The Collapse of Hell!

Hearing Fang Chang's borderline insane idea, Luo Yu felt the guy had completely lost his mind playing games. Yet on second thought, he felt there was some sense to it. This was a game to begin with! Analyzing it rationally, if conventional weapons were enough to finish that monster off, the People's Alliance would have done so long ago without waiting for the Post-War Reconstruction Committee, and it wouldn't have been left for them to clean up this mess two centuries later. Either way, they had no better options right now. They had to give it a shot! Thinking of the slime-mold-corrupted Titan he had seen from the air, Luo Yu took a deep breath. After reassuring the anxious Yu, he looked at Fang Chang and said seriously, "How am I supposed to get inside?" That colossal maw was constantly retching up displaced earth; the mud and construction debris it had dredged up from underground were nearly piled into a small mountain. Ye Shi's electrical discharge could probably keep it stimulated for a little longer, but once it stopped vomiting, it would surely pull its mouth back underground. Having suffered once, the broodmother couldn't be counted on to get greedy again. A smirk curled at the corner of Fang Chang's mouth as he looked toward the nearby Lingyun fighter, stripped down to a bare "fuselage log." Though he often poked fun at Mosquito's eccentric ideas, he had to admit that the guy had never cut corners on build quality. Take this fighter forged from stainless steel, for example. Even though its wings were completely snapped off, its primary structure was remarkably intact. "Ride this thing in." "Ride this thing?!" Luo Yu froze, utterly bewildered. "How the hell am I going to get in with this?" It was already miraculous enough that he had managed to belly-land the plane in one piece. If it could take off again, Newton's coffin lid wouldn't even hold down his corpse. Fang Chang knew what Luo Yu was thinking, but his planned method was completely different. There was actually no need for the plane to take off again. "It's simple," Fang Chang said with an amused smile, looking at Luo Yu. "We'll have Lao Bai shoulder the plane and chuck it right into the broodmother's mouth. All you have to do is close your eyes and stomp on the gas." Planes didn't have gas pedals; what you stepped on were rudder pedals. Luo Yu stared at Fang Chang, dumbfounded. He suspected the guy didn't understand the principles of aviation in the slightest. Still... Thinking about it carefully, the idea wasn't entirely impossible. The engine hadn't stalled because it was broken. If it hadn't been smashed during the violent landing, it could theoretically be started again. Luo Yu tried to picture the scene. It felt just like— "Just like a missile," Lao Bai chimed in, voicing Luo Yu's inner thought. He turned to Fang Chang and couldn't help asking, "Are you sure this will work?" "I'm not sure. Only our ace pilot has the final say on that." Fang Chang gazed intently at Luo Yu, awaiting his response. Luo Yu took a deep breath and gave a slow nod. "I can give it a shot... but this hunk of metal isn't light. Are you sure Lao Bai can lift it?" Even though he had emptied the munitions, burned through most of the fuel, and lost both wings—leaving only the cockpit attached to the engine—the remaining structure still had to weigh four or five tons. By fighter jet standards, that was indeed exceptionally light, but for a human being, it was still absurd. Could he really do it? Luo Yu cast a doubtful look at Lao Bai, who was drenched in blood. The latter, however, offered an easy smile. "Let's try. With the power from the exoskeleton, it shouldn't be a problem." Seeing Lao Bai nod, Luo Yu hesitated no longer and gave a firm nod. "Then let's do it!" The three sprang into action immediately. Fang Chang grabbed a shovel and ran over toward the gaping maw, laboring to carve out a passable slope on the mound of disgorged earth. Luo Yu climbed back into the cockpit to check the fuel lines while attempting to restart the engine. The moment his hands gripped the control stick, that wondrous sensation returned to him; the entire aircraft seemed to merge into one with his body. Just then, Lao Bai walked to the rear of the plane, raised his thermal fusion cutting axe, and swung hard at the remaining half of the vertical stabilizer. Bursting sparks sheared the half-fin clean off. Inside the cockpit, Luo Yu's shoulders twitched, and he couldn't help shouting, "What are you doing?!" Lao Bai paused with the axe in hand and scratched at his helmet. "Shedding some weight for you... You won't be needing it anyway." Luo Yu: "..." That was true enough, but how much could half a vertical stabilizer possibly weigh? Fang Chang's shout carried over from ahead. "Hurry it up, both of you! Ye Shi probably can't hold out much longer!" "On it!" Lao Bai bellowed with full vigor, hooked the thermal fusion cutting axe onto his exoskeleton, walked beneath the plane, and dropped into a semi-crouch. Cupping