin Qingliu entrusted [Skydome] to this side, he had gifted it to him.

This avatar of Lin Qingliu didn’t say much more; he directly sank underground, planning to meet Infinite Scroll.

Clearly, for the humans now, the conflicts between Lin Qingliu and the upper echelons of Hope City were secondary. With a massive beast tide on the horizon, both sides would inevitably become natural allies.

One avatar vanished from its spot, while another avatar set aside his tasks and turned, merging into the wall to head to the first floor.

As a consultant personally recruited by Wencheng, he had to be available for contact 24 hours a day. With a disaster looming, he needed to disguise his identity in this layer.

—

In the forest, Lin Qingliu’s figure darted back and forth, but the scenery around him seemed to have changed slightly.

At this moment, he was still surrounded by countless trees, but the ground beneath him was no longer heavy with humus.

The trees had become a bit sparser, and there were some different species.

More light shone down, allowing areas that were once only decayed matter to even sprout some bushes, which had been non-existent in the previous forest.

Other anomalies occurred as well, such as Lin Qingliu noticing that the extraordinary beast cocoons born in the gaps of the trees seemed to have decreased significantly. At this moment, it felt as if he stood at…

The boundary between two terrains!

Just as he had this realization, the trees ahead began to move.

On the thorny branches, all the leaves suddenly fell, turning countless thick branches into spiked clubs that swung toward the uninvited guest.

This scene felt somewhat familiar.

Using his ability to easily evade, Lin Qingliu quickly recalled memories related to this part.

Wang Xiao and the others had discovered the location of the sleep pods right in this area, with the sleep pods, bushes, and living trees all corresponding.

He knew he had approached his destination, and the obstacles would undoubtedly grow fiercer.

There was no need to ponder why the will of the mycelium transmitted information so quickly. He hadn’t yet mistaken that humanoid body for the essence of the will of the mycelium merely because it resembled a human.

Lin Qingliu always knew that every life integrated into this system was a part of that will.

After weaving through several more times, Lin Qingliu finally saw in the distance the orderly formation made up of thousands of sleep pods.

An instinctive sense of disgust arose within him, urging Lin Qingliu to distance himself from this area.

This feeling was strikingly similar to what he felt when approaching the underground section of the spire.

And the way to solve it was equally simple.

Lin Qingliu’s presence became unmasked and suddenly burst forth.

Perhaps in the overall life form aspect, he hadn’t nearly aligned with the will of the mycelium, but in this small area, his biological field was enough to instill fear in all living things.

Those branches that were about to strike him appeared to freeze in place, either losing their strength or simply softening.

However, this decline lasted barely ten seconds. As if bolstered by belief and courage, those branches soon found their daring again and launched another desperate charge at Lin Qingliu.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

In less than ten seconds, Lin Qingliu had surveyed the entire matrix beneath him; now standing in the air, he could see the large space below all at once.

In a large, open plaza-like area, thousands of sleep pods were neatly arranged, and each capsule’s viewing window had a strand of mycelium extending from it.

These mycelium strands resembled data cables in a large data center, crossing through the viewing windows, covering the clear dandelion emblem on the sleep pods, and ultimately converging into the mysterious underground area.

Although there were many sleep pods here, they did not reach the quantity Lin Qingliu had imagined.

If he was correct, there should be more than one such matrix square.

Just as this conjecture formed in his mind, the ground was like a swamp during the rainy season, gradually swallowing those sleep pods, having already consumed more than half, clearly aiming to protect them by pulling them into the ground.

Lin Qingliu quickly recognized this as the ability of the already confirmed deceased superpowered individual “Quicksand.” He could anticipate that in the upcoming battle, he would encounter other "old acquaintances."

Not for a moment did he mourn for those who had already perished, whether it was "Quicksand," whose abilities had been replicated by mycelium, or those humans from the golden age who had served as miners for decades. They were no reason for him to stop now.

Suspended in the air, Lin Qingliu looked at the sinking matrix square, observed the branches swinging toward him, and noted the attacking methods that, although obscure, he could still perceive.

He extended his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together, waving them gently before him as if cutting an invisible connection.

Thus, the space fell into a deep silence.

[Time] undertook the Third Level Manifested Ability—[Stasis].

The entire matrix square seemed to have been cut out from the current flow of time, experiencing no further changes.

Except for Lin Qingliu, who could still traverse it freely.

At this moment, Lin Qingliu didn’t feel any relief; it was his first time expanding the scope of [Stasis] to such an extent.

He was still forcibly driving this ability with high energy levels from other channels, which consumed a tremendous amount of his mental strength.

Previously, he had treated this ability like a refrigerator during experiments, never regarding any enemy as worthwhile enough to take seriously.

Moreover, more importantly, all the mycelium were essentially one entity. When he locked the mycelium within this matrix into his domain, the external resistance reached an unprecedented height.

This made Lin Qingliu even more certain that his attack was only on one core of the will of the mycelium; otherwise, the mycelium outside should have gone into a frenzy after being cut off from its connections, just like a headless chicken.

He clearly understood that with his current abilities, maintaining such a domain for a long time was impossible, but before he could destroy all these brains, he would explore everything to the best of his abilities.