Chapter 13: An Unexpected Discovery
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"Hahahahaha! ’The antidote is never far from the poison’—how true that is!"
Gu Su swung the Plague Cutter, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. His hearty, unrestrained laughter echoed through the empty, deathly silent supermarket.
He had a Skeleton Servant prop up the heavy door with its emaciated yet brutishly strong Bone Claws. Then, relying on the unique, sinisterly cold edge of the Plague Cutter, Gu Su performed a Breakthrough.
He had forcibly carved a hideous gash into the storeroom’s main door.
It was only after a blast of air thick with a potent, rotting stench spewed from behind the door, revealing the scene inside the freezer, that Gu Su had let out such a cry of wonder.
The freezer before him assaulted the nose with a bizarre smell, a mixture of mold, acrid sourness, and rancid fat. An ordinary person would have gagged on the spot after a single whiff.
The moment he stepped into the storeroom, he felt a sticky, slippery sensation underfoot. The ground was covered in dark, brownish-black filth formed from a congealed mixture of wastewater and Corpse Oil.
It clung firmly to the concrete floor like a solidified bog, letting out a faint squish with every step.
On top of the dark brown sludge floated a thick, greasy layer of milky-white fat, like butter that had melted and then cooled, but it emitted a nauseatingly putrid smell.
A few scattered animal bones were embedded in the crevices of the sludge, gleaming with a ghastly white color. The surface of the white fat was also covered in countless tiny, chaotic claw marks of varying depths—clearly the tracks left by rats that had long been scurrying and foraging here.
As a Mage specializing in Undead Magic, Gu Su understood the whole story with just a single glance.
This was clearly the foul result: massive quantities of chilled meat, originally stored in the warehouse, had rapidly rotted and fermented in this airtight space after the refrigeration system completely failed and the power went out.
The combination of time and environment had turned this place into a natural vessel of decay.
His gaze swept toward the back of the storeroom as Gu Su made a rough estimate.
Countless tons of pork, beef, and mutton; chicken, duck, and other poultry; various sea fish, shellfish, and other seafood; as well as large blocks of butter, cream, and mountains of frozen fruit—all of it had been trapped together in this tiny space.
In the darkness and confinement, they underwent a daily cycle of rot, decomposition, and fermentation.
First, they turned into murky, foul-smelling wastewater, which settled down, mixed with the dust and debris accumulated in the corners of the storeroom.
Then, because the underground drainage system had long been clogged and rusted, it couldn’t drain. In the end, over the years, it accumulated and congealed into this filthy, yet energy-rich state.
The small holes the rats had gnawed into the storeroom walls brought no vitality here.
Instead, they became channels for air circulation, adding a kind of ’special vitality’ to this deathly still, filthy place.
It was not the vibrant breath of living creatures, but fissures that allowed the power of decay to spread, permeate, and settle further.
This made the decaying energy here even purer and more concentrated. Tiny specks of mold floated in the air, dancing like dust motes in the faint light, each one containing the pure power of corruption.
When Gu Su’s gaze fixed on the patch of spreading grayish-white mold on the surface of the white fat, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and his heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster.
He strode forward and crouched down, carefully bringing his fingertip close to the mold. Feeling the familiar energy contained within, a conclusion had already formed in his mind.
’The core material needed for the [Repair Task: Wasteland]—Corroding Mycelium—I’ve actually found a perfect natural source for it here, and in quantities far exceeding my expectations!’
’Who says a freezer can only be used to preserve food and can’t become a natural vessel for nurturing the power of decay?’
’And who dares say that spoiled, rotten meat is useless and can’t become a rare and priceless material for Undead Magic?’
This scene before him was a miracle born from the symbiosis of natural law and the power of decay. It was a treasure born from desperation, one that perfectly met his urgent needs.
After he finished laughing, Gu Su lightly touched the grayish-white mold. He felt that pure corroding energy flow into his body from his fingertip, and a solid plan was already forming in his mind.
’All I have to do is collect all the Corroding Mycelium here, package it, and bring it back to the Graveyard Demon. Then the [Repair Task: Wasteland] will be as good as done.’
He stood up and turned to the waiting Skeleton Squad behind him, issuing a command with unconcealed excitement in his voice, "Everyone, over here! Be gentle! Magic Skeleton, guard the door and watch for ambushes. The rest of you, split up and find anything that can be used as a container. First, carefully gather this grayish-white mycelium. Don’t waste a single bit!
"After you’re done collecting the mycelium, we’ll deal with this sludge. Be careful with everything, this stuff is all treasure!"
The Skeletons immediately moved to obey. The soft clatter of their Bone Joints echoed in the storeroom, yet it wasn’t chaotic at all.
The Magic Skeleton quickly retreated to the doorway, tightened its grip on its long wooden staff, and tensed its body, its empty eye sockets scanning the corridor.
Two burly Skeletons walked deeper into the storeroom and dug out a plastic bucket of unknown age, preparing to bring it over to hold the white mycelium.
The other Skeletons crouched down by the sludge, restraining their usual brutish hacking strength. They used their slender finger joints to gently scrape off the grayish-white mycelium, carefully cupping it in their palms before transferring it piece by piece into the plastic bucket.
When they encountered mycelium embedded in crevices, they used the tips of their Bone Claws to slowly pick it out, afraid that too much force would cause the strands to break and waste the precious decaying material.
Once all the Corroding Mycelium was collected and properly divided, Gu Su found some materials and sealed each of the filled containers tightly.
He personally moved them to a dry area outside the freezer’s door and arranged them neatly, both to prevent the mycelium from being contaminated by the filth inside the storeroom and to prevent any energy loss, ensuring their effectiveness for later use.
After dealing with the core mycelium, the Skeletons’ movements were no longer deliberately restrained, and they gradually let loose with their strength.
They bent down and used their Bone Claws to vigorously shovel up the sticky sludge and Corpse Oil from the floor, gathering the substance, which was rich with the potent power of decay, bit by bit into a small, dark-brown mound in the center of the storeroom.
After piling it up, the Skeletons stopped moving. Their empty eye sockets turned to Gu Su, and their Bone Joints shifted slightly, clearly conflicted about what to use to transport this stuff.
Gu Su also hurriedly looked around the storeroom. His eyes swept over toppled shelves, broken planks, and rusted containers, but he couldn’t find anything large enough to carry it all.
After a moment of thought, he pointed at two nimble-bodied Skeletons and ordered in a low voice, "You two, go. Search the main supermarket area and around this storeroom. Get some large, intact wooden planks and bring them here. We’ll pile the sludge and Corpse Oil onto the planks and transport it in batches later."
The two Skeletons immediately bowed in acknowledgement, then turned and quickly left the storeroom, following their previous path to search for planks.
The Magic Skeleton remained on guard at the door, while the other Skeletons waited by the pile of sludge and Corpse Oil, careful not to accidentally disturb the mound of filth.
At that moment, Gu Su thought of the Skeletons he had sent to treasure-hunt in the store earlier. ’I wonder how they’re doing now.’