the belly of the fuselage with both hands, he exerted every ounce of his strength to heave upward. Under that tremendous lifting force, the Lingyun's fuselage began to shake violently, as if seized by a convulsion. Lao Bai gritted his teeth, every muscle in his body taut. Veins bulged along his neck, and a flush of crimson spread from his brow to his shoulders as his boots sank deep into the soil. That was nearly five tons of weight! He was challenging the limits of mortal flesh! Feeling the high-frequency vibration of his seat, Luo Yu held his breath involuntarily, as if doing so might lighten his weight, while silently cheering for Lao Bai in his heart. Fang Chang did the same, holding his breath without realizing it. Time crept forward, each second stretching like an eternity. Yet aside from its incessant trembling, the plane hadn't budged a single inch from the ground. Watching the fuselage remain pinned to the dirt, Fang Chang felt his heart leap into his throat and frowned. Was it really too much to ask? "Maybe we should think of another—" Just as he was about to suggest finding another way, a resonant roar cut him off. "Aaaarrrgh!!" Limit Break!!! The instant his talent activated, blood vessels burst across Lao Bai's eyes. His hands clamped onto the fuselage, forcefully gouging two inward-dented palm prints into the battered stainless steel shell. In a flash, the wingless log of the Lingyun fighter was hoisted aloft. With nearly five tons bearing down on him, Lao Bai felt as though his entire body were sinking straight into the earth. Yet beyond any shadow of a doubt, the plane was indeed raised high by his two hands! The joints of his exoskeleton groaned under the overwhelming strain, sounding as if they might buckle at any moment. The same was true of every bone in his body; they were pushed to the absolute human limit. Without a split second's hesitation, Lao Bai took massive strides toward the slope nearby. The moment he crested its peak, he hurled the half-plane resting above his head toward the abyssal maw. "Off you go!" He roared as he sent Luo Yu off on his final journey, the muscles across his entire body losing all momentum in the same breath. Staring directly into that black-hole-like esophagus and the cascading spray of rubble and soil, Luo Yu gritted his teeth and started the engine. He shoved the throttle to maximum and rammed the afterburner valve—something he would normally never touch—straight to the stop. "Get the hell in there—!" Within the deep gloom, a flash of pale blue arc light ignited, and the engine nozzle blasted out a scorching jet of exhaust. The previously scrapped Lingyun fighter fired its engine once more, delivering its very last surge of thrust. Pulled by gravity and engine thrust combined, the nose-down Lingyun plunged like a gleaming dagger straight into the broodmother's retching, heaving throat. "Wuuu—!" Evidently sensing the foreign object surging into its gullet, the broodmother vomited soil and let out an agonizing wail, like a creature choking on a fishbone. Yet no matter how furiously it spewed earth outward, it stood no chance against an engine capable of propelling over ten tons of stainless steel to Mach 3. In a sense, the remaining half of the fighter had become an actual missile! Less than three seconds after ignition, the flickering flame at the engine nozzle sputtered out once more, but for the accelerated Lingyun, that was already enough. Diving at breakneck speed, the Lingyun followed the broodmother's twisted esophagus and, within a matter of breaths, drove straight into the depths of its digestive tract. "Holy crap?! Luo Yu?!" Clinging to a tendril, Ye Shi stared in shock at the Lingyun fighter plunging into the scarlet chamber and blurted out a cry. Unaware of Fang Chang's plan, he merely thought this broodmother was absurdly overpowered to be snatching things out of the sky to eat. Isn't this hack a bit too ridiculous?! The cockpit was choked with sand and dirt. Luo Yu, who had nearly been buried alive, obviously couldn't hear him and had no leisure to pay him any mind. The broodmother finally seemed to detect the anomaly within him, realizing the threat he posed. The tendrils anchored to the gastric walls writhed like dancing pythons, then lunged frantically at his aircraft. Sharpened tendrils battered against the stainless steel fuselage with a cacophony of metallic clangs, but fortunately none managed to pierce through. His suspended heart finally eased. Luo Yu focused his attention on his surroundings and quickly spotted Ye Shi dangling not far away, crying out in delight, "Bro, give me a hand!" "How... how am I supposed to help you?" Clinging tightly to the tendril, Ye Shi looked utterly lost. Without missing a beat, Luo Yu pressed on, "Can't you discharge electricity? Find a way to help me clear these tendrils!" Caught between laughter and tears, Ye Shi replied, "Damn it, if I had that kind of power, would I still be hanging here?!" Finding that all too logical, Luo Yu was left momentarily