Chapter 730: Portal
Lin Ye leaned back in his chair, unable to precisely sense what was on the other side of the portal—a fact he found a bit regrettable.
The moment the portal opened, he had already dispatched some parasites that concealed their own information to the other side.
These parasites would automatically latch onto any living beings on the other end, spreading the infestation through self-detonation as they burst outward.
On top of that, Lin Ye had engraved that special spiritual imprint into these parasites, ensuring it would appear inside every creature they infected.
Communication was never one-way; when you could attack the enemy, the first thing to consider was whether you yourself were safe.
The other side could shut down the portal at any time—that was their trump card. But from Lin Ye’s perspective, they were practically inviting him to strike, completely undefended.
‘Too bad I can’t take a look over there.’
The situation on that side could accelerate his research progress on that special spiritual imprint.
Experiments were always the cornerstone of scientific research.
‘Forget it, I’ll just keep mining.’
Lin Ye picked up the nearby ores and tried using them to craft spiritual energy items. He had recently learned a lot of new knowledge that could be integrated into such items.
He might as well stay busy.
Lin Ye studied the knowledge while using his newly acquired skills to make spiritual energy items. He paid little attention to what was happening on the other side of the portal; unless they came looking for trouble again, he planned to stay put until the Exploration Mission ended.
“Excuse me?”
A miner cautiously approached Lin Ye. Since Lin Ye hadn’t integrated them into the Parasitism Network, they could still think normally.
“I’ll leave in a few hours, or earlier if the situation changes. As long as you don’t bother my mining during this time, you can do whatever you want. If you don’t want to keep mining here, you’d better use this time wisely.”
Lin Ye spoke casually, staring at the spiritual energy item in his hand.
“Thank you… We want to build a portal using the ore here. Could you lend us some refined ore?”
The miner hesitated before speaking.
“You know how to build a portal?”
Lin Ye shot the miner an interested glance.
“Yes. A few of us miners were born with a sliver of spatial power inside us. People like that are more easily transported here. We need to use their abilities to construct a portal.”
The miner explained.
“You can set up the portal nearby. Get the materials from those rats over there—use as much as you need, it doesn’t matter.”
Lin Ye had long wanted to get his hands on spatial power, but knowledge related to it wasn’t something a spiritual energy user at his rank should touch.
It was an extremely dangerous force.
“Alright, thank you so much for your help!”
The miner turned and left the camp. Before long, all the miners gathered together and began building a simple portal.
Lin Ye sensed the construction process. Although he had no spatial power himself, he could use the spatial energy imbued in objects to build a portal.
About an hour later, the miners finished setting up the portal. Lin Ye memorized the process and recorded the spatial fluctuations generated when the miners teleported through.
Soon after, the miners left that plane. Lin Ye destroyed the portal for them and scrambled the spatial fluctuations around it.
With the miners’ problem taken care of, Lin Ye continued his research on spiritual energy items. The Parasitism Network had already taken over most of the planet.
In the deepest part of the mine, a powerful spiritual energy creature dwelled. Any parasite that ventured near that area was eliminated by it.
After a brief clash, both sides tacitly kept a safe distance. Lin Ye had many things to deal with and had no immediate plans to clear it out.
Using the refined ore, Lin Ye crafted a large number of high-tier spiritual energy items—each one a meticulously designed work of art.
Throughout this process, Lin Ye continuously adjusted his body, preparing to advance right here and become a fifth-tier spiritual energy user.
Just as he was packing away the refined ores, ready to return to the Shelter after his breakthrough, a portal appeared right in front of him.
‘They didn’t get blown to bits, huh. Tough bastards.’
Lin Ye sent a parasitized mining rat charging through the portal. In an instant, the connection between him and the rat was severed.
That meant the rat on the other side was most likely dead.
Lin Ye didn’t send out any more parasites. He quickly retreated from the portal as some parasites gathered nearby.
But before Lin Ye could get far, he collapsed to the ground. Ash-green veins spread across his body’s surface.
Thick plumes of ash-green smoke poured out of the portal. Everywhere the smoke touched, parasites died within moments.
Inside the World of Ashes, Lin Ye donned the Disaster Hazmat Suit, layered an Information Armor over it, and then started retreating from the portal. He didn’t try to close it, because that smoke also affected mental energy—which was why his Alienated Body had died so cleanly.
The Parasitism Network near the portal had been wiped clean, and the gap was steadily expanding. The surrounding network was collapsing at breakneck speed.
Lin Ye could only flee the area. He tried to return to the Shelter, only to find the Exploration Mission wasn’t over yet.
‘I didn’t think they’d just destroy the whole planet. What a waste.’
He had originally planned to fully occupy this plane and keep mining ore from it. Now, that looked difficult.
Still, he didn’t think they were wrong to do it. If anything, he appreciated their decisiveness.
Just then, a swarm of portals opened across the Parasitism Network’s coverage area. From every portal poured a flood of hazmat-suited spiritual energy users.
‘Who the hell are these people?’
Lin Ye didn’t think the other side would send a crowd to sightsee while destroying the plane.
“They’re survivors from the other side of the portal. To wipe out those crazy parasites, the other side decided to use the power of another dangerous plane, so they opened a portal to it. That smoke comes from that dangerous plane.”
Little Guardian’s voice rang out in Lin Ye’s mind.
‘You can’t stay outside either?’
Lin Ye had assumed Little Guardian wouldn’t be affected by external factors.
“I don’t know. I just feel like it’s dangerous out here.”
Little Guardian looked up at the ash-green smoke filling the sky with a hint of fear.
‘This is getting troublesome. Can’t they close the portal?’
Lin Ye had absolutely no desire to come into contact with that smoke.
“No. That smoke merges with the portal and becomes part of it. Portals infused with that smoke go into an uncontrollable state.”
Little Guardian had gathered a lot of information from the minds of those hazmat-suited spiritual energy users.