This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 409: Blood Plague

Chapter 409: Chapter 409: Blood Plague

Though Jacob didn’t continue to guide them, anyone with eyes should know where to go.

Because the filth under their feet was not only filled with thick foul blood but also intermittently kicked up human limbs.

This was increasingly reminiscent of Opportunity City, and Chen Ke couldn’t help but miss that toad that only spoke the ancient language of Fei Huang, as after all, it was his first Transcendent blood.

The trio tacitly fell silent. The guards were within a stone’s throw, and under the sweep of Spiritual Vision, the nearest one was just over ten meters away, right around the corner.

Chen Ke pulled out a dagger and cautiously approached the wall, while Xu Jing stayed behind him.

In theory, Xu Jing’s Spiritual Power should be much stronger than Chen Ke’s, but she seemed to prefer not to take action, just as she said she didn’t want to directly interfere with objective reality.

Jacob, now breaking his previous silence without needing a prompt, knew the three had entered the underground perimeter of the academy, and even if he wanted to play some tricks, now was not the time.

Chen Ke hadn’t acted yet when he saw Jacob pull a throwing knife from his waistband, striding through the water around the corner.

There were two muffled noises, and a guard in a blue uniform holding a crossbow was kicked into the filthy water by him and lay face down without moving.

The string of the crossbow in the guard’s hand loosened in the filthy water, and a bolt whizzed toward Jacob. It seemed like it would pierce through him, but with a graceful sidestep, Jacob dodged the arrow.

"That was close! I guess I should be more careful next time..." Jacob picked up the crossbow from the water to inspect it.

"It seems we’ve already gone deep underground in the academy. You should have warned us sooner," Chen Ke retracted his dagger and said.

"Sorry, I didn’t know they would be guarding here. It was very safe the last time I came," Jacob shook his head, taking the quiver from the guard’s body.

"So, is this route no longer safe?" Xu Jing asked.

"It’s possible I made too much noise the last time I was here, or perhaps they just realized the sewers needed guarding too, who knows? But now that we’re here, we don’t have any other choice," Jacob readied another bolt and looked at Chen Ke and Xu Jing.

"If we kill them, no one will know we’ve infiltrated," Chen Ke pulled out his revolver.

"You’d better not use that gun. In the sewers, one shot and the sound travels too fast," Jacob cautioned.

"Then you take the lead," Chen Ke said.

Jacob did not refuse, leading the way with the hand crossbow.

With guards on this path, there were now oil lamps on the walls, and the red filth underfoot became thick, probably because of the high blood content making it coagulate.

Chen Ke felt his toes as if wrapped in putty, thinking about the human limbs beneath the surface and speculating that grainy soft substance must be a sediment of human fat, blood, and feces.

Soon their overhead space opened up increasingly and the trio moved into a brand new conduit.

Jacob shot several guards along the way with the crossbow, while Chen Ke and Xu Jing were responsible for dragging their bodies to the sides and disposing of them properly.

At another vast collection center for waste water, they saw a humanoid creature suspended by iron chains at the center.

The creature had six pairs of arms, all bound by chains, with its back brutally skinned, like an open umbrella.

Looking at the creature made one uncomfortable because looking at its head, one would find that a third of his face was occupied by a pair of insect-like compound eyes.

Its six pairs of hands were also extremely bizarre; apart from the normal pair with shoulders, the other five pairs of arms were inserted on the waist and abdomen, where the eight abdominal muscles formed the root of the five pairs of arms.

Its legs were recurved, with thighs that were still human in shape, while the lower legs were chitinized, feeling strong and powerful, and also coated with many black spines.

It had long hair that hung down in front of its body, the skinned part of its back revealed black, keratin-like subcutaneous muscles, with blood red skin covering its entire body.

Its black back skin was slick, and a few hooks with ropes pulled it open, fixing it into the posture of a wing.

Calling it human-shaped was not exactly fitting, as it more closely resembled a hybrid of human and insect, and judging by the proportions of its limbs, the creature would stand over three meters tall if it arose.

In Chen Ke’s vision, an information box appeared over this creature, revealing it as a Transcendent individual in mid-transformation, its status... asleep.

"It’s asleep," whispered Chen Ke, glancing at Xu Jing.

