Chapter 501: The Underground Queen
Neither had expected such an enormous space beneath the village.
The ceiling rose more than twenty metres above them. Thick roots covered the stone walls, but no trees existed on the surface.
The roots were pale rather than brown, and some of them pulsed as if blood flowed inside.
Green light came from several translucent sacs attached to the walls.
Each sac was larger than a human head.
Hundreds covered the chamber.
Those were the heartbeats Sonny had heard.
"What are those?" Vanish whispered.
"I don’t know."
They moved closer to the nearest sac.
Something small was curled inside it.
At first, Sonny thought it was an animal. Then, the creature shifted, revealing a shrivelled human face.
Vanish nearly stepped backwards in shock.
Inside the sac was a person.
Their body had been reduced to skin and bones. Thin roots penetrated their arms, legs, and spine.
The person was still alive.
Their chest rose slightly with every irregular heartbeat.
Sonny looked around the chamber again.
There were not dozens of sacs.
There were hundreds.
Men, women, and even a few children were trapped inside them.
Some appeared recently captured, while others had been reduced to dried husks. The roots connected all of them, forming a network that spread towards the centre of the chamber.
"These are the missing travellers," Vanish said.
His voice shook with anger.
Sonny clenched his fists.
They needed to report this immediately.
However, the communication crystal still could not connect with the others.
They had to find another exit.
A weak groan came from a sac nearby.
The person inside opened their eyes.
He was a middle-aged man with a deep scar across his face. Unlike the others, he still had some strength left.
His lips moved.
Sonny approached cautiously.
"What are you saying?"
The man’s eyes shifted behind them.
His mouth opened again.
"Run."
Sonny and Vanish turned.
Nothing was there.
Yet, the pale roots covering the walls had begun moving.
They slid across the stone floor, quietly surrounding the chamber’s entrance.
The captured man struggled inside the sac.
"It knows," he whispered.
"What knows?" Sonny asked.
The man’s pupils trembled.
"The mother."
A drop of thick liquid fell from the ceiling.
Sonny looked up.
A colossal pale creature clung above them.
Its body resembled a swollen leech, but countless rootlike limbs extended from its sides and merged with the walls.
Its mouth was a circular opening filled with fine teeth.
At the centre of its translucent abdomen was a bright blue crystal.
Energy continuously flowed from the crystal into its body before travelling through the roots towards the sacs.
The clean water from the well passed beneath the creature.
Each drop flowed through the root network before entering the underground stream.
The parasite eggs were coming from it.
The massive creature’s body contracted.
Hundreds of white eyes opened across its skin.
Every eye turned towards Sonny and Vanish.
The cocooned man stared at them desperately.
"It knows you’re here."
As soon as the cocooned man spoke, the massive creature released a piercing cry.
The sound was unlike anything Sonny and Vanish had heard before.
It resembled thousands of insects screeching at once, mixed with the desperate wails of a dying animal.
The entire underground chamber trembled.
Pale roots detached from the walls and lashed towards them.
"Move!" Sonny shouted.
He pushed Vanish aside and rolled in the opposite direction.
Several roots struck the spot where they had been standing, cracking the stone floor.
Their invisibility disappeared.
Vanish had lost physical contact with Sonny when they separated, exposing both of them.
However, the creature did not appear surprised.
Hundreds of white eyes followed their movements.
"It could already see us," Vanish said.
"Not see us. Sense us."
Sonny remembered how the parasite eggs had been attracted to Leng Pan.
Perhaps the underground creature could detect the energy inside their bodies.
Or it could sense heat, movement, and blood.
Whatever method it used, Vanish’s invisibility was useless against it.
The creature released another cry.
The roots sealing the tunnel twisted together, forming a thick wall of flesh and vegetation.
Their only escape route disappeared.
"We are trapped," Vanish said.
"Then we’ll create another exit."
Sonny drew two short blades.
He might not possess an offensive ability, but his combat skills were not weak. He had survived countless missions before and after the apocalypse by relying on speed, precision, and an exceptional talent for hiding his presence.
Vanish also pulled out a modified machete.
"Commander ordered us not to engage."
"We are past that point."
A pale tendril flew towards Sonny.
He ducked and sliced through it.
Thick transparent liquid sprayed from the severed end.
The droplets landed on the stone floor and released white smoke.
"Corrosive!" Sonny warned.
Vanish jumped aside as another root struck.
He swung the machete, but the blade only cut halfway through the thick tendril.
The root twisted around the weapon and pulled.
Vanish refused to release it.
His body was dragged several metres across the floor.
Sonny rushed forward and cut the remaining section.
The root fell, twitching like a severed snake.
"Thanks," Vanish said.
"Don’t let it touch you."
"I had already figured that out."
More roots descended from the ceiling.
The creature was not attacking blindly.
Some roots pushed them towards the centre of the chamber, while others blocked their retreat.
It was herding them.
The circular mouth on its abdomen opened wider.
Inside were countless rows of fine teeth.
It intended to swallow them.
"Stay near the wall!" Sonny shouted. "Don’t let it surround us."
They moved towards the edge of the chamber, avoiding the glowing sacs containing the captives.
The creature appeared unconcerned about damaging its prisoners.
Several roots crashed into the sacs, tearing the translucent membranes.
A thick liquid spilled out.
The humans inside collapsed onto the ground.
Some remained motionless.
Others gasped desperately as if they had forgotten how to breathe without the substance surrounding them.
The pale roots attached to their bodies tightened.
Energy flowed out of the captives and into the underground queen.