speechless. Just then, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Ye Shi, and he yelled, "Wait, I've got an idea!" "What idea?!" "The fuel tank! Where's your fuel tank?" "Right behind my seat—" Before Luo Yu could finish, Ye Shi had already unholstered his pistol, aimed at the fuselage behind Luo Yu's back, and fired two consecutive shots. Startled by the abrupt gunfire, Luo Yu said in exasperation, "Damn it, bro, this is made of stainless steel! Are you joking with a pistol?" Never mind a pistol failing to penetrate—even a rifle wouldn't do the trick! "Ahem... Just testing the waters." Ye Shi awkwardly holstered his sidearm and fished into his pocket. His fingers brushed against a coin, and his heart leaped with delight. "Got it!" Though it was his first time attempting it, the operational algorithm was already encoded into his chip. Recalling the operational method a certain Class-D researcher had repeatedly drilled into him, Ye Shi bit down on the coin with his teeth, freed his right hand to point at the upright Lingyun fighter, and raised his thumb to serve as an iron sight. Seeing his posture, Luo Yu was taken aback. "What are you doing?" Hardly had the words left his mouth when blue electrical arcs flickered around Ye Shi's arm, followed by a sonic boom that whipped right past Luo Yu's cockpit. Several tendrils snapped instantly, spewing black slime all over the canopy. A hole was blasted clean through the scarlet fungal flesh not far behind them, and dark ooze churned incessantly into the digestive chamber. Jolted by the deafening commotion, Luo Yu stared in disbelief at the guy hanging from the tendril. "Holy shit?! What the hell was that?!" "Heh, my railgun! Badass, right? Just that my aim's a bit off... Let me try again." With that, Ye Shi clamped another coin between his teeth and adjusted his thumb's alignment. His capacitors began charging, and snapping static crackled all over his body. The tendril he was clinging to trembled as if numbed by the electric charge. Watching that swaying "railgun," Luo Yu's heart nearly shot out of his throat, and he finally couldn't help yelling, "Aim properly, you damn—" Once again, before he could finish, Ye Shi released the silver coin from his lips, letting the tumbling disc drop onto the magnetic rails formed by the blue electrical arcs. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The blue arcs snapped like a drawn slingshot, erupting with terrifying power the instant the silver coin settled into the rails. Accelerated to several times the speed of sound, the silver coin slammed into the midsection of the Lingyun's fuselage like an artillery shell. The fuel tank was pierced clean through. Clear aviation fuel coursed down the exterior of the fuselage, pooling at the bottom of the digestive chamber. Watching the remaining fuel gauge plunge on the instrument panel, Luo Yu felt a surge of joy. "It worked! Wait, don't light it yet—let the fuel leak for a bit!" Though not much fuel remained in the tank, there were still around a hundred liters left. Seeing the needle stop dropping, Luo Yu fished a flare gun out of the survival kit beneath his seat, aimed at the puddle of fuel directly beneath the nose, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. A flare burning with crimson light shot out of the barrel, striking the pool of fuel dead center. With a dazzling burst of red light, the fuel mixed with the black slime ignited instantly, swelling into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye. With their bases set ablaze, the tendrils coiling around the aircraft jerked as if electrocuted, flailing their bodies in agony amid the flames. Seizing the window while they were consumed by their own torment, Luo Yu braved the scalding smoke to squeeze through the shattered canopy. Just before the flames climbed onto the fighter, he leaped toward the edge of the inferno. Almost the very instant his boots touched the bottom of the chamber, the rising flames reached inside the fuel tank. The resulting blast engulfed the surrounding tendrils in an instant. A violent shockwave slammed into Luo Yu's back, pitching his body forward. Ye Shi, who had been watching the spectacle from his tendril, was also shaken loose by the blast, crashing hard onto the ground. "Fuuuck..." Falling from several meters up made him grimace in pain, but fortunately his bones were made of titanium alloy. Dusting off his backside, he scrambled back to his feet. Every tendril in the digestive chamber had been completely incinerated; the heaving fungal masses had lost all means of dealing with them. And after the havoc they had wreaked, the "gastric walls" formed of scarlet fungal masses were largely scorched into pitch-black char. For a broodmother spanning several kilometers, damage of this scale was certainly far from fatal, but it was undoubtedly enough to make it suffer. Especially at this critical juncture. A vast amount of the nutrients in its body was being channeled to feed the newly born Thea; it could hardly