Xu Jing nodded, her expression showing no surprise. As a Foundation agent, she had seen it all.

Whatever method she used, Xu Jing was also aware that this thing wasn’t dead, just sleeping.

This creature was a Transcendent level monster, at least as formidable as that toad. It seemed the sewers were indeed a playground for Transcendent mutants.

In the year 1859, such a sight was overwhelmingly shocking for the ordinary person.

However, Jacob was just as composed as Chen Ke and the others, even though his face also showed surprise, Chen Ke was certain the thing that surprised him definitely wasn’t the monster.

Perhaps what astonished Jacob even more was why Chen Ke and Xu Jing could remain calm upon seeing it.

At the same time, Chen Ke noticed that Jacob seemed to be deliberately maintaining a short distance from them.

"Jacob, when you came here before, did you see this thing?" Chen Ke asked.

"You’d better get ready," Jacob said with a smile.

Chen Ke understood what Jacob’s words implied; he knew the other party had intentionally led them here.

"You’d better know what you’re doing," Xu Jing said with a smile.

"Of course, I know; I’ve always known," Jacob replied coldly.

Chen Ke instantly drew his silenced pistol and pointed it at Jacob, but in that instant, Jacob somehow exploded a large ball of white flash in front of Chen Ke and Xu Jing.

"Damn!" Chen Ke cursed under his breath. After staying in the dark environment for so long, the sudden burst of white light was blinding.

Chen Ke covered and rubbed his eyes for a long time. When he looked up, Jacob had already disappeared from sight. Turning to Xu Jing, he saw that she also looked unwell. After all, as an agent of the foundation, it was humiliating to be tricked by someone from the 19th century.

"I’m sorry, you two. I didn’t mean to trap you, but I have more important things to do; I must get into the underground of the academy," Jacob’s voice came from above.

Chen Ke and Xu Jing activated their Spiritual Vision, scanning the air. Somehow, the other party had managed to hide behind the stone wall.

"I thought you would come inside with us," Chen Ke said to the space above.

"If there was no bait, I wouldn’t be able to get in," Jacob replied.

"Is this the conclusion you came to after you’d been here last time?" Chen Ke asked.

"You are no ordinary people; with some luck, you might still be able to get out alive, but before that..." Jacob’s voice trailed off as the sound of a revolver being cocked was heard.

"Get ready..." Xu Jing pulled out her own pistol, alerting Chen Ke.

"Make some noise for me."

After Jacob spoke, he fired four shots, breaking all the chains binding the monster and even shot it in the back.

The black chitinous muscle on the monster’s back was completely unaffected by the revolver’s bullets; the projectile bounced off its back indifferently, leaving behind only a shallow dent.

The pain gradually woke the monster up, its pair of black compound eyes slowly turned red, and it began to move its head in a small, frequent swaying motion like an insect, its face turning towards Chen Ke and Xu Jing.

The monster slowly got up, realizing that its limbs were no longer restrained by ropes, but the thin skin on its back was still tugged by iron hooks.

Whistles came from the sewer, the recent gunfire had also alerted the nearby guards, but upon seeing the monster breaking free, they all stopped in their tracks, shouting as they retreated.

"+20 hours"

"+20 hours"

"+20 hours"

"+20 hours"

"+20 hours"

"+20 hours"

...

The killing intent of the monster surged towards Chen Ke, and the amount of life increased made him somewhat surprised.

"Deal with it quickly," Xu Jing said.

She raised her gun and aimed it at the monster, but before she could pull the trigger, her cheeks suddenly turned pale, and she furrowed her brow, her eyes squinting into slits. Then, she bent over and vomited blood.

"Oh...er..." Xu Jing, in agony, collapsed into the sewage, her gun dropping into the water.

"What...?" Chen Ke was taken aback, turning to look at Xu Jing.

"Don’t look it in the eyes... memetic plague..." Xu Jing, cold sweat breaking out from the pain, her eyes bloodshot, her complexion turning from the initial pallor to a dark, sickly hue.

Xu Jing pushed Chen Ke away, pulled out her dagger, and fiercely slashed her own throat, blood spurting as she fell face-down into the sewage, then, she turned to ash.