Deep in the Living
Chapter 302 - 290 Navel Port

Chapter 302: Chapter 290 Navel Port

The Dead Ash Sea serves as a border zone between the Light and Dark Sides of Hell, where the distinction between day and night is no longer apparent, shrouded in shadow throughout.

This makes the gigantic lighthouse particularly conspicuous, its brightness far surpassing any human concept of a lighthouse, casting beams of light that can stretch for kilometers, even tens of kilometers, across the sea, providing effective guidance to ships traversing the zone.

As Crow Colt carries Luo Di closer to this port city, the specific structure of the lighthouse gradually becomes clearer, no wonder it felt like it was under a peculiar gaze when illuminated by its light.

This lighthouse is merely disguised as an "inanimate object;" its base structure seems to be some kind of ancient, massive tumor-like growth, whose surface underwent a type of keratinization to resemble rough-hewn gray stone.

Fixed at the very top of the room is a gigantic eyeball, covered with scorch marks and connected to energy nerves, capable of emitting light through its pupil rippling with flame patterns.

For some reason,

Although this city is inhabited by tumors and the lighthouse was built by them,

Luo Di felt that the source of the lighthouse’s light bore the aura of the Spine, or perhaps that of the Chaos Nest City.

The illumination from the lighthouse just now felt similar to the sensation at the Chaos Nest recruitment ground.

"Agatha, the light source at the top of this lighthouse wasn’t made by the tumors, was it?"

"It’s my first time here too, I’ve only read about it in books, about Pusthalamar.

Indeed, the light source isn’t the creation of the tumors, considering those folks who relish disease and plague typically favor green lights.

According to the books.

This port lighthouse was built jointly by the tumors and the Spine but as for what exactly the light source is, it’s not recorded in the books. If you’re interested, Luo Di, we can check it out once we enter the city."

"Alright."

As they near the port city, the originally muddy ground gradually becomes solid, but this solidity isn’t due to concrete or stone, rather, it’s a type of infectious material that spreads from the city.

The ground appears diseased with swelling lumps, turning hard, with nerves and blood vessels interspersed throughout.

The city’s walls are also made of hard lumps, treated with a high-density keratinization process.

Balancing durability with regenerative properties.

Moreover, the city wall itself also serves as the food storage for the tumors; each lump contains a dense pus, which can sustain the city’s tumor population for more than two months in times of famine or prolonged sieges.

The city wall has no door structure.

All visitors have to find a crack on the surface of the wall and squeeze in themselves. During the squeezing process, a body examination is conducted, extracting individual pheromones to be sent to the city center.

Anyone daring to cause trouble at the port can be identified by comparing the collected pheromones with the ones taken when entering the city,

Offending the tumors, to some extent, is even worse than offending the Order.

...

"This smell..."

About a hundred meters from the city wall, the strong odor seems like it could grow abscesses within one’s stomach, powerfully inducing vomiting.

Agatha pre-emptively added a filtration mesh around the metallic breathing holes on her throat.

Luo Di quickly placed his hand over his face.

Iron wire entwined, torture device constructed, the Jaw Splitter instantly encompassed his entire head; Agatha had never seen such use of a torture device before.

Beneath the city wall,

There are many so-called crevices; picking any one of them to enter would suffice. Luo Di stowed Crow Colt inside his clothing, choosing a crevice roughly his own height.

Perhaps sensing someone’s approach, the crevices actually split open on their own, exposing rotting flesh and fresh abscesses within, the strong odor even visibly wafting out in green.

If not for the need to go to Hell’s Dark Side, Luo Di really wouldn’t want to crawl through such crevices.

Gagging sounds~

Passing between various protruding particles, Luo Di’s pheromones were quickly collected and sent to Chaos Nest City and the Great Monastery simultaneously for verification through the Navel Port, receiving responses from both.

His emissary status had been registered at the Navel Port, and his subsequent departure by ship would be prioritized without any charges.

