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Chapter 241 - 240: Merged as One

Behind the iron door was a winding tunnel, seemingly a naturally formed cavity within the mountain. The lighting came from a series of mining lamps overhead, illuminating only a small area around them.

The warmth of the Treasure Vault didn’t extend here, yet the tunnel’s temperature remained quite comfortable, in stark contrast to the howling cold wind outside the snowy mountain.

One could even see moss and some green leafy plants underfoot.

"How much time is left?" Chen Xuan asked.

"3 minutes and 45 seconds," Lin Qing reported the time.

"That’s enough."

The map indicated this area wasn’t large, roughly equivalent to half of warehouse number one.

Sure enough, after walking a short distance, the tunnel opened up, revealing a natural cave before them.

"Watch your step," Lin Qing said, grabbing Chen Xuan’s arm.

The cave wasn’t large in surface area, but its vertical height was incredibly impressive, like a vertical shaft. They stood at the edge of a cliff, the bottom shrouded in darkness, where nothing could be seen. One misstep, and a fall would mean certain death.

"No way forward?" Chen Xuan frowned. This wasn’t a warehouse at all, more like a deep pit. If this was the garbage dump of the Holy Temple Treasure Vault, used to dispose of employees’ domestic waste, it would make more sense.

After all, it didn’t resemble a proper treasure vault from any angle.

"Wait, there’s a circuit breaker here."

Lin Qing pulled down a switch on the wall, and with the crackling sound of electricity, high-powered lights flickered on, turning the cave as bright as day.

And at that moment, they saw "Mother Entity Lucy."

It was like a giant cocoon of flesh and blood, suspended in the center of the cave by veins and arteries! The rocky walls were covered with a membranous layer of flesh, appearing bright red. This cocoon was unbelievably large, with a diameter of at least ten meters, and its height was unfathomable. The entire ceiling was filled with flesh and blood, with tentacles constantly extending and retracting, proving it was a living entity.

Chen Xuan also noticed some strange fragments.

They looked like artificial metal objects, mostly thin, like some kind of container casing. These fragments were embedded within the flesh and blood, and Mother Entity Lucy had not fused with them, making them seem particularly jarring.

At this point, Chen Xuan’s anxious heart finally settled. He knew Elorie’s wish could no longer be fulfilled.

No matter if they had three heads and six arms, there was no way for him and Lin Qing to transport such an enormous entity.

The mission’s failure was inevitable.

He had done his best.

Thinking of this, Chen Xuan reached up and pressed his glasses, activating the recall function, intending to send Lin Qing away first. Before teleporting, he specifically turned to look at Lin Qing, only to see her staring at Mother Entity in shock, as if she had seen a ghost.

The next second, the recall activated, and Lin Qing disappeared before his eyes.

What’s happening, was a mass of writhing flesh so frightening?

Chen Xuan turned back, puzzled, preparing to teleport himself back to the store.

Then he found himself face-to-face with Mother Entity Lucy—a huge tentacle had silently extended in front of him, seemingly staring at him. This entire process happened in an instant, leaving him no time to react.

Did he let his guard down?

No, he had been on high alert since stepping in here, and the Divine Eye Technique was ready to activate at any moment.

Chen Xuan suddenly realized it wasn’t Mother Entity Lucy’s tentacle that instantaneously appeared before him. Rather, it had used an ability similar to bullet time, creating the illusion that there was no process.

His fingers rested on the frame of his glasses, applying increasing pressure, soon about to surpass the threshold of the confirmation button. An operation that usually took a split second now seemed to take an eternity.

The tentacle wavered, then plunged into his stomach.

In that instant, the entire Mother Entity began to flow—muscles, veins, organs... everything that constituted Lucy became liquid-like, flowing into his body through the tentacle!

Wait, am I about to be fused?

Chen Xuan stared wide-eyed at everything, unsure how to stop it! Because his body felt no discomfort; instead, there was a comforting warmth!

Without experiencing danger, there was no instinctive resistance.

Even more incredibly, he watched everything pour in, yet his body didn’t visibly expand, as if it were merely a phantom!

After going through this for what seemed like more than ten minutes, the fusion finally ended. Chen Xuan lifted his shirt in astonishment, discovering his abdomen was as flat as ever.

When he looked up at the cave’s ceiling, Mother Entity Lucy was gone, leaving only a few severed blood vessels dangling in midair, swaying slightly.

Wait... the bomb!

Chen Xuan didn’t have time to conduct further checks and quickly pressed the button on his glasses. The surrounding scenery instantly shifted, transforming into the familiar look of a fruit store.

Luckily, the recall function remained reliable, unaffected by the previous events.

"Are you alright? Why did it take you so long to come back?" Lin Qing’s urgent inquiry echoed in his ears.