spare extra energy to repair the damage in the short term. Now was the prime opportunity to devour it! As oxygen levels inside the chamber dwindled, the roaring flames gradually died down. Dragging his battered body, Luo Yu limped toward a relatively intact section of the digestive chamber, reached out with his right hand, and pressed his palm against the pulsating scarlet fungal mass. The frequency of its contractions carried a hint of dread, as if it were straining with all its might to expel him from this place. Yet that was obviously futile. He had gone through too much to get here; how could he possibly give up now? Taking a deep breath, Luo Yu murmured softly, "I'm counting on you... Yu." Hearing his call, a soft, warbling murmur drifted into his consciousness. Immediately afterward, fine, pale-red cilia seeped from his palm, beginning to spread across the scarlet fungal mass. Just like when he piloted the Lingyun fighter. He felt his consciousness flow along those pale-red cilia, gradually drifting out of his physical body and leaning steadily forward. Faintly, he seemed to hear a roar echoing from somewhere deep within the void. Just as he could understand Yu's warbling murmurs, he could also comprehend that furious roar. *"You are seeking your own destruction!"* Feeling those churning emotions, Luo Yu couldn't help letting a smirk touch his lips. It was pretty funny, honestly. Death? To players like them, that was merely a three-day cooldown! "Then come and try." Sensing his audacious resolve, the broodmother unleashed a silent bellow. That roar was fraught with disdainful contempt and the fury of being affronted by an insignificant mote, yet beneath that boundless wrath and scorn, there also lurked an almost imperceptible panic. Though it possessed a leviathan-sized body, it was not genuinely invulnerable. Relying on the abundant organic nutrients on the surface, it could regenerate from ruins time and again, even having evolved a terrifying resilience capable of withstanding nuclear strikes. Yet what it faced right now was no nuclear warhead. It was a monster that had struggled to survive in an exceedingly harsh environment for nearly two centuries. The two sides operated on entirely different dimensions when it came to understanding consumption and utilizing resources. When it could no longer drown Yu with legions of fruiting bodies and formidable evolved organisms, and instead found itself arm-wrestling Yu in the very domain Yu excelled in most, something occurred that neither it nor Yu had ever anticipated— This entity, which seemed like a god, was not as invincible as Yu had imagined. And this infant-like tiny speck was not as fragile as the broodmother had believed. It was like its cancer cell! A cancer cell prepared for it across two centuries, effective only against it! Today's script seemed to have been written many years ago, from the exact moment Floor B6 of Shelter 404 fell... The scarlet fungal masses gradually lost their color, shifting into a fresh, vibrant, fleshy pink. In moments, the patch of creep connected to Luo Yu's palm had changed hue, forming two clearly demarcated worlds against the agitated fungal masses around it. The scarlet slime mold surged furiously, claws bared, attempting to reclaim its lost territory. Yet no matter how it struggled, even if it managed to claw back an inch now and then, it could not halt the relentless expansion of the pale-red colony. Witnessing this unbelievable spectacle, Ye Shi's eyes widened involuntarily. Not just him. Even Luo Yu, whose right hand remained pressed against the creep, was stunned by the scene before him. He had no idea he was capable of this. No— This had to be Yu's doing. During the brief spell of his daze, half the digestive chamber had already fallen under his control, and his right hand had completely fused into one with the chamber itself. The broodmother, which had been so arrogant just a moment ago, finally realized the dire threat. It frantically heaved its esophagus, attempting to purge this foreign invader through other means. It had to destroy it! At all costs! Even if it meant tearing this flesh completely away from its own body! Accompanied by shrill shrieks, horribly malformed mutants dropped from the ceiling of the digestive chamber, slapping against the floor. They had round, bulbous abdomens, arthropod-like heads, and underdeveloped wings. No veteran player who had taken part in the previous Tide would find these creatures unfamiliar—they were the self-destructing explosive flying insects! Spotting Luo Yu standing motionless on one side of the chamber, they screeched and prepared to pounce. Yet before they could even find their footing, a burst of gunfire shredded the dozen-odd explosive flying insects into a pool of gore. "I'm not dead yet!" Snatching an assault rifle dropped by a fallen comrade from the ground, Ye Shi emptied the magazine, swiftly reloaded, and aimed at the fruiting bodies continuing to drop from overhead. Even if he had no idea what