The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-1620

Chapter 1620: Assaulting the Lair

The explosion in the crystal pillar layer sent out a shock wave that lasted for a good five minutes, and what followed was an eternity of aftershocks as well as secondary destruction.

Amantir’s hollow internal structure was a natural resonance chamber, and the force from the collapse of the pillars created the most terrifying quake within that planetary resonance chamber. The entire southern continent of the planetary starship shook like a bell. From space, it looked like Amantir’s landmass had sunk in before part of the sunken parts rebounded back to the surface, whereby the starship’s hull resetter was unable to withstand the internal tear and had malfunctioned. The entire landmass rippled, folded, and twisted as mountain ranges, which were thousands of meters tall, disappeared in just a few minutes. Bodies of water boiled and were thrown into the atmosphere, and in a short time, they formed a storm that engulfed one-fourth of the planet. If there had been a civilization on the planet, it would have been thrown back to the Iron Age or worse within those few minutes.

What happened underground was even more horrifying.

While Hao Ren was pumped up, he had to admit, standing by a pillar that was used to support the planet’s crust and blowing it up was an experience he did not want to go through twice. The sky-scraping pillar was cut in two in a series of calculated chain explosions, and the heavy crust came crashing down as its support disappeared. Countless of hill-sized rocks and crystal debris rained down like a storm from above and turned the crystal forest within the crystal pillar layer into ruins before violent gales and shock waves smashed everything to dust.

Then, he heard a horrifying cackle from the rock dome as a series of explosions and lightning arcs lit the entire dome. It was the hull resetter at the equator rift, overloading and melting down.

The energy barrier used to block the equator rift had also disappeared as millions of tons of magma and rock burst out from the broken area. With the force of gravity pulling them into the planet’s core, the entire crystal pillar layer became a veritable inferno.

The originally calm crystal pillar layer turned into purgatory in an instant with shock waves and air pressure strong enough to shatter rocks, a temperature that could melt metal, and all sorts of toxic substances spewing out at once. While all of that happened, the sprites who had been shouting “make a mess, wreak some havoc” immediately went silent before deafening Hao Ren’s ears a second later with their chatter. “Waaaahh, this place is done for, done for!”

“I never thought this would happen!”

“Not fun, not fun. Not fun at all…”

“We are going to die, die, die!”

Did these pipsqueaks actually not think about what would happen once the pillars were blown up before they went “make a mess!”?

Just as the shock wave was about to hit them, energy shields covered Hao Ren and the rest. They knew that blowing up the pillars was a move boarding on madness, hence all of them had worn their life hoops beforehand and also equipped themselves with a shield generator as well as a vector stabilizer. The advanced equipment allowed them to withstand the deadly environment and steady themselves amidst the powerful echoing shock waves. It looked like their preparations had paid off indeed.

Vivian was the calmest among the lot after Hao Ren. Looking up, she stared at the dome, which was shaking and coming apart with each passing moment. Finally, she saw a red light on the dome, and a terrifying aura of madness swirled within the light.

“The way is open! We’ll charge in now!” she yelled.

Hao Ren grabbed the MDT and stuffed it into his pocket as he activated his thrusters and bolted directly towards the gap. Turning his head back, he called, “Lily!”

“Ready and waiting!” the werehusky said as she pulled a few packets of snacks from her pocket. She tore them open and started to stuff herself. It did not take long for her to munch on half a packet of Spicy Sticks. The next moment, her eyes glowed gold, the prelude to her bestial form. Veins started to pop all over her arms and neck. “I can hold it for two minutes. Mr. Landlord, I’ll leave the flight control to you!”

Not everyone could fly like Vivian, and all those who could not fly had equipped themselves with the thruster pack Hao Ren provided. But Lily’s thrusters were controlled by Hao Ren because she would be too hard-pressed to control herself in the next moment.

Facing the storm of rocks and crystals falling upon them, Hao Ren and the team charged towards the collapsing dome as the red light on the top of the dome got larger by the second. Hao Ren felt very calm, without any doubt or hesitation. His eyes were focused on the ominous, hell gate-like breach, and in that state, he even felt time slowing down. Every speck of dust that passed by him was clearly visible.