"How long was I gone?" Chen Xuan also wanted to know this.

"Two minutes and twenty-one seconds, there were only nine seconds left on the countdown." She came over and grasped his wrist for a basic checkup. "Your vital signs seem fine..."

It seemed like his assessment was correct.

Although he activated the Divine Eye Technique the moment he turned to see the mother body’s tentacles, the opponent was also moving at such high speed that he still felt like he was frozen, and those short two minutes felt like an eternity.

Only now did Chen Xuan have a moment to monitor his situation.

He quickly noticed an anomaly: "Curse: Flesh and Blood Hunger" was gone. There was no trace of this ability in either his abilities column or inventory.

Instead, there was a new gray ability he’d never seen before.

——"Fusion Ascend" LV1.

"All for existence, existence is all."

Why does this description become more and more baffling? Chen Xuan thought bitterly to himself. It was one thing for a purple ability to turn into a gray one, but it was utterly frustrating that this thing on him seemed to serve no purpose at all, and the description offered no help. Wasn’t this just adding insult to injury?

"Indeed, something strange did happen." He met Lin Qing’s questioning gaze, giving a wry smile and recounting his encounter after seeing her off. "In the end, it wasn’t the demon that destroyed the mother body Lucy, but rather, I was absorbed."

Now Chen Xuan could confirm this.

He was still himself, but the peculiar object no longer existed—it wasn’t secretly hiding inside him but instead had become an integral part of him, in the form of an ability. This process wasn’t something he actively initiated; that massive blob of flesh seemed almost eager to be assimilated.

Lin Qing was also greatly shocked after hearing this. She sized him up several times, pinching his body here and there, "Why?"

"I wish I knew," Chen Xuan sighed. "If I had to guess, it’s probably because my level is higher?"

If the angel was the mother body Lucy’s favorite child, then he might have been above the mother body... Although this was merely a thought that had occurred to him earlier, now it seemed increasingly accurate.

"Alright, as long as you haven’t turned into a monster." Lin Qing finally gave up thinking, "No one could predict such a situation, and Elorie surely won’t blame you."

Speaking of angels, Chen Xuan quickly went to the computer to check on the client’s status. Fortunately... Elorie’s name was still in the transaction records, unlike Gildre, whose name had disappeared.

Now the nine seconds had long passed, and considering the time flow difference between the two worlds, that bomb should have exploded long ago. Her survival suggested she successfully avoided the blast’s aftermath.

Of course, it’s not surprising that Elorie managed to escape. With wings, she could use other peaks as cover from the shockwaves, and even a large-scale avalanche in the valley couldn’t harm her.

By tomorrow, Chen Xuan would be able to use the guest summon to bring her to the shop.

However, as a store manager in the service industry, ignoring a client right after escaping danger would greatly diminish his reputation, so he brought Lin Qing along and headed to Elorie’s residence via the VIP guest room.

"Can you contact her using a walkie-talkie?"

"No way," Lin Qing shrugged. "This thing has an effective communication range of only five kilometers. To reach Elorie from here, the only option is a satellite phone."

But they set off in a hurry and hadn’t prepared a satellite phone.

"Then we’ll have to try calling her phone." Chen Xuan said helplessly.

"I’ll do it." Lin Qing walked to the desk phone, connecting her data cable to it, "But don’t get your hopes up. She needs to find a place with signal to receive our call—considering the communication situation near the Himalayas, flying around could take two or three days."

Beep...

The phone rang.

"Hello?" In less than a second, Elorie’s voice came through.

The two exchanged puzzled glances.

Lin Qing quickly said, "This is Lin Qing. Where are you now? Are you hurt?"

"I’m fine! Everyone’s fine! There’s actually a slide built in this shelter that leads directly to the other side of the mountain. There’s a temporary camp here, and I’ve already regrouped with the support forces sent by the Angel Alliance!"

Through the phone, they could vaguely hear the noise of conversations in the background.

No wonder Elorie had a signal; so that’s what happened.

"So what do you plan to do next?" Chen Xuan took the receiver and asked, "Shall I summon you back tomorrow, or will you return with the alliance?"

"I can’t return alone. Could you come here to pick me up? Because there’s someone else here too..." Elorie’s voice was intermittent, clearly suffering from poor signal.

Chen Xuan was taken aback, "Who?"

"It’s me... Liuli." A teasing greeting suddenly came through.

Ah? He opened his mouth in surprise, "Weren’t you unable to leave the Holy Temple Treasure Vault?"

"In theory, yes... I was ready to be buried underground with the Vault, but unexpectedly, the restriction was lifted at the last moment." Liuli’s tone was laced with amusement. "I have to admit, I underestimated you... Did you defeat it?"