the plan was, he knew damn well he couldn't let those fruiting bodies get near brother Luo Yu! Sensing an existential threat to its life, the broodmother had gone completely berserk, attacking its own stomach with reckless abandon. The two coordinated with seamless synergy. One handled the trash mobs, while the other focused on working with Yu, devouring every mutant slime mold they touched. Right then, the ceiling of the pulsating digestive chamber clamped down violently, sealing off the cardia. At that moment, the entire digestive chamber fell completely into Luo Yu's grasp, becoming an integral part of his body. Though it was merely a single organ, it was linked to the broodmother's entire internal circulatory system. Unless the broodmother ceased breathing altogether, suffocating him by cutting off the air supply was no longer possible. He didn't even need to rely on his own respiration for oxygen anymore. To sustain the consumption of such a colossal body, the broodmother's respiratory system was far more powerful than his own lungs! *"I beg you... please stop!"* Hearing the groveling plea from deep within his consciousness, Luo Yu curled his lips into a playful smirk. "Didn't you say I was seeking my own destruction?" *"..."* The broodmother's silence took the fun out of it for Luo Yu. Seeing that it had no interest in entertaining his mockery, he redirected his attention back to the mutant slime molds tangled in resistance against him. The fruiting bodies dropping into the chamber were steadily absorbed by him, turning into nourishment that reinforced his own being. Even the Burning Corps players who had died earlier were digested and absorbed alongside them, becoming a part of his body! As for Ye Shi, he was spared. The guy barely had any meat on him and was still breathing; Luo Yu couldn't bring himself to do it. At that moment, the voice drifting from the void merged once more into his expanding ocean of consciousness. This time, it carried a note of desperate pleading. *"Don't... I don't want to die..."* "What about the people you devoured? Did they want to die?" Luo Yu asked, his voice laced with amusement. Failing to detect the sarcasm in his tone, the broodmother answered without hesitation. *"They were... weak... ugly... filthy. Being consumed by a stronger, more perfect being like me is the law of nature."* Luo Yu nodded, a pleasant smile surfacing on his face. "Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease." Perhaps sensing that joyful mood, the broodmother, thinking it had dodged a bullet, couldn't help revealing a hint of relief at having survived. Yet that relief hadn't lasted two seconds before Luo Yu's next words sent it plunging straight back into a bottomless abyss. "...Since you acknowledge that as the law of nature, surely you won't have any complaints about being eaten by me." *"You can't even digest what's in your mouth—you're really weak, you know."* The latter half was said by Yu. The moment their words landed, the pale-red tendrils enveloping the digestive chamber took their next step, beginning to spread into the broodmother's internal circulatory system. Soon, the "cancer cells" he unleashed would propagate through the circulatory network into every corner of the broodmother's body, delivering the final, fatal blow. Even Luo Yu hadn't expected the process to go so smoothly. Not just him—even Yu, sitting quietly on Floor B6 of the shelter, had its mouth agape in astonishment. The broodmother's might had once made it tremble, to the point where it didn't even dare reveal its aura in the creature's presence. Yet its core power was so thoroughly fragile! In any case, the broodmother no longer had enough time to evolve an "antibody" capable of wiping them out. At this moment, it was like an emperor collapsed upon his throne; even with the power to command legions, he could ultimately never escape inevitable senility and death. *"No—"* it screamed in despair, struggling to halt the incomprehensible force coursing through its body, yet wholly powerless to stop its own collapse. As if hearing its hopeless wails, the spore cloud hovering over Qingquan City surged and churned like ocean waves. Standing on the colossal wall of Boulder City, Ibers stared unblinkingly toward the city center, his face filled with incredulous shock. That "giant tree," which had stood unyielding for over two centuries, was actually collapsing! That was the very sight Lord Fang Ming had dreamed of witnessing, and against all odds, he was actually seeing it with his own eyes on that lord's behalf! He had thought he would never have the chance in this lifetime. After all, those foolish organics were so utterly disappointing, forever squandering precious time on pointless internecine bloodshed. Ibers muttered continuously like a sleepwalker, his voice trembling with a hint of a choke from sheer excitement. "Incredible... Did they really pull it off?!" This miraculous wonder excited him far more than any river of blood! Holy Great Horned Deer God!