Chapter 725: Into the Divine Domain
Lin Ye took off the metal diving suit; without seawater, the thing only slowed him down.
Besides, the oxygen inside was already depleted, so wearing it or not made little difference.
Those materials of unknown origin emitted different colored lights into the surroundings, but Lin Ye still detached the headlamp from the diving suit, just in case.
The headlamp contained spare batteries and could operate for a while independent of the suit.
Lin Ye drew the pistol attached at his waist; the diving suit had limited internal space, so he only brought one pistol and a few magazines.
Everything around him was utterly silent, not a sound to be heard.
Lin Ye moved according to the route map while holding the pistol. He had taken a safe dose of the clarity solvent earlier, but this was the Divine Domain, and anything could happen here.
This was a huge space, and the terrain kept changing. Some areas were perfectly flat, while others suddenly tilted into uneven slopes.
There were also bottomless gaps along the way, where he could not see what lay below at all.
Lin Ye crouched low and moved along the route map as fast as he could. It was a pity there was no spiritual energy here, otherwise things would be much easier for him.
"Hmm?"
Lin Ye suddenly stopped. He heard a strange sound coming from his left.
A bizarre silhouette was approaching him from the left. Lin Ye hid behind a red column-like object; he did not intend to try communicating with whatever was inside the Divine Domain.
But the silhouette suddenly quickened its pace and charged straight in Lin Ye's direction.
Bang!
Lin Ye had no choice but to fire a shot at its head. The bullet pierced through the head, but the silhouette did not pause at all, as if the hit area did not exist.
The strange figure drew nearer, and Lin Ye could make out its appearance.
It was a humanoid figure stitched together from different materials, a grotesque smile plastered on its face, strange noises constantly coming from its mouth. Its body was covered in bumps of varying colors, and inside those bulges something seemed to be writhing.
The stitched-together monster closed in on Lin Ye at incredible speed. Lin Ye dropped the pistol and grabbed the crowbar, smashing it into the creature’s head with a Heavy Strike.
Thud!
The blow drove the creature’s head into its upper torso. Perhaps stunned, the stitched-together monster slumped to the ground.
Lin Ye struck it several more times until the stitched-together monster lost the ability to move, then stopped attacking.
"So what the hell is this thing?"
Lin Ye dissected the stitched-together monster with the crowbar and found it appeared to be wearing something like an overgarment.
However, the overgarment had fused with the creature, and each part of it was made of a different material.
"This thing used to be human? But that clothing doesn't look like the organization’s uniform. Could it be a cultist?"
Lin Ye cast a wary glance around. Those cultists did not have clarity solvent, which meant they would be affected by the Divine Domain and could indirectly influence him.
"I hope these cultists all turned into monsters, or this could get messy."
Mindless monsters were easier to deal with. If he encountered cultists who could remain clear-headed here, Lin Ye would have to handle them more carefully.
Lin Ye continued along the route map. The objects of differing materials grew denser and the terrain became increasingly chaotic. He had to slow his pace to avoid contacting those objects.
Along the way he encountered several more stitched-together monsters. They seemed able to lock onto his position through their perception ability, but oddly, Lin Ye could not find any spiritual energy inside them.
The spiritual energy inside these stitched-together monsters seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation; the transformed substance replaced spiritual energy to power the monsters.
Lin Ye tried to use this substance in place of spiritual energy, but since he had not gone through the conversion, he could not utilize it.
After dealing with the blocking stitched-together monsters, Lin Ye pressed on with the route map. Maybe because of the clarity solvent, the Divine Domain was much safer than he had expected.
"You should have the organization’s research reagents on you, right?"
A strange voice suddenly sounded in Lin Ye's ear. He looked around but saw no one speaking.
"I've temporarily split my body apart, you just need to answer my questions."
The voice spoke again right next to him.
"I have a lot on me."
Lin Ye continued forward. He wasn't sure whether the other party spoke truthfully, but he could figure out its state by its reactions.
"Oh? Take them out and let me have a look."
The voice spoke again.
"What can you do if I don't hand them over? If you're asking, show some humility—kneel and ask me nicely. Oh right, you can't kneel anymore."
Lin Ye revealed a pleased smile.
"…You must be the organization's D-Class personnel, right? The organization sent you in here to die. Don’t you want the organization to pay for it?"
The voice's owner remained calm.
"Haha, you pathetic thing without a body? Stop making me laugh."
Lin Ye kept moving forward; he wanted the other party to appear soon so he could deal with it using the crowbar.
"…I'm a member of a certain organization. I can take you out, and I’ll give you a generous reward."
After a few seconds, the voice continued.
"…I'll tell you a secret. I'm actually a deity who lost my power. If you give me everything you have, I'll make you my subordinate, incorporate you into the deity network."
Lin Ye lowered his voice and replied with a hint of mock mystery.
"…You're looking for death. Do you believe I'll reconstitute my body right now and kill you?"
The voice forced down its anger, speaking each word deliberately.
"Are you an idiot? If I don't hand over the reagents, do you dare to reconstitute your body? What if I don't even have those reagents on me—then you're the one done for. If you could freely recompose your body, you would have already come out and killed me."
From that simple exchange, Lin Ye confirmed the other's condition.
"…You're not D-Class personnel."
The voice said that with absolute certainty.
"That's right, I am a deity who has lost power."
Lin Ye replied offhandedly.
"You son of a— My truth is…"
The voice completely lost its composure and started cursing at Lin Ye, but its insults were uncreative, repeating the same few lines.
"Why are you getting so worked up?"
Lin Ye felt a bit amused. He rarely argued with idiots in real life, though he occasionally encountered stubborn trolls online. Back then he would leave a long string of unreasonable replies and then block them; it made the other person miserable.
This was the best way to deal with them. Trying to reason with a troll was useless; they would always find something to contradict. Better to save time and enjoy himself a bit.
Ignoring the voice, Lin Ye quickened his stride. The finish line on the route map was up ahead, and the area around it was piled with objects made from all kinds of different materials.