As the feeling of compression disappeared and he moved through the crevice, his view broadened.

Luo Di had thought this port city, belonging to the tumor-like citizens, would feel like "walking into a body", but the scene before him was completely similar to his hometown, even giving an impression of returning to Jupiter City.

All kinds of buildings were similar to resettlement areas, with large and small shops scattered along the streets, black vertical street lamps were evenly spaced, and even the ground was paved with asphalt.

There was nothing related to the tumor-like citizens, and it completely mismatched with the city walls behind him, creating a full sense of dissonance.

"Agatha, what is this place?"

Agatha, just as surprised at the scene, said, "It’s true what the books record! The construction of Navel Port employed the latest architectural technology from the Primordial Slime, all building materials are mixed with a radioactive brain tumor substance.

It can effectively radiate and affect nearby newcomers, making the town appear as the most familiar and intimate shape to them.

Navel Port is considered a massive neutral city, where demons of various types arrive daily, and most Hell Demons find the living conditions of Primordial Slime difficult to adapt to.

Therefore, such city architecture is very necessary."

"Brain tumor... So you mean, this is an illusion?"

"A beneficial illusion."

"Okay, let’s see what it really looks like."

Luo Di tried to curl up his tongue and gently tap inside his mouth. As the sound echoed, the image before him changed instantly, and Luo Di’s pupils rapidly dilated while his teeth involuntarily clenched tightly.

Since it was a very light tapping, the sobering effect faded quickly and reverted to the original illusionary effect.

"Whew... indeed it’s a beneficial illusion, better not to dispel it lightly."

While the city presented an easily acceptable illusion due to the brain tumor material, the city residents active here maintained their original appearance, and Luo Di officially met the so-called \"tumor-like citizens\".

They were quite different from the tumor-like soldiers he first saw on the battlefield.

The tumor-like citizens seemed to dislike "external clothing" and preferred using their own "hyperplastic structures" as more intimate and comfortable clothing, even carefully dressing them up.

For example, draping the hyperplastic skin sac mucosa directly on their bodies, and using intestines as straps, scarves, or belts for decoration,

The digested matter in the intestines could even accentuate an individual’s status, like having lunch at an upscale restaurant, which could be directly showcased in this way.

All kinds of hyperplastic organs can be worn as ornaments across various body parts, and the strong appearance of certain organs might attract attention from the opposite sex.

Moreover, tumor-like citizens tend to have more intense life activity within their bodies, leading to greater metabolism, a single excretory opening is not enough.

Therefore, they mostly have hyperplastic pores on their backs, constantly emitting odors, liquids, or even fluid substances, more apparent in larger-bodied tumor-like citizens.

These substances are quite valuable; the city streets actively absorb them, flowing towards the biological engines beneath the city ground, serving as a resource to purify seawater.

Maggots, flies, locusts, and other plague-expressing elements might also be decorated on their bodies, or directly expressed in the form of flies and insects.

Though it might seem bizarre, Luo Di has strong adaptability, and with a few more glances, he could get used to it.

On the other hand, some of the tumor-like citizens felt disgusted upon seeing Luo Di’s peculiar gray-haired appearance and even started to vomit.

The two did not head to the port to board the ship going to the Dark Side. Instead, they found a high-end candle-lit inn, seemingly planning to stay there tonight and set off tomorrow.

The innkeeper’s appearance was decent enough, with body hyperplasias all wrapped under the skin, just appearing somewhat fatter.

"It’s rare indeed, having Monks stay in my inn! Welcome, welcome, I will arrange the cleanest possible room for you."

However, Agatha did not respond and leaned her huge body against the counter, pressing a Warrant directly in front of the innkeeper.

"Have you seen this person? Or heard any related news? If you can share information, this coin is yours."

A special silver coin from the Great Monastery was pressed on the table, making the innkeeper’s eyeballs roll out.