The illusion lasted only a few seconds. In the next moment, he had already entered the breach and shot through a phantasmal dark red membrane.

Everyone could sense the change in the environment the moment they passed through the membrane. The exterior and interior of the membrane seemed to be connected, but they were distinct spaces. While they could not tell the difference between the two dimensions accurately, that “crossing the gate” feeling was real.

They had entered the heart of the lair, a place where fiction and reality collided. It was a place where time and space were severely distorted.

“Awwooooo… Oof!”

A loud howl snapped everyone out of their cross-dimensional stupor. Lily had unleashed her powers the moment she passed through the membrane. Following some powerful wind pressure and a burst of extraordinary aura, the five-meter-tall mega husky walked out of the dust. As she made her appearance, a white light with powerful energy started to form at the tip of her mouth.

The mega husky looked around before she opened her mouth in a set direction. “Raaaaarghhhh.”

An odd “hum” soon followed while the surrounding air vibrated. A massive bright beam blasted across the entire space towards the darkness afar.

That was the first step of the plan: Lily would gorge on Spicy Sticks, enough for a blast, and transform once she was in. She would then fire her Doggoblast in the direction with the strongest energy signature. As the most powerful one-hit-kill attack in Hao Ren’s arsenal, Doggoblast was the opening act of their assault.

With the searing brightness of the white beam, the dark dimension was instantly brightened; during that momentary flash, Hao Ren saw the ghastly landscape of the Lair of Nightmares.

He managed to stop himself from barfing. Just barely.

In the blink of an eye, the Lair of Nightmares was no longer the citadel of rock and metal he had envisioned, rather, it was… a massive writhing organ.

Flesh and blood dotted the entire place, making the whole interior seem like living bio-tissue. Massive blood-vessel-like objects crept beneath the entire surface of the squirming skin while nerve and muscle-like objects were exposed as they crisscrossed on the dome above the massive cavern. They formed a giant web, and behind the web were many types of machinery, which had been left behind. That was part of the command center, and a section of it had already been consumed by the lair.

The scene reminded one of being inside a monster’s stomach.

There were not only such bio-tissues there, between the dreadful flesh, Hao Ren saw vestiges of other objects as well. Massive pillars of rock, metal beams, and crystals lay scattered across the vast space. They had already been warped by the powers of the Mad Lord, but they could still be identified as parts of Amantir’s underground facilities.

Hao Ren then saw the target of their mission.

Lily’s senses were accurate, and she had shot her Doggoblast right at the center of the lair the moment she made her dynamic entry. There was a massive round platform there, and the top of the platform showed signs of distortion as layers upon layers of semi-translucent barriers made the area look rippled. Behind it was a massive brain cluster…

A brain cluster the size of a house!

The massive brain hung upside down above the circular platform as it expanded and shrank in rhythm. Meanwhile, huge nerve and blood vessels extended from above like tubes, connecting to the dome of the lair. As Hao Ren traced the nerves and blood vessels in the direction they disappeared into, the first thing he thought of was the crystal of Amantir.

It was just like the sprites had described, the monster in the lair was connected to Amantir’s crystal, and the nerves were connected directly. If he had led the team to retrieve the crystal back then…

Sh*t would have gotten real!

Lily’s Doggoblast had destroyed many rock pillars and crystal prisms along the way, but as expected, the surprise assault did not easily end the biggest problem in the lair. The upturned brain cluster had hundreds of layers of shielding. The powerful holy-powered beam could only break through a couple of the shields before it stopped dead in its tracks and dissipated into pure energy in the air.

The brain cluster behind the barrier shuddered violently: it had sensed danger.

“Urghhh….” Nangong Wuyue was shocked by the horrific scene within the Lair of Nightmares and immediately deployed a mist barrier. Using the calming and cleansing effects of the elemental water, she dispelled the mental shock brought on by her surroundings. “What bloody place is this?”

“Amantir is changing into a living biological being, and the Lair of Nightmares is its brain!” the MDT yelled. “We need to take the brain out!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Hao Ren said as he pulled out his spear and pistol, and dashed in style towards the monster. “Follow me!”

“Go all out! Let’s clean this bloody place before we puke ourselves silly!” Nangong Sanba roared.